Merry Christmas

And Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and

is settling back into normal things with ease!

We passed Christmas very well here in Itapetininga! I got to open all

my awesome presents, including my UT pajamas for Christmas Eve, and

spend the day with some awesome missionaries! This Christmas really

taught me a lot about the true spirit of Christmas. Being a missionary

brings a whole different meaning to it. About the love for other

people and the love for our Savior Jesus Christ! We went and had a

nice big lunch at the house of a member, and then I spent a little

more than 3 hours (whoops) talking with my family over Skype! It was

super cool and I was so glad to be able to talk to them for that

amount of time. I know other missionaries had troubles with Skype and

internet, but I was blessed to have everything work perfectly. It was

definitely hard to get off at the end and to say goodbye. This goodbye

was a lot harder than even when I left to start my mission! But all is

well and afterwards the members gave us some nice gifts and we

returned home. We had bought a lot of food and feasted on some

delicous meat, rice, and salad! It was awesome to have that time with

my missionary friends.

I hope everyone is doing well and having fun! 

I love everyone and am loving the work here! Keep safe!

Elder Ashford