Welp heres my weekly letter! First off Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Birthday dad! Im so greatful to have a dad with such a great testimony and who loves me so much. I hope that you have a wonderful birthday this week! Well last week I skyped with my fam and that was bascially the best, I miss them and love them, but hey...only 9 months left! On Friday I will complete 9 months in the mission which is super crazy because I remember being in the good old CCM like it was yesterday. Its weird to say that I go home this year, but I cant wait to see what adventures lie ahead of me. On Monday we had a super pday with the whole mission, we ate, played games, talked about Christmas, had a talent show, and wathced a presentation of all of photos of all of the missionaries when they were younger. For Christmas we went carloring and shared a short message about the savior, ate at MacDonalds with the zone, and watched the bazillion fireworks that went off at midnight, oh and painted a house. Oh we also acted out the Nativity because well its a tradition in Hermana Pattersons family to do that so we acted it out, she was Mary, Hermana Smith was the shepherd, Hermana Pena was the angel, and I was the wiseman. It was goofy, but we had a great time acting it out. This week I got to go on splits with Hermana Gutierez(my granddaughter) and her and I had a good time. We have an hermana who is really progressing and she brought her granddaughter to church which was great so were hoping that all will go well and that she and her granddaughter can be baptized this month. Well were closing one year and heading into another. Who knows what 2014 will bring, but I cant wait to see. I hope that you all enjoy your 2014 and remember that with every blessing, trial, and experience that you have this upcoming year, the Lord will always be there to support and help you. Have a great week, yeah 2014!

Love,

Hermana Ontiveros

• AshLee Ontiveros:
  Dear family and friends,
  Well a lot of crazy things have happened this past week.First off we had changes this week and our zone leader told us that he was pretty sure that Hna Patterson was leaving but he wasnt totally sure so we needed to wait for the changes phonecall on Monday night. So we waited...and waited..and waited, but still we didnt get a call. At 11 that night we recieved a text message that president was still receiving revelation so wed have to wait until Tuesday night. So on Tuesday we went and visited people so that Hermana Patterson could say goodbye which was good and then we go home and she began to pack some of her stuff, just in case. Well that night we waited for the phone call...and waited...and waited...and while waiting everyone else in the zone kept calling us to tell us thier changes which made us even more antsy to know changes because everyone else in the world knew but us! Finally at 10:30 that night we received a phone call from our zone leader and the first thing he said was that he hopes were sitting down because he has some big news. He then began to tell us that for sure Hna Patterson was leaving and...that I would be leaving too! Theyre going to bring two other missionaries into Ayutuxtepeque and Hna Patterson and I will be leaving to a new area. So at 10:30 we were running around like crazy trying to pack, clean, organize the carpeta de area, make sure that the new sisters had numbers for investigadors/members/less actives, and just freaking out basically. We were up till 2:30 and we slept till about 5 because we had to get up to go the the changes meeting. Basically we didnt sleep at all! Well we went to changes and at changes President told me that he needed to meet with me and five other sisters. So we met with President and he said that we were called to be hermana leaders of the areas that we are assigned to. He looked at me and said Hermana Ontiveros youre going to be the Hermana Leader, youre going to train and...youre going to open a new area! Um can we just say...what the?! But yes it is true I am doing all three of those things. At the changes meeting it was sad to say goodbye to my zone that Id been with for so long, and my trainer Hermana Boteo (she was one of my favorite comps and she finished her mission..shout out to Hermana Boteo who was such a great missionary and example to me!) but all is well. I have been assigned to open an area in Santa Tecla and my new companion is Hermana Pena. She is from Guatemala and she is 21 years old. So it was funny because at changes Hermana Patterson and I were saying goodbye to go to our new areas and then her companion told us that we all will be living in the same house! So yes the Lord did answer our prayers, not in the way wed thought but he did keep us together which Im so greatful for because shes awesome! Funny enough, I actually have my awesome CCM companion Hermana Chant in my zone too which has been great because I love her! So openining a new area, being a training, and an hermana leader is definitely stressful, but I know that the Lord is on my side and I know I will never lose when Im on His team. One scripture that I read the other which I really liked is in D&C58:4...read it! Its been crazy having to learn a whole new area and having to find all new investigators and what not, but its also been a good adventure. Theres some really great members that actually feed us here which is fantastic, we have a cocinera, the weather is great, and well I think that this area has a lot of potential so we shall see how this goes. Wish me luck! Thanks to everyone who has supported me in my mission and I hope that you all are recieving blessings. Remember to enjoy the holiday season, but also to remember the importance of the Savior this season. Have a wonderful week, thank you for all of the prayers and love!
  Love,
  Hermana Ontiveros

