The Second Christmas

Hey everybody!
Well, it seems like Santa marked Chile as the last country on his list to get packages. I got three today. One was from grandma and grandpa, the other two were from the family (Christmas and birthday). I felt so happy and filled with gratitude for all the people out there! Alyssa, thanks for the letter, I can tell that your growing into a beautiful young woman (so can all my other companions). I had one offer of a wedding proposal to you already, if I hadn't already told you. I about socked him in the face. Andi, I love getting your letters. They are random and weird, and basically all the things I would expect out of Andi. Jeffery, I haven't really gotten anything out of Jeffery. That means he's turning into a guy. Good job Jeffery! I am also very bad at writing people, so I don't really expect much. Its alright though. I'll see you when I come back! Mom and Dad, I always like getting the updates about everybody. I know they seem like small minutia, but it helps me to feel included. I am so grateful for all the gifts you guys got for me. ALL of those things are going to go to use because I have a lot of shirts that are going to the grave, and some garments with staining problems. Basically all the wear and tear of a mission. The peanut butter will go into my collection. Now I have a bunch! I feel like if the apocalypse happened tomorrow, I could survive on my 72 hour emergency peanut butter kit. I also wanted to thank Grandma and Grandpa for all the gifts as well. Unfortunately, Christmas has already passed, so I might have to give the tree to some poor elder that's still going to be here next Christmas, or I could keep it for next year when I'm poor and in college again. The toothbrush was an ingenious idea, too. As a missionary, the best gifts are the most practical ones. So the utilitarian award goes to grandma and grandpa! I loved everything though. I really felt like you guys jumped out of the boxes and gave me a big hug.
Things are going great in the sector! we had the baptisms of Omar and Veronica last Sunday, which have probably been the strongest baptisms that we have aver had. I'm serious. I can see Omar being a bishop in a few years. Veronica shared her testimony after the baptism about the first missionary that can to her house: one of the members of the ward. They talked a lot about how you don't need to have a plaque to be a missionary. It was very nice and I really felt like they understood so much about the gospel after only haven been investigating for a very short period of time. It really shows the power of the members in the conversion process. A lot of members don't see their part in the process, but all in all, we are only teachers. When they talk about people going out spreading the gospel, I hope you don't think of the missionaries. It is talking about you guys! Missionaries should devote all their time teaching the gospel, not knocking doors. The time that missionaries waste knocking doors is the Lord's time. Missionaries go to teach, not find. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. I just know that the best converts come from members.
We have another girl named Nicole that is going to get baptized fairly soon. She is progressing fairly well, but she believes in reincarnation and other strange things, so getting her to progress has been a bit of a slow process.
Yoselin, a 21 year old girl that got baptized a few weeks ago has also been helping us out with her family. her parents are pretty hard headed, but they like us and what we do. I think either in this month or the next, we will see a few baptisms from that as well.
Thanks for everything everybody! Your help and love has helped me out through all the tough times, and I am excited to see you all in the somewhat distant future!
Con Amor,
Elder Westover