Merry Christmas!!

We were able to Skype Jackson on Christmas.   We put him up on the TV screen and the whole family was able to see and talk to him.  He looked really good and seems happy.  We are really grateful that Jackson has been given this opportunity to teach and serve in South Carolina.

Well first of all sorry for getting this out a week late, my pday (Tuesday) was filled up by service for about 4 hours and I didn't have any time to email, or do anything else really. But it's okay I can send it late still. A lot was supposed to happen this past week but didn't really because of Christmas dropping appointments and some other stuff. 

Monday after pday we had a lesson with Gustavo and Abigail where we taught the plan of salvation where things went really well and they understood and accepted everything that we taught them which is super awesome because now they're super likely to get baptized. We also tried to see some other people but none of them were ever home so that was that day really.

Tuesday we woke up and received a text from the hermanas that they had lice and that we should probably check since we had just used their beanies the day before, so we checked and it was apparent that we did indeed have lice, so we were on lockdown for that day, and I realized that being stuck in your apartment for a full day is pretty terrible. So that day we just cleaned and cleaned, took some naps, and did all we could to kill every last louse that was in our hair. So that was a really fun experience and I am super excited to never try it again.

Wednesday we woke up and checked to make sure that we were lice free which we were, celebrated and then went to the church to practice a musical number for zone conference that my companion was apart of. That ended up taking a bit of time, and so we came home did some studies and ate dinner. Unfortunately all 3 of our appointments were canceled that night for preparation for Christmas. So we took the time to plan for how we were going to teach the new English class curriculum. So we did that, and also came up with some new finding tactics. And that was that day.

Thursday was the big zone conference, it was first spent by taking some time to discuss how we can make ourselves more christ like by applying the attributes that Jesus taught on the sermon on the mount. Then we went and ate lunch and watched the Christmas skits that each district makes, then we watched Moana, as the only movie that we can watch in a full year. So that was pretty exciting. Then after zone conference, most of the whole zone went down to downtown Charleston to carol in a big park with a giant Christmas tree. Which was super fun and super effective as well. Then that was that.

Friday we spent the day helping out the bike elders in their area because that's something new that we're supposed to try. If someone in our district is struggling then some other companionship can go down and help them out for a day with finding, or planning, or whatever. We also had a lesson with Gustavo and Abigail that night but canceled because they had family over for Christmas. But we still had soccer night which was a blast as always.

Saturday we headed over to the flea market early in order to set up our booth really quick, we got a handful of people interested in English class and some people interested in family history so that was a big success. Plus we made some new friends while waiting for our tacos that we ordered at the taco truck so that was cool as well. Then after that we came home and studied for a bit, then went out and tried to see a bunch of people, who all weren't home ore didn't wasn't to see us right then. So later in the night we went out caroling with a couple members to visit some less actives and sing some Christmas songs to them. Which was super fun and all had a good time there.

Sunday was Christmas eve or Christmas in Hispanic culture. So we went to church first for the Christmas program and had to translate which was pretty super difficult. Then after church we went over to a less active house for Christmas lunch which was super good. I also had the job of translating there since the English zone leaders were there as well and the family wanted me to translate their testimony to them and vice versa, so that was fun as well. Then for Christmas dinner we went over to a Brazilian family for some awesome Brazilian barbecue and some other amazing food. It was like going to a Brazilian steakhouse but for free, and with the added perks of trying to understand drunk people when they speak Portuguese. So that was really fun, but it was a super fun and tasty time so it was all worth it. Then at night we spent it with the other elders playing games and having a good time there.

Monday was Christmas. We woke up and opened up presents to kick off the day which was super fun. Then we played more games, up until it was time to call home. Calling home was awesome definitely was needed and really made me feel less homesick this Christmas. Then we went over to a English members house for Christmas where we had some awesome food and played a bunch of games as well. We played a game called killer bunnies which is probably the most intricate card game I've ever played. Then we played some jackbox games which I would like to say I won 3 out of the 4 games that we played so I am the champion. I also found my hidden talent while I was there which is making balloon animals. On my first try I made a perfect looking giraffe. Then I attempted to make a sword which turned out absolutely perfect as well. So to say the least I should have a profesión of balloon making.

Tuesday was our pday, but didnt turn out that way as we agreed to serve someone when we were promised it would only take 10 minutes, but ended up taking about 4 hours. So we didn't have a pday this week.