December 27, 2010
Dearest Family,
Hey, thank you for the wonderful emails. I was way glad that I got to hear from you so soon after talking on the phone. First though I guess I'll just talk a little about my week for those that didn't hear. It was a pretty crazy week because of Christmas. I had to conduct an exchange with one of the newest missionaries, Elder Sherman, on Thursday and that was good. It is always fun to get to know a new person and their likes and dislikes. I just get a kick out of it for some reason. :) Then on Christmas Eve we made some little cards that had John 3:16 on one side and then the saying, "What will you give Him this Christmas?" and then we handed those out with candy. We also sang some Christmas songs on the street with our district. There wasn't a ton of people out, but it was good. Doing all of that stuff is kind outside of my comfort zone, but I just forced myself to do it cause you just have to get over those things. It was funny to see people's reactions when we would walk up to them and try to give them something while saying Merry Christmas. Some people would just look at us weird and walk away as I would just yell after them that it was just candy! Haha, and with some other people, it seemed like it made their day. It's just not the culture here to walk up to someone else and talk to them the way that we do. For the most part the people just seem to stick to themselves. Anyways, that was good. We opened our pajamas that night and Elder Rich was really grateful! I guess his family does that tradition too but they didn't send him any this year. So, you guys are awesome. On Christmas we opened our presents that morning and that was great! I loved everything that I got!! Thank you so much! Then we went out to an old folk’s home and sang to them. I had come up with that Idea and worked with member to set it up. It was a really cool experience because you could tell that so many of the people were very touched. They just seemed so happy to see that someone cared. The home was out in the middle of this forest and I don't think that they get very many visitors. Anyways, it was great and it went well. After that we came home and tried to make a Christmas dinner with ham and potatoes and roles... but it didn't work out at all. Haha, but you have to try everything at least once right? Then I got to talk to you guys on the phone and that was so nice. I'll talk about that more in a minute. Yesterday, we had church and the branch choir did a program for sacrament meeting. The Choir is pretty much all missionaries. But it was nice to sing and they even made me do a solo. Haha, it was good I guess. Anyways, that was pretty much my week. I really can't believe that the year is over and I am half way done! It's still so weird to me... I feel like I just went into the mtc. But that's life right? Next week I will let you know more about the goals that I set for this next year. I will be thinking about them this whole week and prayerfully trying to figure
out what the Lord wants me to do.
I hope that you have a wonderful week and a happy new year! Love you all so much!
Thanks for being awesome!
Love, Elder Leishman
348 days down, 382 days to go!
