Hola Familia y Amigos! Como estas? I hope you are all doing well and enjoyed your Christmas. Christmas in the field is definitely not as good as spending it with family but it wasn't too bad. We had 2 dinner appointments and went to a families house and hung out with them for a couple hours. It was nice.. we spent it with 2 of my favorite families so far (both American families who speak Spanish). For those who haven't heard yet, I am in the Orem North Area. We are covering 7 stakes with 3 Spanish wards. It is a small area. Roy is in my area.. he lives about 3 minutes away up by one of the English ward buildings that we have correlation in. Every time we drive by his house... I say yep, that's his house. Maybe if I am here in April I can see family :)

Tuesday I left "spirit prison" (MTC). That night it had snowed over a foot and the roads were a mess. Our AP"s were late picking us up and then we got stuck on a hill going to President Pitt's home. It was an adventure all day. After we met President and Sister Pitts we had breakfast and some meetings then meet our trainers and went into our area and right to work. My companion, Hermana Tetelpa is from Veracruz Mexico and lives in Salt Lake now. She speaks her own dialect of Spanish so it's not really like what I learned in the MTC... it's fun sometimes. She is not a compassionate person so it is kind of hard at times but we get along. I have had a lot of rough days this last week between Christmas and not having a clue of what is going on. But I got a blessing yesterday from a stake President. He could tell I was having a hard week. It was so nice to receive a blessing of comfort, peace, and help.

Anyway this week we have taught some investigators and got some new ones.
- Jorge: 7 y.o. and turned 8 today. He is getting baptized on Sunday (domingo). His sister is a member but no one else in his family so we are teaching him. He is hilarious! I am pretty sure he has ADHD. He is so hard to teach sometimes.. he uses his age as an excuse. He is super smart though. But he is excited to be baptized. We teach him in English.
-Monica: she is in her 40's with 2 kids. After being taught for a couple months so told us the other day that she wants to be baptized. She is scheduled for baptism in February (that's when she wants it done).
-Yesenia: 21 y.o. who is getting baptized Wednesday. She is very excited. She is so ready! We teach her in English. She is not in our area but wants sisters to teach her. We are the closest so we can.
-Orbelin: new investigator! We found him on Wednesday and he wants to be baptized. His daughters are members. He came to church with us yesterday and loved it. We are teaching him again tonight. We are hoping he can get baptized Jan 8. We shall see.
-There are few others that we are teaching, well reading the Book of Mormon (el Libro de Mormon) with and are not progressing and there are some others that I have not met yet for various reasons- usually because they aren't home or cancel.

Some of the families I have met and love are the Adamson's. They just had a daughter return from her mission from Independence Missouri. Sister Adamson's parents served a mission in Nauvoo.. they couldn't remember Dave and Vivian but are pretty sure that they have met them. I love this family. Mom and Dad- don't be surprised if you get stuff from her. She is so sweet. Another family I have met and really enjoy are the Baxter's. He is from Seattle area and she is from Honduras I believe. We spent Christmas with both of these families. One of the bishops of one of our wards just had a son return from his mission from Sacramento. I was talking to him on Christmas Eve and he served 9 months in Stockton. He loves it. Ryan- he told me you looked familiar but couldn't remember if he had met you or not. He was spanish speaking on his mission. His last name is Chacon.

How are you all doing? I hope you are all doing well and that you had a wonderful Christmas.Christmas in the field is so different. It is definitely not commercialized. It was weird and kind of nice. I don't think a whole not is new here besides what I have told you. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you all and am so grateful for you! I am especially grateful that we can be an eternal family. I love the gospel and the chance that I have to invite others to come unto Christ. I am so grateful for our Savior and the Atonement.

Merry late Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love,

Kelcie