HERMANA GARFIELD

Our daughter, Gabrielle, is serving a church mission in Santiago, Chile. It is such fun to read her weekly updates and to see how she is growing in the Lord. This will be her first Christmas away from home, so if you're so inclined, send her a card. I will tell you how below.

But first, some excerpts from recent letters:

"Sometimes, as you know, people on the street try to talk to me in english. Most of the time they are being stupid. The other day we were walking along and passed by three guys. "Very beautiful!", one of them said. We continued on. "Are you married?", they shouted. "I love you!!" I turned around and they were blowing me kisses. Hahaha this time it just made me laugh because they were harmless. Now whenever someone tries to talk to me and give me a hard time I say under my breath to Hna Bran "Yes, I´m married!" bahaha. But later this same day some guy wanted to talk to us-- he was probably drunk-- but he told us he has like four Books of Mormon and all this stuff. Oh man but he was such a creeper. "Qué puedo hacer para llegar a ella?" he asked my companion. "What can I do to get to her?" Que horror....my companion told him I have a boyfriend waiting for me. Hahaha! Not true, just so you all know. Sometimes it´s better to tell a fib rather than land yourself in a pickle. He kept looking at me and making comments like, wow, how pretty. Bleh! Anyway, we were about to leave and this is what went down...."Bye, Brother", my companion said. "No, I´m not your brother, I´m your friend" he responded. And then he leaned in all close to my face and said "A friend with benefits!" ....oh my word I almost died. All I can say is I´m glad I knew that phrase in spanish-- I understood immediately so I didn´t resort to my routine of what I do when I don´t understand, which is usually nod. Cripes! And yesterday we ran into a SUPER drunk guy who tried to talk to us. I´ve never seen anyone so drunk in my life. These wacky mission experiences!"

"What a great idea, to come on a mission! It changed my life, I´m sure of it, and I´m not even halfway done. Oh man. I was thinking a lot about this this week. How wonderful these experiences are. I´m more sure than ever that this really is the path home, and by that I mean the path back to our Heavenly Father. How merciful He is, to provide this plan for us, so that we can find peace and security in this life and eternal happiness in the world to come. It´s up to us, however, to find out for ourselves and stir up the resolution to follow Jesus Christ in all things."

I'm so proud of Gabby. A mission does change lives, not only for those who accept the gospel through her teaching, but for the missionary herself. Gabby is deeper, stronger, and much more sure of herself and her place in the world. To get out of ourselves and into serving others works magic every time.

This is a good time of the year for all of us to look beyond our own concerns, to reach out to others who are seeking the gifts only we can offer. You can be a light and a comfort to someone else. Go on: change a life today. Maybe yours.


HERE'S HOW TO SEND GABRIELLE A CARD, LETTER, OR PACKAGE:

1) Go to http://www.dearelder.com/ and choose the Chile Santiago East Mission from the dropdown list. Choose "write a letter" then write "Gabrielle Garfield" in the recipient space, type your note, and click "Send." They will print out your letter and send it to Gabby, at no cost to you.

2) Use the pouch mail service in Salt Lake City. They can only accept a single 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper folded in thirds and taped. No envelopes. The address is: Hermana Gabrielle Garfield, Chile Santiago East Mission, POB 30150, Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150. This costs you one US stamp and they will send it down in a mail pouch to the mission office.

3) Send cards, letters, or packages straight to the mission office in Santiago: Hermana Gabrielle Garfield, Chile Santiago East Mission, Pedro de Valdivia 1423, Providencia 29, Santiago 29, Chile.

Thanks for brightening the holiday season for a faithful missionary!