Hi Mom and Dad!!!

Thank you for your sweet emails and the picture! You guys are so cute. I just had a great Christmas morning! I woke up and climbed up to the top bunk and jumped on Hermana McKay. "IT'S CHRISTMAS IT'S CHRISTMAS MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!" She loved it. Even if she didn't say so haha. Then I climbed down and proceeded to continue jumping around the room. We decided not to go to breakfast, so we could open our Christmas presents in our room in our PJ's. Great idea. We wake up at 6:30 as usual but we had until 9 before we had to be anywhere. So we all opened presents, and Hermana McKay's mom sent us bagels and cream cheese!! It's a family tradition at their house, and it was super nice for us to have since we didn't go down to breakfast. I seriously LOVED all my gifts! Mom, that photo book was beautiful, and yes I totally did cry. I love it. Dad, good job on that scarf and those head band things! So CUTE! Did you pick those out? Love them. I'm wearing the scarf right now.� :)� Also, Mom and Dad, thank you for� the yummy treats, mom I've just tried the trail mix oatmeal stuff a little bit, but it's super yummy. And Dad the pumpkin bread is great! Did you make it?? Sister Bewsey sent me a lot of cute little gifts, and Aunt Jo and Uncle Del also sent me something. A little angel ornament. If you talk to her today, tell them thank you! Umm let's see. So that was this morning. Then we had Sacrament meeting with the ENTIRE MTC. Usually we just do it by zone which is like 30ish missionaries. But today they didn't want all the Branch presidencies to have to come on Christmas so they had a huge one for us. Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the 12 apostles came and spoke to us. He is soooo good. Oh my gosh. So good. And funny. He talked about how we need to come to a greater understanding of the character of Jesus Christ. By studying the New Testament especially, we see how when He was in extreme trials or difficulties when normally we would all be selfish, He turned outward and served others. THAT is the character of Christ. Being His disciple and being more like him all boils down to that. Being selfless and kind.

So last night, we got the night off for Christmas Eve. After dinner we had a fireside where they had people put on the nativity play like from the bible! With the shepherds, and baby Jesus, and the wise men... it was cute. We sang some Christmas songs along with the play. They also did a "12 Days of Christmas" missionary style song. That was fun. After the fireside, we got to watch A CHRISTMAS CAROL!!! Yay!!! Love it!! So that was really fun. Then we went upstairs and some Sisters decided to put on a nativity play on our floor. It was so funny, they all dressed up and re-enacted the story. With the sheep and the wise men and all that. It was hilarious.

Something really sweet Hna. McKay did for me, she knows I love those peach-o's and they have them in the bookstore, she bought me a little bag of them and printed out a few of my favorite pictures of us. She also wrote me a really nice note AND a list of 101 things she loves about me. How sweet! At a fireside one time, this sweet Japanese lady advised us to only think of the positive, not the negative. About life, our missions, our companions. She told us to write 100 things we love about our companion, and focus on those things. Well, Hna. McKay did that and then gave it to me for Christmas. I haven't read it all yet but that was just such a sweet thing for her to do. I don't know how she found 100 things she likes about me, but I appreciate that she did it. I love her.� I'm going to miss her a lot. We have our challenges and sometimes I get frustrated, but I am learning patience, and learning so much else from her. I will really miss her. I'm so glad she was my first companion!

So after this we have our big Christmas lunch, I'm sure it will be nice. Later we have our temple walk, every Sunday we get some time to go walk up to the temple which is nice. No snow today :( My prayers didn't come true, guess I didn't have enough faith. Haha. Bummer. But that's okay. I will have a white Christmas someday...I hope...

Mom thank you soo much for getting my watch fixed. The band looks great!! I love it. The only problem was it was too tight!! It just fit my wrist, but was tight. I didn't know what to do. BUT thank goodness, that same Elder who fixed my coat also knows how to make jewelery and such so I asked if he knew how to fix watches, and he fixed it!! Now it fits me perfectly and it's great. I'm so happy to have a watch again!

