Merry Christmas

December 21, 2015

Hey Guys,

This week was pretty special. The work here in Progreso has almost come to a complete stop for the holidays. We are in a richer part of Progreso, so everyone has gone to the States to see family and snow. That, or they are all with family here and heaven forbid the Elders come in to share a message with the whole family. It's kinda weird really. Elder Sop and I just have a few investigators that are really progressing and we are going to take full advantage of the season to preapre them for baptism.

We are working so hard that we actually went to finish a service project early this morning. I smell great. Grass and sweat make a great combination. Haha. On Friday morning we went to help a lady cut her lawn, with machetes. You see, lawn mowers do not exist, so machetes it is. In her old church, they told her not to have Christmas trees, and since she is going to get baptized, she asked if she could have a tree next year. Since she didn't have a tree, we asked around, and we found a tree, lights and ornaments to give her. So two people chopped her yard and two set up the tree. I ended up chopping half the yard, then having to go in to set up the tree because no one knew how. Haha. It was a blast.

Machetes are fun.

Secret Santa

So, last night we were invited by our cook's nonmember husband (Doc) to come to house to be part of their "posada." It's a catholic thing where starting like 10 days before Christmas they follow Mary and Joseph as they search for an inn. Last night they went to our cook's house and did a little program. Well, they told us at 7, so we showed up at 6:50 to be early. I walked past the window and yelled "buenas" all obnoxious like I normally do when we show up, and then we noticed that they had started early. Great move, Aldrich. I was mortified. Haha. I felt so bad interrupting the program by my obnoxious yelling. Everyone was really great. The older people all wanted us to know that we were welcome, and it took everything I had not to contact the nun. Truthfully, I loved that Doc invited us. I am always looking to understand other faiths better which is why I always talk to the JWs and the 7th day adventists and whoever else I can find. It was a great experience and I was glad that he allowed us to be a part of something that was important to him.

Afterwards we ate dinner in their house and sat around telling stories and joking around. I sat on the floor for lack of chairs, which was funny. I haven't sat on the floor since I was in La Ceiba. We had several families there that simply didn't have chairs. I felt humbled last night as I thought about those familes. Sometimes we forget just how much we have. Couches and chairs are simple things, but I am very grateful that we have them. Just a thought.

I hope you all have a great Christmas. Remember that the missionaries in your ward don't go home for Christmas, so invite them over, but don't be offended if they don't eat. They might be full from the last six homes that gave them some dinner. Haha.

Elder Aldrich

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