¡Feliz Navidad!‏

With the hustle and bustle of Christmas I am a day late getting this posted.  It sounds like Elder McAlister is doing well in his new area, and there is lots of work to do.  We now know where his new area is (in the southern part of the mission, just north west of Concepcion, and we know who his companion is.

We get to Skype with Sean on Christmas day, which is really exciting and will really make it a special Christmas day.

Sean sent some pictures again, and they are at the end of this post.

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Hey everyone,

Looks like Utah is cold and everything is all ready for Christmas which is really cool. I want to wish you guys a Merry Christmas and I hope that you guys are having a good time this Christmas season. I am really missing the things we did around Christmas and I miss the cold weather around Christmas tambien. I did get the package and I haven't opened any of the presents inside but I did open the box. I might of ate one of the beef jerky`s and that was really good. Right now we are looking to Skype you guys between 1 and 3 your time, not Chilies. I hope it works out, I will be making my Skype account on Christmas. It’s going to be cool seeing you guys this Christmas!

Chile is a little bit hot but, where I am is like the perfect temperature and cold in the night. I kinda told you guys the wrong place last time, which is my fault. It’s actually Hualpeneillo and I have my house address also. Hualpenecillo, Noruega 1753. That’s the address for the house. but we live in the back of this house. Right now I live in a house for only two people and it is so small we have a room for our beds and bathroom and a kitchen for only 1, But it works for two missionary's. My new Companion is Elder Coronado who is a really good missionary. He ends his mission in 2 months. Hualpenecillo is really cool the members are really cool and super fun, I already like it here like I did in Linares. We only had to investigators when I got here, so there is a lot of work to do this cambio. I’m thinking we will be able to build this area and make it better. 

This last week we had the cambio and it’s been a crazy but super fast week. We had three activities in our Ward this week and they were all super fun. Our Ward is really cool like I said and the cool thing is we have a family named Novoa who are amazing. They have 5 sons and three of them have gone on missions and the other 2 are only 10. They are all doing missionary work in the area and they are the perfect example of how members should be. The other day they had a noche de hogar which was super fun. While one of the sons is teaching he runs out of the house grabs the person that is walking by and invites her in the house for noche de hogar. Right now I am hoping I stay in this sector for a long time because of the members. Like I said that we have nothing and it’s only us two missionary's in this sector so it’s really time to work our hardest. 

I don't know what else to say right now because I get to Skype you guys soon, in 2 days to be exact which is awesome. I talked about it a little in this email, but I am going to try to contact you guys between 1 and 3. Then we get to have an hour and a half to talk to each other. I’m hoping everything goes well!

I want to hear what you guys are doing from Christmas and I want to hear what you guys got. I will record me opening my present on Christmas day and try to send it to you guys next week. Sabrina I hope that Santa comes by and eats all the cookies and milk that you will have for him. 

Thanks for you guys emails I love hearing from you guys. It always makes the mission a lot better to know that everything is going well. I will talk to you guys on Wednesday and I wish you guys a Merry Christmas and have a good time with each other because Christmas is really cool especially with our family!!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

I love you guys

Elder Papa Noel 

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Here is a simple, but important, spiritual message about Christmas shared with Elder McAlister this week that comes from President Monson:

"Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than things. To catch the real meaning of the “spirit of Christmas,” we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the “Spirit of Christ.”"

Merry Christmas to everyone and enjoy you time with family and friends.  Here are some pictures for Sean to enjoy.