you never know who is going to respond to the invitation, so you have to invite everyone.

4 February 2013
Hey!

   The address of the church is... de la retonda universitaria 1 cuadra al lago, 1 arriba.  It´s not very far away from Holiday Inn.  Ask directions in the hotel.  Just ask for the Iglesia Mormona en el reparto San Juan.  You can see the church from the road, but you have to take a kind of messed up road to get to the church.  The churches have gates around them and you´ll have to enter the car in a gated area.  We´ll be there at about 8:00 on Wednesday morning.  If you get lost, call me. 83302987  There will be a ton of missionaries there.    Just remember to wear Sunday clothes.  Remember, don´t just take a drive around Managua.  Go see a beach or Leon or Granada or something.

   Cool news....  I think you´re probably going to meet Hna and Pres Monestel tonight because the new missionaries arrive at the airport about 8:40.  I was in the mission office this morning for my last interview and we were chatting with Hna Monestel.  So she said, "we´ll probably see your parents tonight."  Also, Elder Santana and I are the only ones going home and Elder Santana is leaving with his parents right after the meeting because he lives here in Nicaragua.  So the Monestel family always eats lunch with the missionaries that are ending their missions, and I´m the only one.  So we´ll have a one on one experience.  President Monestel said, "well, that´s nice that your parents speak Spanish." 

   Well, Jose and Lizeth are progressing.  We´ll probably go visit them.  We´ll probably visit two investigators here in Miraflores.   I feel less sad after my interview this morning.  I feel kind of bad for Hna de Leon because my emotions have been kind of crazy but ya casi.   

   Also, a man that we contacted two weeks ago came to church this Sunday.  We were waiting for a convert and he was sitting outside on the concrete so we started talking to him. and he came to church today with the pamphlet in his hand!  Wow!  He doesn´t actually live in our area but that´s cool that he showed up.  It kind of woke me up because I was thinking, well, you never know who is going to respond to the invitation, so you have to invite everyone.  

   Rebecca Arroliga, the RS president shared her testimony this Sunday and it was awesome.  She feels really insecure in her calling but she has been visiting Jose and Lizeth with us.  And this Sunday she shared that she feels good every time that she visits them.  She said that she feels like her burdens are lighter and she feels happier.  I loved that because that could be a real change in her life so that she has the desire to visit members and less actives and investigators. Tonight we are going to have a noche de hogar with Jose and Lizeth with Rebecca and her husband!  

  Also, Henry is praying and reading his BoM.  He hasn´t gone to church in two weeks and he doesn´t have a baptismal date. 

  Since there are a ton of new hermanas, we are going to work with them tomorrow afternoon.  That´s good.  

   Mom, sounds like your experience in the MTC was great.  I want to hear all about it.  I loved the MTC too.  I love all the pictures of missionaries too!   Did you get a picture taken in front of the famous map?  

   Dad, thanks for the email. Sounds like you enjoyed your MTC experience too.  Did you go for a training, then? 

   Tanner thanks for the update.  I am glad that you are feeling better and you will have to smile for me so I can see which teeth are missing. 

  Cheryl, thanks for the email and all the pictures.  Everyone looks good!  I am glad that you are able to stay at home and do many good things!  Sounds like a great life!  I am excited to see you!

  Dani, thanks for the email and the morale booster.  I am excited to see you too! 

  Doug, thanks for the email. I am excited to see you! 

  Pablito, I hope you are doing well and that you are feeling good.  Keep on working hard with the diet!  I am proud of you! :)  

  Kyle, I hope you are doing well too and that you are enjoying school.  

 Kevin, sounds like BYU is great!  I am so happy that you are working there and I am sure that you are having some great experiences.  I am really grateful to the professors that took time to help me.   

   Well, see you all soon. I love you all a lot and I am grateful for all the letters and pictures and packages and love that you have sent me.  Take care, 

Love, hna Tew

We received a training two weeks ago about how to being teaching and how to teach people not lessons. And we did it! It was an awesome lesson.

28 January 2013

Hola Familia,

how are you all doing?  

