MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wow.  It's weird when you realize that Christmas already happened. And then weird when you realize that it happened recently.

This last week one of the sister's investigators got baptized, and it was such a nice baptismal service.  Her family was referred by a member and her (the one who just got baptized) mom and little sister will probably getting baptized soon!  When she came out of the water and got cleaned up and came back out, it was incredible to see just how bright she was.  It was almost as if she was glowing.  She was so happy, and her family was so happy, and it was awesome!

The baptism

This week my investigator gave us chicken and I found the feet~! And so of course, I ate them! At least, I had a few bites before my investigator realized and made me stop....Dang it... ^^

Eating chicken feet!

Also, our ward had its Christmas party on Christmas Eve and I was recruited to be Santa and give the primary kids presents.  They gave me the gifts, bag, and clothes, and I got suited up and did an excellent job (in my opinion at least).  In Korea, Santa speaks English and doesn't know Korean, so that was a lucky break for me!!!  They call him "산타 할아버지" which basically means like "Grandpa Santa" in English.  So that was fun!

My santa getup!

My loving family sent me a Christmas package back in November....But as of yet, I have not received it.  And the mission office hasn't either...So maybe there are some kids in Africa having a super awesome Christmas right now with my package!! ^^

Our Christmas

On Christmas day, after studying, we went over to a member's house and spent the day with them.  We had 6 American missionaries all skyping home, and so we had to coordinate well with times and the few computers available to us there.  That was super fun (and kind of bizzare) to get to see my family again! But I really felt super strong as soon as they were on the camera, how much I love them all to death.  In my 6 1/2 months of serving so far, I haven't seen or heard them, so it was so new to talk to them again.  Mom and Dad are just as awesome as ever! Holly and Justin were, well, Holly & Justin.  Roger is turning into too much of a stud for his own good, and Henry was just as fun and energetic as ever.  It was literally the fastest hour of my life.  Every time I checked the clock, 10 minutes had gone by. Crazy!  SO basically this is their shoutout from me; that they're the best and I LOVE THEM!

SKYPEing the family!!! (They're the best!!!)

On that lovely note (get it? "LOVE" ly??? Sorry if my level of wit has declined after speaking mainly Korean...), after Skyping we played cards and Settlers of Catan (the Korean version) along with eating, which was super fun.  And I guess that basically covers the big stuff.

The intense hour+ long game of Catan

So, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and that you all have a MARVELOUS NEW YEAR!!!!

Elder Calvin Woods