Un misionero haciendo tamales

Day: new year's eve eve

Pushup Count: 211

Que show, como estamos mi gente? I'm not sure how this email is going to go because I slacked off last week because of Christmas, but I'll try to hit all the important stuff. Cool things from the last little bit:

- Saw Hermana Carlos from my old area twice at Walmart

- I tried eel and ate more ramen

- I went on 5 exchanges in the seven days 

- An old man showed us a crazy card trick

- Elder Archibald and I spoke a ton of Spanish on our exchange and he ate a hot chocolate bomb for the dollar. Someone also said he looked like Captain America and that if he went to Mexico all the girls would want him

- We went caroling to two houses with the ward 

- We assigned new SIM cards to the whole mission so now we just have to pass them out

- We visited the De Leon's house on Christmas eve and I got to talk to one of my favorite families from Buena Vista. It's crazy to think I was there a year ago

- Hermana De Leon made us guatemalan tamales...  

- We took cookies to about a million people 

- I successfully made tamales! And they were sooo good  I'm definitely making more on new years

- We had Christmas dinner with Elder and Sister Higgs which was a blast as always 

- We had MLC in Tehachapi and it ended on time for the first time literally ever 

- We cleaned the house really good for our inspection and then they didn't even end up coming inside jaja

- Some senior missionaries made these little chocolate mice and Elder Mitchell left one outside of our office... I got him back tho  (see fotos) 

Sorry I feel like I should have more, but it's been a pretty average couple of weeks. The work has been really slow, only one nonmember lesson in the last two weeks, but we're working a lot with members and doing our best. We have faith that God will give us someone who's prepared :) 

Spiritual Thought:

In church our Elders Quorum president talked about how the gospel of Jesus Christ is like a prescription and it must be taken as prescribed. For example, if you don't have faith you'll just be going through the motions, or if you don't repent you'll never change, etc. Each part of the doctrine of Christ is crucial, so I invite you to look at one point where you may not be as strong and work on improving that so that the prescription can function properly. 

Mucho amor, 

Élder Page

Fotos!

the mouse Elder Mitchell left

my response to Elder Mitchell

tamales!

Christmas dinner

tamales!

us and Spencercito

Un misionero nadvideño

Dia: La navidad!

Pushup Count: 215

Feliz navidad a todos! No les quiero molestar tanto hoy así que gracias por todo su apoyo y espero que se la pasen bien! Los amamos tanto!

— Élder Página

Unas fotos :)

Un misionero en la conferencia

Day: 2

Pushup Count: 223

Buenos dias a todos! Aquí me encuentran otra vez en la chamba. This was a super fast week, so we'll see what I remember. Highlights:

- We kicked off the week decorating Christmas cookies with our district. I had really good ideas, just lacking a bit in execution 

- At FHE we learned how to knit stockings so I'm working on that in 5 minute increments cause I just don't have time... Hopefully I get it done before Christmas 

- We had just a couple minutes left in the day so Elder Paxman pulled off into a parking lot so we could do some phone work in public. There was literally no one there though so we thought it was pointless, but then a guy drove up, we talked to him, and he said his dad had just passed away. He wasn't interested, but we were able to brighten his day with a pass along card and some kind words. So cool how God puts us where we need to be

- We had zone conferences so Wednesday and Thursday were full of driving, setup, talking, and general running around and going to bed absolutely beat. It was awesome 

- I played the piano and sang in the Bakersfield zone conference (separate numbers, I'm not that cool ). Muy divertido 

- On Thursday night we got a call from President, asking us to pick up an Elder for an emergency transfer, so we got to drive into the orchards and then we had Elder Bennet with us for a couple of days. Greenie, basically fluent in spanish ya. We had a blast until we dropped him off with my good old friend Elder Hanson

- We had a very long office day Saturday 

- We went to Cafe Rio and our ward executive secretary was there... Sooo we got free Cafe Rio 

- We saw a full body bag in the Vallarta parking lot. Leave it up to Bakersfield 

- We had interviews with el Presidente 

- We ate dinner with the Bishop of another ward. He's awesome

- We met a Mexican guy at the mall yesterday who waited for us while we went to the car to get him a Libro de Mormon. He's not from here but hopefully he reads it 

- We had dinner with Aldair! He's the coolest. He made us papas and tostadas that we covered in every Mexican topping you need 

- This morning I bought a platano, fried it, and then ate it with huevos, frijoles, and crema. I felt so Salvadoreño 

Overall, a very good week. It flew by and we did so much. Awesome combo. 

Spiritual Thought:

Read 2 Nephi 9. It's my favorite :) 

Mucho amor, 

Élder Page

Fotos

more cookies

emergency transfer

my breakfast today

patos 

District council

Christmas tree

cookies

zone conference

Un misionero con nubes

Day: 

Pushup Count: 229

Que tal? Espero que estén muy bien :) This was a good week in the cuidad. Some awesome exchanges, cool people, and good food. Así pasó todo:

- Last pday we played card games and I almost won some game I don't remember what it was called but it was weird 

- Exchange #1 — Elder Karren in Lancaster. We taught their Nigerian friend who's about to be baptized and I rizzed up a latino american family by saying panchaga 

- We ate cinnamon rolls at institute 

- We had mexican food for the first time in forever 

- Exchange #2 — My old companion Elder Hanson. You already know we had a blast driving back from Palmdale. He taught me some cool old testament stuff as usual and I made fun of him. It was a great time 

- Exchange #3 — Elder Reich from East Bakersfield. We talked a lottt and looked at some Russian philosophy books so thick that they could probably stop a bullet

- We made curry  (I don't think that's curry but that's the emoji that came up) It was super good

- We taught an inactive member who makes old video game music so we jammed out to that for a sec 

- We found a new friend named Ermiase! He's from Ethiopia and plays D1 soccer. He also speaks 5 languages. All round super cool dude  

- We taught a lesson in Spanish  His name was Luis and he was from Guanajuato and he was so much fun to talk to

- We went caroling! Kind of. We really just sang songs at this event for foster families but it was still super fun! 

- We ate dinner with the Urmston's. They're awesome. Nuff said 

- We helped Elder Eagar set up a Christmas tree

- I listened to the Chrismtas devotional last night and it was great as always 

- I found a ball pump in our cupboard so I'm finally going to learn how to juggle a soccer ball

It's been super foggy here which I love. Besides that nothing out of the ordinary has happened. But if something interesting happened to you this week I'd love to hear about it 

Spiritual Thought:

Last night someone (I'm not sure who I was just listening) said that your testimony is one of the best gifts you can give this Christmas season. So I echo his invitation and invite you to share your testimony with someone this week. Worst case scenario, your testimony will be strengthened and someone will feel the Holy Ghost. (Get it? There's not really a downside .)

Mucho amor, 

Élder Page

Fotos

Tall wey (aka Elder Hanson) 

Elder Reich with the curry

Caroling