Hermana Laparra (companion) and the butchered pig

Even though you don't know all the steps, 
you must learn to join the dance!

Merry Christmas Everyone!! What a week full of hard work!

Thanks for all the packages I have gotten and letters (thanksgiving letters, packages from family and grandma O and a letter from the YW of my ward!) They make me all so happy!

A ward member from the English ward brought us a tree! I love it, it makes it actually feel like Christmas (it can be easy to forget when you work so much each day) we put lights on it and bows and the room smells like pine!)

We have been teaching our next door neighbor for a bit. This week we met with him and asked if he had read from the Book of Mormon the 1st chapter (the hmwk we left him) He said he had finished the fist Nefi and was going to finish the book this weekend because he was so curious! We were so excited! But the adversary took note of this great progression and at work he got antifreeze in his eye and cannot read for a while let alone see! bah!

We were also invited to have dinner at a ward members home yesterday which we were so excited about! In our mission the ward members don't feed us (aka missionary meal calendars) because as missionaries we need to focus our time with those who need our teaching, so we can only eat with members occasionally and only by invitation. But this meal was a Real Mexican meal!

The lunch started right after church, but we weren't able to come until 5. We get there and they had just barely started eating. After church they got the live pig, killed, and butchered it in the back yard. They had us go look at the pig hanging upside down in the yard (for the blood to empty). We ate the liver that they had just cut out and cooked up right there on the fire...It was ok...ha What a crazy experience (A friend there emailed a photo to my gmail account, you should look it up mom)

My spanish is slowly getting better each day! A few times my companions have mentioned that they don't hear an accent at all! Though my goal is to not make investigators yawn when I talk super slow, ha.

We worked really hard this week to have our 8 investigators at church! But no one came, it was sad, but we learned that people have free agency and how we can work on better explaining the importance of church.

Christmas is such an amazing time of the year! What a time to celebrate that Christ was born and still lives! He lives today and is at the head of this church! What a blessing to know! We really should treat every day like Christmas where we love others, give, and celebrate in Christ.
It is incredible the change that Christ can make in peoples lives. There are so many people who are lost in their life. NEVER be afraid to invite people to come to Christ and listen to the missionaries! if they say yes... Hooray (8/10 will say yes)! If they say no then they made a choice and then just continue with your conversation, it doesn't need to get weird. It is like offering someone a cookie :) If they want it they say yes and get the blessings of a great treat!

Love you all!
Hermana L. Ogles

Christ lives!

Love you all!