   Mom, I want to stay in Managua every night.  Masatepe is max. 40 minutes away and La Borgoña is like 20 minutes away.  You can pick whatever hotel.  Holiday Inn is close to San Juan.  I just know San Juan, carretera Masaya, and Miraflores a little better, but we can stay wherever.  Does the hotel have hot water and air conditioning?  That would be nice.  

    I´ll write another note in a minute.  Thanks for the letters mom and dad.  Tell Mallory congratulations for her mission call!  when does she report?  

love, mb

Also, we are thinking about reserving a room at Hotel Contempo which is south of the city.  Or in the south part of the city.  Do we want to stay in Managua every night? 

Yes, I think so.

 Do you want to drive over to the Carribean?

I hadn´t considered that very seriously, but that could be really fun actually.   

  Do you want to get released and go swimming? Or are you supposed to be a missionary while in the country? 

I think I would feel weird.  Maybe I´ll ask Pres. Monestel but I think I would like to be released in the states. 

Do people wear jeans, or is it too hot for that? 

People wear jeans but it´s kind of hot.  But you can. Khakis will probably be more comfortable but bring jeans too if you want.  Jeans are normal here. 

 Should I bring my keens? 

Sure and wear socks with them. 

 Will we be walking a lot?  

Um... I think my perception of "a lot" is kind of twisted.  But we won´t be walking a ton.  

We want to meet all your friends.  Is there anywhere you want to go other than where you served? 

Yes.  I want to go to Masaya because there´s a big market there to buy touristy stuff.  Also Granada is supposed to be really beautiful.  I want to go to the island of Ometepe.  Also San Juan del Sur is the crown jewel of Nicaragua and I would like to go too.  If we go to Bluefields or Corn Ïsland that would be interesting... I don´t know how long of a drive it is.  The missionaries that serve in Bluefields come and go in airplanes.  But I think that there has to be a road over there. :) 

 

Dad, there are districts in the south mission.  I don´t know if there are districts in the north mission.  Has anyone else gotten mission calls?   Have you told many people? 

  That´s great that you have lost 20 pounds.  Wow!  That´s really impressive.  Good job.  Sounds awesome. That´s good that your boss took the news well.  Don´t worry dad, I think I will still recognize you.  But when you see me... well,  I hope you recognize me.  I was looking at the picture I sent with my mission papers and... yeah  the mission changes everything.

Mom, thanks for the letter about ending my mission.  That helped me a lot.  Thanks for being a good mom.  :)   Thanks again for the package that you sent me.  I ate the chocolate embarrassingly fast.  Actually I´m not embarrassed that much... Less than a week.  But I shared with my companion.  :)  

Jose Dolores and Lizeth went to church this Sunday and they loved it!  We took two members to their house this week.  We taught the plan of salvation and Jose was just eating it up.  When we arrived he said that he was leaving to run an errand but he said, well it can wait for 30 minutes.   So we taught them both and when thirty minutes had passed I said, "hno, creo que ya se tiene que ir."  But he said, just ten more minutes.  as we were finishing the lesson his phone rang and he was talking, saying, "wait, I´m about to leave the house just hold on a minute."  So he sacrificed to stay.  And he loved the plan of salvation.  They both told us that they´ve been praying as a family and they´ve felt a lot more unity.  We´re excited for them.  

Yesterday we went to look for a cool family that we had contacted in the street.  They were home and received us really easily.   We received a training two weeks ago about how to being teaching and how to teach people not lessons.  And we did it!   It was an awesome lesson.  Martha had about a billion questions of the soul.  We didn´t teach any lesson.  We taught repentance, our life on earth, the gospel blesses families, the resurrection, the book of Mormon, prayer, the Holy Ghost.  Yeah it was crazy but awesome.  And at the end she asked us, do all the people you teach always go to the church?  And we were like, huh?  Finally, she said, look, when I was 16 my mom had just died and I was living with my little sister.  And the elders came to visit us.  And we went to church.  And I got baptized.  Her questions were: Was that okay to have gotten baptized even though I didn´t take it that seriously?  How can I know God´s plan for me?  (yes, she asked us that.  I was like..... WHAT!!!  That´s such an awesome question!!!)  Does God listen to the prayers of sinners?  If I go back to church do I have to get baptized again?  Is everyone going to be resurrected?  When I go to heaven will I have another chance to repent?  And her husband accepted a baptismal date.  He is really interested in knowing more too.   We didn´t challenge her to get baptized because she´s a member.  

