Note from Mom: We were able to Skype with Alex from midnight to 3am (our time) on December 23rd. It was wonderful to see his face and hear his voice. Thanks to Alex's dad, the entire call was recorded. It is available under a passcode on You Tube. Please post a note on this blog or send me a Facebook message if you would like access to see the call. I will happily send you the passcode.

Dear Friends and Family,

It was awesome to talk to all of you on Christmas. As far as my Christmas, what can I say, it was a Madagascar Christmas. In this context that means that we reenacted the Christmas story a little bit. Since non of us wanted to cook we went out to eat at the one restaurant that was open on Christmas. It's a little Muslim place down the street. It was funny because they were playing Christmas music - ha ha. After that we went around and shared Christmas spiritual thoughts with people on the road. Everyone here gets dressed up and goes to church on Christmas. The dress actually resembles our Easter.

It was a little weird to work on Christmas, but it was also really fun and rewarding. We tried to visit our older investigators and those without family nearby. We sang hymns with them and tried to make things feel Christmasy and fun. Mostly we just worked really hard. Also, thankfully my companion got to talk to his family. It's expensive to place phone calls. His family doesn't have access to a computer, so he couldn't Skype them. Thankfully they were able to save up some funds to call him. Overall, it was a great way to spend the day, and it was neat to bring glad tidings in a very literal way.

I went on a split this week with two Elders in my District. Unfortunately I got way stinking sick! It was my fault. I drank sketchy water. I had been riding my bike all day and I was really thirsty. That's what I get for doing things that I know are dumb - ha ha!

Have a Happy New Year,

Elder Ahlstrom