SPOILED!!!

 Christmas morning

Oh boy, I can't even begin to thank you all for how spoiled I was this Christmas/Birthday! It was the best yet! :) I thought the holidays would be hard because I have never been away from home, but they were the best I've had so far! No offense ;) I can't wait to tell you all about them, but first, a spiritual thought that has been on my mind lately! My dad told me their wrestling shirts this year say "I AM" on them. It reminded me of a scripture in 3 Nephi 5:13. "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have everlasting life." We are all disciples of our brother Jesus Christ! Sister Berry, our mission president's wife reminds us of this often. It's not, "I think I am" or "I want to be" or "I'll try to be." It is I AM! Now here we go into the new year and everyone is making resolutions and such. Along with your weight loss goals and such, think about what you can do to be a disciple of Christ. :)

Gomez family

Now, it was a pretty good week! I got to Skype with my family on Wednesday, which was definitely a highlight! They are all doing so well it seems like and I am so proud of them! :) That day we mostly just hung out at a few members houses. And ate so much. I was full for the rest of the week. I was really able to feel my Savior's love this Christmas and also the love He and Heavenly Father have for each of us. That was a huge blessing for me! Christmas Eve was also good. We mostly just biked around and stopped by a few parties some members were having. So I got 2 Spanish Christmas dinners and 2 American :) Haha. Oh, we opened our packages first thing and it was so fun! I got lots of great things! A journal, music, a BYU jacket that is adorable, a photo album of my mom, some little necessities, scarves, a watch, an oufit! Then I got more packages later that I don't really know if they were late Christmas or birthday so we just opened them! Tons of food and candy! Jeez you would think I am in the Philippines or something with how much food I got! It is so hard to control myself with so much chocolate everywhere. But we are exercising every morning and that is all I can do really!

We had exchanges this week with the Sister Training Leaders. They are really great and we learned a lot from them! That was on the 28th which was when I got packages and they made me open them so we had a little birthday party! :) It was fun! Much better than just me and my comp celebrating together! Exchanges always bring miracles! We met a guy named Patrick and offered to help him change his tire. He laughed, as everyone does when we offer help. Not sure if it's the skirts, bikes, helmets, or friendliness. Anyway, we invited him to church and he came with his family! :) They were super cute and I think they liked it! The Amone family also came to church, but I think they just did it for me for my birthday ha :) But they are doing great and Bro. Amone who has been less active forever said that everyone is going to get baptized this year! Which means his wife and 2 of the kids :) They are so great! We didn't get to teach the Thomas family this week because their uncle died so they went to Miami :(

Medina family

My birthday (yesterday) was so great! Not many people knew about it, but we still had fun! After church we went to the Medina's and they had made me brownies because they know I don't like cake! We had a good time! Then we tracted and had a lesson with Janice, a recent convert. Then we went to the Gomez's for dinner. This is so cool. Such a great miracle! So this family is active and we go over there pretty often. Both parents are endowed but not sealed. So ever since I got here we have been trying to work with them to get them to go get sealed. They always say they are planning on June. Why they are waiting so long, I have no idea. So last night after we ate and had cake and sang happy birthday (in English and Spanish) we were just playing with the kids. Then Sister Gomez says, "You know, I still need to talk to Cesar about this, but I was thinking February would be a good month to get sealed." AHHH!! :) I was so happy! She was saying how she prayed about it and it feels right. And he was kinda shocked! She always seemed like the one who was putting it off! I suggested they go to the temple together and pray about it there. So they are going to go on Tuesday! :) And they haven't been since May! I am so happy for them! This has all been happening the last two months since I have been here but all the glory is to Heavenly Father of course! I am so glad that He could use me and my testimony of eternal families to help the Gomez family! :)

Well, I am going to attach some pictures. I have a lot of letter writing to do today! I hope you all have an amazing new year! Be safe please! :)

Love, Sister Lowry