The Spirit of the Season

Hi Guys!

What a treat to get to see you yesterday. Ha ha probably one of the hardest things that I have ever done was to hang up yesterday. It was funny because as I looked at one of the comps that was with me... well she is not my comp but we are good friends, I saw that she was crying with me as well. Wow how embarrassing. I am so glad that I got to see you all! You all look so great!

Mostly I just want to share my testimony with you. I know that this church is true. I know that it blesses lives and that as we do all that we can the help others come unto Christ we will bless our own lives more than we can imagine. I know that we are lead by a prophet of God today and that it is not just by chance that we are born into this time and have the many opportunities that we do have. God loves us so much and we are all his sons and his daughters. I am so grateful that I was born into such an AMAZING family. I think that is the thing that I have noticed the most in my mission is how incredibly blessed I am.

I know that the trials that we go through are especially tailored for each and every one of us and that nothing ever worth it was ever easy! :) As we pay the price to get closer to the Savior, we will also feel His guidance and love more powerfully in our lives.

I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve not only the people here in my area but also my companion and the other missionaries here. It is when we lose ourselves in the service of others that we truly find the real purpose of our lives and that we truly happy. I love this work and I love wearing the name of Jesus Christ every day so that everyone knows who I am and who I believe in and in whom I would trust my life.

Thank you all for being my family. Ha ha I know that you didn´t really have any choice but I have learned so much from each and every one of you and each time that I feel that I can´t give anymore I remember all that I have been given and realize that I have way more than enough to share with everyone else. This time is hard to be away from you but it gives me a stronger testimony of that fact that families indeed can and should be FOREVER.

I attached some Chirstmas pictures that we took as we went around and tried to share the spirit of the season with everyone. As we walked through the streets with our santa hats on and people yelled "Papa Noel" at us I couldn´t help but wonder if that was a fat joke... :)

I love you all tons and can´t wait to see you again in a few short months... wow how time flies! It´ll be here before we know it!

Think about you often, pray for you always and love you forever!

Hna Scanlon
(your fav missionary!)

PS thanks for all you love, support, and prayers... it definitely makes all the difference!

Christmas Day Conversation

WE GOT TO SKYPE WITH JORDAN!!!

It was so awesome!

We got to 'chat' with her for about 40 minutes and it was so cool. The time went way too fast (of course) but she looks so great and it was fun to see her speak Spanish. She looks so great and is doing awesome!

It was so hard (for both sides) to end the call, but she finally did it. I'm sure she was super trunky/homesick for a few days after, but it was so great to get to see and hear her.

I filmed some of the convo on my cell and have since gotten a new phone, so I need to figure out how to get it on my computer.

We are so proud of our little missionary! She is staying for another transfer in Ciudad Evita which has been a hard area for her, but she is seeing miracles as a result of hard work and obedience and she is so thankful for the thoughts and prayers (and letters!) of so many loved ones.

iFeliz Navidad!

SKYPE - Merry Christmas!

¡Hola!

Sorry this is really late getting to you today and I have to make it super fast! Ha ha but it´s ok because I have FANTASTIC news! I asked Pte and he gave me permission to SKYPE you on Sunday!!! YAHOO!! I am SOOO excited. So I guess I need to give Dad some homework so that we can figure this all out. Dad can you email Bishop Cristeche and figure out times and accounts with skype etc? Thanks! Sorry it is kinda hard to get it all together from my end but it will all be so worth it.

We found out about transfers and well since I will be able to use the Bishop´s computer I guess you can see that I am staying in my area... and so is my comp!!! It´ll be really great! In our district two elders went home and we had all been together for two transfers (3 months) so we are all a little sad about that but hey the mission is all about change right? I am excited to stay in Ciudad Evita for another transfer... hopefully the members aren´t too sick of me. They all seemed pretty happy when they found out that I would at least still be here for Christmas.

Ok well I had better go so that we can go to our apartment and sleep. Today we had P-Day as a whole mission. It was super cool because it was the first time that I had been together with the whole mission. We were at the offices from like 12:30 until like 7:00 doing all kinds of Christmas stuff to help make us feel not quite so homesick. Since it doesn´t feel at all like Christmas here I am doing just fine BTW. :)

Well I love you all tons and I am sooooo excited to talk to you all in a few short days! Make sure that you write down the questions that you want to ask me or the things that you want to talk to me about!

