Hey family!

How is everybody? Sounds like Christmas was just fantastic! I am pretty excited to play some ping pong in just over a year and a half! Thanks for your voice recording! That is so fun to hear, although I couldn’t hear it to well this time. It sounds like Brooke got a scooter and she is super, super excited about it. I didn’t catch what Mary and Coop got? And how about mom and dad?

Does mom have to work today or tomorrow? That’s a bummer she is on call but my guess is next year she won’t have to be. When does she start her new promotion?

My Christmas was good, simple and relaxed. Christmas Eve we went and ate tamales at the house of our investigator’s (Francisca who baptized this weekend) mom. That was fun; we played with her son Alejandro on foosball tables for a little bit, they had a big party outside. Everybody here just partied until the morning (Santa doesn’t come to many houses here, it’s the 3 Reyes on January 6, I don’t know why) Christmas morning we had our district meeting, on the way there we saw a man sleeping on the sidewalk, and snoring really loud. It was super funny. We both took a picture with the drunk sleeping man. Who also was shoeless, we think someone stole his shoes... We had lunch with a family that day and visited another, but we didn’t really do anything to special. Oh we did get to go to breakfast Christmas Eve morning and the whole district came, minus one companionship! It was really fun.

I started feeling a lot better on Christmas eve and got permission from the doctor to start eating normal again, so that was good. Mom I forgot write down what the medicines were called but I did finish my shots, I ended up only needing 4 of them, and I finished my antibiotics yesterday or Saturday I don’t remember. I guess it was some sort of bacteria growing in my stomach? I don’t know that’s what I understood from it. But it’s all good now so don’t worry.

So this week we did have 2 baptisms: Francisca and Alejandro. It was really cool, and a really good experience but nothing and I mean nothing went as planned. The day before we just went around to members houses reminding and inviting them to the baptisms. None of them showed up, not one out of like 7 families that promised us to go. Then the bishop was super late, and our ward mission leader didn’t show up. Francisca was also a little late and we realized she didn’t have the right clothing and neither did her son. So we found one for her but not Alejandro. I took the most athletic priest there and we started to run to Wal-Mart. We ran about 1.5 miles there and 1.5 miles back. I bought him white sweats and a white t shirt. When I got back he was already dressed and they had found him a jumpsuit, they were taking pictures and waiting on me. So I quickly changed and calmed myself down because I was a little angry my companion sent me running without asking if they had an extra one for Alejandro. I changed we took a picture and started. The water was freezing and they weren’t too happy about that. When I went to baptize Francisca I said a word wrong and had to start over. The second time her feet came up and the third time as well. She is super pregnant; she will have her baby in 2 weeks, so it was hard to keep her completely under. But finally the fourth time and the third time immersing her, we did it right. Alejandro was then baptized too. After all that the important part was the end result. We had a lot of things thrown our way but I was so happy we were finally able to help Francisca and Alejandro be baptized. I told you of the Christmas gifts I bought, but this one, the one money can’t buy, was definitely the greatest one.

Yesterday they were confirmed members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And we are hoping that the dad will take the same step when he is able. Right now he still can’t even straighten his leg. We also put another date, which is all but set in stone; I know it will happen, for the 15 of January. Her name is Cecilia and she is the girlfriend of a returned missionary in the ward. She is awesome.

The Lord is blessing us, we have worked hard for a long time with little results, I don’t want to speak to fast but we are finally starting to see them. At times this is how life is, we are tested and tried so that we can grow, sometimes blessings are withheld for a time for our own benefit, but we will always receive them if we do what’s right.

I challenge you all to start reading or continue reading the Liahona or Ensign from November. We received it just a couple weeks ago and it is truly amazing. I especially challenge everyone that reads this letter to read the talk Regrets and Resolutions by Dieter F Uchtdorf. That talk hit me like few others ever have.

I love you all, I miss you, and happy new year!

Elder Utley