Letter #18

Food flicks- first one is la famosa "pan con pollo" (literally just like what it sounds like, chicken with bread, its actually super good)
Cleaning the baptismal font
Christmas decorations!!
Missionary budget cookies😬😂

Hola everybody!! Como estamos??

Primera cosa: Merry Christmas!!!! It's crazy to think that it's already Christmas, man time is going by so fast!! I hope you guys all enjoy it, let me know if you guys have any crazy or fun plans!!!🎄🎅🥳

Our pday also got moved from Monday to today,  It's also been a couple weeks, so sorry if this email is a bit long!! It's been an absolutely insane couple of weeks though, I'll start with a couple miracles and stories!! 

1: Baptisms!!!🌊
We had 2 baptisms this last Sunday (first baptisms in the mission!!) It was amazing, we've been teaching a family for just over a month, and their testimonies are actually insane! The day before the baptism, we were making sure they were ready and Tatiana (the youngest daughter of the family, only 11 years old but superrrrr elect) basically said "I've known since the first time you guys came over that the church was true, I can't wait to get baptized," and man the spirit was so strong, it was a huge testimony builder!! 
This Sunday was also super special because the temple president came and visited Moncagua!! I didn't get to hear a whole lot of his message unfortunately, but man going to the temple is soooo important, it's something that's stood out to me a lot as I've been out here. If you haven't heard of temples before, I want to invite you guys to learn more!! There's so much peace and joy we can find because of them, through them, we can literally have the power of God in our lives

2: Christmas Conference🥳
We got to meet as a whole mission for a Christmas conference, it was a blast!! Had a big dinner, got to see all the OGs from district 5G, and all the missionaries going home next transfer got to bear their testimonies to the whole mission, it was sad but super spiritual!! 

3. Navidad!!!!🎅🎄
I stayed up a bit late the 23rd and attempted with Elder Rustad to make some no-bake cookies... (let's just say it was a very long, frustrating process) but they turned out ok! The Christensens (the senior couple here in San Miguel) totally came in clutch with some more cookies from PriceSmart (it's like the Costco/Sams Club of El Salvador) so it all worked out thankfully😂. 
So we spent the day visiting our friends and inactive members and giving plates of cookies and Book of Mormons (Books of Mormon?? A saber) it was super cool!! 
Finished off the day with some panes con pollo, its like the biggest Christmas and new years tradition down here, I'll throw some pictures in below👇. Super good though, and we got to hang out with some members past hours (with permission from president of course🤫). Overall a super different Christmas than back home, 

4. Spiritual thought:
Something that's really stood out to me this Christmas is the story of the sheperds in the nativity. I especially like Luke 2:16 which says:
16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
We can learn a lot about the shepherds from this verse; speaking from experience, working with animals is difficult and time consuming, and it's not really something you can just drop and leave at a moments notice. Yet, these shepherds had no hesitation. When they heard the "glad tidings of great joy" they immediately dropped everything and "came with haste." 
This is a great example that we should learn from; if humble, busy shepherds can leave their flocks to worship to Christ at a moments notice, what's stopping us from deepening our relationship with Him? I promise that as we come to him "with haste," we will find Him. When we make our relationship with Him a priority, we'll be blessed spiritually, emotionally, physically, and find joy, which is what this time of year is all about!!

Anyways, that's about all I've got!! Thank you guys for everything, you're all awesome!! Enjoy your Christmas, don't forget to center it on Jesus Christ!!

Con mucho amor from El Salvador,
Elder Bagley

Feliz Navidad!!!

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