320 to go...

¡hola familia!
> i received my christmas package last week! it made me so happy! i
> didn´t open the wrapped things because momma told me not to, but i´m
> excited! all the candy is amazing too! i haven´t opened anything yet,
> but i have eaten some candy canes, the peach rings, and some of those
> root beer candies. thank you for sending it! the calendar was just
> what i wanted too, and the jar of peanut butter! i don´t know why i
> like peanut butter so much right now...
> getting the conference in english was also really cool too! i have
> read the majority of the discursos and i really liked them. i really
> enjoyed the discurso by pte eyring in the priesthood session ´´i need
> your help´´, because my service as a missionary right now is helping
> me to become a better priesthood holder and future leader. i just
> need to stay diligent like pte eyring was and be ready to do more even
> when i´m tired.
> it´s interesting that trelew was on your world map because it´s not
> that big of a city. neuquen is a lot bigger, and trelew is about 15
> kilometers away from the ocean. rawson has a fishing port and it is
> the capital of chubut but it is really small.
> this week, leandro received the priesthood and was ordained a priest.
> on sunday, he showed up to church in a suit and he was able to bless
> the sacrament on sunday too. it was really cool to see him because he
> is progressing a lot. i don´t think his brother, rodrigo, has too
> much interest in the church right now. i think he is feeling a lot of
> pressure to be baptized and we don´t want him to feel like he´s
> obligated to do anything. we are trying to teach him though but we
> will see how that goes.
> silvia loves attending church. a lot of garbage has been happening to
> her lately and she can feel a difference in her house everytime we
> come to visit and there is peace in the house after we leave. some
> kids stole her chickens, one of her little dogs, and started a fire
> behind her house that damaged a bunch of trees. she has been pretty
> stressed because she loved that little dog... but she is now more
> willing to listen to us because she has seen a difference in her life
> when she is reading the book of mormon and praying. she admitted to
> us that she didn´t want a blessing of comfort last week because she
> was technically a member to another church for the last year, but she
> called that church and told them she didn´t want to be a member
> anymore so she could become more involved in our church. apparently
> she was baptized 3 times already so she wants to be really sure about
> the church before she is baptized the fourth time. i don´t blame her.
> but she tells us a lot that she is still ´´searching for her place´´
> and now she thinks that she has found it. the members are really good
> to her when she comes to church so she is feeling a lot better.
> it has been kind of hard to find nacho again this week and he didn´t
> come to church yesterday. we don´t know what is going on with him
> right now but we set a cita to visit him this week. we did find an
> awesome family to start teaching and we have a cita with them tonight.
> we are excited to teach them tonight and we are hoping everything
> goes well.
> i´m still not sure if i will be able to use skype but i spoke with the
> owner of the ciber and they are still deciding if it is going to be
> open. maybe i can skype on the 24th... or i can just call on the
> 25th. i will know for sure next monday, i think...
> but everything is going well here. elder escobar is pretty cool and we
> get along fine. he is a ´´lowtalker´´ so he sometimes gets impatient
> with me if i don´t understand but i understand ok when he talks
> louder. his birthday is on friday so i have to come up with something
> for us to celebrate!
> it´s getting a little hotter here so it´s getting harder to find
> people to teach. everyone wants to go to the beach during the day and
> at night, they are too tired to want to talk to us. it´s a little
> difficult right now but we are being diligent. we painted a ceiling
> this week and cleared a patio of weeds, lots of service. now we are
> going to see if that service will turn to new investigators. i read
> about ammon and his brothers this morning and i really liked how they
> just dedicated themselves to serving. we are offering a lot more help
> and some are takers while the majority still just say no.
> in preach my gospel, there is a challenge to break a habit to see how
> hard it is for investigators to break addictions. i decided this week
> that i am going to break my habit of cracking my knuckles and now i
> have gone 5 days without doing it. i failed a lot. i didn´t realize
> how often i was doing it... my fingers were getting really stiff
> without cracking them but now they are feeling normal again. it made
> me reflect on how much more difficult it would be to stop smoking or
> drinking but they will feel a lot more free. what i noticed with this
> challenge was that it was really hard for me to stop in the beginning
> but now i don´t feel the need to do it anymore. it gave me another
> perspective for people dealing with addictions that are a lot bigger.
> tomorrow, pte peterson is coming to rawson because he is interviewing
> all of the missionaries in the whole mission. we are looking forward
> to seeing him again tomorrow. now we are getting ready to go to
> trelew for the afternoon and playing basketball with the other
> missionaries there. thanks for writing this week! i always love
> hearing from you and seeing all the pictures (and videos) that you
> send!
> i love you guys!
> ¡con mucho amor y ánimo!
> elder summers