Feliz Navidad!!

Querido Familia,

Feliz Navidad!! (casi) (almost)

I hope the jingle bells and Christmas caroling are treating yáll well. I´m a missionary (in case you didn´t know that), and I honestly love Christmas on the mission, even though it´s very different than at home. But to be a little honest knowing that Christmas is this week just stresses me out a little bit because it means we have less time to visit and get all the things done that we need to as a result of Christmas activities, people rejecting us for the holidays, and time to talk to our families :) ...but I guess that´s just part of the mission ha. 

Picture compliments of Sister Evans.

 The other day we had two dogs attack us. I took off my backpack to defend myself and one of them bit and attacked my backpack. I left my backpack and backed up a little bit to let them know we were leaving. They finally backed off and went back inside. Saved by the back pack once again on the mission. Bummer that I learned the back pack trick after I got bit the first time in Juayua ha. But it´s definitely come in handy. My poor companion was terrified...frozen...her first dog experience. My fiftieth. Chuchos (mongrel or mutt) are the worst.

So this week has had some ups and downs. Maritza had her interview on Tuesday for her baptism. We weren´t sure if she was going to go through with it because of her mom and everything. Downside. But after the interview she was animated and excited and said she was going to do it. Upside. Then she starting cutting cafe (coffee) and we couldn´t meet with her all week. (The area they live in is full of coffee plantations and that's what everyone does for work.) Downside. Then we were able to meet with her finally Saturday night. She told us that she didn´t think she was going to go through with it until her mom gave her permission. Downside. Then we read some scriptures about faith and the trial of her faith, taught her about the temple, and she asked us if she could get baptized Sunday morning early so that she could go without her mom knowing. Upside. We planned the whole thing last minute Saturday night to let the members know and make sure it was all good for Sunday morning. Upside. We got the pila (baptismal font) filled up and everything ready Sunday morning. Upside. Maritza didn´t show up. Downside. We went to look for her, only her mom answered and said that she was sick. Downer. Then we didn´t have any investigators in church. Nor did we have any last week. Ugh. 

My first baptism where my investigator didn´t come. I was hoping to never have one of those runaway baptisms. Super chafa. 

But we´re working with her this week to be able to be baptized as she really does just have this huge, burning desire inside.

Looking for ways to improve and be better this week. We clearly need to improve algo porque lo que hicimos esta semana no sirvio, pero esta bien. Alli estamos, mejorando y emocionadas por una nueva semana. (something because what we did this week didn't serve us well. But we are improving and so excited for a new week.) The longer she is there the more spanglish we get in the letters.  :)

This week I read some of the general conference talks from the recent general conference as we just got our magazines last week (finally!). I haven´t read all of them, only a few this week, but one that I really liked this week was the one that´s called "A Testimony of Truth and Light" )or something like that ha). It´s from Presidente Uchtdorf. I love it because it talks about how there´s so much confusion and ideas, but we forget sometimes about God and His opinion. I think in today´s world the word "truth" has been skewed and people have forgotten what "truth" actually means. Something that is true, is constant, and unchanging, and it doesn´t matter what everyone else thinks or what the trends are, it doesn´t change. Here in El Salvador there are a million churches and everyone says, "Jesucristo es la verdad, El es la verdad, tengo la verdad porque creo en El." (Jesus Christ is the truth, He is the truth, so I have the truth because I believe in Him.) But then we look around and we see a million different ideas and churches and doctrines and if we think about who God is, that He is unchanging, that He is most powerful and will guide us. If we understand that, we understand that it is impossible for every single church to be true, as everyone teaches something a little different, and God would not guide each different church in a different way. If He did that, He would cease to be God. But He doesn´t do that. Instead He guides His church, not the church of a man, but His church, and He guides it through a living prophet that He has called and through revelation. Presidente Uchtdorf then explains that if we really have a desire to know the truth, the truth that is everlasting and never changing, the truth that comes only from God, then we can know it. We just have to do our part, pray, read, and have a real desire and real intent. If we do that we will know the truth of all things. And that promise is huge from God. It´s huge. He is willing to communicate with each one of us very personally, and to help each one of us find the truth,t he truth that He wants us to know. We just have to do our part. 

So there´s my thoughts and why I love that talk. And I invite yáll to read it again or those of you to read it who haven´t read it, and then pray and ask God, and if you do it, with a sincere heart and real intent, He will answer. And that I know because I have witnessed it myself, experienced it myself, and seen it time and time again. God is real. He does answer prayers, and He will guide us, but we just have to be willing to let Him. 

Fire roasting Christmas
activity

 Aside from that we should have hot water installed today. We shall see. But this week luckily it wasn´t as frigid cold as the weeks before. So we were grateful for that. 

I will talk to you all this week on Christmas...so I guess we can talk more than. 

Love you lots and lots. 

Love,

Hermana Wright

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/receiving-a-testimony-of-light-and-truth?lang=eng