MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL 12/25/2017

First of all, Christmas in the field is very different, but holy cow it was a day to remember. It's also crazy that I've already had one of my two Christmases in the field. So in reality, I'm halfway done with my mission! Anyways, I guess I'll go over the week before I share the Christmas festivities with all of you. 

      Honestly this week was kind of a drag, but also flew by. That seems to be a fairly normal thing as a missionary and it weirds me out, but it's cool. We had a very memorable lesson this week with a member named Deborah. She is in her 30's, is married, and has 3 kids. She's the only member in her family, her kids are holy terrors, and her husband is a stay at home dad, while she works 2 jobs. So it's a rough situation. Anyways, we are over there one night, watching "Prophet of the Restoration", and having a discussion as we watch. At about halfway through the movie, I hear a car screech up, and some dude bursts in the front door. This fella is very obviously havin a rough day, and he's freakin out. Deborah looks at us and says, "you didn't hear any of this.", she then turns to the dude who I think his name was Alex and says "Alex. Do you need a doobie?" (for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a common treat for adults and children alike here in JC. It's a piece of paper, wrapped around some leafy green stuff, that is lit on fire. Odd tradition. Must be cultural?) Alex says "@#$% yeah I need a joint." Deborah turns to Burt and apparently they communicated telepathically or something, because Burt pulls out of his pocket something I've come to know as a "fat blunt", because I hear people asking others for them all the time. Alex then takes his little treat, exits as suddenly as he entered, and you hear his VTEC screech away at upwards of 12 mph and 190 dB. Deborah then turns to us and says something about how she is not a part of that anymore, she's repented and been baptized, but she's not going to force her new lifestyle upon anyone. So, WOW THAT LESSON ABOUT JOSEPH SMITH'S DIVINE CALLING AS A PROPHET INCLUDED THE EXCHANGE OF A LARGE MARIJUANA CIGARETTE AND NOBODY EVEN REMOTELY QUESTIONED IT. THAT IS GNARLY. 

    Another lovely thing that happened this week was a small bit of food poisoning. As we were walking to someone's house on Thursday night, we walked past a small restaurant called "Halal Bites." The smell as we walked past Halal Bites was incredible. And it had shawarma, which is basically a Pakistani taco, I think. Anyways, it sounded awesome, so Friday for lunch, I got some lamb shawarma. It tasted incredible. And then Saturday came... That lamb shawarma was a very bad thing. I did not leave my bed until 1 pm. My stomach felt as though I'd drank a gallon of battery acid and then chased it down with some rat poison. I sat and stared at the wall as I drew ever closer to death. I tried to read the BoM and study a little, but I mainly just felt like death. At 5 pm I called it, took a tylenol PM, and my eyes didn't open until 6:25 the next morning. And amazingly, I felt great. But lemme tell ya, I would NOT recommend Halal Bites. Yes the guy taking your order may be very nice and have a sick accent, but that lamb will not be doing you any good.

     Ok those are the two "exciting" events from the week. Now for Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve's Sacrament meeting only schedule was rather awesome. The Ward choir here is.... Small. But they did a great job, and between songs, various ward members got up and read out of Luke. So it was an awesome meeting, and we had a great turnout (not shockingly, Christmas (Eve) and Easter are really the only 2 days New Yorkers think they should go to Church.) After Church, we picked up Elders Berry, Hatch, and Glassey, the Endicott trio, and we went to the Collyer family's house. I'd never met them, but they're an awesome family that's in the Greene Branch, which is just north of the Binghamton Ward. They don't have any missionaries assigned to that Branch, so they invited the 5 of us up for Christmas Eve. They are an awesome family, they make awesome food, and we had awesome conversation. And thanks to the holidays, the "hour rule" for dinner appointments was excused, so we were able to spend a few hours with them, and it was awesome. Being in a "normal family scenario" is something I miss... So that was a perfect Christmas Eve. After we left the Collyer's, we kinda hung out and talked about life for a bit at the Endicott Apartment, then to finish off the night, we went to Chad and Jumilee's. Chad is an RC, and Jumilee is kind of an investigator. She believes it all, but it's more of a cultural thing holding her back from baptism. She's from Laos (SHOUTOUT TO MARSHALL FRODSHAM. IF POSSIBLE. CONTACT ME THIS WEEK AND I MIGHT GET YOU IN TOUCH WITH HER. YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW WHO HAS LIVED IN LAOS FOR LIKE 2 YEARS, YOU MAY BE OF ASSISTANCE HERE.) Anyways, Chad made us prime rib and baked potatoes, and we talked football and shared testimonies (of both football and the Gospel) for about an hour. We then closed with a prayer, and we hustled home to be picked up by Justin, who drove us to the Church and we set up Christmas for all the missionaries. Christmas Morning-Afternoon was spent at the Church eating food, playing games, and talking. Justin and Ashley, a RC family with an 18 month old son named Julian, basically gave up their Christmas to spend time with the missionaries, and get us presents. They are both "afire with the Gospel" and they love everything about the Church, the missionaries, all of it. They are incredible. We had great food and a party all the way up until we were bussed back to Justin's house, where the wifi is way fast, and we skyped our families. Lemme tell ya, never did I think a skype call would be so awesome. BUT HOLY COW SKYPE IS RADICAL. It was so cool to see the fam again. 5 months is a long time, but that skype call reminded me that they are in fact real, and all is well. That skype call was the coolest part of Christmas, and the best present I could've asked for. It was also cool bc being the patient person that I am, I opened all my packages as I got them, so I didn't actually have anything to open on Christmas. I attributed this to my goal of having Christmas entirely focused on the real meaning of the day, in fact I even (re)started Jesus the Christ on Christmas Eve. Lemme tell ya, it only takes one Christmas in the field to be quickly reminded of what is actually important in life. And it's also a reminder that everything that truly matters will still be there when you get home. This was proven in several ways, a few of them were my learning that my bikes and Jeep are still safe and sound. In fact I think my Mom even teared up talking about my Jeep. That was an ironic sight, because in the past her general attitude towards 'ol Lucee was one of eye rolls and comments such as "turn your bass down", or "you're gonna get pulled over for that light, and that one, and those ones, and that train horn." While she was right about the second part, I dare say that she misses that Jeep rattling her cake plates, and blinding neighbors, oncoming traffic, satellites, etc. And while they claim they've sold my bikes, I know they haven't, because I'm pretty sure I told them if my bikes weren't home when I got home, then I would find a new home. Anyways, being able to see my Mom, Dad, Ashley, Brittany, Emily, Aubrey, Mary, Liv, and all manner of cousins, aunts, and uncles, was probably my favorite Christmas Gift. After skyping and hanging out at Justin and Ashley's, we drove Binghamton back to their apartment, and we went to a PMF's house and played some apples to apples and had a grand time and some more good food. It was quite a day. Didn't have the feel of past Christmases, but will definitely be remembered.

       Well, I'd like to thank all of you for your support, as well as all of you who sent cards and packages. There's somethin special about letters and packages as a missionary, so anyone who has ever sent anything to me or any missionary, thank you. You guys rock.

       Alrighty, I'll talk to y'all next week. LOVE YOU GUYS.