Hey family, Merry Christmas! 

Hope this week has been good and that you get a chance to stop and think about the real reason of Christmas instead of the gifts you need to buy or the decorations you forgot to put up. This time of the year is about so much more!

I realized after my last email that I forgot to tell you about where I'm serving! I am in Fontana, CA in the Sierra ward. Hermana Rosales and I share the ward boundaries with two elders, Gonzalez and Garcia. They've both been out for about a year and Hermana Rosales is going on her 8th month. The ward is great, tiny but powerful. And the stake is so diverse. There are two Spanish wards and a Tongan ward! The Tongans meet in the chapel right after us and it is fun to see the stuff they wear to church. It's usually ceremonial and just cool to see. Yesterday for some reason they had a huge truck full of fresh veggies and fruit and potatoes and they invited us to take what we would like, that was our grocery "shopping" for the week.

And I am the driver in our companionship. Hermana Rosales is from Mexico city and doesn't have very much experience or confidence driving so I have been assigned to be the driver. I was a little overwhelmed at first but I'm thankful because it's helping me get the hang of our area a little more.

I told you guys last week about a guy who cancelled his baptism after learning about the word of wisdom and law of chastity. Well, now let me tell you about a little Christmas miracle. Let me set the scene, he is 22, lives in the garage of some family friends, got out of jail almost a year ago and is really really willing to change. The next lesson we had with him after cancelling his baptism, we showed up and it was very clear he was under the influence of something other than the Holy Ghost. We tried to teach him but he was so fidgety and just couldn't focus or sit still so we decided we'd come back the next day. We set up a time with him when he said he'd be home and came back the next day. He wasn't there. Didn't answer his phone or anything. Then he called us back that night, set up a time for the next day. We went back, same thing, no sign of the guy. He called us later and said that he really wants to change, which we know he does because we could see the desire before, but now we were getting a little discouraged. Then the next day we called him, he said he was home, so we grabbed a member who has experience overcoming addictions and we went to his house determined to help him. We went to his house and he opened the door, he was showered, dressed nicely, had a huge smile, and his book of Mormon in his hand ready to get down to business. During that lesson I saw him do a complete 180, he was calm, he was focused, he was ready to change and already had changed! I saw a light in his eyes when the member we brought was talking to him about how they could work together to beat this and how we're all here to help. He said the closing prayer and he is progressing so much! He came to church yesterday and is getting baptized on December 29th! The day before my birthday and such a great present it will be. My first miracle :)

Also, we have another man who is planning on getting baptized in January, he has the potential to be a stake president or something big, he is so great. He comes to church and participates in class and has really great insights. I learn from him! 

The Spanish is still a struggle, even when I try to have a conversation with the members, I ask them a question and they look at my companion and answer like I'm not there. Or they ask her things like "where is she from? How long has she been on her mission?" and I answer them and they nod and keep talking to her. But I'm learning more and more. The other day I answered the phone and talked to our investigator about our lesson, which is usually my companion's job since the members speak really fast. But I did it and I didn't mess up! And I had to give a 15 minute talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday, with no time to really prepare or practice it, the members said I did well so that's good. I'm progressing! Slowly but surely.

The other day it was raining so much! We finally got invited into a house, I think she just felt sorry for us, but we sat down and were talking and for the longest time I thought their roof was leaking until I realized that my hair was dripping because we were soaked. But my rain jacket served me well! I was toasty and dry under my jacket :)

Time is going so fast, I can't believe Christmas is already here and then next week I'll be 21! Que vieja. Hermana Rosales turns 21 on January 3rd. I told her that she shares her birthday with a very cute 5 yr old :)

Also, we had a funny experience with some dogs the other day. We are pretty accustomed to dogs barking at us lately so when we heard little barks from little dogs we weren't worried. But one of them was not playing around, he was little but ferocious and he believed he could tear my leg off so we just backed up very very quickly and went to the next house. It made me think of Puerto Rico and getting chased by those dogs, it really was preparation.

The days are all full of ups and downs and getting chased by dogs or getting doors slammed in our faces but at the end of the day I wouldn't rather be doing anything else. I have the incredible privilege to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and even after 100 people reject it, there will be one whose life will be changed and will be so grateful for the gospel. It is an honor and a blessing to be out here doing the Lord's work. And even though I have some hard days and some difficult experiences, I'm learning and growing and that's the whole purpose for this life and this mission!

A little Christmas thought... When Jesus Christ was on the Earth he spent his entire life serving. He established His church, taught His gospel, blessed people, preformed miracles, and was constantly in the service of others. Let's try to do the same! It doesn't have to be serving a mission for your church or even working in a soup kitchen, even though those are both awesome things to do. But it can be as simple as doing something small for someone else. Write a little note to someone to tell them why you're thankful for them. Take cookies to someone, help someone do something. Anything. If there's one thing I've learned the past two weeks in the real world mission is that we are always busy. Sometimes we're teaching, sometimes we're trying to find people to teach, sometimes we're in meeting talking about how to be better teachers, but other times we are doing the most odd end jobs that other people need help with and that is what they need at the time. And we're happy to do it! Yesterday we killed cockroaches in a member's house. The day before that we stopped by to visit a less active member and ended up helping her rearrange her garage. One family has a dad/grandpa who is very ill and can't make it to church so we went and carrolled to them and shared a short message so he could feel a little bit of the spirit of Christmas. This year, skip a trip to the store and help someone. They'll like it and remember it much more than whatever you were going to wrap for them, I promise.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Granado