Feliz Natal!

Hey yáll!

I´m pretty sure this has been the longest week of my entire life. Just so you know. First things first. There is a new Elder in my zone who happens to be BROTHER BELL´S NEPHEW! Figured I´d capitalize that for emphasis. Elder Bell. Poor guy. He got here a day late, so he had to introduce himself the next week, all by himself. The other elders kind of destroyed him, but I don´t think he understood what they were saying, so everything´s fine.

So that was Monday. When we got home from the zone meeting Monday night, we found another cockroach. Tuesday was the mission Christmas Conference, so we were going to have to get up super early, and I was NOT in the mood to deal with this cockroach all night. If it had been in the kitchen, I probably would have left it, but it was in the bedroom. While I was going to fetch the broom, the wind slammed the front door shut, so the roach fell behind the giant dresser. After moving around the huge dresser to hunt for the stupid bug, I found it. And it, of course, started running right for my bed. Not ok. What followed was what can only be described as a short game of murderous hockey. I kept swatting it away from my bed, trying to get it into a place where I could effectively kill it before it started flying, and it kept trying to go to the bed. Finally I got it out and destroyed it. That is the most accurate word. Destroyed it. Guts everywhere. It actually smelled REALLY bad after I smashed it. Also, this morning while I was sweeping the bedroom I found more cockroach legs. I killed it good and dead. Success. :)

Tuesday: Christmas Conference was ok. Bit of an awkward moment when an Elder pretty much started confessing his love for a Sister over the pulpit during the testimony meeting. But hey, it happens. Worst part was that we had to get up at 4:30am to get there on time. Took the metro during all of the worst times to take the metro. Those times where you pack in and all rules about missionary appropriate physical contact fly out the window. I always want to cover myself in Law of Chastity pamphlets during those times. We were traveling with another set of sisters, and on the way there we lost one. We got to our stop, and we all tried so hard to get off the train, but it just didn´t happen. Except one lone sister managed to get off. By herself. Poor girl. She had to wait until we could get off at the next stop, catch the metro going the opposite direction, and find her.

Wednesday: We were talking with this recent convert, and she was telling us about how that morning they had gotten the call that her cousin´s wife had died. Apparently they were pretty close and she was telling us about how her mom (who lives with her) had been crying all day and all this stuff. Sister Bruno was telling her that everything will be ok, and even though it´s sad, we have the gosepl, etc. Except, in the middle of the sentence she stopped talking. I looked over and she had fallen asleep. Right in the middle of her comforting sentence. Yeah, the mission is probably the most tiring (is that a word?) experience of my life so far.

When we got home Wednesday night we found that we didn´t have any power. We went to our neighbor´s house, and she called the power company for us. Turns out, that the Elder, who was living in our house before us, never paid the power bill from SEPTEMBER. Unfortunately, he went home a couple weeks ago, so I was not able to strangle him. She let us come over Thursday morning and use her shower though, since we wouldn´t have hot water.

Thursday: We went to the mission office for an interview with President and all that jazz. Paid the bill. They turned the power back on.

Friday: Went to go take a shower that morning, and made the worst discovery of my life. Even though they turned our power back on, the shower still wasn´t working. I don´t understand how this works, but the water in the bathroom is SIGNIFICANTLY colder than the water in the kitchen sink. I´m pretty sure it´s being taken from an undiscovered glacier pool in the Amazon. Turns out the shower is broken. So yeah. It´s Monday again, and the situation is becoming fairly stinky.

I honestly can´t remember what happened on Saturday. It´s all a blur.

Sunday: They called me up to say the prayer in sacrament meeting. This wouldn´t be so bad if they planned things in advance, instead of randomly calling people out of the congregation. It also wouldn´t have been so bad if he had remembered my name....."We´ll have the closing prayer by Sister....Sister.....the Sister from Texas." Thanks. Worst part is, we spent a LOT of time in this man´s house, because we taught and baptized his soon-to-be son-in-law. Don´t worry though. I chewed him out in front of the representative from the stake. :)

But yeah. I could write more...but I don´t want to. :) Hope everybody has a good Christmas and New Year and all that jazz. I´m going to be sunburned in all of these Christmas pictures. Weird.

Feliz Natal!

Sister Peart