Chistmas!!

This has been one of the best weeks I have ad on my mission. Christmas is the best! We got to spend time with the members and hang out with other missionaries. It was good. For Christmas Eve me and my companion went to eat at the Gomez-Chafala's house. We ate Argentine "carne asada". It was actually really good, just a bit salty. We spent time with them and got to know them better. They are, in my opinion, the best young family in the branch. They are fun and don't make things awkward like most do.
Christmas day we went to the Christiansen's house to go use their phone to cal my family. I was really excited to talk to them. I had talked to them in about 7 months. It was really good to hear their voices again. After that we just ate all day and hung out with other missionaries. I had a bunch of fun.
So to the good stuff! Today i went to Nike Employee Store. Its really sweet. Their was a lot there to see. Too bad everything was really expensive and I didn't have much money. Maybe next time Ill have a little more to have a bit of fun.
Take care!!!

ELDER ARCIA
(stripplingarcia@myldsmail.net)

Christmas Party!

Well today was the mission's Christmas party. We are one of the only missions that are allowed to gather like this. It was pretty sweet. We sang and ate and just had a blast. i saw everyone there. It was a really nice experience.
This last week was kinda bad for our lessons. We had a lot of lessons set up but they all fell through. But we did get a less active member to commit to go to church this Sunday, that was pretty nice!
This whole week is going to be bad for us. We have like 3 members that want us to go to their houses and eat with them. We are ganna ge soo fat! Also since most of the people are ganna be out of town we are just going to go Down Town to sing carols. Its ganne be a lot of fun!
I hope that all of you remembered that you have some one on his mission that is poor and with out a family. I think that a bunch of presents will make him feel better! haha (No,but really it would!)
Well I hope yall have a great Christmas and party like its 1999.
Im so excited to talk to my family! Im calling them on the 25th! WOOT WOOT!!
Love ya. Take care

ELDER ARCIA
(stripplingarcia@myldsmail.net)

1/3

Today I hit my 8 month mark. Its not funny how fast time has passed. I remember coming out (on the mission) like it was yesterday. I wonder if this is how its going to be after my mission. Weeks go by like months and months go by like days. I cant believe that in four months I'll be hitting a year. Its ganna be a good time.
This past week was good. We went to the coast to help the other Elders in our district blitz that part of their area. Since they can only go limited times a month they need to be as effective as they can. We also had Zone Conference. It was good. It felt like I was back in school. We were there for almost 8 hours, but i love it. I learn so much that my brain cant fit anything else after.
This Sunday was really cool. We saw a sister come back to church that we have been working with for a long time. The family is not too supportive of the church even though they are all members. She is a really strong woman and has great faith. She is a great example to me.

ELDER ARCIA
(stripplingarcia@myldsmail.net)

This week turned out to be one of the worst I've had yet. Its not about my companion. We are actually doing better then ever. All of our investigators flaked out of baptism. We had three baptisms set up and a wedding. And in four days time it all went down the drain. All of our investigators have been tricked by the master of lies through their families. Its amazing how much power family has in someones decisions. I just cant believe that with in an hour someone can go from being super excited to just undecisive. So thats why my week went so bad. Now what we have to do is just keep working and finding people that are ready.
Now that I let all of that out: Im really excited for Chistmas. Its ganna be a new experience to be away from home. This is the first time that I'll celebrate without my family. Its also wanna be good to talk with my family. We're ganna have a Mission Christmas Party. Ill tell yall how that went. AND all the presents that Im ganna get will not hurt either! haha
I cant believe that Its almost ganne be 8 months since left home. Time flies by when your doing the Lord's work. I love you all!! Take care!!

ELDER ARCIA
(stripplingarcia@myldsmail.net)

Turkey Day

This week was good. Specially Thanksgiving. First we had a Turkey Bowl. We went and played Touch Football with some members. We played for like 2 hours. It was raining and cold but we had fun. After that we cleaned up and went parting with all of our district. Our Zone Leaders got invited to a party at a Bowling Alley. It was great! We bowled all we wanted, eat all we wanted and played games for free (air hockey and hoops, not arcade games). I had a good time with the members and trying to get to know them. We went to their houses and just talked to them. We had dinner at a members house. Family Juarez Alvarado. We stuffed our faces with food. We ate "Tukey a la Mexican" (quoted from the chef herself). Its one for the journal.
Fryday we went to play Futbol with some investigators and I hurt my knee really bad.
The whole week we have been working on getting Manuel and Glendis, our investigators, married. It is finally paying off. We have all of the paper work we just need to fill it out and send it in to get a license. After that its marriage and baptism.
Yesterday we went to Tillamook and got some work done there. I drove all the way theere. It was NICE! We tracted for a while and we knocked in to a couple that was really interested. They said that they really want to go, but there is no spanish group up there, so they said that they would come down to Hilsboro to church. They looked sincere. They felt the spirit and wanted to change their lives. We also went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We had fun and tried all they types of cheese they had. After that we went to eat at Bro. Foote's house. He is a sweet member there and he told us a lot of his story. It was fun! I drove all the way back home. It was BAD! I was tired and my knee was hurting from Friday. All in all it was a good week.

ELDER ARCIA
(stripplingarcia@myldsmail.net)