Think about you often, pray for you always and love you forever!

Hna Scanlon

SURPRISE!

Hi All,

I got a few seconds to write you today so I thought I would just say hi! I love you all! I will be writing you my regular email on Wednesday because that is when we will have our Christmas P-Day! What time are you thinking would be good to call you? I hope that all the preparations are going well for the big day! Well I don´t have much else to tell you... It is SOOOOO hot here.... and I am basically ALWAYS dying of thirst!

Love you tons!

Hna Scanlon

Disciples

¡Hola Mi Familia!

Sorry I am writing you a little bit later today! We had a very interesting P-Day as we had to be in the offices EARLY and then went to capital and ate in Ramos Mejia with some of the Hnas... ha ha including Hna Svedin and Hna Tucker... so needless to say I was pretty happy! So much for the relaxing P-Day I was hoping for however!

Today I found a scripture that I really liked. It´s in 3 Nephi 5:13 and it says (roughly as I am translating it from spanish yet again...) "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called by Him to declare His word among His people so that they can gain eternal life." Obviously that had special significance for me at this point in time as I am a full-time missionary. But I know that as we are all called to be servants of God, His disciples, we are all called to declare His word and help others come unto Him. I´ve found on my mission that often the people that I least expect to be helping, are often the ones that need my help the most. As I have constantly been praying for miracles in my life and especially in the lives of others, I have found that almost NEVER do things turn out the way that I would have planned, but they always turn out far better than I could have expected. I know that as we put our faith in the Lord and open our mouths, He will guide us by the hand into far greater paths and unto those that will recieve us and His word.

(thanks for believing)

Ha ha alright now for some funny stories that I actually remembered to write down so that I could tell you. So we have a man in our ward who is a little excentric and we have been teaching his brother for a few weeks who isn´t a member. Last week we went to their house 3 days in a row and each day after lunch we had been determined to fast and had started our fast so when we got to their house each day... we had indeed been fasting. Well the first two days we had to break our fast early for various reasons so we planned the next day to start the fast again and have a full fast. But on the third day of our going to their house and refusing to eat or drink anything one of the men gave us a puzzled look and then broke into a smile and said, "Oh that´s right, 'las santas' can fast for a longer amount of time!" He now always refers to me as "Santa Scanlon" and every time I have a hard time not laughing because I know that he is being completely serious!

Before I forget to tell you, next week we will be having our Christmas P-Day which will be on the 21st (Wednesday) so we will not be having P-Day on Monday. So when you don´t hear from me on the 19th don´t be too concerned cuz I will be writing you on the 21st... and maybe be telling you where I am going to be in my new area... ha ha who knows!

Alright I have to go but I love you all tons! Until next week!

I think about you often, pray for you always, and love you forever!

Hna Scanlon

This Time Of Year

¡Hola!

Another week has come and gone... Ha ha I can´t believe it as usual.
Thanks for all the emails that I got this week. It´s fun to hear about
all the exciting things that are going on as you all get ready for
Christmas! I see Christmas things all the time but yeah it basically
feels wrong listening to Anne Murray when it is 100 degrees outside.
Ha ha yes I know that Kyle is saying that it is wrong to listen to
Anne Murray at any point in time but Christmas wouldn´t be Christmas
without her.

This week was pretty low key. I had divisions with Hna Svedin so we
were together again for a day! Ha ha it was awesome and weird since we
can both now speak spanish and actually teach. And it was also weird
to be with an American for a day. She is doing really well though and
it was fun to talk about all the good times that we had in the MTC and
how much has changed/happened in the last year. I can´t believe that I
was in the MTC at this time last year... in part it seems so long ago
and in part it seems like just yesterday.

This coming week we will be having Zone Conference so I am looking
forward to that. Then in two weeks we are having transfers and I am
pretty sure that I am getting transferred but we will see!

This week I was reading in 3 Nefi about what it was like for the
believers in America when they first saw the sign of the birth of
Christ.... kinda cool to think about that and compare it with what is
said about what as happening in the old world.

Sorry this is kinda short this week. I will try and write down things
during the week this week so that I can tell you about them!

Love you all!

Think about you often, pray for you always, and love you forever!

Hna Scanlon

Fun With A Goat

Here are some pictures of a 'kid' that loved to eat Jordan's skirt. So funny!