Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad, y próspero año y felicidad!! Never before have I know what on earth those words were! Weird how learning another language opens doors like that...

Ok y'all. As a missionary, one must be honest. Imma talk to the flam tomorrow, so I'm not finna send much this week. But, to be honest again, yinz probably aren't finna read this email tampoco. So...

I finished reading the Book of Mormon for the President Nelson challenge today!! IT WAS SOOO GOOOOOOOOOD!!!! I laughed, I cried; it moved me. But much more importantly, I've never been so motivated to be a "pure and delightsome people"... er, person. I just want to make my Eternal Heavenly Father so proud and "our Lord Jesus Christ" full of joy. Wow. Such emotions. Good thing New Years resolutions are coming up. #theProphet'sinspired

So sorry I always fangirl, but I know the Book of Mormon is from God and can help us with our daily worries. I've found comfort, solace, and wisdom as I've read it, and watched my doubts and fears melt away. I can promise it will do the same for you. So read! Also Christmas. During a lesson this week, I had the sudden realisation that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ for Christmas, but it really is all about His death. Or rather, yeah sure the birth was really important, as without it there would be no Savior, but a lot of people have been born. Only one has atoned. Guys, we're celebrating the wrong holiday!! We should be celebrating EASTER!!!

But. We'll take any opportunity we have to celebrate. Have a great Christmas! See y'all tomorrow!

Mury chursmus

Exchanges! Sis Richards had her first Hispanic meal, and she took it like a champ!! Didn't even throw Up!

Also, Brigham Young! They don't even know how cool there are!

Last Minute Twain-ing

We heard pretty last minute that we were going to go caroling as a district, and then the other sisters in our district (las hermanas de Semoran) asked us to drive as the other elder's had the car. So, we last minute "went with them twain." We had plans to visit one complex, thus not killing our miles. But then... we just visited all the less-actives in the farthest away part of their area. RIP miles. But it was also all of those wonderful less-actives that I had spent months working with, so blessings in disguise. Also, there's nothing better than a caroling group of gringos:)

Other than that, the highlights of this week go something like this:

> Hna Robinson hit her 9 month mark 2 days before I hit my 16th month mark so of course we went out to celebrate! #twisteetreatforlife! Mostly, we kinda forgot so it was very last minute, but. Still did it. (Dad, I realised they had an amaretto option, and was reminded of the time you were eating gelato in Italy when you realised it was your birthday. Prove I actually do think of you:)

> We went to see another Less-Active, and after waiting an (singular) hot sec at her door, she not only lets us in, but she lets us move her sofa and chair out to the dumpster! I love service! I got to sit on the sofa as we drove to the dumpster and it was way fun. Yep. Then we had a good spiritual moment. I'd say it was pretty inspired.

> We also had the ward Christmas party. They had set up empty tables along the wall and asked all the sisters in the ward to bring their nativities. That was SUPER cool. Just thoughts for y'all back home, in case you haven't had your fiesta navideño yet. We helped with food and networked. It looks like the networking is going to pay off as 2 of the people we really spent time talking with are meeting with us tonight to have a FHE so Pray for Manuel y Carmen!

That's it. More solid reading in the Book of Mormon. Did you know that Jesus Christ is really awesome? With all the time I spent with Jesus in the 2nd half of 3rd Nephi this week, I felt inspired to return to a previous, forgotten goal of reading one of the gospels, and read John 9 where Jesus heals the man blind from birth. I absolutely LOVED!! this story. I love how the man, after being healed, stands up for Jesus and as he does so, he begins to realise how blind the leaders of the 'church' really are. It's all about who is truly blind with symbolism and applicable, thought-provoking morals up to your armpits. G'head and give it a read, then a ponder, then a prayer. I can promise you'll feel better:)

Anyways, that's all the time we have for today. Remember, God made you special, and He loves you very much!

PS Quick shout-out to Veggietales for making that last line possible as well as to my STL who went home a little early so she could start school. Best of luck braving the cold in Utah Sis. Hunsaker! Florida misses you :)

Ward Christmas party!

Member dinners   :)

My amaretto ice cream. YUS!

This doesn't even need a title.

400,000 Viruses

Yes. Very yes.

This week, our everything broke. Our car's airbag alert went off, but then we missed our appointment so... Hope it's a false alarm :D

Then, Hna Robinson's tablet was struggling, flickered, then went black. Rest in Peace lil tablet. She had her mom send a new one which arrived thrusday, so for 3 1/2 days, Hna Robison had to use the phone... which had fallen off my stuff I was carrying to the car and the screen broke. 0.o Let's just say, this week was really hard. We also haven't been able to find any new people to teach, but we also somehow have absolutely no time to find!! I DUNNO WHAT'S HAPPENING! This whole week was like 1 long weekly planning. AKA warped reality. And the only thing that was always there was Wendy's. ("It made me want to weep, and then die.")

