Mi Querida Familia,
Wow Christmas has come and gone! We spent most of the day eating candy, visiting less active recent converts, Traveling somewhere where there was decent internet connection to skype, and staying in the house. As a mission rule, we had to be in the house at 5.. because Ecuador gets super drunk on Christmas. Also for año nuevo we have to be in the house, becuase Ecuador goes out into the streets and makes bonfires, burning human size dummies of clowns. I will try to get pictures. Hermana Espinoza and I enjoyed Christmas Eve just talking and doing some full fledged facials. It was wonderful.
This week was a White Christmas :-) Even though we didn´t have snowfall, Rocio was baptized! Rocio is jsut the beginning to many baptisms in her family. Her baptism was beautiful and the service was smooth and full of the spirit. When Rocio bore her testimony you can tell that she knows the gospel is true. She just kept saying Tengo que seguir adelante.. este evangelio es lo mejor. She has another daughter who lives in our sector with her husband and 2 kids; we are planning on going to find and teach them too.
We also have finally been able to see some progress with a less active recent convert we are working with. We found out in a lesson on Sunday, that he has been reading some type of Black Bible archive he found on the internet. And we were able to help him see the negative influence it has made in his life. Luis is such a good kid, he´s 18, but he´s made some mistakes. He came to church on sunday and stayed for the full 3 hours, we gave him a new book of mormon. Luis was also a Christmas miracle. We read with him 2 Nefi 33.. one of my favorite chapters that talks about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I advise you all to read it! They are the last words of Nefi to us and they truly are written directly to us and his posterity.
This week, with Christmas and a new focus on my studies in memorizing the Living Christ has been wonderful. Hermana Espinoza and I spent Christmas Eve baking desserts, reading the Chrsitmas story, and reading the Living Christ in English. I think it really just hit me how much Chrsit loves us and knows us every second of our lives. It was his purpose to show us the way and now we know! I feel like my testimony in Christ grew a lot this Christmas and that because of Him, we are saved and clean. I hope I can always be a righteous and worthy representative of Him.
Sorry this letter is a little short this week, but I feel like I just barely wrote last Wednesday! It's been a wonderful time, and I hope you all have enjoyed your holiday season! May the spirit of Christmas siempre be in your hearts!
Con Amor
Hermana Powley
