Feliz Navidad!

December 23, 2013

Hello Everyone!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!  Elder Wagner said that today is Christmas Adam because Adam comes before Eve.  He's a goofy guy.  Haha

Anyways, all is well here in Newburgh!  The work is going well- we picked up another person with a baptismal date- Jenny!  She is progressing well and is looking to be baptized in February.  Less actives are progressing well too- we had eight at church yesterday!  I counted the number of priesthood holders and potential priesthood holders there and if things keep on going as they're going, soon enough the branch could be a ward.  We'll see what God has in mind though.  Another thing that will help is that we got another car!  The other guys have a nice white 2014 Ford Fusion now, so that will help us to get around together without having to either depend on each other or the bikes.  We're hoping to move out of the city of Newburgh a little more, so we'll see what we can do!  Things are great!

The Christmas season has been a delight!  We're planning on caroling tomorrow and Christmas when we have free time (we didn't do a whole lot last year on Christmas when we had down time, so I'm excited to get out there and serve in that way with the free time that we do have).  Christmas eve is a lot bigger of a deal in Spanish culture, so we've got some good stuff going on tomorrow evening, and then Wednesday for lunch we're going to Paul's house with almost the whole district (the sisters have something else going on).  Being a missionary during Christmas time is great!  And I've been blessed to be able to look back and see how my mindset in regards to Christmas has changed.  I'm grateful to have had experiences to know that giving is so much more fulfilling that getting.  I don't have a lot of physical means for giving, but I've been blessed with the opportunity to give of my full time and service as a missionary.  I love caroling and I think its because it is a giving service and helps everybody listen to and feel Christmas through music.  I look forward to doing that tomorrow and Wednesday.  I challenge you to look for someway you can go out of the way and serve somebody else, out of the norm, and see what you feel like.  If you want to get some nice baked cookies, go give somebody some nice baked cookies and see how you feel.  It's great!

Thanks for the well wishes and everything.  Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

-Elder Griffiths