Thanksgiving Stuffing; Illness; Queen of the South; and Creepy Driving

I've been out of town for 2 weeks, so I am just now posting Jackson's last two e-mails.  I have some photos I can add as well.

This week has been a lot shorter and felt like it kinda didn't even happen.

Thanksgiving went by really fast and it was super fun and tasty. We first played a turkey bowl where there were four teams, 3 of which were wards and the other was a team of just missionaries. Of course the odds were in our favor to win, but we didn't but we atlas came in second so there's that. After the turkey bowl we were super tired and our first appt didn't start until 2 so we took a nice long nap until then. Then we drove over to where they were having a nice big party with a bunch of members and non members alike. The food there was great and I also stuffed myself and regretted it after elder Gerardo reminded me we have another dinner we have to eat at. We then went over to our other appt where I ate an even larger meal there. So I was quite full the rest of the night. Then we visited a member just to say hey, didn't eat anything over there thankfully.

Friday I woke up super sick. But I didn't really say anything and kinda kept on keeping on with the day. We had a lesson with a less active where we found out her crazy past. I'm not sure how much I can say, because of confidenciality plus I'll probably get on some FBI lists but it just has to do something with one of her family members being the biggest drug dealer/cartel leader in the south, so much so to be nicknamed the Queen of the South. So that was pretty mind blowing, especially since we go and see them quite a bit. We also made up a plan for light the world that day where we can use it for a new non threatening finding tactic. By the night I was really weak and just not doing well at all though so elder Gerardo kinda figured out that I was pretty dang sick

Saturday I woke up sicker than the day before. But I had to drive elder Gerardo to a district leader meeting so I did that and then that went on for a long time and by the time they were done I wasn't doing well at all. We then went to lunch where I tried to have conversations but I couldn't string words together very well. So we went back home and I took a nap from 2 to 9. Then woke up took some nyquil and went back to sleep.

Sunday I woke up and was doing a bit better but still was feeling pretty down. But we still went to church you know since we basically run everything. Plus Shellie came to church this week. So that made me feel a bit better. Then we spoke in primary about how to prepare to be a missionary. Then after that was the rest of church. Then we had dinner. And we visited a member and some former investigators to show them the light the world video. And then we came home and I fell asleep again. 

Today we can't do much since we only have 60 miles left for the week and we average about 60 miles a day, so we are staying put for today. 

Driving in south Carolina is pretty nerve-wracking.  Drivers down here just don't care and will cut you off at any given moment. Especially the big pickup trucks with confederate flags waving on the back. Besides the drivers driving at night is the creepiest thing in the entire world, since I have yet to see one street besides the city of Columbia that has streetlights. So you are surrounded by forests on both sides in the pitch black. Your mind can only wonder about what is lurking in the forests and what you should do if we round a corner on a dirt road and a clown is standing there in the middle of the road. Both me and my companion decided that we would just mow him down. But besides that driving is really fun down here. 

Chapter 4, 8, and 9 is being changed in preaching my gospel and I'm not exactly sure what is changing in the white handbook.

That is pretty much it, I didn't really spend a whole lot of time this week being homesick since I was actually sick but maybe that is better, I don't know. 

Thank you all and love y all 

Elder Bertoch