HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Dear Family,

Wait primero,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA BURR!!!!!! :) I hope the family dinner was as good as ever and I love your pictur! Hope you have a wonderful day. Love you! 

YEAH!!! I loved seeing you all, wow you look sooooo great! I love you!! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and with lots of parties going on, and now with new years! and there is even snow! It looks so pretty!

Changes. I will be changed to Salinas B the zone la costa and I will be companions with someone from Hermana Tejadas group, Hermana Dowdle (?), she just finshed her training, so it will be super fun!

I have loved this past six months here in Melo.  Don't get me wrong or anything, it was super hard, like really hard.  But I love this place, I love the people. Although I probabaly won't miss the heat, this is the hottest place in our mission for summer so I'm glad to be going for that ha, but I will miss it, and my amazing companion. Hermana Tejada came pre trained, she is so obedient, and already an experienced missionary, she taught me soo much

So Christmas was great and Christmas eve.  I already told you guys over the phone so I don't feel like there is too much to say now... haha but things are going great and I can't believe it, once again time is flying.

Thank you for everything! I love you all so much, and truly am so grateful for you. You are the best!!!

Love,

Hermana Louder

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!

Dear Family,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! I'm so excited to talk to you this thursday! Let me know at what time also! And thank you for the packages!! I was so surprised, but I love it and you'll be able to see the shirt through skype :)

Well this week was actually pretty fun ha.  Last p-day we played soccer and I feel in this hole that is around the cancha... Oh and I forgot to tell you guys, I talked last week in church about missionary work :)

Then that night we had a FHE with bishop and he basically had us to do it and tell the story and the profecys of the birth of Jesus Christ.

We had the mission christmas conference and every zone sang and they told us not to do anything funny, although some did and President laughed haha but our song was far far away on judeas plain?.. and it sounded super good!! if I do say so myself.  They gave everyone little gifts with the Liahonas and a pin of the tree of life, that is huge here the tree of life, everyone has neckalces of it. and some treats. And on the bus ride home I got the packages!! Thank you so much, I love them! and really just what I needed!

And then we also had our ward Christmas party where we went to a place called el posta de chuy and it was like a historical site and we played soccer and ate and had like a devocional and it ended up being really good and we had an investigator there Silver ( well antiguo).

Things are going good here and I love it, but most of all I love serving my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful for this time to help us remember his birth and that each and every one of us can accept him.  I know he lives. I know he atoned a perfect atonement. I know that he loves each and everyone of us and that he will forgive us of our sins if we only accept him. I love you all, and hope you have a very merry chirstmas! See you soon :)

Love,

Hermana Louder

FHE!

Love You!

Dear Family,

Thank you for the pictures! It looks like your trip was great! And you were able to celebrate Bailey's birthday, and be there for Matthews baby blessing! Ah and I love hearing about all that is happening and Christmas, is there snow yet? Be careful driving!

Well the Christmas as you all know from last year, is a little different hear.  It's SO HOT!! But it's good! I don't know if you guys saw the video but we are sharing that with everyone, and the pass along cards from the church just got here so we have been handing them out.

So we have some plans as a zone to do certain things, and this week we were tyring to focus on re-finding those that are chosen, so we'd look through our carpeta de area every night and find people that we could go visit. So we went and found this antiguo and his name is L, before when the missionaries were visiting him he was drinking but he stopped drinking and it's been a year! He talks a ton!! But it really was a miracle and shows that has we follow our leaders counsel that we will receive blessings. We have only seen him once, but we have another appointment with him.

This week C came to church! Hahahah we had dropped him for a bit... but I think we will be trying to talk to him again and teach him all of the lessons.

And we had interviews with president this week and it was great! I always love talking to him and he was just talking and talking and at the end it was so funny! He was like I've babyled on too much, my wife always tells me oh babylon oh babylon we bid thee farewell! Ha and he really helped me to feel good, even though our area isn't having that much success he was telling me that the Lord is pleased.. it was just what I needed.  And we also in the conference talked about three things. Obedience, the Book of Mormon, and Faith, and it actually was super good! The give us talks to read acouple weeks in advance and then we talk about it and they teach us! Ah also in my interview he was like so how long have you been in Melo, and I was like almost 6 months, oh well then you will be getting changed here soon...

This wedensday we have the christmas mission party! And then also we have a ward party on Saturday but it is all day and not here, so we will see who knows... maybe we will be going later.

Our investigators are doing pretty good, we are just trying to have as much contact as we can, but now CE is avoiding us and moved and I think he blocked our number, but we didn't do anything! Ah I don't know what to do, but we are trying to find those that are ready and prepared.

I love you so much! Enjoy all the parties and cold weather! You are always in my prayers, and am so grateful for every single one of you. You are the best!!

