Christmas Choir Devotional Was a Hit!

Hola Familia!

Wow, I am glad to hear that you were able to see the Choir Devotional! I laughed at the pictures (see attached), and Dad, sorry about the picture quality, we are really spoiled in the US with our HD haha. What can we do... it is Colombia. But I am glad you got to enjoy some Colombian flavored Christmas cheer! 

And what news about the Allen Eagles, back to state for the first time since back in 2008!!! Wow I am really getting old because that seems like just yesterday! Vamos a ganar sin duda! (We will win for sure!)

Well this week was limited in large part to the choir, we had practice in every stake center in Cali, and took up a ton of time in travel and practice. But the end product turned out to be a huge blessing for the people of Cali. There were tons of non members who showed up to those things and all were blessed enough to feel the spirit of Christmas through song. It was pretty amazing to be a part of! And best of all, despite the distance of travel, we had 5 investigators show up to the show!! I was so happy that night to see the people we are teaching show up. They all had great experiences that will not be forgotten, 4 out of 5 were in tears. So despite all of the time taken up, I would say that it was all worth it. It was also broadcasted to every country in South America, the US, Spain, Canada and most of Central America, so it was a huge deal and a huge blessing to about half the world!!
brief update...

Luis and Sindy had the baby this week! We haven't been able to see them but they are very excited and even more excited to get married and have it be a real family! They are excited that their child will grow up with a knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, something they never had. It was such a blessing to find them how we did!!

Ruben is still having trouble with smoking so we have moved his date back a bit, but at the devotional one of the members who had difficulties with the same thing was able strengthen him and give him some encouragement, SO key. He has committed to not smoke another cigarillo for the rest of his life. He is committed and has shown the faith necessary to quit smoking, he has stopped relying on himself to overcome the addiction and has appealed to God, and that is what we had been trying to get him to realize. Vamos muy bien with Ruben!
And a new progressing investigator to tell you about is Merlin Octado! She is a friend of Sebastian the son of the bishop and has come to church 2 times in a row and is reading and praying. She had never before believed in a God but after feeling the Spirit in our 1st lesson has felt that there is a God who wanted her to know Him so bad that she sent us there to help her find Him. That is what she told us and it is so great to hear something like that as a missionary!

My Spanish is really getting there! My companions have really helped me out with that. Elder Kendrick (the other gringo in my district) and I were talking the other day and laughing at all the words we are forgetting and how often we replace English words randomly with Spanish words while speaking English haha. It has also been interesting catching myself thinking in Spanish and dreaming as well. I have a long way to go still but the Lord has really blessed me with this language! 

I have been pondering a talk by Ezra Taft Benson called, "Beware of Pride" and it has changed the way I think about my mission. Pride is the universal sin and gets us all at one point or another. I have been asking myself more if what I am doing is according to God's will or my own. These questions I have been asking myself, like why am I on a mission? To fulfill an obligation or to fulfill my duty as a Priesthood holder to share the Gospel? Why am I taking the Sacrament? To gain approval of those around me or to take upon myself again the name of Christ and commit to God that I am willing to try harder this week? Why am I working hard? To get good numbers to gain the recognition of men or to feel good that I have used His time wisely? The sin of pride is not as much in the action as much as the motive for the action. Is what I am doing because I want to look good in the eyes of men, or to please God? I love the attitude of Ammon in Alma 26:12. I recommend everyone to read that talk and share with me next week what you think!

For the Christmas call, I will call Saturday at 2:00 clock my time! So I guess that is 1:00 your time. Can't wait to talk to you all! I will try Skype but if it doesn't work right away I will have to just call on the phone, my account is dallin.eliason. I will have 45 minutes so have all your questions ready! It will be weird being on the missionary side of the Christmas call haha. Cant wait!

Have a great week and Merry Christmas!!

Elder Eliason