There was problem with myldsmail on Monday so we couldn't email, but never fear because you'll still get to here about how everything here is the same. Haha.
I can't believe that it's almost Christmas. Yesterday was 5 months since I left for the MTC and I remember saying with my companion "By Christmas we'll be speaking Spanish and everything will be awesome. And we'll have almost 4 months in the mission" But it seemed so far away. And now BOOM! it's Christmas. I found out that the people here love Christmas music in English (well music in English in general, but Christmas music is better because it doesn't swear) so I still get to hear a lot of Christmas music.
As for the climate, apparently I am not the only person from the US who was under the impression that it is always warm in Mexico. Let me tell you, it is not. Right now, I would say it's colder here than it was last winter in Utah. Part of the problem is that the houses here are made of cement and so they turn into freezers, basically because the cement traps the cold and radiates it into the house. So although I am sure that with all the snow there it is colder in Utah, at least there's central heating. But we walk a lot and so we manage to keep warm.
This last week we had a posada in the church. It's basically just a christmas party. One of our investigators came with her 4 children. Her name is Guadalupe and her kids are 7, 6, 5 and 2. They are the sweetest little angels although a little naughty sometimes. She is very poor. One of the days when we visited her, her 2 year old was playing with a piece of wood wrapped in a blanket like it was her doll. The good news is that we have received a lot of support from the ward. Some of the hermanas donated dolls for her girls and clothes for her son, he is the 6 year old. And they're collecting more stuff to take to her for Christmas. But the posada was so fun! There were more investigators there than members! (I'm not sure if that says more about the ward or the investigators) There were more than 30 investigators there between the 3 companionships in the ward. I honestly think the missionaries enjoyed it more than anyone because we've never seen so many investigators in one place. And it was definitely the highlight of the week because none of our investigators came to church.
We talked a lot this week about how important the Book of Mormon is in order to help people know that the church is true. We talked about how it starts with our own testimonies. In Preach My Gospel it says that we as missionaries (or members) should regually... I can't think of a good word in english... test? try? apply? something like that the promise found in Moroni 10:3-5. We should read the Book of Mormon and then pray and ask God again (it doesn't matter how many times we've already done it) if the Book of Mormon is true. I thought about how I always thought it was more of a one and done thing, but really we always have to be studying and confirming what we learn, what we think we know, with our Heavenly Father. That's how we keep our testimonies strong.
Well I hope all have a very merry Christmas. I don't know if you've seen the videos that the church made for this Christmas but they're very good. A neat reminder of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. https://www.mormon.org/
Much love,
Hermana Schmidt
