December 13, 2010 Email

Hey Mom :)
I'm glad that you are having a wonderful Christmas Season. Things here in Holly Jolly Hollister are great :) I don't know what to tell you about how many or which missionaries will be here for Christmas. Because transfers are on my Birthday. Elder Simmons has been here for 6 months so it is likely that he will be going. But then again there is the weird situation with Elder Quinn and his Visa so it will probably just have to be a waiting game. So I'll let you know next Monday :) Thank you much for my B-Day/Christmas package. It's nice to have some presents under the tree:) Good call Andy on including 'little Marcus' and 'Bum chin'. I was definitely missing them;) You aren't sending another package are you Mom? i don't think I need anything, But if you HAVE to, maybe include a wrapped present for both of my comps because their Moms don't spoil them as much as you spoil me :) Oh, And I will be most likely using a members phone to call on Christmas. A few have offered already.
Lots of love! Elder Flake

Hey Dad:)
Sounds like you all are enjoying the Christmas Season. That is a LOT of stuffing. It's good to hear the ward is doing well. Did you get a tree with 2 good sides this year? Or has the perfect tree evaded us once again this year? It's good to hear that the Jazz and the Cougs are doing well. We are still playing basketball every Saturday. It's fun. So was the Christmas party in the church this year? I still remember that one year when you set it up where Grey Stone is now, up below our mountain. That was really cool. Our Branch Christmas Party will be this coming Saturday. It will be intersesting to see the Mexican twist on that. We got to go up to San Jose last night for another outgoing fireside. My second companion in the field, Elder Medrano was one of the missionaries going home that bore his testimony. It was nice to say goodbye to him. There were also some really moving musical numbers performed.
We took our recent convert Rosie and our eternal investigator Salvador up there with us. He's the one who needs to divorce his first wife who is back in Mexico before he can get baptized. His brother is probably getting deported this week and that whole process has kept Salvador from working on getting divorced. He's dirt poor and needs a few hundred bucks to start the divorce papers. What do you and Mom think about me using the $200 that you just gave me to get his divorce papers started so that he can get baptized? Just a thought... We will be playing Futbol (soccer) today with some members of the branch. I'm excited for that. And then we will be having another baptism this Sunday with a really cool lady named Angeles! She is in her 20's and has a little 4 year old girl. She also recently went through a divorce. She's smart and is just eating the Gospel up. We've been meeting with her for a month and she's through First Nephi :)
Well Dad, Thanks again for supporting me while i'm out here and just for everything. Have a Merry -Christ Centered- Christmas.
Love your son Elder Flake.