Can a get a Hola?

Hola!

I'm glad everyone enjoyed the package. I told you we would make not writing on Thanksgiving up to you!

Ok, the Christmas light thing. Usually we can pick out (not always but very often) houses that have Spanish people living there for a few different signs, i.e. 1) an unkept yard 2) sheets in the windows for curtains 3) cans in the front yard! 4) Catholic Saints and Virgin statues and 5) Christmas lights that are old that are still hanging outside on the house in July! So, there is the explanation of the Christmas lights. I threw that in there figuring you might not get it, but I'd explain it later!

This week was so AWESOME. We came SO close to hitting the Standard of Excellence. We didn't even realize how great of a week it was until we added up our numbers last night and compared to the goals we had set at the beginning of the week. It really was an awesome week and We now have 3 firms. I wrote more about them in my letter but their baptism is scheduled for next Monday!

We truly have been blessed these last few weeks. The work here in Stockton is amazing. I can only imagine it's going to increase this month due to the time of year and the spirit that is always in the air because of the Christmas season.

This week is Zone Conference, Next week is our Christmas lunch and Temple trip with President and then the next week is Christmas. Christmas day and New Years are going to be our p days so I won't be calling or writing until Thursday of that week. This means one more regular pday next week and then the next few weeks will be a little different! Then it will be transfers again! The time seriously flies.

We didn't get a chance to go to the Christmas Broadcast cause it was in English and most of the Spanish ward members don't go; and we already had appointments scheduled. It was a bummer, but I'm sure we'll get to read their talks later!

Well that's all for now! LOVE YOU ALL!

Love Always
Hermana Bradfield

Buenas Dias Noticias - Hola familia y amigos! This is your weekly "shout out" from the inner city of Stockton, CA. Old missionaries have gone home and a new generation has begun the service in this great and marvelous work. As the weather starts to really cool down and the rains are on their way, the missionaries of the Sacramento Mission press forward diligently searching for real seekers of truth. Come rain or shine, warm weather or freezing, they continue to work with smile on their faces and a joy in their hearts that comes from serving the Lord.

Okay. Enough of that! Sorry that I'm not New York Times material! So this last week was an AWESOME week for Sister Dastrup and I. We are truly being blessed in our area. We had the best week we have ever had since our beginning here in Stockton. We have a baptism scheduled for this Sunday. A mom and her oldest two boys want to be baptized. The Lord has been preparing this family. They randomly showed up last week at church with her less active brother who hasn't been to church in five years. She is such an awesome woman and has a strong faith in God, and always relies on him for every decision and everything in her life.

We are still working with our family, Rafael and Carla, but they've really slowed down. He's lost a lot of the fire he had in the beginning, and I think she's waiting for him. It's a difficult situation to be in, and we may have to stop teaching them for a while if they don't start progressing again. Dropping people is probably one of the hardest things to do as a missionary. You know how much the gospel would bless those you teach and you love them so much, but because you love them, you have to do it. We will see what happens with them this week.

I wish I had hours...well, maybe not hours :) or more time to write about all the wonderful people we have been teaching, and all the miracles we see in this work. I'll close with last night's miracle. Sister Dastrup and I decided to go check on some referrals we had received from the elders earlier that week. We went to all the different apartment numbers and none of them were home. We had a few minutes before our next appointment, so we decided to tract/knock a few doors. The first door we felt impressed to knock ended up being a woman, single mother, who has seen and talked with the elders in passing on a number of occasions. They always said "Hi" to her and offered to help her with carrying groceries inside, but nothing more than that. As we spoke with her more and more, she told us that things in her life just seemed to be going the opposite direction than she had ever planned, and she had been praying for the strength to know what to do to strengthen her relationship with God again. It was a very powerful contact and she was very eager to have the elders come over and visit her and share our message.

God is always guiding us to His children. He's always leading us to those who He has been preparing. I love getting to see the Lord's little miracles everyday and being a part of those miracles. This truly is the Lord's work!

I wish everyone a wonderful week!

Love Always,
Hermana Bradfield