Jefferson went to church too!  He hadn´t gone in a long time because he´s been drinking.  But he went back!  We haven´t taught Henry in about a week and a half.  He didn´t go to church this week.  

Well, I´m doing well.  Thanks for writing me. Hope you all are happy and enjoying life.  

If you get this and have more questions shoot me an email in the next five minutes.  

Love you all a lot.  Thanks so much for your support and for the encouraging words.  Good luck with getting ready to serve your mission!  And see you all soon.  Love, mb

21 January 2013

hey family,

   Hope you all are doing well.  

Write me a note if you can.  Happy Birthday Cheryl and happy birthday Tanner! 

Love you all, hna tew

Hey family,

   I´m doing good.  We are still working here in Miraflores.  This weekend was stake conference.  Henry came to church again.  I feel like we are missing something with him.  He comes to church and reads and prays, but his heart is closed.  He is a nice person but I don´t feel like we really know what is going on in his mind sometimes.  

   Mom, I got your package thanks.  I like the shirt but it doesn´t fit.  Thanks for the stickers and the candy and the deodorant. The credit card never got here. Quien sabe.... Thanks so much, Mom!   

   We have a new family... Jose Dolores and Lizeth.  They are evangelicals and they are great.  We found Lizeth last Sunday and taught lesson one and she accepted a baptism date and a book of Mormon.  We went back on Tuesday night with her husband and they both came to greet us at the gate.  The husband was super excited and almost nervous or something.  He had listened to the missionaries in Cuidad Sandino and he had read the LDM that we left with Lizeth.  So we taught lesson one again but didn´t get through all of it.  We showed them a teaching record (it´s a new thing the mission is doing,  we give a teaching record to our investigators and we help them to fill it out so they can see everything they are learning and what committments they have done and still have to do)  He works as a guard so he couldn´t go to church this sunday.  When we went back on Saturday he was like... We already got baptized in the Catholic church as babies, can we get baptized again?  YES!  Actually, you never got baptized.   Do I have to get married to get baptized? YES!  Dice... Jamás he pensado en casarme. haha  Can I go visit the church even if I don´t get baptized right away?  YES!   It was a neat lesson.  Hopefully they progress.  

   We started talking to Carlos and Francis again this week.  We still haven´t had a lesson but he told us why he stopped going to church and hopefully we can help them out still.  They are a really special family and I really hope that they get baptized.  

   Mom... about the package.  Yes, I know Elder Bateman.  If you want to bring down a package you can do it but only do it if it´s going to be easy.  And tell her not to send very much...   give her a limit. 

Okay...   this week has been a little hard because I don´t even know what I feel.  It´s just hard to finish the mission.  All I can say is that it´s painful.   

I wrote down a ton of things to tell you about when you come here.  

First... things to bring... 

Don´t buy anything new to come here. 

Don´t bring very many clothes. We can wash clothes. 

Bring pants, like jeans or slacks or khakis or whatever.  Don´t bring capris or shorts. The bugs will eat you alive.

You don´t need any jacket.  

Bring Sunday clothes for Wednesday morning and Sunday

Bring whatever shoes you like to walk in. 

Scissors 

a knife, because I want to eat pineapple and mangos and other great stuff

laptop

sunscreen, just a little bottle.  

bug spray 

Spanish scriptures 

don´t bring any jewelry

if dad has his GPS that would be cool 

camera

jumpdrive   

To do before you come here

    find out how to withdraw money, what the least expensive way is 

    tell the bank that you´re coming to Nicaragua 

    reserve the hotel, I was thinking holiday inn.  Can you check to see if it has internet access?  
    because we´re going to need to look at maps. 

