December 20, 2010

Dear Family:

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe that it is already here! It seems like just yesterday that it was Thanksgiving! But Saturday is Christmas day and I can't wait to be able to call and talk to all of you!!!!!!!

Really I haven't bought much. I just bought some small things, like: soccer jerseys because soccer is huge here; another pair of slacks just to add some variation to my everyday routine. Things here are really inexpensive. Oh and I haven’t yet received the package yet with all the goodies. Hopefully this week when we go to the mission home for a Christmas Devotional on Wednesday, it will be there. Pray for that:),or else next week sometime.

The phone call home!!!! As I said I am so excited!!!!!! The “chip thing” I talked about last time is not like those cards. Here the phones are run on a pay as you go kind of thing. So what they do is buy phone chips with a credit on there for a certain amount of time. So I will just buy one of those to call you guys. Trust me it will be a lot cheaper! So I will call around four or five p.m., sorry I can’t remember what time that is back home. But just kind of stay home all day, ok? It’s Christmas, so stay home relax and wait for my phone call:)

So I have 2 bits of really good news!! So the first is transfer news: So Elder Bunker and I are still together which is great and we are still in Mankessim. But the other two missionaries have been transfered to two different areas and no new missionaries are coming to replace them. So we are the only missionaries in Mankessim now! This is great news. Our teaching pool has doubled in size and is continuing to grow, but now we aren't "sharing" people with other missionaries. So we will be able to be even more effective and have more baptisms. This truly is an honor and a privilege for the two of us and is a blessing from our Heavenly Father.

The other good news is that our plans for a "White Christmas" will come true. We will be baptizing four people on Christmas Day!!!!!!!!! The interviews were last Saturday, so now all that has to happen is the people come and be baptized on Saturday. Another district in our zone will be coming too and they have one person so there will be around 10 people in white that day, on the beach (we are having it on a beach), and I will be among those in white! It is going to be so neat. So our plan for Christmas is to have the baptism around 12-3 and then go back to our place and then visit a brother and sister in our branch and make our phone calls home. It is going to be cool. Plus if you think about it this way, after Saturday I will only miss one more Christmas:)

Yeah so I think i am losing a little weight. We have begun to run every morning about a 1-1.5 miles each day then exercise when we return home at night. I am becoming pretty toned:) but its helping me stay healthy and strong. We wake up at 5:30 run and usually get back around 6:05 and then study and eat and prepare for the day. But yeah we found a scale in the market in town, still in the box kind of, and weighed ourselves. It said I had lost about 10-13 pounds, but I like I said don't know how accurate it was. But I am healthy and doing great.

So some cool stories of the week:

We are teaching this old guy, in his 70 and he is a golden investigator. We have given him pamphlets to read and when we go to teach him about what he has read, instead he teaches us and explains everything we were going to teach. He is a really cool old man. We gave him a pamphlet on the Gospel of Jesus christ and were going to invite him to be baptized, and when we went he told us he needed to be baptized! It was amazing. He just needs to come to church and then next month he will be baptized! He truly is a golden investigator!

Another guy we met one day when we went to go see someone else. We met this lady in a tro tro(bus) one time and so we went to go follow up with her. We went and she wasn't there but one of her employees was. We were talking to him and gave him a pamphlet to read. He didn't seem to serious but yeah, but then a young man who was seating close by asked if he could have one. We said sure and then went on our way. Well we have met with young man, who asked for a pamphlet on the bus, we have met him twice and seems to be a really solid guy. His best friend is a missionary in Calabar right now, but I see a lot of potential with this guy! I'll keep you updated on him.

It sounds like your mission devotional was really neat and good! I think all of those gifts are exactly true, and I am beginning to see all of them "wrapped," in myself. I have reflected a lot lately about how much I am teaching, learning, developing, and learning about myself out here. It is amazing to me to begin to see those changes in myself. I have learned so much about the gospel and my testimony is becoming so strong and sure. I think I am a decent teacher, my comp. says I do a good job, but one thing I know is that my testimony is my best part. Every time I bear it, no matter what the topic is, I see how it has grown and how it has changed from before. The best part is, it will continue to do so! I love learning everyday. I am at the same part in 3Nephi actually. I will read ch. 11 tomorrow and I am continuing to study in Gospel Principles as well.

Well my time is just about up. Quote of the week: "Procrastination is

the thief of time." One of our investigators, who is a solid guy told, us that last time. We talked to him about his testimony and about how he just needs to act on it now and attend church. He said he knows he will have to leave his church, but when is the question. He then said that quote to us. It was a very profound thought I think and is very true.

Well I love you all and miss you a lot!!!!! My gift for Christmas is

going to be that phone call and everyday I can't wait til I get to

dial the numbers. SO STAY CLOSE TO THE PHONE ON SATURDAY:)

Love your son and brother,

Elder Ryan S. Alba