Email 12/29/2014 Casi Feliz Navidad

  Merry Christmas everybody. I hope everyone had a great Christmas filled with good food, good friends and lots of family time. 

  Here in the mission it was an almost Merry Christmas.........As in it was super great, but it's never the same far away from the family. But it was great that I was able to talk to all my family this Christmas! Especially my Mom, Dad oh and my Grandpa and Granma Rodriguez (who I haven't seen forever).

  So anyway this Christmas was spent for the most part with the Cortez family, who are just super awesome. They gave us a great feast. Then once it was getting late we headed home and had a bit of a game night, playing cards, poping balloons filled with talcom powder (don't try that it hurts your eyes) and eating junk food.

  So thanks for all those who were able to gather around for my Christmas calls, it really meant alot for me. 

  Here we too were able to give to a family. Last week we found a family of 3, which consists of a single mother, her 12 tyear old daughter and her 4 year old son (who is speacial needs and could die at any second). This Christmas they had only each other and no gifts. So we pulled some money together in our little trio and we able to bring them some toy cars for the son, a Monopoly set and a bunch of sweets. You should´ve seen the happiness in there faces. And the happiness in ours.

  Then that brings us to today. The Cortez family took us to the center of Quito to a bunch of Museums and to the house of the President of Ecuador.... Pics to come. 

Well that's all folks.

Love ya all

PEACE!

Elder Rodriguez

Oh P.S.: Shout out to the Half Blood Beckham for having his birthday this week.

Myself and the lonely street dog.

The Cortez Family on Christmas Day.

Our home made Christmas Dinner in our house "fried rice".

Zone Leader action (oh and we bought Pizzas for Christmas to share with the Zone).

Some missionaries from our Zone. 

The center of Quito, Ecuador. 

A selfie of me.

Sometimes ya gotta be a man and guard stuff all day.

Remember that Angel that I went to my very first week in Ecuador, well there it is again!! 

Here are some HUGE live "grubs" that my companion ate. I didn't want a raw one cuz I know for a fact that they usually eat them fried. (Definition of Grubs: the thick-bodied, sluggish larva of several insects, as a scarab beetle) 

That's pure gold behind me.