Hola Familia!
I love you soooo much! I can't beieve that Christmas has come and gone like that! We've had a crazy week. Christmas Eve was Pday. We had made sugar cookies the day before and needed to drop them off to some members and then we went to the stake center and met up with a bunch of other missionaries to play games and have fun. That night we ate dinner with two different members. Oops. First we had posole, which is a Mexican soup with corn and meat and deliciousness that you eat with tostadas and then we had mole negro, which is this sauce that you typcially put on chicken and it is made out of chiles and chocoalte and nuts. Hermana Stewart does not like it at all. Then it was Christmas. We love our rice bags! They keep us so warm. And our pillowcases! Especially mine. Hermana Stewart loves you now, Mom! Then I made biscuts and gravy for breakfast. It wouldn't be Christmas without that. And then we got to Skype!! That was so fun. I wish we could have talked for longer. And that Brady's internet connection was better. But it was soooo good to see you. We had all day on Christmas free, so we went to a place called Old Town, which is in the heart of Alexandria and is where the rich white people live. The street goes all the way down to the Potomac and is lined with trees that have been strung with lights. It's a really fun little place, so we walked around there for a bit just enjoying the lights. And then a homeless guy asked us for money but we didn't have any cash. Really truly. And he told us we were pathetic. Sorry buddy. I felt a little bad about that. Because I couldn't help him, and because he was mean. But the rest of the day was so good. We also watched the Forgotten Carols, and we've been singing the cheesy songs all week. We didn't teach as many lessons as we usually teach, things were a little bit crazy with Christmas and what not, but hopefully this week we'll be back on track.
Yesterday we had a meeting with the bishop as a district. Our ward covers the entire stake and there are three sets of missionaries (our entire district) that are in the ward. We've been having a really hard time working with the ward lately. I guess some of the missionaries in the past have made it really hard for the ward members to trust them and the ward has become less and less helpful with missionary work. So now we're in repair mode. We have a new district leader and he's really dedicated to the work and willing to do whatever it takes to get the ward back on its feet again, so hopefully we'll start seeing some success.
This week we also passed one of our investigators to the elders. He's a single guy that we've been teaching at the library, but he's kind of scary. Kind of a lot. And he talks and talks and talks forever. So Thursday we had a hand off lesson and invited the elders so they could meet him, I think he was mad that we brought the elders along. He insulted everyone there but me. Probably because I was the only one that was nice to him. Everyone else told him that if he wanted to truly learn then he needed to stop talking and give us a chance to talk and teach. Definitely true, but I think it might have offended him.
We had a really neat lesson with the Peruvian family that we're teaching. Hermana Stewart and I have really been working on how to better help our investigators understand why the Book of Mormon is so important and why it's absolutely essential that they gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. We were reading a chapter with this family (they haven't been reading) and we decided to read 3 Nephi 11, which is a typical missionary chapter, but we felt pretty strongly that we needed to read it. So we did. And we got to the part about Jesus letting the people come to him one by one, and Spanish just started coming out of my mouth. I don't even remember everything that I was saying, but I know that it was what our people needed to hear. I know that that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. That he leads and directs it and that it is for everyone. Everyone needs what the gospel has to offer, whether they realize it or not. It's the only way we find true happiness. It's the only way that we can live with our families forever. It's more than just a nice idea and pretty words. It's a reality. And every person needs to discover that for his or her self. And at that moment I felt so strongly our investigators needed to know that I know that. Without a doubt. And I know it's true for them too. After that, it was really neat, because the mom started asking us questions about repentance. It was really neat. I actually felt like a missionary!
I have something to tell you family: If you can think of anyone that has been prepared to hear the gospel, please tell the missionaries! Especially families. That's what we're here for. And it makes it so much easier for us to teach people when they come from member referrals. I know that there are people here in Washington, East (as Grandpa calls it) that have been prepared by the Lord and our now ready to embrace the gospel. But I also know that there are people at home too that have also been prepared and are ready. The funny thing is, you probably know who they are better than the missionaries. I'm starting to gain a strong testimony of how important members are in this work. It not only makes the work easier, but it makes it so much powerful. Members play such a huge role in helping people become truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's my hope that we can better work together here in my mission and also that you can help the missionaries there. It's never too early or to late to start working with the missionaries. Cheesy as that sounds, I know it's true.
What are you going to do for New Year's? We are going to stay up until 10:30! And we've also been commanded to go to the Stake Center to watch Brave tonight! Since what people usually do on New Year's isn't really condusive to missionary work, we're staying in tonight. We had to cancel a dinner appointment, which is kind of a bummer, but it will be fun to watch Brave with the zone.
So that's about it for this week. I love you all so much. It sounds like everyone is doing really good at sports. I just wish Kelley's entire team played as good as she did. Then they would never lose! And when you talk about wrestling, I hope you know that I pretty much understand half of what you're saying. But go Cam! I hope you have a good week this week and that you all choose that right and choose the write. As in choosing to write me letters. I'm so clever! Love you bunches.
xoxo
Hermana Simpson
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