Cardboard Christmas Tree

Hola familia,

Of course transfers happened this last week. Elder Hortin got here on Wednesday afternoon. He's from Smithfield, Utah, which is near Logan. He came out at the same time as Elder Blomquist. He's served in Yakima and Sunnyside.

This whole last week has been extremely busy, in part, preparations for Christmas. We're going to the Stake President's house today for a zone p-day. We're really excited about that. The reason for that is because the stake reached its goal for the year, which is amazing. There are also a lot of baptisms scheduled for January. We'll start the year off with a bang.

Jose Vargas got interviewed to receive the priesthood. He'll receive that next Sunday. He asked me if I would ordain him. That hit me really hard as I was talking to him in the church hall. I feel very privileged for having that opportunity. It's been amazing to see that family progress. They all love church. And the other daughters are going to be baptized in the beginning of January.

I don't know if you remember last year when we talked to you for Christmas. We used a member’s newspaper store. He has four lines there so we can be all talking at the same time. I'll call you at 9:45 our time which is 10:45 your time.

I believe that I got all of the packages. I got the one from grandma and the one from Amy and from Crate and Barrel. I remember at least one from big box games and I think there's another one in the van. We're driving the mission van up to the Stake President's house. It's pretty big. I think it's a 12 passenger van.

We have a cardboard tree in our apartment that Elder Anderson got from somewhere last year. All of our presents are under it. I'll take a picture of it so you can see it.

I love you and look forward to talking to you on Christmas!

Elder Arnold