Something cool that happened this week. So I got to be a new missionary host since I am almost leaving! (OH MY GOSH HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY FLIGHT PLANS?! After this.) And, also on Wednesday, my good friend from home Amber Harper reported to the MTC! Well, there are no coincidences, I got to be her host. It was so great. She had just barely said goodbye to her parents and when she saw me a couple minutes later she just broke down. She is so happy to be here, but we all know how hard the first couple days are. But anyway, I got to show her to her room, which is on my floor, two doors away from mine, and then I took her to get her books and stuff and brought her to her classroom, which is also right down the hall from me. Oh and by the way, she has the same schedule as me so we have gym time and meal times together. It's great. Definitely not a coincidence. She needed me here to help her, and I needed her too. It's soo fun to have her here. I love it. We did yoga in the hall yesterday, like the good old days! It wasn't quite the beach of Hawaii, but it was still pretty great. Tender mercies from the Lord.� :)

OKAY FLIGHT PLANS!!!! Best EVER!!! I totally screamed when we got them. Ahhhh!! Okay. So. I don't have the paper with me for all the exact times or the flight numbers (mom don't kill me), but I basically know it. I will send the detailed info when I email again on Tuesday. I leave January 2nd, as planned. So. First of all, we have to be at the travel office (here at the MTC) at 4am. Then we drive up to Salt Lake and our flight to LA leaves at 7:10. We get to LA and have about 3 hours, our flight leaves at 11:50 for LIMA PERU! Then, we get to Lima at 11:25pm... I think it's about a 9 or 10 hour flight but there's a time change. Then, worst part... We have a 9 hour layover in Lima from 11:25pm until 8:15am... ouch. That is not going to be fun. But I will be able to call you guys a lot!! So there's some silver lining! Yes it will be in the middle of the night... But oh well :)� So we leave Lima at 8:15am, get to Santiago Chile at 1:40 I think, then have a couple hour layover and fly from Santiago to Concepcion, which is only about an hour and a half flight, and we get to Concepcion at 5:40pm on the 3rd. Phew. Gonna be awful. But I'm so excited. I have been having such amazing experiences already here in the MTC. I can't wait to see how much MORE incredible they're going to be when I finally get to MY mission. I know my mission is exactly where I'm supposed to be. Today at the end of Elder Bednar's talk he said, "Nothing affirms my faith more of the reality of revelation than when I have the opportunity to participate in assigning mission calls." Wow. That was awesome. He told us that we are not merely placed in a stack of papers, and randomly sent to a mission. Only Apostles participate in this sacred job, to assign missionaries, and it's done with great care and prayer. That made me so excited to hear that as an Apostle, THAT is the thing that confirms his faith in the reality of revelation- assigning us missionaries. I'm sure there are many things he receives revelation for, but it sounds like this is a pretty strong experience for him, if he says that about it. SO, yes I too have received revelation and comfort and peace that I'm going where I'm supposed to be going. And I know I will receive more and more confirmations as I teach and serve and love others down there. I'm sure I will see it in the companions I have, the families I teach, the people I meet.. I am confident I will come to a greater knowledge of why I am called to serve in the Chile Concepcion South Mission.

I know God has a plan for me. A specific, personal plan. And as hard as it is to believe, He has a personal plan for every single person on the earth. He loves us so much. That is why He sent His son Jesus Christ. For us. I am grateful for His miraculous birth, His matchless life, and His selfless Atonement. That He knows and understands me, and He has made it possible for me to be happy and to live with Him some day.� :)

This makes me so happy and I cannot wait to share this with others. I love you so much!! I hope you have a WONDERFUL Christmas. Know that I am well taken care of here, and that I love you to pieces!!! (And that I'm jealous of the brie, orange juliuses, and turkey pot pie.)

Love you love you love you.
Merry Christmas.

Love
Hermana Danielle Anderton