It is better to have found and lost than to never have found at all‏

email dated 12/8/08
Well... the work has gone better but my companion and I have both been sick. It is by divine placement that we are together. I really believe so. Because if we weren't together we would be wasting two companionship's time. We still have been going out and visiting our investigators. There are frustrations and investigators lost of late that have broken my heart. But you know what they say: it is better to have found and lost than to never have found at all. At least the seed is planted and I believe they will get baptized later. We have a baptism set up for this week that I hope doesn't fall through on us. It is an 11 year old girl and nobody can figure out why she never got baptized. Her whole family is member and the grandma takes the girl to church every week and the girl loves it. She is so cute. Her little sister is 9 and she goes to church every week too. That girl is very cute as well and she will be baptized a few weeks after her sister. Their grandmother is very insistent that these girls know everything about the gospel before they get baptized. Both of them know more than I did when i was baptized, but we respect the wishes of the grandma and their mother and so we will take a few weeks of careful preparation. In the meantime, we can see if that mom will get herself back to church. She needs to figure out what to do with her boyfriend though. He isn't very interested and she isn't very keen on the church scene because "everyone looks at her, ya know". But she is willing to go to the baptism. I think that a majority of the time, the people that feel judged are making it all up in their mind. They feel bad about what they did or are doing and they assume that everyone thinks less of them for it.

So it is Christmas in Uruguay!! I hope you all know what that means!! A year ago I was here for Christmas. And I am here for Christmas again. Ere go, this will be the very last Christmas I have to spend away from HOME!!! But I am not trunky.

Christmas in the Guay is very different. There are Christmas trees. But everything else seems different. It is so hot and the real celebration is the 24th, "la noche buena", when everybody blows up fireworks, drinks, and opens all the presents that Papa Noel would have brought had they all gone to sleep. I don't understand how their kids believe in Santa Claus here, but they still talk about that jolly old man. The fireworks are incredible. It is a show that wouldn't be legal in the United States. But there is no risk here, none of the houses are made of wood. Anyway, it literally seems like a war zone. Bombs bursting in the air, explosions for todos lados for 30 minutes... it is cool.

Mostly I am excited to call home. And get my Christmas package. Other than that, Christmas season on the mission is just not very special.

We did have our special Choir Performance, which turned out VERY WELL!!! We filled our stake center with over 800 people to hear it, and it was such a hit we are putting on the concert in Colonia this Saturday. Colonia is the richer part of the country where we don't have many baptisms. I really want to go there. The songs were very powerful and we are making a DVD so I will be able to mail one home soon and you all can see what a good choir it really was. It was fun. Some of the investigators that came left the concert resolved to get baptized. They weren't my investigators, but I thought that was a cool story.

I don't have much more to say as of right now. I hope that you are all well and that you are keeping your noses clean. Keep the Bumpus dogs away from our Christmas turkey and don't use soap boy on Luke's mouth if he swears...we wouldn't want him to get soap poisoning and go blind.

Take care!! Love yáll!!!
Andy