Week 26: Feliz Navidad, Prospero Año y Felicidad

Christmas on the mission was definitely different and not what I'm used to, but it was such a good and memorable Christmas all the same. It was hard to teach people this week, even though they had work off, because so many of them went to Mexico or had family come to visit. So we ended up doing a lot of service this week instead! We helped Luis clean up his yard, we learned how to make tamales from Obispo, we went Christmas caroling, we played the piano at the nursing home, we took cookies to our investigators. I could definitely feel the spirit of Christmas as we spent so much time serving others. Also it was so good to skype home! I was so happy to see that not much has changed (except for Andrew's voice!) and it was so hard to hang up. Mother's Day is just 5 months away!

Darlin and Oscar made it to church again. Carlos was there as well, like always. When we taught him this week, he gave Hermana Browning and I matching sweaters for Christmas! It was such a sweet and thoughtful gesture. In that same lesson, he helped us convince our recent convert Geronimo that he needs to wear a white shirt and tie to church. Carlos is so ready to be baptized. People in the ward are surprised when they find out that he's not a member! After church, Carlos asked us if he could participate in passing or blessing the sacrament. We explained to him that you have to have the priesthood to do that, which will come after his baptism, and we could tell he was a little disappointed. We will be praying extra hard for him this week for some sort of miracle to happen so that he can be baptized soon.

We almost had some of our other investigators come to church, but they flaked out at the last minute. I've been thinking about that word a lot lately -- almost. If our investigators almost make it to church, they'll almost feel of the Spirit there. If we almost stop to talk to someone, they'll almost be introduced to the Mormon church. If we almost keep the commandments, we'll almost receive the blessings. Almost is never enough! And so, with that, I want to encourage all y'all to make goals for this next year, and then work hard to achieve them!

What a blessing it is to be out on a mission! Hard to believe I hit my 6 month mark this past week. There is no greater joy than sharing the good news :)

Love always,

Hermana Samantha Baker

Sister Melton came to West Lake Houston on exchanges! Geronimo bought us ice cream from this super sketchy ice cream van, so of course we had to take a picture.

Making tamales! This is definitely gonna become a tradition. 

Christmas morning, Patriarch Stuart and his wife invited all the missionaries in the area over for breakfast.

Carlos and our matching sweaters!