Hola!

Hola! How have you all been!?

I'm glad to hear the Nativity went so well! Holy sweet and sour chicken, 5,000 people is a ton. That's is so awesome, but I bet you're glad it's over with haha. Also, you will for sure have to tell me how Caleb's ODP tryout went. What a stud.

It's been another fantastic week for me. It's hard to keep track of all that has happened this week because time is so weird here but we've done a lot. We've almost learned all of the major Spanish concepts, there's just one more thing Subjunctive but besides that there's only a few little things left. Now we just have to practice it and get it all down. As a district we tried twice this week, I think, to speak in 100% Spanish. The first day was super frustrating because it was so hard to get your point across. It was great practice though because whenever you couldn't say anything we wrote it down and then went back and figured it out later. That only lasted until about Dinner though before most people gave up haha. We tried to do it again yesterday but didn't keep it up for as long as I would have hoped. The good news is that Me and Elder Sheen taught the first lesson in Spanish twice this week. It was crazy cool and made us feel like we're actually getting stuff done instead of just focusing on all that we don't know.

The four Elders in my district that are leaving tomorrow are leaving for the Dominican Republic MTC. I'm going to be super sad to see them go, I seriously have come to love them like brothers, but I know it'll be exciting for them to take a step closer to the mission field. We've had some amazing testimony meetings with them and our whole district brings the Spirit so well, it's incredible. I really am going to miss those guys so much. That leaves four Elders and four Hermanas staying; all of the Elders are going to Argentina, and everyone but Elder Sheen (who is going to Rosario) are going to Mendoza with me, and I'm pretty sure we have the same departure date. Elder Sargent and I even have the same date for coming home so that'll be cool if it doesn't change. As for the Hermanas, one of them was suppossed to go the the DR MTC with the other Elders who are leaving tomorrow but they dont' have a companion for her down there (the MTC only has about 30-40 people I think) so she has to stay here for the rest of her training. The other Hermanas are going to Rosario with Elder Sheen.

There hasn't been too much news on our visas, although we were called down to the travel office this week to sign something so I guess that means it's coming along, but they said they won't have them until usually a week or two before we leave, so I'm not gonna worry about it too much. Yeah, we've had a few Elders in our Zone get delayed because of those visa problems with Mexico but I think there's some leaving next week who are leaving on time for Mexico City so that's good news. haha, that's funny you asked the pillows because the ones here are horrible. They are like cardboard glued together or something. For reals. But I still sleep fine so whatever.

That's super strange you've been writing on DearElder and I haven't gotten much. I got one from you on Monday the 6th but besides that I haven't gotten any from the family since a while ago, if I had time to look up the exact dates I would, but I don't. Haha and the only friends I've heard from are Sarah and Carlee. But maybe this is all my fault because I'm been praying for patience...haha. Maybe you can click the box that says like notify me when this is sent and they'll email you a copy of your letter and you can check that way? I'm not really sure, all I know that it's way better than email because I can read it before hand and not waste my time. I haven't gotten your package yet either but hopefully that'll be coming soon. Can you also maybe start forwarding Austin's letters through DearElder? I would love to get updates from him. Speaking of Austin, I've decided Elder Sargent reminds me of Austin a lot. His name is Austin too, which is super weird.

I haven't actually been that tired at all, it's been a blessing which I think comes from going to bed on time. Sometimes I get tired just because Friday and Saturday we have huge blocks of study time which seem to go on for forever but besides that it's not too bad. During class we cover a combination of Doctorine and like how to teach with the spirit or things like that and then the rest of it is Spanish. It's hard to say what the proportions are because it changes every day. We haven't really learned very much about the culture though, probably because it's different than Chile (where one of my teachers is from) and Mexico (where the other teacher served). Oh and yeah, we get to excersize every day for like 50 mintues which is really nice. I wish the soccer field was open though, but volleyball and basketball are fine. It's a nice break.

Well I hope you all are doing fantastic!

Love, Elder Lounsbury

P.S. I'm suppossed to tell you that the last day I can receive packages before Christmas is December 22nd, and that I can't call you on Christmas, which I think you knew already but there you go.