I hope everyone has been enjoying the Christmas season, this week!

For us, it`s been plenty of fun with the ward. On Saturday, we had a Christmas party, where each organization brought food from a different country, and presented it to everyone else to try. The food was judged, the primary sang Christmas carols, and we played a game, involving passing a wrapped gift in a circle, and unwrapping a layer of paper each time the music stopped. It was a blast, and everyone had a great time.  

My companion and I also recently moved to live with the other two missionaries in the ward. It`s been lots of fun, and we all get along well. (My companion is the latino in the picture below).  And on the 23rd, we`re all going to Antofagasta, to do a mission gift exchange.

It`s always a great experience to be able to share the Christmas story in the houses of members. It really helps us to focus on the work, and helps us realize what a great responsibility we have to invite this miracle of a Messiah into the lives of so many people. 

We also met a super awesome guy names Mariano, yesterday!  He's super humble, wants to get baptized, and more than anything wants to improve his life!  He also happens to be homeless, but we're going to keep trying to teach him, and hopefully help him find a job.  It's been amazing, how wonderfully humble people can be.  People I never would have thought about talking to before.

I hope everyone else has been enjoying the Christmas season as well, and continually remembering it`s constant purpose in our lives. Have a merry Chrismas, and I`ll email you all next week!

-Elder Checketts