Hola Familia,

Life is great here in the Nueva. We moved last week into a house that is closer to our area so we don´t have to walk so far. I sent some pictures so you could get an I idea. There are two other rooms but they dont have anything in them so i didnt take any pictures. There is also a picture of Elder Rigby and me and another of some of our pets. The picture does not do justice for how large they are. It wierd to think how it is winter in the states and there is going to be a blizzard on tuesday when here it is pretty hot. It is not Vegas hot but it is pretty humid and I am sweating all the time. People are starting to get ready for christmas and the other day i heard White Christmas playing but it was in spanish and the people here have never seen snow. The Nueva is actually pretty populated. It is surronded by farms but the town is big enough that we haven´t walked through any. If you are trying to look on a map try looking for tiquisate and then go about 20 mile to the south west. It is about 40 mile from the coast. Everyone here speaks spanish. The only places they speak other dialects is up in the mountains and most of the time there they speak spanish too. The food here is pretty good. We usually only will eat lunch at a comedor which is owned by a member. They eat a lot of fried chicken here. Also if you are passing by a members house at dinner time they will just invite you in to join them. So I have eaten with the members a couple times. The shoes are working great and my legs have adjusted to all walking. For christmas the only thing that I can think of are Family pictures and ties. It will probably take `3 to 4 weeks weeks to get here. The work has been going great. We have another family that we have been teaching that we are going to commit to baptism tonight. The only problem is that he works on sunday so we need to get him to church. I have high hopes for him and his wife but if you could pray for the Nemias Family that would be appreciated. So I learned that because this mission is a baptizing mission they dont teach the Plan of Salvation a lot of times before Baptism because you don´t need it to answer the Baptismal questions. I was really suprised at this a slightly upset because that is my favorite lesson to teach. So this week we have consetrated on teaching lesson 2 more to recent converts and our investigators. It has been a great experiance. I love the Plan of Salvation. That in truth is what is what we are teaching people, how they can be saved and I think it is really important that people understand the big picture of life and why we need the Gospel of Jesus Christ and why it is so important that that gospel has been restored through Joseph Smith. Every one here believes in Jesus and that we need to be good but not why. I am so greatful for this gospel and the knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation. I am so greatful to Jesus Christ who makes this plan possible for us. I wish that I could share that fully with everyone but I am going to have to work on my spanish alot more before I can do that. This past sunday I gave a talk in sacrament meeting and I was pretty nervous and I was praying all the time before it was my turn and when I went up I was able to share everything that I wanted to. God really does bless us when we ask for his help. I so greatful for you and your letters. It gives me such a boost to be able to hear how you are doing. I love you so much!!! I pray for you everyday and I can feel your prayers. Todo esta bien!

Elder Matthew Truman Thorley