    write down the mission´s number and the American embassy´s number just in case

When you come on Wednesday to pick me up, you need to wear Sunday clothes.  All the elders are going to wear suit coats, but dad you can just wear a white shirt and tie unless you want to come in a suit. There are going to be a ton of missionaries there.  This is the first transfer of the missionary boom so it might be a little crazy.  If you get a chance to talk to Pres and Sis Monestel (doubt it)  it will probably be for like 30 seconds.  Just shake hands with everyone and let the Latinos practice their English. :) if they want to All the new missionaries are there and their new companions. Also, all the missionaries that are being transferred are coming.  They are going to open a ton a new areas.  So it´s a meeting.  Pres and Hna Monestel speak and maybe someone else.  The missionaries that are going home bear their testimony and Pres. reads the names of the new missionaries.  At the end they announce transfers.  

On your free day, (by the way, try not to rent a really nice car... and try to get tinted windows... seriously.)  It´s not that it´s dangerous here, it´s just that all the cops pull over white people.  If you get pulled over just tell them that they´re being dishonest and that you´re going to call the American Embassy and that God will judge them for robbing.  And if they still bug you offer them 10 córdobas.   I´m kind of joking, but not really.  I was thinking that on your free day you could go to Leon, it´s part of the North mission or a beach.  Pochomil is really pretty, and La Boquita is supposed to be really nice too.  Just don´t go driving around Managua because there are a few sketchy spots.  You could go see Granada too.  It´s a really touristy place and I hear that it´s really beautiful.  Hey!  You could go to Bluefields!   

Anyway... that´s for you to think about...  

I´m really excited to see you all but I´m going to try to not think about it too much.  

I have a world map and I have all the countries where you can go colored.  Also, I found the July 2010 ensign in our house and made a list of all the missions that received new mission presidents.  Have we started betting yet?  I´m thinking Bolivia or Peru or Paraguay.

Hope you are doing well everyone.  I love you all a lot. Sorry for my trunky letter.  Paul, I hope you are feeling well.  Doug, good luck with the new job.  Mom, good luck with your Spanish! I am sure that I will be amazed at all you can say and understand when I see you.  Kyle, enjoy your free day.  Kevin, hope you find a house and that you enjoy your job.

Love, hna tew

14 January 2012

hey family.

I´m doing great.  Hope you all are doing well.  Thanks for the letter mom and dad.  Thanks for the picture Dani. 

Hope Paul gets to feeling better.

Write me a note.  I miss you all a lot.

Love, hna tew

Hello Family,

   Mom, sounds like you are keeping busy.  Tell Grandma Campbell I say hi and tell Grandma and Grandpa Tew that I say hi and I hope they get to feeling a lot better soon.  

  Dad, thanks for the letter.  Sounds like you are doing great. 

  Kevin, tell me how everything's going

  Cheryl,  how are you doing?

  Kyle, thanks for the note.  What are you doing in your classes?

  Douglas, hope you´re doing well.  Send me a note...

  Dani, hope you´re doing well.  Tell the munchkins hi for me.

  Pablito,  I hope you are feeling better and that you recover quickly.  I think the best medicine, according to the doctors here is drink pure lemon juice and soak the wound agua de mango.   Déle pues.  Ahí me avisa cualquier cosa.

   Our favorite moment from the week....  We were walking to the church and a hna de Leon asked me a question about English Grammar.  I was responding... depende... si... and a man that was walking past us stopped and said the following.... depende de que?  me quiero casar con vos, pelo de oro...  It was even funnier because this was one of probably three days in my mission that I wore my hair down (for the baptism) and I decided to wear contacts instead of glasses, and another drunk man had just made a comment about how I was his girlfriend.  So, hna de Leon said that I can either wear contacts or I can wear my hair down. But I can´t do both.  It was funny.  I feel more self conscious about how I look now...  my face is tan and my hair is burnt.  But whatever... 

