OK Now it's Really Feliz Natal! Dec. 23, 2013

Well, Feliz Natal Mom, Dad, Greg, Bryan, Lindsey, Norah, Alice, Kimball, Kelsey, Taylor, and dear friends!

CONGRATS LINDSEY AND BRYAN!!!! WOOHOO! I´m so excited for you guys!!!

So, we got an hour to email today because Wednesday, which is actually p-day we won´t be able to, but we´ll be able to call! Woohoo! It´s still so weird to think that I´ll hear from you guys!

So, it´s starting to feel like Christmas, even though it´s DEFINITELY not anywhere close to snowing :)

Oh, to start off, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I got the Christmas packages and the article from you mom! I opened the package that you wrote that I could. Thank you so much for the decoration, little toys for the kids, OREOS, and PEANUT BUTTER! haha, it´s the little things in life :) Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Mom: Aah, so sorry that your sprinkler was MIA last night. haha, if I was there, I definitely would´ve been your good ol sprinkler :)

haha, that´s really funny about the fortune cookie too. Aah, I remember "Dinner and shoes" It still lives on :) haha

Oh and tell Brother Dixon that I say hi too :)

Dad: Well, I´m emailing you right now but I´m so excited to call you too! It´ll be great! And I´m so happy to hear that the Christmas program went well too!

Kelsey: Aah, so good to hear from you Kels, I´m glad to hear that things are going well and you guys are staying warm in the cold and snow!

I´m not sure if I´ve seen a difference in people being more open during the holiday season but we´ve definitely been saying "Feliz Natal" a lot :) People here are generally very open, for example, a guy yesterday told us his whole life story just during a street contact haha but I´m sure it´s a lot easier in the states during this time

Thanks so much for sending a card, I´m sure I´ll get it soon! Thank you!!! I can´t believe you´re almost 6 months along! That´s crazy! Woohoo! I´m so excited for you! Stay warm and keep healthy :)

Kimball: That´s so exciting that Kelsey´s starting to show and everyone´s mentioning that! Aah, sooo excited!

So one thing about Christmas here is they don´t have the whole go to bed early thing. No, Christmas is midnight between Christmas eve and Christmas, so tomorrow night. Everyone stays up and has a HUGE party with food and fireworks and stuff tomorrow night. haha, I think it´ll be pretty interesting. We tried to explain to people that no, you have to go to bed early or Santa won´t come but they said no, you have to have a party and eat! haha, so there´s one tradition a little different but everyone has twinkle lights in front of the houses and people have fake Christmas trees and stuff :)

About transfers, I´ve heard that our miss president, President Nogueira wants to keep missionaries in their areas for about 6 months, as kind of a standard rule, I´m not sure exactly why but I´m super happy! I love my area!

Lindsey and Bryan: So CONGRATS again! I´m so excited for you guys! I can´t wait to hear if it´s going to be a boy or girl!

Oh, and yah, I´ve heard about the Elf on the Shelf. haha, that´s so awesome that Norah totally believes in it, love that girl! hhaha, tell Norah and Alice Merry Christmas from me!

Taylor: CONGRATS! Congratulations on getting the job at the National Archives! That´s so exciting! Way to go and $13 an hour, woohoo! I hope the weather stays pretty nice there and FELIZ NATAL! I hope you have a very, merry Christmas!

So, yesterday we had a BAPTISM! Woohoo! So last week, Thalyss, Luiz´s cousin, almost got baptized but his mom wouldn´t let him. So we just kind of let things simmer and did a lot of praying. And we went to his house on Monday I think, and we talked to his mom, and she said "Ok, he can be baptized." It was such a miracle from the Lord! It was so great! Luiz baptized him yesterday and he was so excited. It was funny, after the baptismal interview, our District leader said that he asked him, if Jesus Christ visited the Americas why are there so many people that live here that don´t believe in Christ?

He is such a cool and I´m so excited that his mom let him be baptized, very cool!

Like I wrote last week, we´re working with Danilo, Camilla´s cousin. So he went to Church yesterday and we had a great lesson with him with Kaio (he´s a high councilman that is over our branch) We talked with Danilo and he said that he knows that he needs to be baptized he´s just waiting for that answer he wants. But today we´re going to fast with him and he still has a baptismal date for this Sunday. Also Kaio explained, well if God created the world in seven days don´t you believe that he can help you feel ready to be baptized in seven days and Danilo said, well of course. Super cool! So keep Danilo in your prayers!

Funny story from the week, after we walked out of church yesterday, a drunk guy was dancing with his shirt off on top of some speakers, definitely a change in atmosphere from coming out of church, haha!

Well, that´s about all for this week and of course I´ll have lots to say on Wednesday!

But for now, Feliz Natal!

I love you the MOSTIEST!

Lots of love, hugs and kisses!
Sister Hicks