What Was That Again?: In Which Christmas is a Pagan Holiday, Apparently, and the Apes Make the Naughty List

Holiday greetings, email readers. 'Tis good to email you this fine day. It was a little last minute, so I don't have my journal with me - let's see how this goes. My memory's been getting worse and worse as time has gone on. I'm an old lady, you see.

It's been a doozy of a week, let me tell you. Ups, downs, and all arounds - especially in the temperature. #whytexaswhy #itsdecember #justbecolddangit

Amber's missing - well, we haven't been able to talk to her all week. We texted her yesterday for church and got a reply that said, "she not here." Talk about awkward. We're hoping that all is well.

Mirta has been all bipolar this week, and we got a text on Saturday that said, "just so you know...please stop coming to my home...i dont want any church servises...i am happily married." Probably the oddest drop I've ever had - it's also awkward because she's not married. That's the issue. Who knows what's going on there.

We got a media referral for a lady named Dawn. She's an old, black lady, and she was totally impressed with the son of a member that came to visit her. She's a very interesting lady, so I have no idea how this'll go. The conversation was mostly normal...until we got a half an hour lecture on Christmas being a pagan holiday.

Um... Okay. I just sat there and tried not to look too incredulous.

Emily is an investigator that the Klein Oak Elders found for us, seeing as how they live in our area. She is a doll and has gone through a lot, and she wants to get back to church and find some direction in life. I think we can help with that. We were going to meet with her yesterday, but she rescheduled for next week, so we'll just see her then. I have faith in her, though.

We got to do some quickie exchanges this week with the Ponderosa Sisters. Sister Bates, Sister Jeppson's baby, has been super uber sick, so I went with Sister Jeppson on Wednesday to get stuff done while Sister Hudgens babysat, and we took turns being in yesterday. Basically, I love those Sisters. A lot. I've adopted Sister Bates as my goddaughter, because she's basically like a little Sister Liljenquist. It's a little crazy.

On Wednesday Sister Jeppson and I went to go visit a less active family in Ponderosa ward. They have a 19 year-old, so being my brash, bold self, I asked him when he was going on a mission. He was a lot more open than I thought he'd be, and we had an amazing talk with him about it where we helped him to see that serving was exactly what he needed.

We had our Christmas conference on Friday, and it was the first time in my 16 months that the entire mission was together. (There are a ton of us. It was crazy.) They did such a great job - we all had stockings with letters from home, there was a naughty and nice list (the Assistants were the only ones that didn't make the nice list,) and there were packages for all of us from Santa when we were finished. And, we got to watch a movie. Hello, Christmas.

President had Sister Ae and I sing our song for the entire mission at lunchtime - and then he printed out the lyrics so that everyone could sing along. We just kept looking at each other and saying, "This is ridiculous. I can't believe this is actually happening." Everyone loved it, though, so it's good.

One last story - while I was in the Ponderosa ward last night, we went to visit one of the member families - and guess who was there? Miss Cassidy Stay! She's been living there since her family was killed, and I've been dying to see her since I was transferred. I walked in the door and it took a second before she recognized me, and then she screamed, "You're back!" and ran over to hug me. Oh man, I miss that girl. We geeked out a little bit, and she told me all about her trip to Salt Lake with Elder Foster, the Seventy who spoke at the funeral. She is just amazing - not that I didn't know that already, but it was just a good reminder. She's doing so well, and she made a joke about the sweet scar she has from the bullet that hit her. She also showed us the Christmas tree she has with all of her family ornaments on it. I can't even handle how great she is. We're going to be best friends forever - we decided that last night.

Christmastime is a hard time for missionary work, but it's also the best. There are a lot of people - most of them - who are so caught up in the busyness that they don't take the time to even think. I have faith, though. I know that people are waiting for us, and I know that we can find them. Christmas will be able to help someone come closer to Christ - we just have to find them.

That's all. Have an excellent week, ma friends. Happy Christmas!

Love,

Sister Ventriloquist

Perfect Christmas picture - lights, Peruvian scarf, Santa hat, Name tag, and a beautiful smile.

you're welcome.