Merry CHRISTmas

Hey guys! Uncle Steve and Aunt Katharina, if youre reading this, I got your package! I loved all the quotes from "What About Bob," "Rocky," and the prophets and apostles. I was super excited for all that, you guys are the best!

Holy smokes Christmas is almost here!! Down here, everyone is getting geared up for it - but they have their own way of doing it down here. I mean, sure they do all the gifts and presents and stuff, but the celebration, as I have heard, is something pretty wild. They take these Manigotes (or like giant piñatas) and demolish them with firecrackers. They build these things, like I said, as big as buildings sometimes and destroy them (or so I have heard) with explosives. It´s like a pyromaniacs paradise! Too bad I wont be able to see much of it - I will be stuck inside the house after 6:00 on the 24, all Christmas day, and all of new years day as well. At least we have permission to use the board games and stuff of members in the ward:) 

Christmas is something I have always looked forward to. I admit, I had never thought a ton about its relation with the Savior´s birth and whatnot before, but now, especially in the mission, it is everything. Just think, if Christ never came to earth, we really wouldn´t have anything. Not presents for one, but much, much more. 

I have thought a lot about what it really means to say that Christ is our Savior. Sure, because of his Atoning Sacrifice, death, and Resurrection, we can all do the same. That is amazing and wonderful to me! But He is our Savior of so much more. He is our hope. He is our joy. He is the strength we can rely on in our daily struggles. 

No matter how many, no matter how big or small, no matter what kind of struggles we are having, He can SAVE us from them all. He suffered so that we wouldnt have to. He took all of our sins and pains and transgressions upon Himself, so that we could cast them off. He is not only our Savior from physical death, but from everything. And He is there. He will ALWAYS be there, and not just this Christmas season. Never forget Him, because whether you realize it or not, He has never forgotten you. Love you all, and have a Merry CHRISTmas!