Feliz Navidad!

Hola hola!! Another week gone. It goes kinda fast sometimes! In 2 days I will have 17 months left. Still a long time but not as much as before. This week was honestly pretty slow as far as work goes. 

Tuesday we had zone conference/Christmas party which was very fun. But we were in Pachuca the whole day so we couldn’t really do any work. Wednesday was Elder Heumann’s birthday, so we went out to eat because our food for the day canceled on us. The rest of the day was very normal. 

Christmas eve was also really slow, but we went to contact in the main plaza for a bit and we talked to a guy that used to be addicted to crystal meth but isn’t anymore, and then we talked to some Pentecostal pastor/missionaries who were very cool and bought us tamales. Also, while we were talking to them a kid was setting off fireworks, but one tipped over and shot at us and hit the old man we were talking to and Elder Heumann. Everyone was fine though - it was just way funny. Our food for that day also cancelled, but one of the mission president’s counselors lives in our ward and they brought us dinner because we weren’t allowed to go to a member’s house for dinner. That was so nice of him. 

Christmas was kind of a weird day. We talked to family in the morning and most of our lessons got canceled but I got to watch Raul Baeza's baptism on zoom. Raul is a guy I taught in my last area and he’s awesome honestly. I’m very happy for him. Bummed I couldn’t go in person, but at least I got to watch on zoom. Other than that, Christmas was just like a regular day for us but with less lessons than normal. 

Today we wanted to go for a hike in the mountains but our president told us we can’t :'( so instead we went on a bike ride to a huge cross in this other town. Honestly it was a pretty slow week. I’m hoping that this week is better work wise. 

And for my Christmas thought. I listened to Elder Hollands talk from last year’s Christmas devotional and I really like it. He used a line from Oh Little Town of Bethlehem (which happens to be my favorite Christmas song) which says "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight" and talked about how our hopes and dreams are all accomplished through Jesus Christ. He also shared a poem that I liked a lot which says: 

That night when in [the] Judean skies 

The mystic Star dispensed its light, 

A blind man [groped] in his sleep, 

And dreamed [that] he had sight.

 

That night when shepherds heard the song 

Of hosts angelic choiring near, 

A deaf man stirred in slumber’s spell, 

And dreamed [that] he could hear. 

 

That night when in the cattle-stall 

Slept Child and Mother [without talk], 

A cripple[d] [man] turned his twisted limbs, 

And dreamed [that] he [could walk]. 

 

That night when o’er the new-born Babe 

The tender Mary rose to lean, 

A loathsome leper smiled in sleep, 

And dreamed [that] he was clean. 

 

That night when to his Mother’s breast 

The little King was held secure, 

A harlot slept a happy sleep, 

And dreamed [that] she was pure. 

 

That night when in the manger lay 

The Sanctified, who came to save, 

 A man moved in the sleep of death, 

And dreamed there was no grave. 

I really liked that poem. Even with all our problems, shortcomings and mess ups, he’s always there to help us. That is the greatest message we could ever receive. Well I hope you all had a great Christmas and I love you all! 

 

Elder Stevenson 

 

Pictures: P-day activities