Chikungunya

Well yeah it was time sadly. I got chikungunya this past week and well currently still am suffering from it. For those of you who don't know what it is its a virus passed by mosquitoes and well it [stinks]. It starts by pain in the joints. And then that goes to the bones to the point where you can't move out of your bed. You also get these super nasty red bumps on your arms that itch and burn when they get wet.... so no showering (ew ew ew) and they don't go away very soon... and then afterwards you have a wicked headache and are always dizzy and it's hard to walk. Normally people can't leave their beds for two or three weeks and even then a month or so to come back to normal. yeah this is the thing i got. HOWEVER. I feel extremely blessed. Although yeah it [stunk] and yeah for a day and a half I couldn't leave my bed due to the pain of my bones. I'm already feeling better only 5 days after the initial pain and even then I was able to be out of the bed and working most of the days. Chikungunya va que huya.

Anyway I'm better and I have something awesome to say. IT'S CHRISTMAS in 90° weather woooo. It's like the movie Swiss Family Robinson with lights on palm trees and super tropical. It's pretty sweet. It's funny how the tradition here in my area for this time of the year is to make fruit punch. But real fruit punch with real fruits and using some that I had never known existed before. Like guanabana. Like what the [heck] is that? Nevertheless it's super yummy.

Anyway in this time gifts and music and snow.... (not for me) there's something really important about his time of the year. It's the new video that the church has and also the new cards we hand out in Mexico. In Spanish it;s ha nacido un Salvador... a Savior is born. Now we had a Christmas conference a last week and in this conference we had to give a small talk in our second language about this. Que regalo le dare a Cristo este navidad? What gift am I going to give to Chirst this Christmas. And that got me thinking. It's easy to give things to people who we live with, live by, even people far away in different countries. But how many of us give gifts to Christ during this time that we celebrate his birth? I'd like to leave this question for each and everyone of you. What are you going to do this Christmas or give this Christmas for Christ. We can never repay or give back all that He has done for us. It's impossible. But every little thing we give in turn makes us better people. It's kinda like the gift that keeps on giving (; like when you buy a bunch of candies for a party and then each a bunch hahaha not really (;

Anyway I love you all and spread the joy of Christmas and the birth of our Savior with everyone during this week (: I love and miss you all and expect a picture of my head in a computer screen with the fam on the 25th.

Love,

Elder Babcock