  Carlos´ baptism was awesome!  Henry came and a lot of members came too.  We are working with members like crazy.  And I really like it.  Last night we had an FHE with our ward mission leader and it went really well.  He invited four people over and we had a great lesson.  It was a great experience.  Carlos´ family all says that he´s crazy for getting baptized again after being a pastor for 20 years, but he doesn´t care.  He invites everyone to go to church and to receive the lessons.   In his testimony after he got baptized he said. I already got baptized a long time ago.  But this time it felt different.  I feel really good.  I feel a lot of peace and a lot of confidence.  It was really sweet.  He told us that he went on a tour of the US to speak in conferences as a pastor.  And he said that he earned 30,000 dollars in a few months.  THAT IS A TON OF MONEY.  and I always doubt what he says but it always ends up being the truth.  We are excited for him.  Hopefully he can be a ward missionary! :)  

 We are working with the ward missionaries and they are working.. Things are going to improve! 

love you all,  I´m doing great.  I am enjoying my mission more that ever.  Hna de Leon is awesome and she´s probably my favorite comp.   

Last Monday we went Nica and made a life sized doll. Every New Year's Eve it´s tradicion to made an old man (hombre viejo) and stuff it with no sé que and fireworks. So we made una misionera vieja

The ward missionaries are finally waking up.  The ward is waking up too. I feel good because we are working with members.

7 January 2013

Highlights... One of our investigators, Carlos Garay who is more than 70 years old preached to a bus with the help of our ward mission leader.  When he told us it was hilarious.  Our ward mission leader, Mauricio told him, " Don´t tell the hermanas, because I think that it´s against the protocol to preach in a bus."  y cabal.  As Carlos was telling us the story, Mauricio passes by... "buenas!"  And Carlos says, "ay hermano... ya les dije... ay disculpe."   hahahahaha.  The best part is that they both said they felt really good preaching in the bus. And Mauricio shared a little of the experience in Fast and Testimony meeting. 

Henry is going to church.  We had an awesome lesson with him.  

We made a misionera vieja ,,., ya les explico.  

Write me a note. 

Love you all.  Wow Andrew looks super different.  Thanks for forwarding Dale´s email. 

hna tew 

Hey family,

  Mom, thanks for the letter.  Hna Bunting was in the internet place with me and her mom wrote her that you all have been talking.  Yeah, we´re in the same district and we go to the same church building.  She´s a really good missionary.  Thanks for the update.  I hope all your medical checkup stuff ... goes well?  is exciting?  ends quickly?    Sounds like you all are excited to serve a mission.   Also I really liked the Christmas letter and pictures.  

    Dad, thanks for the letter.  Hope you are doing well.  Sounds like you are busy with work.  I hope everything goes well.  Only two months more as stake president.  Will I be the last missionary that you release?   That´s great that there are a lot of missionaries.  Tell everyone that applies congratulations for me.  It seems like it would be better to quit earlier than later even though there are a lot of projects.  I´m only going to have two months with you because school starts in April.  So it would be nice to have more time with you in the house.  Congratulations with weight loss. It sounds like you are doing great.  Felicidades! 

   Kevin, hope your classes are going well.  I hope you enjoy teaching and that you enjoy the people you work with.  Where is your office and where do you teach?  What are you teaching?   

   Cheryl, that´s exciting that you are quitting!  Yeah!  I hope you can find a house and that everything goes well in the move.  Thanks for the letter.  Tell Kevin to write me about his new job. 

    Kyle, hope you´re enjoying MBA school.  Sounds like fun.  

   Doug, hello. write me a note... 

   Dani, hello thanks for the letter. I am excited to get to know David. 

   Pablito lindo, hello.  Good luck with the surgery I´ll be think of and praying for you! :)

   So we had a good week.  The ward missionaries are finally waking up.  The ward is waking up too.  I feel good because we are working with members.  We are inviting ourselves to have a family home evening in their houses with their nonmember friends.  We had a really good one last night with the Blandón family.  They helped us teach the lesson (we gave them a pamphlet of the restoration and assigned them parts to teach).   It was spiritual, but it´s kind of weird to teach in such a big group.  We´ll have to practice a bit more.  But it went really well.  