But on a happier note, I absolutely love all the people in the Book of Mormon. For example, I love when Lachoneus receives the suave-est, most slimy letter from Giddianhi, leader of the secret combinations, and instead of fearing or feeling obligated to write back, he just tells the entire Nephite nation to huddle up. They go into complete lock-down mode and all repent hard-core. All the robbers are like "... Where did everybody go?" "It's cold out here!" and "We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for 3 stinkin' months!" Wow. Then, they just keep shields up, heads down, and the Lord with them. And bwamo. The Lord brings them through. They don't even eat all their food.

ANYWAYS, I hope y'all are reading and I gotta go, but I love you. Stay in School. And in the Book of Mormon.

BYYYYYYYYEE!

Not to 50!

This week, I woke up and was like:"What the-- It's cold out here!" We checked the weather. It got down to 50. Now I know what all you poor saps living in Utah are saying "That's not even cold enough to have snow!!" But let me ask you this, ya desert dwellers: If you live in an area where 90% of the air is actually water, what happens when you get below the freezing point of water? Think about that one! Cuz frankly I don't know what the answer is either; but I do hope we never get there!

But on a more spiritual note, I finally figured out why I love the book of Alma so much. True it's so full of wars, especially the end, and there's a lot of dying and deprivation and sacrificing, but it's also so full of good people! Such as Captain Lehi who never once fails to keep the land Bountiful safe. He gets such a good rep, all the Lamanites start panicking when they see him. We've also got Nephihah who "filled the judgement seat with perfect uprightness before God." That's literally about all we know of him. I want them to say that about me! (But, no judgement seat...) Then Pahoran who is tested on 2 different occasions with whether or not he'll really uphold the law (stupid Kingmen) and he comes through for us every time. True, the second time, he has to flee to the Valley of Gideon to not get straight-up murthered, but because he gets booted out of his comfort zone, he decides to pick up a sword and fight with more than just verbal arguments. He not teaches us that communication with our beloved brethren is key, but he then teams up with Captain Moroni, who we all know threw fire like nobody's business. (He was like the Elder Holland of their time!). I love how he then fights and wins back the city dedicated to his father (Nephihah) BUT! then continues on with Captain Moroni to win the entire war!! Talk about too much ____________time! (Like in every Marvel movie or the Magnificent 7 where everyone's favorite actors are all fighting for screen time. I forgot what it was called...) Then, it's literally Captain Moroni, Teancum, Lehi, and Pahoran with Captain Helaman and the 2060 stripling warriors coming to aid them from the east 🤤😍😍😍 WowowowowoWow!! How's that Book of Mormon movie coming! Can I buy tickets now??

Ok, sorry. Done fangirling. But there's just so many good people trying to help the hordes of mas o menos Nephites 1) Not die physically from hardened Nephite dissenters and 2) Not die spiritually from becoming a hardened Nephite dissenter. We just get a more personal look at how individuals fought to keep freedom and truth. Wow. So good. ... On that note, how's your reading of the Book of Mormon? Please send good insights to your missionaries with what you've learned so that I can learn it too!!

Um, this week we... did something. We took a Gallon of Nacho cheese to Zone Training Meeting and were pleasantly surprised to find that more than half of it was gone by the end. I had my doubts, but now we get to be creative! AND! Literally nothing else tastes bad these days😆 #blessings

We're teaching a lady named Gladys. She is still loving the Book of Mormon, but hasn't been able to meet with us. If you ever find yourself at a loss of what to pray for, you could pray that she can feel empowered to make time to talk to us about what she loves (aka the BoM:)

Ok. I'm done. Gotta get back to the Book of Mormon! The Servant of Helaman is one of my favorite characters!!

Our car had to go into the shop. So we biked! Total of 2 miles!! But it was basically Hna Robinson's first time biking, so still... Fun Times!!

We pulled out our Christmas tree only to discover of the 3 legs for the base, only 1 was remaining. We tried duct taping it to the floor but... se cayó. Con nuestras esperanzas y sueños :'(

Ham and nacho cheese casserole! Not bad! (but not too great either. But not bad...)

After a depressing first half of the week with our tree on the ground, Hna Robinson got fed up and we bought a tree from the place we do our service. This thrift shop was having a sale, AND volunteers get a discount. It was literally 5 dollars. (Blether blether blether; let me consider if I want to buy it)

So, as I've probably said before, there are LITERALLY only 4 areas for Hermanas to serve in here in the good ol' FOM. Every rare transfer, we all get transferred and get to go meet up at the chapel. That means literally all the Spanish sisters in our mission are under the same roof! Documented below is one of these rare moments! We've got 2 trainees coming in and one Hna going out. Names are: Hna Trainee, Hna Wade (previous companion), Hna Trainee, Hna Stowell (a previous companion), Hna Banks (dying), Hna Perry, Yo, Hna Robinson (current companion), then on the front Hna Ogden (literally the first time I had met her =), and then Hna Robbins (the second half of me.)