Feliz Navidad!
There is definitely nothing better than Christmas as a missionary... We've seen a lot of miracles this month and we did have our White Christmas!! I don't know if I've ever been happier in my entire life. It was quite the adventure though, getting them ready. Adriana gave us a call Friday afternoon saying that they hadn't got the marriage license yet and that they wanted us to accompany them to the courthouse to take care of it (they heard there were lots of police and they also don't know any English). We thought it was out of our area but we called a member and arranged a ride. Adriana called us after 3, saying she couldn't get ahold of the Arce's, who were going to give them a ride. We called them and then headed over as well (we found out that the building was in the very corner of our zone) and by the time we left Alberto and Adriana's it was about 4:10, and we heard that the building closed at 4:30. We definitely weren't traveling very fast, but we were praying super hard and somehow we hit green lights all the way there! We got there at 4:29 and they wouldn't let us into the entrance we went to (apparently it was for employees only - we had to go all the way around) and when we were going through security of course both of them got stopped and not a single person there spoke Spanish so when they were telling them to hold their arms out and do all these things they had no idea what they were saying! We had to tell them to slow it down and let us translate for them. We did finally get through everything and literally got everything done at the very last second possible. We were super nervous because if we weren't able to get the license that day we'd have to wait until next week! It's a good thing we were there though, because we had to translate absolutely everything.
So...moral of the story is they got married by Obispo Merino on Saturday and then baptized immediately after, and it was all so incredibly spiritual. You could see the incredible faith that these people have and their sincere desire to do what the Lord wants. I've never seen people get baptized that are so focused already on getting married in the temple. She's excited for temple work and family history, and more than anything, getting sealed with her family. There were a lot of people at the baptism (including some people that met them at mission president firesides and just wanted to be there for their baptism) and just a lot of support for them. Elder Twitchell, Elder Silos, and I baptized them so it was a pretty sweet picture with all of us in white on Christmas Eve! Yes! I guess the bishop talked to them at the baptism and had them come early so he could get Daniel and Alberto interviewed to receive the priesthood. After the sacrament meeting we were able to give them the Aaronic priesthood, and they are going to be blessing and passing the sacrament next week! It's awesome when recent converts immediately get welcomed into the ward and involved in those kind of things. They get retained so much better, and feel legitimately a part of a family. It's definitely been a good week.
Christmas Eve we also got to work the Christmas lights at the temple and it was actually decently cold (like low 30's) - everyone was bundled up and jealous of the hot chocolate someone gave us. We talked to hundreds of people though because it was super packed! Lots of members, people already meeting with members, people who are just curious, and basically just any kind of people you can imagine. In the Visitor's Center they have an awesome display of like 90 nativities from around the world (including Alaska)! And of course the Alaska nativity had all kinds of totem poles and native Alaskans with their ceremony stuff... People totally feel something special as they are there around the temple and it's cool to tell them why. We don't miss a chance to testify about truths, about things that bless our lives and especially families. It has just been the best thing ever for getting people to know about us and be able to feel the spirit.
Christmas yesterday was also super good - there were 6 missionaries at our apartment. We slept in until 6:30, opened presents, and got to enjoy Christmas morning. We went to church, got our family confirmed, made phone calls, had a delicious Christmas dinner, and then got to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" with our zone in the evening. I do have to say I have never appreciated that movie so much. I don't know if it's just from being a missionary or from not ever watching movies, but there were a lot of things I never noticed before and we just really enjoyed it. We just had a super good Christmas and this morning we're just waiting on transfer calls so I'll let you know when I know... Otra vez, Feliz Navidad! Love you all!
~ Elder Carlson
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