Merry Christmas!

Dear family and friends,
Merry Christmas! It's great to be in the Christmas season and to feel the special excitement it brings. We had our mission Christmas party this week which was a blast. After chatting with other missionaries and getting the giggles out, we all met in the chapel of a local church building and had a really nice program. Each zone was paired up with another and sang to the mission. Ours was embarassing- right at the end of the song when it switches into ocupella(?) the conductor dropped his music and we all just paused for a few seconds awkwardly. Haha it was funny though. Our area authority spoke to us as well. He always has inspiring words, and this time focused a little on how special the Christmas season is as a missionary. I really felt that I need to use this precious time - both as a missionary and simply around Christmas - to serve other people. I think that the "Chistmas spirit" is mostly about "love-inspired service." It can be hard to rotate your frame of mind and try focusing on the needs of others instead of yourself, but I know that it's rewarding and elevating. Christ is our ultimate example of such a life.
I'm excited to see and talk to you all tomorrow. If 5pm FL time is best, I'll hop on at 3pm here. I don't think it'll be possible to skype Tyler later on. Maybe I can talk to him for 5 min just before 3pm? And we're only supposed to talk to immediate family, so although Brandon is pretty much my blood brother I probably won't be able to say much to him. I guess it's cool if he listens in though. I'd like to at least call each of the other siblings like I did on Mother's Day. That was great.
Well the work took a few shallow dives and is surfacing again. We had an investigator show up at church that we weren't expected to come at all. During Gospel Principles class, the teacher was closing up the lesson and showed the class a photo of the soon-to-be-dedicated Gilbert Temple, then addressed the investigator and said, "This is the temple, the missionaries will be taking you here to teach you more about God's plan for us." So right after the prayer we jumped up and scheduled a trip to the temple this week. Things are always looking up :)
I love you lots! Thanks for all the packages. Enjoy this evening and this special time of the year. May you find ways to serve others around you and bring them closer to the Savior. Hasta pronto! Feliz Navidad!

Elder Gathro