Hey! Well what a week it has been. I don't really remember what all I wrote about Gladys last week. But we had to push back her baptismal date because she hadn't met the Bishop or very many members in the ward. But we only had to move it back until the 19th! So we will still get to have the White Christmas that President Murdock challenged us to have! This woman is really great. She basically teaches us the lessons, and she just has so much faith. We taught her about tithing on Sunday, which sometimes can be a iffy subject for these people you know, but she is totally committed to doing what Heavenly Father has asked her to! Oh she is great.
Also this week, we had one of my favorite rendez-vous yet. We are teaching this couple Carlos and Cristina, I think I have mentioned them. But they have a pretty Catholic background, and every time we have prayed so far, Cristina always crosses herself, etc. So we didn't really know how to address it because we had talked about it a little bit she still did it. BUT on Wednesday, we went over when both Carlos and Cristina were home, and we brought Hermano Bustamante, a member, along with us. It was an INCREDIBLE lesson about the Plan of Salvation, and he said how he wants so badly what we have for his family. And then, the best part, at the end of the lesson, we all knelt down together and Carlos offered a beautiful prayer. It was so so perfect. I love being able to witness the Spirit working in these people. They know that it is true and they want it so badly! I love this.
So here is a rundown of this weeks pictures. There are some GOOD ones on there haha. So last Tuesday, the Sisters all went out to eat at this Brazilian restaurant. Don't worry, I just got a 22 franc steak. It was huge. And delicious. AH also, for district meeting on Thursday, we had the brilliant idea to have a yankee swap gift exchange and an ugly sweater party. Hilarious, seriously. We found some ridiculous sweaters at the Red Cross thrift store. Mine won, of course. It is terrible in the picture, but I promise you, it is 12 times worse in person. Ugh the sleeves look like a gorilla costume and it makes me look like I am 300 pounds. Sick. But I made off pretty well in the gift exchange... I got some chocolate, just my favorite thing. Oh man, I need to stop eating it though. Bah ok so this email is not letting me attach more pictures so I will try to send another email with the rest of them. But I will explain them here. We went the other night with Paola and the other sisters down by the lake to take some pictures. They always put up cool lights down there for Christmas. The pictures didn't turn out really great, but you could get the general idea. It is my substitute for the Temple Square lights this year haha. Ok next. Yesterday was Elder Zarate's last Noche de Hogar, so everyone was going crazy taking pictures, so I sent some of those too. The people in that ward are so so great. Even though I can't speak a ton with them, they love me and I love them haha. And they are hilarious. Is it just that Hispanic people in general are really funny? I don't even know. But I love them. Oh and one more thing, Sister Metro and I have a little Yahtzee game that we sometimes play during dinner or something. But the other day, I had the best game ever. 3 Yahtzees, and one of them with hair! I had to explain to Sister Metro what that meant haha. It was good though.
The Salève (French) ward had their Christmas party the other night, and it was awesome. Seriously. We ate dinner and then the youth put on a production of Le Roi Lion (Lion King). It was SO good! They condensed it and narrated it so it was about 30 minutes (perfect) but they sang the songs and it was so so cute. Everyone loved it.
Also, I had to give a TALK in Church on Sunday! Not going to lie, I was a little scared. It only had to be 5 minutes long, but still... kind of scary to have to speak in French in front of a bunch of French-speaking people! But the topic was 'Qu'est-ce que le Seigneur attend de moi?' (what does the Lord expect of me) and it turned out pretty well. I just talked about how he wants us to obey Him. He is so ready to bless us, but He really can't give us all the blessings that we can receive unless we do the things that He has asked. I used Moroni 10:32 and talked about how we can ALWAYS turn to Him for help in doing what is asked of us. Christ will help make us perfect if we do all that we can and ask for His help. Just a little talk, but it was good. And afterwards, people said I had perfect French...I'm pretty sure they were just being nice though haha because I am pretty sure it was definitely not perfect. But actually, I have notice a huge improvement in my French, especially this week. Maybe not in my speaking, but I have been realizing that I can understand SO much more. Like almost all of what people are saying. So that is reassuring.
So transfers are next week. I honestly have no idea what is going to happen. Our companionship, the Spanish sisters, has been a hot topic of speculation though, let me tell you. We have 3 sisters going home this transfer, and only 2 coming in, so one sisters equipe has to be closed for just a transfer. And sister Metro, the only one who really speaks enough Spanish to keep this equipe going, has been here for almost 6 months. So people are thinking that this equipe might be done for a transfer or something, or we might just combine with the other sisters equipe in Geneva, or who knows what. We will find out next Tuesday morning, so I will be able to tell you in the email next week. Bah! I don't even know where I will be for Christmas! Weird. But if I stay here, we have been invite to the Allenbach's for Christmas Eve (she is the daughter of Soeur Lehmann) and on Christmas, there is an American family who has an open house for all the missionaries every year, so we may go there. But I will definitely be taking some time to talk to you! In President's email today, he told us no Skype (but that's ok) and we can have 60 minutes! So that is good news. I am thinking we will probably just go to the gare and use the public phones here or something. But is there a time that would be best for you? Are y'all planning on a Christmas movie? Ah I will miss you a lot, but it is ok. We still get to celebrate together.
Alright, well this is kind of a shorty email, but I am planning on writing some letter letters today. Look for those! Oh and I gave Elder Zarate the gifts to send home, so look for those. They probably won't get there before Christmas, but that is ok, right? You will like it.
I love you all very much and love being a part of the happenings at home! I love being a missionary. There are some really cool things that I am blessed to be a part of. I CAN'T WAIT to talk to you in 11 days!
I LOVE YOU!
Love,
ALLIE
P.S. I want lots of details from the MoTab/Archuleta concert! That is going to be a good one. I bet he will sing Crush...
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