It's a Little Chile Down Here...But Kinda Warm in Brazil: Christmas Treats!

I guess you can find these everywhere

Dear Fam,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It really was fantastic being able to see all of you last Wednesday -- just like Dad said, that was the best Christmas present EVER! The Christmas week passed by really well for us out here, and I am pleased to hear that it passed by well for you all too -- especially that you were able to do so much fun stuff with the family. Yes, it is still CRAZY hot here, and that makes the days drag a bit sometimes, but is really cool also because we normally end the day at 10 pm and the sun is just barely setting. Of course, like Dad guessed, the work is a little harder during the holiday season, as there are less people to visit because everyone goes off to the beach to vacation, but we are making the best of it.

Like I said during the skype call, we were able to spend Christmas morning with the missionaries in the zone in a little devotional. The senior couple from the zone spoke to us and we had a little testimony meeting, and that was a ton of fun. Elder Sercovich and I made a little zone Christmas card and passed on out to each zone member as a little reminder of our Christmas together. On Christmas eve, we had a big dinner in the apartment. Elder Surmik and Elder Bunderson (the other missionaries in the ward) are both really good cooks, so we took advantage of that. We were able to pass out the rest of the little packages that we made. Claudio was especially grateful because we went to his house on the 27th and it was his birthday. He was super happy that we were able to pass by.

As far as miracles go, we were able to find a few new investigators this week, and that was really amazing. It was totally a blessing too, because it all just kind of fell into our laps. We started teaching a neighbor of one of our recent converts. His name is David, and he is a police officer and he just went through some major back surgery. We found him the day after Christmas, and he was really excited to hear our message, and was really interested in the idea that families can be forever. It's so cool because his house is sandwiched between two members' houses -- how lucky is he! And then we also met this AMAZING family -- the dad is australian, the mom is mexican, and the daughter is chilean, and they came to church with the mexican lady`s sister, who is active in her home ward in Guadalajara. So we went to their house to visit them after church with the bishop and it was an amazing lesson -- they're going to make awesome members.

Those were the two big miracles of the week, even though smaller miracles seem to be happening every single day -- but hey, that's what life is like as a missionary. ALSO: Andrew, Zone Leader!? HOW EXCITING! He is going to love it. Seriously, being a zone leader is so much fun and he's intelligent so he will do an excellent job.

I just want you all to know how much i love you and how thankful I am for your love and support. It really was amazing being able to talk to all of you on Wednesday! I hope that you all have an excellent week. Stay strong -- the church is true. I love you all!

Hasta la proxima vez!

con amor,

Elder Schwartz