So if things had gone as planned, I would be telling you some transfer information right now. But things have been super crazy this weekend. There were 11 missionaries that were supposed to be going home on Saturday and 10 or something more that were supposed to be coming in today. Sister Dix's companion, Sister Cockerham was one of the ones going home, so she was going to hang out with me and Sister Metro for the weekend. We got a phone call on Friday night saying that all of their flights had been canceled because the London Heathrow was closed because of weather...crazy right? So We had Sister Cockerham and Sister Andelin (who was Sister Metro's trainer) with us for a few days as well. Just a big 5 person companionship! We didn't have many rendez-vous planned, but we all got to eat with Soeur Lehmann and go to church together and everything. Those suckers all got out this morning though, so they are on their way home. (Also, that means that Elder Zarate just left today so he won't be able to send your gift home for a couple days, so you definitely won't get it before Christmas...boo!) But anyways, we were all getting excited about transfer calls that were supposed to come this morning, and then President called us last night and said that the new missionaries got delayed a week, so we are all just staying where we are for another week and we won't hear where we are going until next Tuesday. Bah! But that is ok because we get to stay together for Christmas and I just love Sister Dix and Sister Metro. But crazy couple of days, right?! Plus I have been a little sick (just a cold) so it's been weird.
So you all wrote and asked about Gladys' baptism...there is a story with that too. We got a call from her Wednesday morning during our studies to come over to her house. So we hustled over there and learned that her landlord is retarded and is kicking her out of her apartment by the end of the month for some stupid reason. She just moved in, too. So she is super stressed about work and trying to find a new apartment, which is super hard in Geneva because everything is so expensive. She told us that she knows she wants to get baptized and she knows that it is right and everything, but if she were to do it this past Sunday, she just felt like she was doing it for us. She said she just wanted to be more sure about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. So Gladys didn't get baptized, but I actually am not discouraged. We can't be the ones making these decisions for other people. And I am confident that she will still get baptized in the near future. But I just want you to know how grateful I am for your prayers. A lot of it is just realizing that it really is the Lord's timing. I will tell you what...if I have learned one thing (or realized that I need to learn one thing) on my mission it is patience. I love President Uchtdorf's talk about patience.
So I am anxiously awaiting Christmas. Our Christmas chain is a BABY now! It can't even hang straight down now because there are only four rings on it. And I am excited to open up all the Christmas gifts on Saturday morning :) I got the package from Brother DuMoulin and the ward the other day...that was SO nice! Seriously, so thoughtful. I am going to write a letter...who should I address it to/send it to? Should I just send it home? Oh also I got a bunch of notes in the mail this morning from the ward. I haven't read them yet but that is so so nice! Really, I appreciate it so much. We opened the glow sticks too... We were going to send you a video of the Swiss Edition of CP'10, but we had some events take place that prevented that. I will tell you about that later... But it was so fun! That was the only wrapped gift that I opened, and it just happened to be the glow sticks, so that was lucky haha.
Oh yeah, so we had our zone conference/training on Thursday. It was SO good. President talked to us about not getting discouraged and just having faith and working hard. And then we talked a lot about how we can help our investigators receive revelation through prayer, the Book of Mormon, and attending Church. Oh my goodness that is good stuff. Really, that is what conversion is, is receiving revelation and receving answers and confirmations through the Spirit. But when we were talking about the attending Church part, President wanted to do a demonstration about how to invite someone to come to Church and help them understand the importance of it. So he decided to call ME up to the front and invite him to church. Talk about nervous! He said I did really well, so I was relieved. Apparently my face turns really red when I have to speak French in front of a lot of people...awesome haha. But at the end of the conference, one of the elders that went home yesterday had dressed up like Santa (hilarious) and he handed out the letters that you sent! I didn't even know you had done that! That was pretty cool. And then we got to take pictures with Santa. President Murdock and Sister Murdock both sat on his lap...oh man it was funny. I love zone conferences.
Well I don't have a ton else to right at the moment besides the fact that I am SO excited to talk to you in FOUR days! I will probably call you around 5 or 6 my time, so 9 or 10 your time...is that ok? Ah I can not wait. Oh but here are some pictures for you too. I also sent you some pictures that Sister Murdock took of us, I thought that you would like them. So Mom, you asked what kind of Christmas decorations and traditions I have seen around here. One of them are these silly Santa things that you hang out of your window. I sent you a picture of one that is across from our building, but they are seriously EVERYWHERE. Pretty ridiculous haha. I also sent a picture of me and Sister Metro with Cristina. We have to pass her and Carlos to the Spanish Elders though because Sister Metro is probably leaving and I can not speak Spanish well enough to teach much. Sad, right? C'est la vie, alors. The next two pictures are of us with Santa and Elder Tracy, who are the same person haha. And then we have our little 3-generation picture (barf, the whole missionary-mom trainer-grandma-talk is pretty silly). I figured it would make the most sense for them to be holding me like a baby. And then there are a couple pictures of Sister Lehmann. I just love her. She gave us these cute little bags of cookies and treats and stuff. She is like my grandma over here, I LOVE her.
I want you all to know how much I love this time of year. It is pretty special to be bringing people closer to Jesus Christ around this time. Seriously, His sacrifice and the opportunity that we have to CHANGE and become like Him is THE greatest gift ever. I know know know that this is true. I love you all so much and am so excited to talk to you on Saturday. Good luck with all the festivities on Friday... I LOVE YOU!!
Love,
ALLIE
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