   Last Monday we went Nica and made a life sized doll.  Every New Year's Eve it´s tradicion to made an old man (hombre viejo)  and stuff it with no sé que and fireworks.  So we made una misionera vieja with one of my blouses that has a hole and with a sleeveless shirt that we converted into a skirt.  She has a name tag that says Hermana 2012.  We made so many jokes it was ridiculous.  We joked around with our district leader too:  "Elder Batz, my companion refused to leave the house!  I had to leave her there alone and go work."  "Elder Batz, we´re in a threesome now."  "Elder Batz, my companion won´t get out of bed.  I think she´s pretending not to hear me."  We also took pictures of us planning together.  She has a planner, pencil, the area book and the cell phone.  Anyone, the tradition is to burn the hombre viejo, and we were about to do it. I even had the flame.  But I just looked at hna de Leon and told her.  es que... me da pesar quemarla.  And she said that she felt the same.  So we decided to leave her there for a while longer. We´ll probably burn her on my last night.  Is that an apostate tradition?  

   Henry is understanding more.  He wants an answer from the Bible.  We kind of macheted him with some Moroni 7 and told him to have faith.  but we are excited that he is going to church and is reading from his Book of Mormon.  I hope he can keep progressing.  

  We are trying to reactivate recent converts because the retention is terrible.  They get baptized and go inactive.  But things will get better.

Love you all, 

hna tew

31 Diciembre 2012
hey family, it was nice to talk to you all on Christmas. hope you are having a good day.  write me a note!  love, hna tew

Questions:

   When are you going to tell Peabody that you´re going to retire? 

   When are you going to tell the Stake or everybody else? 

   When do you find out where you are going? 

   Do you know how many options there are in each place?  Like, what´s the likelihood that you´re going to Chile vs. Argentina?  I don´t know how many missions there are and how many openings there are.  

   

I am really excited for you all. yay!  

What is Paul´s surgery? 

We´ve been working a lot with members lately.  It´s fun and it´s a lot better than working by ourselves.  Yesterday we had two families in church!  And Carlos Garay!  Yay  

Henry is to complete a family.  Yesterday was his first time in church and he really liked it, especially principles of the gospel.  Mauricio, who got baptized about a year ago is the ward mission leader and he gave the class.  It was excellent.  Henry has a lot of questions and it´s really interesting to try to teach him.  But he´s reading his Book of Mormon and going to church.  We found him Christmas morning haha.  We were contacting and we yelled buenas and I saw a sign that said "Fam Rodriguez Ire y hare lo que el Señor mande."  And I was like... hna de Leon... I think that Mormons live here.  And sure enough.  I recognized Maria Elena, asked her if she lived by herself and she said no, her husband, who has lived in the states for 31 years came back to Nicaragua a month and a half ago.  Is he a member?  no.  Is he here? yes.  Can we talk to him. sure.  He accepted a baptism date.  That´s why I was late on the Skype call.  We were talking to him.  So that was great that he went to church.  We are going to teach him in the house of a member.  :)  

  Carlos Garay went to church for the second time.  Last week he was ready at 7:15, outside of his house with his BoM.  This week too!  Yay! He was an evangelical Pastor for 20 years.  He´s reading the BoM like crazy and is super excited.  His family bugs him a lot but he´s like, whatever.  He has a ton of friends in church now.  yay for a friendly ward!  He always asks us why we are late or why we missed an appointment.  He´s about 70 years old.  He talks a lot.  We´re going to visit him tonight with Mauricio.   

   Jessica is the sister of a member that goes to the other ward.  Her husband is from Costa Rica and they both have gone to church many times.  She has a testimony, but he´s still working on it.  They have to get married first, and he needs to get some papers from Costa Rica so they can get married.  They are planning on the 26th of January.  Their kids always go to church and they are so cute!  They aren´t members, but basically yeah, they are. 

   Hna de Leon is great.  She´s probably my favorite or second favorite companion.  

I'm going to write a little more later.  

write me a note.  

love you all, 

good luck with everything.  Feel better Nani and Tanner! 

hna tew

Just wanted to say hi to my grandparents too.  Tell Grandma and Grandpa Tew that I love them and I hope they are doing well.  That I think about them and pray for them and I hope they have a happy new year!

Grandma Campbell, thanks for all the letters and the encouragement.  I´m really glad to receive the letters!  Love you grandma! Happy new year!  

