rosca de reyes

Buenos días mi familia!

     This week we had a few surprises and things have gotten complicated. But to start, happy news! January 6 is día de los reyes magos which is actually more important than Christmas here. It is the day celebrating the wise men's gifts to baby Jesus and is when the gift giving is done. We were invited to celebrate with a traditional bread, rosca de reyes, which is circular shaped. Hidden inside are tiny plastic, baby Jesus figures. Starting with the youngest child, each person has to cut a piece of the bread and if you have a baby Jesus, you have to make tamales for everyone present on February 2nd. It is a fun tradition and we loved being a part of it. My companion and I didn't encounter a baby in our first go but they had us cut again and this time Hermana Lopez cut into a plastic Jesus! So according to tradition, she has to make tamales for the twelve people that were there! But that brings me to the sad part about this past week.

Getting ready to cut into the rosca de reyes dessert.

We've had some issues with safety in our area and since I've been here it's been pretty constant but last week we had a few incidents. Drunks grabbed us in the street, we were followed in the street and men tried to get us in their cars. We decided to talk to the president and just explain the situation and he told us he'd take us out this week. We had our interview on Saturday and by Sunday evening he already had it planned to take us out today. So last night we had to say our goodbyes and pack up our entire apartment, beds, desks, everything. It has been really sad and I've cried a bit. I love this area, despite the safety issues, the members really are awesome. When we went back to say goodbye to our favorite family, the Pichardos, they surprised us with confetti, pizza and drinks! We had fun for an hour just talking and enjoying being with them. I really will miss them and this area! We're still not entire sure where we're headed but next week I'll have more stories to share. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week, that this new year brings lots of new memories and that we can all continue to help this work move forward. I love you all and am so thankful for your prayers—they really do help so much!

Love,

Hermana Bennett