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

AshLee's Letter:
Hola!
Sorry about missing my email last week, but no worries I will catch you up on what has happened in the last two weeks. Well the week of Thanksgiving we actually had a pretty fun week. Presidente Hintze and his wife came to our chapel to do a Noche de Hogar and they talked about the importance of remembering the Savior and also about different Christmas tradicions and we played a fun matching game. For thanksgiving we went to the chapel near the temple and we talked about the importance of serving others and then of course we had our Thanksgiving feast! We actually ate real food for once which was so delicious! We ate turkey, salad, mashed potatos, rolls, and of course my favorite...pumpkin pie! It was fun to see all of the other missionaries and after we ate, we played the game family fued and as always my competetive side came out...CUSCAFUEGO (the name of my zone is Custcatlan and were always on fire)! haha That week we also had our ward family night activity and for that the young women showed off thier value projects that they completed during the year which was interesting to see. Oh and at that activity, good old Herbert brought us mittens so our hands dont get cold! He also gave us arroz con leche during sacrament meeting because it was cold outside. Yep thats my convert! ha Oh last week they finished the Walmart by my house (huzah!) so I think thats basically significant that I shall live by a Walmart for forever.This week weve been working really hard to find new investigators and to really try and find those people who are truely ready to get baptized and receive the gospel. This week I received a telephone from my zone leader and he told me that once again I am training. Im going to be a mom again! ha Ive been training ever since I finished my training so now whenever we have cambios all of the missionaries always go "Well we already know that Hermana Ontiveros is going to train...AGAIN!" haha Im really sad that Im not going to be the companion of Hermana Patterson anymore because shes been one of my favorite companions. Weve had some great times together and Im never going to forget these last six weeks. So on Wednesday we shall find out who is going to be my new companion...wish me luck! This week we have really felt the spirit so strong in everything that weve done, which is a witness to me that the Lord really is here to help us and that we may not always see the results of our work, but we can know that whoever we are teaching has felt the spirit and that we have planted that seed to help them progress in the gospel. We actually had one of our really great progressing investigators move this week which was sade because she had a baptism date and everything, but at least I know that my companion and I helped her to come to know the truth. I know that this is the Lords work and that He lives. Estoy muy agradecida a servir El Senor y aprender cada dia como puedo mejorarme. He visto milagros en mi mision y se que este es el evangelio de Jesucrist y esto es Su iglesia. Espero que sean fieles miembros de la igleasia y que reciban un testimonio de ello. Disfrute este estaccion navidena y tengan una buena semana!
Con amor,
Hermana Ontiveros

ADVENTURAS DE AYUTUXTEPEQUE:
1. During the week of Thanksgiving we were on our way to the ward activity when we see this truck racing down the street and we could see this smoke just spewing out the back. All of a sudden that truck whizzed by us and we were covered in a cloud a wierd white smoke! My comp and I couldnt see eachother so we were terrified, but the situation was so funny that we were laughing our guts out and couldnt breath because all of the smoke.
2. Well my comp and I found this really great positive investigator this week and when we went to go visit him we could really feel the spirit. As we go to leave he shakes my companions hand, and then as I go to shake his hand he pulls me and luckily I turned my head quick enough because he was pulling me in to kiss me and he ended up slobbering on my ear. Needless to say Hermana Patterson was laughing herself sick and I made sure that I washed my ear really well that night! #creepymeninelsalvador
3. We played musical chairs for our zone meeting and I ate some really weird foods this week.#nograciasporlacomida

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AshLee's Letter:
Thanksgiving was actually really fun. We got together with a few other zones in the chapel next to the temple and we had a little lesson about the importance of giving thanks and then we ate. We had the works, turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and of course pumpkin pie! It was so nice to have real food for once, loved it! After we ate we played family fued as zones and of course we were all super competetive, but it was a lot of fun. And then after that it was back to work, but the majority of my day was spent with President and his wife and the othe missionaries which was fun because I got to see people from the MTC and my old companions. Looks like and sounds like you guys a had a great Thanksgiving. Oh please buy those because yes I would love to see them when I get home, and Monsters Inc. 2 because I havent seen that yet either. So bascially I have lots of pictures to send you, but them computer Im at right now doesnt have an adaptor thing to send pictures so I will have to send them to you next week sorry. Also I dont have a lot of time this week because were actually going to the beach today to play soccer. ha I did however take a pic with the Springville boys that are here, so Im excited to send you that. Elder Boyer says hi by the way. Well my area is actually one of the toughest sister areas, of course I would get that area, so Im not going to lie its been tough trying to find new people and find people that are progressing. We have a couple of investigators that are doing great..they just need to go to church! I just dont understand how hard it is to give up at least one hour every sunday in the morning...gah! Oh well, appreatnly I need to learn patience and love. I do appreaciate that you guys are praying for them though. We have transfers on the 11th so well see what happens with that, but Im hoping that I stay with my compnion and finish her triaing because if I do that then in January I will finally leave my area. There are people here in my area who I love and who I dont want to leave, but Im ready to leave my area and met new people because well Ive been here for 5 months...I think its time to leave. Funny enough Hna and President HIntze came to our area on Wednesday to do a family night with the ward and our investigators and we got talking and Hna Hintze asked me how long Ive had in this area and I told her 5 months and that I like it but Im ready for a change. Like hint hint, please switch me areas. ha And then my lovely comp goes, Hna Ontiveros is great, she works really hard in this area and shes a great trainer! I gave her the death glare, I was like lady! haha She doesnt want to be stuck here either. ha But oh well, for who knows what reason, we are here for someone. I believe shes getting better at the whole not being homesick thing but who knows. Oh Im am so greatful that I will be home next year for the holiday season, I love being able to say, by this time next year I will be in my house! I love the mission, but I definitely miss you guys. Um. I didnt knowshe was in the field because for native speakers the MTC is only two weeks. Yeah well I know how they feel becvause thats how I was when I was in school too especially because right now in college people are preparing for finals and thats like the worst time of the year. All I wanted to do was nothing and enjoy Christmas but I had to study. ha Please send me pictures, I like looking at what you guys do. It does make me miss home, but I mean thats normal, its not like I can really help that especially this time of year. Well I hope that you guys have a great week, good luck with your kidders. Thanks for all of the support and love youve given me. Love you tons!
Love,
Ash