feliz navidad

Love,

The Carter Family

 

Christmas starts early here…like at 12:01 am. First there is an amazing barrage of fireworks. I have never seen or heard anything like it in my life. Just imagine everyone in the city is sending off giant fireworks, the really huge kind, all at the same time. We were watching them from the balcony upstairs, and we couldn’t even keep track of all the places to look. That went on excessively for about an hour, and fairly consistently, but not as intensely until at least 2:30 am.

The tradition in Argentina is that the family goes outside to do fireworks and Santa comes while they are outside, so then they go back in the house and open presents.

About 11:15 pm, we were getting pretty tired here at the mission home, so we decided to open our presents first and then watch the fireworks show.

Amid the fireworks are these paper floating lanterns with fire inside. They look pretty much like the lanterns in the movie Tangled, except, of course, they were real. We watched them floating along all over the city. Families make a wish and then set them free. If the lantern blows away, then your wish comes true, but if your lantern crashes…sorry.

Our neighbors launched a couple of lanterns. Really, they are so incredibly beautiful to watch. I can’t wait to buy some next year and make our own wishes.

The pictures really just don’t begin to do it justice.

 

After church, the office elders came to the house for lunch and to make phone calls home. I am thinking about all the happy families that are able to chat with their missionaries today all over the world, but I am especially thinking about ours. How lucky we are to have this opportunity to check in with our families and share our love.

 

 

Wishing you all the joy of Christmas!