To start off on last P-day we had a district secret santa. It was the day before transfers so we figured we'd do some final district bonding. I sent home a picture of it last week and you can see it was pretty darn ridiculous. We all ran to a 99 cent store just around the corner and said we all had $3 before tax to spend on one another. So they all basically were gag-gifts but it was super fun. I got some rocking stockings and ear muffs from Elder Foster.
The next day was amazing. We had to loan some other Elders our car for a training so we drove on over there and they had an extra guitar laying around. I asked them if I could have it and they said they just recently got the other two from members so I could have this one! I even got a chance to play it in church which I'll tell you about later. It's got a hole in it that we taped over and the strings are ancient but I love it none the less and enjoy being able to play some music again. It's a black full-body acoustic and it sounds as good as ever.
Later that day we went to check by some people we had lost contact with since last transfer (before me and Elder Froisland got there) and wouldn't you know it they were actually home! It's a family by the last name of Corbin and they are so great! The family is made up of 3 grown kids that live there and the father and mother around age 50, and the eldest daughter had just had a baby on Thanksgiving. They let us in and we had a great hour and a half sit down with them. They asked us all about ours
elves and taught a brief lesson about the Book of Mormon. We're really excited for them because we were told they all had baptismal dates at one point.
elves and taught a brief lesson about the Book of Mormon. We're really excited for them because we were told they all had baptismal dates at one point.
The next night was FHE, and a special one at that. The senior missionaries in our ward had a copy of a church movie called The Testaments. If you haven't seen it I would really recommend getting around to it. It is a very corny church production about a father and son living in the Americas in the time of Christ's coming. At first it seems very l dumb and corny but it has a power spirit to it. I'm not sure what exactly does it but half the people in the room had tears in their eyes as it ended and the spirit was nigh on tangible. It was really a great night.
Not only did we see the movie that night but I also got to know Elder Jaques (pronounced: Jakes) and Waite (pronounced: wait). They are a couple of good elders that have been out about as long as I have. Elder Waite was actually on the same plane as me and Elder Jaques has been out about 5 months. As we were all getting to know one another Sister Kuzmich (the bishop's wife) came up and asked us to go rehearse a song for the ward Christmas program, Little Drummer Boy. She asked to to play on guitar and we jumped right into it. It was okay for sight reading and we had fun practicing.
Thursday we had weekly planning again but we did a something special to help with the ward Christmas party. We made what we call "The Tree of Life". It's a rice crispy treat Christmas tree that contains about 12,000 calories. Yes I did the math, don't hate. Anyway it was awesome and it added about an hour to our studies. Along with that we played Santa for some other missionaries and dropped of mail a day early because there was so much of it. That was fun, it was nice to spread a little holiday cheer.
That night we met with some recent converts, the Whites. The family consists of a single mother and her two daughters, one of which is still unbaptized. We got there to have dinner with them as was on our dinner calendar but she had totally forgot! We told her it was no big deal and that we would share a message anyway but she insisted and sent her daughters to go pick up some Church's chicken. We all ate and had a great time and after we taught the unbaptized daughter The Restoration. It went well enough but she was very distracted. We feel she's being a bit pressured by her family but I think that's a good thing. She wouldn't commit to a baptismal date but hopefully we'll get her soon enough.
We had our mission Christmas devotional the next day. It was so great and many missionaries had singing or reading assignments that really made the whole deal special. It was super spiritual and we had lunch after with about 160 missionaries where I learned that Nina was getting baptized Sunday! I was so pumped to learn that and if you are reading this right now Nina I wanna say congratulations for you and your boys!
Anyway we got back around 4 to our apartment and did language study and then we took off to meet with some people. As we were meeting with one man by the bus stop we saw we were right next to Sister Barios' home, one of my mission mommas. We went by to use the bathroom and she called us in and had us make her dinner. It was super funny and we made some real Mexican tacos and I made some Guac. We chowed down and it was really good actually. While we were there a woman dropped of some charity goods for Sis Barios and she said to come over for Christmas eve to have a big dinner. She wanted us to share in her good fortune. She was very happy for all of this especially because she's been having a hard time financially and was feeling a bit forsaken. God works miracles though and we saw one that night.
The next night was the ward Christmas party. We got there around 6 and we were combined with the Spanish ward which was interesting. I have picked up a little here and there and with a background of Portuguese we could somewhat communicate. It was super fun and we served all the people at their tables as they filtered it. It was so packed it was standing room only! And that was before the talent show and Santa. Some people really did it up and it was hilarious. I'll explain more in the pics. Overall it was a great night.
The next day was the ward Christmas program and we sang Little Drummer Boy as a district and I was on the guitar as previously mentioned. We did a kind of Josh Grobin sounding beat and it was really good. Tons of compliments after and it was so fun! I really hope to do it again sometime.
Finally we got a call from AP Pollard and told there was another emergency transfer! I wasn't moving this time but we are now in a trio covering two areas! How crazy is that?! My second comp is Elder Alls. A black short man from Florida who came out with Elder Froisland actually. He's really fun and has a super powerful testimony. We are so pumped to be working together now and this transfer is gonna be all the more epic for it.
That's all for this week, I hope you are all doing well and hope you all have a merry Christmas! Ficam Doce
-Um no exercito de Deus
Elder Teela
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