Happy Boxing Day!
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| Zona El Bosque truly killing it after our outstanding performance. |
Technically, it was yesterday, but since it fell on a Sunday, it was not officially recognized until today.
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| More next week, but we had a photo shoot with some members who own a photography studio, and this was us pre-fashion moment. |
I also hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas! I certainly did. Fun fact: In Latin American culture, there are two of them (more on that later)! But there was also basically a third, because on the 23rd, we had zone conference! It was an absolute blast. Each zone prepared its own special performances. There were a carol medley, a popsicle-stick puppet theater of the nativity, a live-action nativity with cardboard-box sheep, and, last but not least, the BOSQUE ZONE Christmas performance of Dr. Seuss’ seminal classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” directed by yours truly, complete with face paint for our Grinch (portrayed wonderfully by Elder Mecham), a Christmas tree (played by Elder Danielson) with functioning Christmas lights, noise makers, Hermana Noyola as the most cheerful chimney ever, my district leader Elder Soto as Cindy-Lou Who (complete with an Elmo toy), Elder Bosh giving the performance of a lifetime as Max the dog, and me as a rat! It was stressful and chaotic to put together, but the end result was a highlight of my mission. Never did I think I would make a Guatemalan directorial debut, but here we are.
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| On Christmas Eve, we stopped by with Menas (so basically we were just staying home jaja), and Luna was pooped at the end of the day. |
We had a feast of paches this year, both for Christmas Eve (aka Noche Buena) and then again on Christmas Day! The bishop’s family also stopped by to give us a turkey dinner, complete with gravy! That’s right, Christmas celebrations are two days in a row of nonstop partying here. This tradition includes staying up until midnight on Christmas Eve. When I’ve pointed out to families how they’ll literally have to do the same thing a week later, without the promise of presents, the adults all nodded solemnly while the children seemed very content.
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| We needed to buy stuff at the distribution center, which is closed on P-Day, so we eased on down on Wednesday. I LOVE TO SEE THE TEMPLE! |
There is a lot to learn about and gain from the Christmas season, even if it doesn’t feel nearly cold enough for it to be Christmastime. I've been going back to a verse in Luke 2:
19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
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| The sky never ceases to amaze me. |
I’ve always been drawn to the character of Mary in the scriptures for what I think are obvious reasons. But I think that within these few words, there’s a lesson to be learned for all of us. There’s a lot happening in this world, all of the time. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by it. But if we simply acknowledge the good and the bad, and consciously take time to understand them, there are more than arbitrary lessons to be learned. There’s growth to be experienced.
—Feliz Navidad,
Hermana Newton
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