Feliz Navidad!

Dear Family,

         It has been an EXCELLENT week! We worked hard and have been blessed because of it.  I received both of the packages you mentioned and all the presents are gathered around our cute little tree. I just about cracked up when I opened the fake fireplace. I hope you know we are probably the two "best-cared for" missionaries in the field! Spoiiiiled! 

          I love the Christmas season! There was ice on our car the other morning and I got all excited to scrape it off. Sister Garfield just rolls her eyes at me when I wander off onto the grass so I can hear it crunch underneath my feet.  It’s cold here! (But not as cold as Utah I guess...) Up here in the North it’s "mandarin season." We keep getting mandarins from everyone left and right. In fact, there is this crazy old guy that we met from doing service at the "Senior Life" center at the Methodist church. He is from Mexico and always asks me, "You staying out of trouble?" In which my response is always, "of cooouurse not." He nods approvingly and says, "Good, Good, Keep it that way." He thinks I speak fluent Spanish because he talks to me all the time. I will use what little I know and then just nod and smile the rest of the time. I've been teaching him Spanish hymns lately and he likes those. Anyways, we went to his house this week and he had us pick a bunch and take them home. We already had a fridge full but couldn't help ourselves because he really wanted to help us out. But man are they deeeeeelicious! The north is the only place where they grow this sweet this time of year. (You may or may not be receiving a sample in the mail soon....) All I eat is mandarins!

          As far as missionary work goes. Things have been looking up. I regret the time I spent these past couple weeks feeling...down? Because as I look at this area and the great responsibility I have, I'm excited! There are people out there waiting. Many of which we ran into this week! We stopped and took the time, talked with people we would normally "leave be." Bottom line; we had faith. I drove by a woman this week who looked pretty angry and upset. She was yelling at her neighbor or arguing about something. We were on our way home for lunch we had tracted a little longer than expected and were super hungry. I drove by the woman and continued driving. I thought about her. I thought about what might have made her angry and why she was so upset. I kept driving for a minute until eventually I turned the car around. I had no idea what I was going to say to her or why I even needed to talk to her. She could have chased me out of her yard! But she didn't. We talked for a long while and came to find out she hadn't celebrated Christmas in 13 years. (Not since her grandpa died) I asked her why. "There was nothing left to celebrate." We talked with her for a long time. It was amazing to me to see the pain that comes from not knowing why? Why sometimes the ones we love leave us before we are ready to let them go. We were able to teach her why that happens and where he went. I have been grateful everyday that I turned that car around. That woman needed to hear that her Heavenly Father loved her. She needed to hear that, even in this time of pain, there is something to celebrate. The birth of Jesus Christ. He takes away our pain! How much more need do we have to celebrate his life as we face, (what seems to be) insurmountable challenges.

          Okay well I won't take up too much more of your time but I wanted to just tell you how grateful I am that we live in a country where we celebrate Christmas. It is so amazing to watch people come together and serve one another. I thought a lot this week about why that is. Why is it, this time of year, that everyone’s nicer, a little more patient, a little less hurried? It all comes from putting Christ at the center of our lives. It’s impossible not to give a little more when you think of what our Savior, Jesus Christ, has given. It’s impossible not to be a little kinder when we think of the love he has freely shown for all of us. It’s impossible not to slow down to recognize someone in need when we study his life and see the many times he went out of his way to help those that were maimed or wandered from the path. In a talk by President Monson entitled "what is Christmas?" he said, "True happiness comes only by making others happy--the practical application of the Savior's doctrine of losing one's life to gain it. In short, the Christmas spirit is the Spirit of Christ that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to do kind deeds of service. It is the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, obedience to which will bring 'peace on earth,' because it means--good will toward all men." 

          I know that to be SO true. This has been, hands down, the BEST Christmas of my entire life!!!!!!!! I get to celebrate Christmas by witnessing of him who we celebrate. I have enjoyed serving others. I am happy when they’re happy. It’s really indescribable the joy that comes from just LOVING people to their core. I love the people here in California. I love my family. Mom, Dad, Alicia, Aunts and Uncles, My Grandparents that I know are watching over me. I love you all. I am grateful for my friends that have treated me like family and have taught me and spent time with me. I am just soooo stinkin' grateful for EVERYTHING! BEST. LIFE. EVER! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and remember that I love you soooooooooooooooooooo much!

Love,

Sista Ashley Rose!