Baptizing Elias~ Monday, December 14, 2009

This is the view from the upper window of Ben's pench.
It's nice and cozy.
When it rains it doesn't rain directly on Ben,
it drips just off to the side
of his bed and there is a little bucket there to catch the drops. :)





This picture is at the Baptism of Elias. Here we have good ol`Elias, his girlfriend and the mom of his girlfriend.












Dear Family and Friends,

Going back to Colonia Bombal to baptize Elias was quite the experience! It was so fun to see him all dressed in white and know the baptism is a new beginning. That he is clean of his sins and that he is at peace. Just looking at how happy his is in this photo says a whole lot more than I can describe. Anyway, the trip was really tiring, but well worth it, something I will never forget.

Ok ,to answer some questions, I have only received one package of spicey crackers up until now but this question that mom sent me makes me think I will be receiving more which really brightens up the day! I have not gotten the pictures yet...to answer the question if I am saving the spicey crackers for Christmas....well, they are already gone. My missionary friends and I decided to eat them...I actually finished off the bag this afternoon in a bowl of cereal...what a GREAT treat! Thanks so much! My missionary friends loved the little spicey crackers, which I thought was great. Most times people think I`m pretty strange for eating them...I don`t blame them really, but it was fun to see that they liked them.

This week has been absolutly incredible. My Spanish is coming along so well with the Latin Companion. My accent is improving and I am able to Speak and understand much more quickly. Understanding others is stillthe hardest thing for me to do but I know that it will come along with Practice.

This week we spent a lot of time verfying contacts and having them not be there or them telling us to come back another time. We were trying as well to contact our progressing investigators this week too but a lot was falling through. If there is one thing I have learned on the mision is that when things get hard, it`s time to get excited because with a little more hard work there is a blessing lying just around the corner. This definitely happened. When I was in Colonia Bombal on Sunday, my companion went out with another missionary and there were three people that made it to church!! Maria...who is going to get baptized the 26th of this month. David...her 14 year old son with a mind as sharp as a tac, and Camila, a little 10 year old girl who has been coming to church with another member family because her parents are inactive. Blessings come, we just need to keep working hard.

Christmas is fast approaching and here it just keeps getting hotter. The first official day of Summer is, I think, the 21st of December. It is a little different to see the Christmas trees and the plastic Santa Claus in front of store in all of his snow gear when it`s not exactly the climate for that kind of stuff.

I have dropped a little weight in this area. I think it`s because I am controling how much I eat...ok, I haven`t done so well in the past two days, but we`ll get better....and my companion and I are trying to go running every morning. Throw in some ab workouts and hopefully things turn out all right.

I love you all, I`ll write next week! Talk to you all soon!

Love,
Elder Hoglund