Peck Missionaries: The Only Cold for Christmas. . .

. . .was the one that left me sniffling and coughing for a week. Including Christmas. And caroling to every single member. And contacting/caroling/inviting all of Tierra Llana to a Christmas concert. And singing at it. All with cold voice.

Nose warmers sent by a good family friend. We went caroling to Elvis in these.

We also got to play our duet at the concert, and it turned out pretty well I think. Everyone was impressed at least.

The set up for the Tierra Llana concert. The Stake President and Mission President came, but the turnout wasn't what we wanted. But we prayed for a miracle, and a golden family of five came up to us and asked us to come visit them. So we're praying for Arturo and his family. First cita (lesson) on Wednesday.

Christmas turned out really well, because we planned a lot in advance and worked hard to make it good. Everything from buying eggnog to have on Christmas Eve, decorations all over the place, wrapping everything possible,(in Liahona or IKEA magazines), wiring extension cords to be able to plug in the lights, making Norskies on Christmas morning, and potatoes, chicken, and rolls and pudding pie for lunch. We listened to Christmas music (peaceful harp and Mormon Tab with Sissel [which is sad because my comp doesn'

t like Sissel] )-- nonstop. It was all lovely. And I got my package Christmas Eve.

One of the best Christmas presents was a new sobrina (niece) in July! Woot woot Chris and Kristen!

And getting to see Lydia. (3 month old niece)

Baptism of Brayan

So as I mentioned on Skype, if I start thinking about what's normal in the US, I start to realized that there's a bunch of "funny stories" that happen every day.

Like the drunk guy that wandered into our baptism on Saturday and kept interjecting during President's talk with "amens" and answers to all his rhetorical questions. No one knew who he was.

We ran into Carlos Miguel (almost 12) on Saturday with his basketball instead of being ready to go to the baptism like he said. Here's how the conversation went:

Us: So, you're not going to sing with us at the baptism anymore?

Him: Umm, I can't. Ummm, they wouldn't let me (his grandparents)

Us: Well, have you read in the Book of Mormon?

Him: Yes, a lot.

U:Where are you now?

H:Jacob 8. (we left him last in Jacob 4)

U:Oh really? what was it about?

H: I don't remember, I have a problem where I can't remember things.

U: Did you like Jacob 5?

H: Yeah.

U: Was it long?

H: Not especially.

U:. Carlos, Jacob 5 has over 70 verses, and there's no such thing as Jacob 8.

His face: Whoops.

Him: So am I still getting baptized next Saturday?

U: No, Carlos, no.

Matching outfits for the Ward Christmas Party--which we had to leave almost as soon as it started in order to get home in time.

I thought it was interesting that you guys sent a butterfly necklace and earrings, because 3 butterflies is significant here. I don't know if I already talked about this, but it's because of the 3 mariposa (butterfly) sisters that opposed Trujillo's dictatorship. Look up the story.

So I love them.

There's lots and lots of things to survive here. Like the fact that we didn't receive water this week, and none of our outlets are working. Oh well! Lessons in survival, that's what the mission is!

What else was I going to write about?? Well, Dominicans say that if you forget what you were going to say, it was either a lie or something stupid. So I guess I'll just end there.

Merry Late Christmas to all, and Prospero Ano Nuevo.

Lots of love,

Hermana Sarah