In the words of Bethany...

Greetings from the land of Bolivia, where the sun shines hot and bright this time of year and where friends and family are planning on going to the pool for Christmas fiestas! My team and I are excited to participate in the Christmas festivities here in Bolivia and experience the celebration of our Savior´s birth in a totally different culture! Last night we were just saying how it just doesn´t feel like Christmas, because it´s SO hot here!! I know for Alli this is not the first time, but for the rest of us, it is definitely an adjustment to realize that Christmas is only a week away, and it´s not anything close to what we´ve ever experienced in our lives!! For example, this past Wed. evening, we went to look at Christmas lights that were on display along Avenida Bush, and they had PALM TREES all highlighted in green and white lights everywhere, and they had buildings there that were just covered in red, green, and white lights! There were Spanish carols playing in the backround and Papa Noel (Santa Clause) was walking around and talking with all the children in the heat. I felt so bad for the poor man who had to work that job Wed. evening!!! So, Christmas is definitely viewed a lot differently here...kids are on their summer vacations, the pools are open, and although they do sing ¨Jingle Bells¨, the words have absolutely nothing to do with snow and a one-horse open sleigh!!!
As a team, we are doing well, although Rachel and I did have a bit of a stomach bug this past week, but we are both feeling a lot better here of late. Spanish classes continue to challenge us, and at times, it´s a very frustrating feeling...but we´ve all improved a lot on our Spanish, and I know we will continue to improve even more these next several weeks as we start to look at the ending of our classes and the beginning of SASS in January. I pray that you are all in good health and have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the joyous season of our Savior´s birth!!!
Some things to keep in prayer...
-Spanish classes in general...comprehension and usage of all the material we are cramming into our brains in such a short period of time! Pray that it would become second-nature to us and we would easily be able to communicate with the people that we come to know and love here in Bolivia
-Health for all of us as we continue to adjust to a different climate and food style-SASS program- As of now, we have basically no information about this time of our outreach, which will last for about 4 weeks. Please pray that we would be drawn closer together as a team during this time, and that we would have many opportunities to serve and share our faith with the people of Bolivia who need to know about our Savior´s love and grace!!!!