Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

To my Family and Friends:

Well if you were wondering it did not snow this Christmas. It may not have been white, but it was Merry and Bright! It was great to have the Christmas spirit, and the Christmas season for these past few weeks! It is really a blessing that we have to be able to remember our Savior Jesus Christ! It is a little bit of a bummer to be away from all of my family and friends, but I have been taken good care of these past few weeks! I really do feel loved, by my family, by my Father in Heaven, and also by these great members here in California! Thanks for all of the gifts, Christmas Cards, and letters I have received, it helps me to feel loved during this season!

Just so everybody knows, this is actually my Second Christmas on my mission. It is pretty incredible for me to take time, and reflect on this past year of my life. I know that I have never worked so hard, learned so much, and had so much fun in any year before. I am grateful to be able to serve during this time, and to learn so much in the service of God! It has been a journey worth remembering, and I am also grateful to have a whole year to still work hard and serve out here in the California Mission! Not only is it crazy to look back to this past year, but thinking back to two years ago... I was a pretty hard hearted and a stiff necked dude! If you would have told me then that I would be on my mission today, I would have laughed at you! I am grateful that my Heavenly Father has reached out to me, and softened my heart and given me this opportunity to serve. I will praise his name forever! I will never regret this decision to serve!

Well, I guess I will tell you what I have been up to during this Christmas season! Christmas Eve we were still working during the day, we were able to meet a few people, and it was very good. Then that evening ate dinner with the McMartins, they are an awesome and fun family. We did a bunch of activities, sang hymns, and had a family tradition... homemade pizza for dinner! It was a lot of fun, especially since I gambled a little, and brought Elder Lee's and my pajamas to dinner with me, and the off chance that they open up PJ's Christmas Eve as well! It payed off, because it just so happens that they do! We had a lot of fun.

Christmas morning, we opened our presents, ate cinnamon roles for breakfast, and went to church. After Church we went to the Littlefields house next door, to the Littlefields, whom we live in their apartment upstairs, and made the dreaded Christmas call home! It was so nice to talk to my family, and I am grateful for their love and support! We ate dinner with the Bischoff family. They are great, and made us a nice dinner. It was really a great time to serve in Loma Rica!

Well I love y'all, and am so grateful for all you do! Keep working hard and being awesome!

With Love,

Elder Nick Ellsworth