Hello from the southern hemisphere!                Dec.22,2014

 life is pretty good here! thank goodness I finally learned how to change the computer setting from spanish to english so i can actually type and stuff now. Before it was a real hassle, believe me. Also on the list of good things, its Christmas week! Probably the best week of the whole year. Fourth of July is the best day, but if were talking about best weeks, and in this case we are, then its safe to say Christmas is the best! It hasnt really felt super Christmassy here because #1 is hot and definately not going to be a white christmas #2 cafeteria food hardly counts as a christmas dinner to look forward to and #3 ill be home for christmas, if only in my dreams. But its okay because Im loving it here! Spanish is coming slowly but surely and I am loving the people here. so... the lord knows just what we needed to have a piece of home. haha my piece of home is all the awkward red heads here that look like the whitest nerdiest boys, and then dont speak a word of english. 

My first week  here, there was this tall awkward elder with red hair and napoleon dynamite glasses, trying to kick a soccer ball. he looked so uncoordinated so i was  laughing when he asked the latinos if he could play soccer with them. he started playing and schooling them all!!! I was yelling for him so loud! OOOOOOOHHHHHH haha then he started yelling at them all in spanish and talking back to them. so i asked a hermana um, isn't he white? how is he good at soccer? and she said, hermana you cant just ask people if they are white and why they are good at soccer #rebuked! it was such a tender nerdy little mercy. haha you may not understand how that made me know they Lord loves me, but people, it is true! I hope everyone has such a wonderful christmas. Give your families an extra tight squeeze for me and in return i promise im sending warm hugs from the land of chile! Dont forget the real reason for the season!  take care, hermana phelps