¡FElIZ NAVIDAD!

This week has been pretty awesome!

Apparently Honduras made a peace treaty for the holidays because it has been a lot more calm the past few days. We have been able to work until 9PM almost everyday which has been great! 

Elder Bohorquez and I are slowly getting used to the area. We have only gotten lost a couple of times. This week we basically spent the entire time visiting members asking them if they knew people that the missionaries visited, contacting the former investigators in the area book, and knocking on doors. We have actually had quite a bit of success. We have found a few of the former investigators and we have found a lot of new investigators.

Our apartment is pretty awesome. It is way smaller than the house in Morazan. It only has a small kitchen and our bedroom and a small bathroom. That might sound kinda small but I love it. Having a small apartment makes it feel so much more cozy. The Elders before us put up Chirstmas lights on the ceiling and it feels so cozy.  Also we have air conditioning. I have been really lucky about having air conditioning in the past two houses. We only use it for an hour before going to bed so that the light bill isnt too expensive but it is so nice.

On Thursday we had awesome activity with our district. We went out and sang Christmas hymns as we contacted in the street. We handed out little bags of candy and pass along cards. But the best part was that we dressed up a Tongan Elder, Elder Hafoka as Santa Claus. It was so fun to see all the little kids flock as we walked around it the streets.

Here in Honduras the real party is on the 24th. No one really cares about the 25th. They celebrate the 24th in the same way we celebrate New Year´s Eve. It is a party waiting for midnight. So yesterday we only had Sacrament meeting and the rest of the day we went around visiting members and wishing them Merry Christmas. We ate a lot but we really didn´t eat as much as everybody says. I was so ready for like a thousand tamales. But we ate like 5 or 6 tamales in the whole day. We got home around 9 o clock and watched the fireworks from our window. The fireworks are way crazy here. They look so sketchy because they made by hand and sold by random people on the street. There are little kids shooting mortars into the sky. I was watching kids lighting fireworks bigger than I had ever seen on the 4th of July. Actually it felt a lot like the 4th of July. It was hot, lots of food, and a ton of fireworks. Maybe a little surprisingly, I wasnt really homesick. I only have 2 Christmases in Honduras. I need to enjoy them!

I hope you all have a great Christmas today. Love you all! Love this work! Thanks so much!

Elder Gessell