Hello.
Well. I am tired. My body is akin to a 134 year old tortoise. Wrinkly, slow, old and often likes to be cozy inside the home.
Happy Birthday Dad!!! Hope you liked the cake I sent.....in 2012, we shall go on an adventure for your birthday celebration.
Happy Birthday Sweeney!!!!!!!! I hope you see this, but Sweens, we must eat some more gelatto when I come back. And I want to hear ALL the high school drama that I have missed for over a year!! I hope you are doing SO well!! I think of you all the time. Especially when I see guests on the square wearing Pumas.
It's been an exciting week....to say the least. On Friday, President Holmes, the mission president here, felt like we should have a mission-wide meeting. (Which, by the way, takes a little coordination and is tricky to coordinate. Matching up 150-200 people's schedules in a moment's notice--a task). Anywho....we did. Friday night we had a sit down serious talk about safety. President Holmes re-addressed a lot of the policies and procedures we have here at Temple Square, but really reemphasized the importance of why we have them.
Well...that very night--Friday--my apartment's carbon monoxide meter went off at 2am. Annoying. But we knew exactly what to do. And no one complained. Fortunately, it just needed a battery change (such is life). But...it was excellent prep for Saturday night.
Saturday night, our neighbors decided to have a bit of a fiesta. (For the record, I love listening to them...these are my favorite people. They play acoustic guitar and have Christmas lights adorning their patios. They put me to sleep, pleasantly reminded of my college years.
Things got a little out of hand I guess, because a fire started. It's SO close to our apartment complex (the shrubbery and trees joining the two buildings doesn't help...) that we evacuated our apartment too. And it was a pretty big fire too. Like a movie. Maybe I just thought that as I tried to peel my eyes open at 3am standing in my Pink Mumu, sandals and zip-up El Caminio hoodie.
Lessons learned: always be prepared. Keep sandals by the bed. This mission is run through inspiration.
And hey....here is Brandon Flowers from the band, The Killers. Who says you can't love the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and be a rock star? That's my plan as it were.
Carol, my homeless friend gave me her apple the other day. She doesn't have her two front teeth. So chewing is a little tough for her. She loves applesauce though. :)
Michael in Ghana is so lovely. He wants to be baptized there so that "his soul can feel cleansed"
Barbara in Texas talked to us too on the phone. She's in the hospital actually. They will be checking to see if there is fluid in her lungs. She loves talking to the missionaries. And said, "I'm not about floppin' religions or nothin', but I am about Christ". She is so funny. She also shared with us that she knows the country singer Clay Walker. Wonderful. We shared with her the last 2 paragraphs of the introduction to The Book of Mormon to which she responded, "Oh neat! I like the way that's worded". Neat-o.
Today, we ate Hawaiian snow cones!! Lovely.
This week, try something new. Maybe a new cafe, or a new book, or even a new friend. I promise you won't be disappointed. It's my favorite thing to do.
Love you all so much. I DREAM about you more and more.
Good luck this week Jen!!
Love you all!!
Sister Amy
