Merry Christmas!

Hello my dearest family and loved ones who have now declared themselves family!

This week has gotten better. I feel that today I am not as rushed as last week.

Last P-day we had a fun time at a members house doing a bbq for those that are leaving. We decorated gingerbread missionaries and had a somewhat relaxing hour. But it was so cool to see how much the members love the sister missionaries.

On Thursday I was finally able to go to the temple! It was amazing. We listened to Elder Leusuer again and Pres. and Sister Ellsworth. We as a mission are now only going to be keeping track of 4 of the key indicators now in order to focus more on getting people baptized. We don't count TTI (Teach Testify Invite – aka street contacts) anymore because that was becoming the focus instead of lessons taught and baptisms. I heard a couple stories of missionaries getting raked over the coals by the district leaders because they didn't do a lot of TTI even though they had a baptism and a great week with their investigators. So...

I also discovered that Beth Tanner, my old college roommate, is in my mission. She like spazzed out when she saw me. Of course, my hair has grown a lot so it took her a while to figure out that it was me. Lol. So we caught up on how the old roommates were doing, and the fact that Sarah had a baby. Shocking, I know. She has about 6 months left.

The temple was beautiful. Inside, I almost felt that it was a Zelda style castle. I probably will never go inside that temple again without having thoughts of Zelda in my head. In the Celestial room, Pres. and Sister Ellsworth greeted us. It was so cool to see half our mission in there. (We split it up into 2 days because of the number of missionaries we have) When we got outside, it was raining! First time since I've been here. It was so much fun.

So, as for my investigators.

There was no baptism for Cristina. Because she needed to get some legal things cleared up before she could get baptized, she ended up getting arrested. So we spent 3-4 days trying to find her. She is spotting and so we are concerned for her and the baby. Unless she gets her bail, she will probably be there for 3-4 months. Her baby is due at the end of February. So we are still working on that problem.

We haven't had time to meet with Leo because of lights. Dang it.

Mercedez's husband is a butt and doesn't let her or the kids go to church. (they are a Recent Convert family that still struggles but has come a long way)

Nancy and Pedro came to the VC lights but didn't come to church.

At the VC, we have started getting a lot of people. Like around the 6,000 people a night mark. It is so busy but it is so much fun. We get around 20 Top boxes a night and around 50 PMRs. So we have a lot of phone calls to make.

The other night I had the pleasure of listening to a man for about 30 minutes who has been excommunicated twice, is on his 8^th marriage, and is working on getting his wife and him baptized. He talked for quite a while about the"George Bush is to blame for 9/11," his thoughts on missionary work, how he and his wife met over the internet, reasons for excommunication, and some other stuff I kinda forgot about. The elder that was with him laughed (silently) while I made my, "I love listening to you and what you are saying is interesting" face. I worked hard not to give him the
"you are being an idiot, stop talking" face. I tried to get my comps attention to get me away from the situation but she never showed up.

I also got to meet with half siblings that just found each other in October. She lives here, he lives in Kansas. She is a member, he has a Christian background. So she was showing him around about things that she thought was important. So that was so cool. He was in awe of the Christus statue. It was so cool to see their relationship and how they had similar beliefs and respect for Christ.

So, I have received some requests to know more about my living situation. I don't have a lot of time to eat. So in the morning I get drink something called breakfast essentials, which gives me what I need but doesn't take a lot of time to do. Lunch is a hit and a miss. This week we had lunch with the zone at a Chinese place and so I had leftovers to eat. Otherwise, I have some veggies or yogurt that I eat. Dinner (during the Christmas season) is provided by stakes and so we are well fed. Just so you know, I never want to each bbq pork or a baked potato again.

Our residence is above one of the garages of a member family. We have a kitchen and a bedroom. There are 3 beds in it and my comps keep the temp at a lovely 80 degrees. And because I am becoming acclimated to the weather, I am now getting cold at night. But otherwise I am quite comfortable with the flannel blankets Mom has sent me.

I am at the VC every day. As a general rule, we are supposed to wear cardigans or sweaters every day in order to look more professional. Well phooie on that rule. I only have button up shirts and so that's what I wear. It is hard to do laundry because we don't have a lot of time for it. For example, I have no idea when we will be able to do that this week.

Have a merry Christmas!

Love, Emily