Well i hope you're all enjoying your wintery Christmas in the states! It's summer time down here and it's dang hot and humid in Tacna! This last week was great, we had a Christmas party with all the missionaries that are in Tacna, Moquegua, and Ilo. We ate lunch and then we presented Christmas skits and then there was a Christmas slideshow with pictures of everyone from the mission. It was really special! This week my companion and I also traveled to Moquegua to do divisions with the sisters that are there. As we were out teaching walking to another appointment, I got sick. I dont know what happened exactly but I threw up in the street twice.. Sorry for that image haha. We went back to the room and I rested until the next day and I was fine. I'm just grateful i was able to work the next day. This week we are doing divisions with the hermanas in Ilo! In my first area, Puerto (: I'm so excited to go back for a day and see my friends there! It'll be super special for me.

I really like my area in Tacna! The people here area super receptive. More receptive than any of my other areas. We contact people like crazy and the majority of the people give us ther information and allow us to visit them which has never happened for me! We also try to teach people as we contact and this is the first time its actually been effective in this area! We have a lot of really great investigators that we're teaching that have dates sets for their baptisms. So of course as missionaries we can't complain much (:

I can't believe that Christmas is in less than a week! A usual Peruvian Christmas is staying up all night on Christmas Eve, lighting off fireworks at midnight, eating a huge dinner at midnight, and lots of panettone and hot chocolate. It's pretty sweet. My companion and I have to be in our room at 9:30 Christmas Eve, but the great thing is that we have an awesome view of all of Tacna from our window so we defintely won't miss the fireworks at midnight! I really am so grateful for this time that i have to be a missionary. im especially grateful to be a representative of Jesus Christ in this time during Christmas. I am grateful for the life that our Savior lived, for his perfect example of obedience and love. This Christmas, I invite you all to think about who Christ is for you. For me, he is the hope for a better world. He is my perfect example. He is my Savior  and my Redeemer, my older brother and he gave his life so I could have mine.

He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death.

Mosiah 16:9

¡Que se cuiden y tengan una bonita Navidad!

Hermana Celardo