December 27

Dear Family,

So great to hear from all of you. For those of you who I couldn’t talk to, I love you tons, and don’t worry, my voice hasn’t changed much. Perhaps a little manlier, but still just as awesome. It was fun to hear you guys and I hope you all had a merry Christmas and have a happy new year.

I just got here to the Capital City of Santiago del Estero, my new province, after a nice 6 hour bus ride, and now my comp and I are waiting for the bus that will take us to our area, another 3 hours of fun. The nice part, however, is that the Zone Leaders went all out and bought me first class on the bus, which means super comfy seat and a huge window to enjoy the view. Salta is soooo green right now. I love it. Tons of forested hills and valleys. I’ll send the pics in the next email. Santiago, however, is pretty flat and deserty, so the Colorado boy in me is a little bit disappointed. Oh well, it’s pretty in its own way. It’s got what we call a "sweet spirit" as far as looks go, haha.

The last Sunday in San Ignacio was super cool because all of the less active families that we had been continually inviting for the last 3 months finally showed up to church. I got to give a talk and it was a big blessing for me to see them feel back at home again. I hope they keep coming and feel the fullness of blessings that come when we obey. It was also kinda sad to have to say goodbye to another group of people and another area, but I’m also excited for my new area and can’t wait to get to work. The highest church attendance they’ve ever had was about 45, (the lowest was 5), and right now the average is 15-20. Sounds like it’ll be a challenge, but I’m ready for one.

Also, cool story about Freddy. The other day we were talking about what he had read in the Book of Mormon and it was amazing. He completely understood everything he was reading and he told us that when he read he tried putting himself in the shoes of the people in the stories. Wow! He learned in a month what it took me 19 years to learn. He’s doing great and should be baptized within a month.

Anyway, that's about it. I’ll let you know all about my new area next week and be sure to send pictures, now that I’m in a place where I can take out my camera without worrying about it getting robbed, haha.

Love you tons! The church is true!

- Elder Spencer