Love,

Hermana Louder

Dear Family,

Well this week was pretty good! All the weeks are good though, always something new to learn.  How was your week?! Just so you know mom, I am asking and looking for a nativity set!!!

So I don't know if you guys have heard about this but it is huge and world wide and all the missionaries are involved in it for Christmas.  ¨Él es la dádiva¨ or he is the gift and we are inviting everyone to see this video and visit the sites, it´s an awesome video and you all need to watch it christmas.mormon.orgChrist really is the true reason why we celebrate Christmas and I know that He is my Savior.

Thank you for the emails everyone! And get ready for... the Christmas day call!! jajaja so I will need the imformation or will it be the same as the other times? Just let me know! And I will let you know more details when I know! We will be having a mission Christmas celebration on the 17th next week, and so we will be going to Montevideo again! And we have a ward Christmas party on the 20th! Wooohooo!!! Be sure to send me pictures of everything!! The snow Christmas day, the tree and presents and everything!

Wow the weeks are going by so fast and I know that none of you want to say it but I have 13 months now. Weird.  Ah it's all going by way way way to fast but there is just so so so much work to do! My work is not done here!

This past week was hard but good, we are just working as hard as we can to help everyone.  And we are inviting everyone to look up the video el es la dadiva which I think has had a great impact, there are a lot more people that are listening.  

This week we also had an interchange and choque de fuerza which is when other missionaries come into our area and work to find miracles and help us.  So wow! That was really good and we have so many good investigators.  

On Sunday ah it was just filled will all of my friends, not only members and are 3 firm recent converts, but also 4 investigators, CE P A and M, but also so many less actives that we are finding!!! And all of them were saying that they are going to come next week.

So we had to drop C, he was progressing anymore and was just so focused on comparing the bible and if he really needed a third baptism, that he never really prayed to know about the church of Jesus Christ. But hopefully with time it will come.

CE is trying to stop smoking and only smoked one yesterday but it is super hard to find him because he is working a lot right now because in the months to come he won't have work.

Paula is the helper of a less active that is in a wheel chair but still isn't too interested... but T LA bore her testimony and P was crying.

Anothony is a little boy and wow he has so much energy he actually asked us if he could visit the web page for Christmas and it will be interesting to see what happens....

M the other hermanas found him in our area when they did the choque de fuerza and he is super funny! He came to church and works en campañas but he said he will come back to chat and that he is pretty interested.

That is about everything that is happening but here are some pictures! The four of us after church! Our convert on the far left received the Melchizedek Priesthood! Me and ice cream jajaja 

I can't remember if I have it or not, but could you send me a scan of my mission call?

Thank you so much for all the you do! I love you all so much and really, am so blessed to have the best family!!

Love,

Hermana Louder

DICIEMBRE!!!! What?

Dear Family,

Can you all believe it is December?! How was Thanksgiving and the party?! Thank you for the letters and píctures!!! I love them, everyone looks them same.. but older! And it sounds like everything was great! And yeah!!! That is so good to hear that you have finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family and are going to start again!

Wow where to start... well this week has been a little rought.  As we started out the week we were not making any of our metas or anything and we felt pretty down. I remember thinking oh no, this isn't good, I gotta keep being happy so that she (my companion) can enjoy the mission.  So I was thinking to myself what I could change or what I could do better, praying and then after I just sat there in bed  thinking because I couldn't sleep.  As I sat there I had some impressions come to mind, that I needed to focus less on the numbers but more on the people, and teach people and not lessons.  I mean they are obvious things but sometimes I just get in the habit of teaching.. So the next day I was really praying for charity and to talk with the people getting to know them and not just teaching a lesson, and it went so much better!! We felt alot happier and the people were more open.  We as missionaries need to be aware of that.  We cannot become complacent or think we are fine we always need to try to change and help the people and not fall into the trap of forgetting that these are GODS CHILDREN we are teaching. OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

I know Heavenly Father knows our potential, we just need to do his will and we can become who he wants us to be.

My companion is doing great! She is always teaching me new things.  

That is about everything that is happening.. oh wait. Yesterday we were teaching a less active and her husband that is evangelico and he was saying some very weird things.... he was saying the Eve was tempted by satan and they slept together and that was the great sin. Her chastity. BUT NO. Everyone needs to read Jesus the Christ! It explains in there but that is the farthest thing, how could anyone think it was her Chastity... and also he was like so who was Adams first son.. Cain? haha the answer moses 5. Wow my companion killed it, but it was time to get out of that lesson, because we cannot be bashing.

Thank you all for everything I love you all so much and pray always for you all!!! Thank you for being the best family! 

Love,

Hermana Louder