Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Fall Festivals & Death of the Pinata


Volunteer fun at the neighborhood fall festival with Sis Wahlen



I love the email, so don't worry about what you're writing.  I don't usually have anything exciting to write or remember what I want to write, so this week I made a list from my journal.

So last P-Day we had a white elephant exchange and a pinata.  All my idea.  I decided to take charge since the week before was lame.  It went really well and the missionaries used it as a way to get rid of all the random junk that accumulates in missionary apartments.  One sister brought a bunch of photos of herself that she didn't want since she is going home this transfer and a set of elders brought the leftovers they got after a member took them to lunch.  Sis. Wahlen brought a skirt she didn't want, and just like we were hoping, an elder picked it up.  He begged someone to take it because he  feared what would happen if the senior missionaries that do apartment checks would think if they saw it there.  Some sister was kind enough to take it off his hands.  

I got an In-N-Out gift bag.  It had a pen, a pair of socks, and a signed picture of Elder Bladh rocking out
Add that how the pinata died!
on the mop.  He is from California too and his grandmother sent him a bunch of stuff.  There is only one In-N-Out here, and it is in Dallas, so I guess some of the California elders are going through withdrawals, especially Elder Itow.  
The pinata was kind of a bust.  The string kept breaking so we had to keep re-tying it.  It also had confetti in it, which we didn't realize.  We gave up
tying it and decided to throw it in the air to hit baseball style.  We tried it on one elder whom we knew would be a bit violent. We were right.  He hit the pinata and broke the stick in half.  Luckily no one got hurt.

On Tuesday we had lunch with a less active like we always do.  She made us this shrimp Alfredo thing, and you know how much I love shrimp. So when she went out to the garage to get us some water (no one drinks Texas water, it is gross), I put all the shrimp unto Sis. Wahlen's plate.  She got a little sick from eating a double portion, but I got to avoid the shrimp without hurting anyone's feelings!

We had many adventures this week taking the secret passage into Gleannloch across the railroad tracks. As
Waiting for the train
we were coming back one day, we saw a train in the distance. Great.  So we just waited for it to pass, but it stopped three cars short of clearing the path for us. So we waited a bit, then picked up our bikes and stopped at the end of the train, waited, then sprinted across the tracks with our bikes.  
On Sunday, there was a huge rainstorm in the morning.  As a result, when we went to cross the tracks that day, there was a stream running across the only path. Luckily this had happened to me before so I knew what to do.  You put your bike as far as you can reach, then step on the peddle and glide across to the other side and hopefully you don't lose your balance. I made across fine, but Sis. Wahlen lost her balance and stepped in the water with one foot.  I felt for since I did that the first time I tried.  A few minutes later she almost crashed her bike.  It kind of slid out from under her, but she managed to step out, remain standing, and keep her bike from falling hard.  We decided we would get a ride home since I didn't trust her to bike home.  Another cool bike thing, I am developing the skill of ridding without holding the handle bars and I am getting pretty good at it.  I can even turn now!

We had Zone Conference on Thursday.  We got to meet together with all of the other missionaries in the surrounding area and get instruction from President and Sister Pingree, his assistants, and some others. We were late because we got lost, but we luckily
My tan line
didn't miss much.  We had a great time, felt the Spirit and received inspiration for our area.  The American Sign Language elders gave a short workshop on how to introduce ourselves in sign language.  So know I am learning bits of sign language and Spanish.  I can do a door approach in Spanish now and I am getting the sign alphabet down.  And I thought I was going English speaking!

On Friday we had dinner at Chili's. A member took us. Her children were at their dad's and she didn't feel like cooking.  It was fun and hopefully people saw us and wondered.  We meant to leave a pass-a-long card with the check, but forgot. 

The Hoffs had a great costume!














Our ward Halloween  party was Saturday, so that
Sis Wahlen having fun with apples
morning we helped Sis. Canfield decorate the cupcakes she was taking.  Made me think of Heidi and decorating a million cupcakes for your ward conferences.  We also got to volunteer at a neighborhood Halloween party.  That was really neat because we got to be out in the community and be seen.  We even gt a number and are going to try and see that family next week.

Going for the donut at Ward Party
I escaped!

 
Ward Mission Leader Brother Kunz.  He's actually bald.  (notice Holly has switched name tags with her companion Sister Wahlen?)












I love you all and invite and encourage you to talk about the gospel everyday.  You don't have to teach a lesson to someone, but just mention Church and drop
Happy Fall Y'all!





Mormon words all the time. Then people will know who you are and what we believe.  They may ask questions or not, but they will know they can. 

Love,
Sister Hudgens