24 Diciembre 2012
Hey family,

   um... Wow.  Congratulations Mom and Dad.  You will great!  That´s awesome news.  To be honest, the thought has crossed times on my mission that you might be called to be mission presidents, but it was still kind of surprising a lot.  But that´s great.  Felicidades!  I can´t tell anyone?  Not even my companion?

   Um...  you all need to buy 3 tickets to be here Tuesday night. and I think that we´ll leave Tuesday morning.  Can you buy the tickets?  Dad, I think it´s best to stay in Managua every night.  Nicaragua is really safe, but I want to sleep in a American hotel.  

   Not that I ever think about ending my mission.... :)  No I´m excited to see you all but I´m really enjoying my mission now more than never.  My companion is awesome.  Hna de Leon, de Guate. 

Love you all.  Thanks for the letters.  

hna tew 

Kevin did you get the job at BYU?  

Tell me tell me  tell me

Dad,  Congratulations!  That´s great that you get to be a mission president.  

Mom, Congratulations!  That´s great that you get to be a missionary!   

Kevin, Congratulations!  I am so happy that you got the job.  Cheryl said that you were moving to Provo, but I wasn´t sure.  But that´s so great!  I hope that I´ll be able to talk to you and Cheryl and the kids tomorrow.  But if not, happy Christmas and I hope everything goes well for you!

Cheryl,  Congratulations for being awesome!  Sounds like you are excited to go to Provo.  I thought that was cute that Tanner was reading books to Adam and Scotty.  

Kyle, How are you doing?  I hope you are doing great and are enjoying Christmas too.  love you!

Doug, Hey your gingerbread house is awesome!  I love it.  Hope you have a good Christmas.  Say hi to the cold for me.  

Dani, thanks for the pictures and the updates.  I love getting emails.  Adam is a Campbell kid.  He looks really Campbell-ish. 

Pablito, Feliz Navidad hermanito.  Espero que estés feliz y que estés disfrutando la navidad.  Te quiero un montón!  

Well, I am with hna de Leon.  She´s from Retalhuleu (como se escribe???) anyway she´s awesome.  She´s excited to work and she is up with working with members so we´ve been having lots of mini lessons (10 minutes) with member.  Also we´re trying to pull up the retention because our converts are not going to church.  They´re great, but they don´t go to church.   

Dani, you are right; today is Christmas.  Our plans... at Midnight we´re going to leave to house to go hug our neighbors.  just kidding.  We´re going to eat dinner at midnight with a member.  just kidding.  Dang.  All the traditions are contrary to the missionary rules.... Speaking seriously, we probably will stay up late tonight because of the fireworks.  We made no bake cookies today.  margarine plus milk plus nesquik plus oats equals no bake cookies Nica style.  We´re going to visit our converts tonight and take them cookies.  When we gave away some cookies before lunch it finally felt like Christmas.  and Jaime and Jimmy were happy to have cookies.  yay!   

I´ll probably open my packages tonight with my companion.   :)  

Hna de Leon talks a lot.  She is really fun but with´it (pilas, chispas).  She has lots of good ideas and she´s patient.  I have REALLY enjoyed this week.  I am glad that she is going to be my last companion.  :)  Yay!  We are getting a ton of missionaries in February when I go home.  I have really loved being a missionary, especially this week.  I hope I can do everything i have to do in the time I have.  

Also, Nani looks really cute with and without teeth :)  

So yeah... Skype tomorrow at 1:00.  I think I´m going to have to create an account so don´t freak out if I don´t call exactly at 1:00.  Also, I haven´t confirmed with the zone leaders and they have to be there in the stake center when we call.  

But I love you all a lot.  I´ll be praying for you Mom and Dad.  Thanks for your letter.  I won´t tell anyone until you tell me to tell someone.  But that´s great that you´re going to be mission presidents.   It´s like 101 dalmatians. you already have 5 children and now you´re going to have 500 more.  When do you find out where you´ll be going?????? 

Thanks for all the letters and everything I love you all a lot.  Talk to you tomorrow. 

love, hna tew