A Week of Blessings!

I LOVE MY CHRISTMAS STOCKING, MOM!

This picture is an older one from two weeks ago; with our investigator Adrian, who is really great.

The last picture of me and Hermana Manzano together

Me and my new companion, Hermana Bailey!

This is one little part of my area that kinda weirds me out because all of the houses are exactly the same and there's like 200 of them. It reminds me of back to the future! ha-ha!

Thank you so much mom, you are really the best! My companion was super excited about the stocking and so was I! It's super cute! I haven't gotten your other package, but hopefully next Tuesday I will!

We went for pizza today with other hermanas and me and my new companion, Hermana Bailey!

So first things first, because I know you really want to know about all of this, mom. I don’t know what’s really going on for when I get to call you guys but I’m going to hopefully find out soon. Right now all I know is we get to Skype on the 25th but only for like 40 minutes; we don’t even get an hour so I’m no too happy about that to be honest. And another thing before I forget, next Monday we are having our mission Christmas party so I won’t be able to write you all until Tuesday so count on around this same time next Tuesday.

So this week was really different. It was really hard, but pushed me and my companion a lot! I really love my new companion. I do speak more English with her, but we set some rules of how much English we can speak a day so it’s all good now. It’s fun; we have hammock talk at night, it’s nice because I can kind of take a little break from Spanish and learn how to express my personality better again. She is helping me a lot with this language too! She has been out for 8 months so she has some pretty good experience with the language, but we both still struggle. I am her very first English speaking companion on the mission, so we both can’t really rely on our companions as much with the language anymore, so we’re really trying to work together now. On Tuesday we had exchanges with the sister training leaders and they helped us a lot with our area. Our area is kind of really struggling because our ward isn’t helping - like at all - but we are going to try and change that here soon. On Friday we had our ward Christmas party and it started at 8 and I’m pretty sure it ended around 2 in the morning, ha-ha! They know how to party here! We had to leave like an hour in because we had to be home by 9:30. But before we left they had a talent show and we got to be the first ones to go. We didn’t do a talent or anything but we shared acerca de El es la Dadiva (He is the Gift video) with everyone and we talked to them about missionary work. We were both super nervous because it was her first time meeting the ward and I was just nervous to talk in front of the whole word and many others. Ha-ha, but we did good and we were led by the Spirit. We also gave everyone pass-along cards about He is the Gift to give to other people, so hopefully this can help our ward. And we are both speaking in the ward this next Sunday about obra misional so that will help a lot too with our ward, I hope! 

One big blessing that I noticed for me this week was that my Spanish has gotten so much better! I’m still not very good, but I’m so much better than I used to be. This week really pushed me with a lot of things. The first was with our area. I had to be the one to know where everything was and who everyone is and how the busses work. And to my surprise, we haven’t gotten lost yet and only got on the wrong bus once, ha-ha! It’s hard because our area is huge! I also have been pushed so much with my language. I am able to talk to the members with more confidence in my language and they are all saying that I have been doing a lot better so that’s exciting. I am so grateful for these blessing that I have been given this week; I know it’s not just me, but the Lord helping me with all of this. I am so grateful for my companion that I have. We get a long so great and have a blast together considering how much stress we have with the mission, ha-ha! We really also help each other to recognize the blessings that we have been given this week. I am so grateful for the gift of tongues and the love that the Lord has for all of us. Always remember him and our brother this Christmas and every day after that. I am always so grateful for the atonement and all that it brings into our lives each day and for the opportunity we have to live the Plan of Happiness, the Plan of Salvation.

If you have someone, anyone you want to share this amazing gospel with, don’t be afraid to do so. You won’t lose them as a friend or end up with a bad relationship with this person. You will know that you tried. This gospel is too important to hold it back from our loved ones. Share just a little and the spirit will help guide you in what you need to say and do. Everyone has someone they can always share this gospel with, now you just have to act on it. I never knew how important it was to share the gospel with other people and how possible it is to change someone’s life and eternity, but it is so possible and it can bring so many blessings to you and to the other person. If you haven’t already, share the video He is the Gift with people on Facebook or any other way. We have our little dvd player and are showing people on the streets and you can see a difference in their demeanor when they watch this small video. Something that is only two minutes long can change someone’s Christmas and even their life. I love you all! Have a great week and look for blessings in your life everyday!

Love, Hermana Velasquez