Parables of Paraguay: Elias' baptism and ready for Christmas!

Hola Mama!

Its almost Christmas!!!! Wooo! I sent you guys some letters in the mail but they told me they might arrive there in a month :( Or more because its the U.S., but I`ll be praying that they get there sooner! Its a really odd feeling here to be honest, it's super warm but there are Christmas decorations everywhere and at nights all the houses are lit up, but I`m used to having Christmas in the cold. I guess Santa visits here with his shorts and t-shirt haha. Things are going great though, it is a little more difficult around Christmas time, everyone is working hard and not many people have time to stop and listen. But we are working a lot with the members and sharing about the real meaning of Christmas and there are some good videos that the church has released for Christmas that help a lot.

We also had Elias`s baptism! It went great, a lot of his family came who are not members and we had a ton of good food. I really felt the spirit, the power went out in the city so we had to start the baptism without light or air, but during the first talk all the lights came back on and the air, it was super cool. He came to church the next day with his shirt and tie, he is definitely going to serve a mission someday!

We had another storm, it was crazy, we had to stay in the street under a little tin roof because it was pouring rain and the wind was blowing super strong too, but we prepared a little better so luckily our apartment only flooded a little :) To answer your questions, a lady in the ward washes our clothes, she is really nice and always is willing to give us food or help us with anything. The holiday for the Virgin of Caacupe is basically a holiday where people walk from the city of Caacupe to another city drinking and partying. We aren`t close to there, but the missionaries that serve there have to be in their houses at a certain time because it gets dangerous in the streets.

I`m glad to hear Abby`s last concert went well, I`m sure all the songs were amazing as usual, it's crazy that it's her last concert for Christmas, time passes too fast. We are coordinating with some members for the Skype call, I will most likely call you guys on the 26th, the day after Christmas, the mission also has the Christmas activity this Wednesday, so I`m very excited for that too.

All is good here Mom, thanks for all the emails and pictures, my companion is really awesome and is probably the best one I`ve had to this point, so it will be a good Christmas. Let me know if I can do anything and I can`t wait to hear from you soon and talk to you on Skype in a couple of weeks!

I love you!!!!!!!!! Tu hijo,

Elder Spiro