It's been a while, hasn't it?

Well, maybe not for you. But in missionary time, it feels like it's been at least a month.

Can I just begin by saying that southern California is oh-so-lovely in December? It's been 75 all week, and it's going to be 75 this next week, too. I couldn't ask for a happier winter. I don't even have to wear a jacket most nights!

The biggest news, other than being able to Skype with my family and my brother on a mission at the same time (a joyous internet reunion, for sure) is that we've been joined by a temporary third companion for the past few days! Her name is Alondra, and she's our very own mini-missionary.

Basically, Alondra is a high school student that decided to spend her Christmas break slumming it with us missionaries. She lives in a city in our mission boundaries, and she's adorable. We picked her up Thursday morning and she's been with us ever since.

It's been sort of weird for me to be the senior-most companion, and to be showing someone the ropes from square 1, but it's also been a blast. We've had a hard time getting appointments set this week (family vacations and stuff like that) so we had to resort to some pretty drastic measures.

Yeah, we went tracting.

:)

I'm just kidding, it actually wasn't all that bad. It's definitely not my favorite finding activity, but once you've been a missionary for 6 months, there aren't very many situations that are too uncomfortable as far as talking to people about the Gospel goes.

One of our investigators, the sweetest guy in the world, recently had one of his housemates put a motor on a bike for him. He's so excited about it! Apparently he can get up to 40mph, going down hill. But we had to go hunt down a helmet for him to wear, which was an adventure.

We've had many more adventures since I last wrote, but I simply can't remember any of them right now. We've seen a lot of miracles, too, and it reinforces to me my need to remain humble and faithful. On my own, my time here would be pointless. With God, my efforts are magnified and miracles happen every day.

I hope that as the new year approaches, you can step back and recognize the many miracles that have happened in your life this year! I promise that God has been working in your life, even if you don't so.

Keep the faith! 

Love from sunny California,

Sister B