Semana 69!!!

Hola!

Wow, this last week was great! Let me just say, Christmas in the mission is the best thing ever. It´s so much different in Paraguay, but it´s something I really love. On Christmas Eve, most people spend the night with their family. It´s really cool, 'cause they have a big dinner together, like asado (which is like a steak) pork, chicken, basically any type of meat you could want! After dinner, they wait together for midnight, light off fireworks, and that´s it. Bueno, everyone who's not part of the church spends the night drinking with their family (haha) but It was cool this year, 'cuase we had permission to stay out late and eat with a member, whereas last year we had to be home early. I loved it! It was such a relaxed Christmas, and I just remember thinking as I was eating dinner, that this is what Christmas is for. To spend time with family and be grateful for the birth of Christ. Because of him we have the opportunity to be with our families forever, and more than that because of him we are never alone. In the darkest moments he´s always there. The miracle of Christmas is the Atonement. I was reading and thinking in my study Christmas how happy of a day that was for the entire universe the day the Savior was born. It was a day that changed the course of all mankind. I love my Savior and am so grateful for all that he did for me! I know without a doubt that he lives, that he loves us, and that he´s always there to help us.  My testimony of him is one of many things that´s been cemented here on the mission, and something I am grateful I have.  

I love you all hope you had a great Christmas! (haha) Not much else happened last week, it was a good one but nothing super exciting! love you all, and Happy New Year!!!

Hermana Austin