December 28, 2015

FAMILY SHMERGS!!!

Wow, today was a day!  Started with some good personal study all about the Savior and Christmas and I read Luke 2. Really good.  HTen, Hermana Shelley and I opened our gifts from each other. I gaver her a Rubik's cube (that's what she wanted), a jounral (with some nice things her family and friends wroter about her inside), and some Ninja Turtle wristbands.  She's never seen Ninja Turtles, but for some reason, she thinks they're cool... She gave me the Leonardo wristband. :)  And she gave me the pens I LOVE and this awesome moleskin journal I'm writing in.  It's Star Wars.  I love it.  Then, we open the door to leave for District Meeting and there are these two bags!  They were from the Halladay's!  They gave my comp and I pringles, oreos, Star Wars fruit snacks, Star Wars pj pants, Star Wars band aids, and gave me a swiss chocolate bar and my comp a big bag of m&ms.  She loves m&ms.  So, anyway, then we go to District Meeting. That was pretty fun.  We worked on Christlike attributes and what, as a companionship, we needed to work on.  Oh! Before district meeting, I got Dani's gift! :) It was peppermint shower gel from Bath and Body Works!  It smells soooooo good.  Anyway, from District Meeting, we go to Hermana Deng's restaurant and we shared "He is the Gift" with her and her daugher and she fed us.  Wow! THe food was way good! Then, we head on over to HErmana Tomincobu's. Oh, and HErmana Deng gave us each a bag of goodies, but we already have a TON of sugar, so we re-gifted them... So, we gave one to Hermana Tominobu, because we knew she was planning on getting us gifts, and we just love her to pieces. And we wrote her a card beforehand, too.She had a super cool miracle for her day!  A cop just pulls up to her at a light, gives her $100 and says, "Merry Christmas!"  There is not a better person he could have given that gift to.  Anyway, she gives us little notebooks and journals, and pens, and thank you cards. OH, and there's a set of cards and my jounral that have a "G" on the front!  For Gneiting! :) She is so sweet!  And we read Luke 2 and sang Christmas carols.  We stopped by the Ordinola's at 5, but found out they were expecting us at 7 with the Dlers, so we had to send quick text to the assistants, asking if it was okay.  They said just this once. :)  So, we had some time, so that's when we decided we would see Bill and Alfredo. Basically, we told them that Bill needs to go on a mission and Alfredo needs to get baptized.  They're all for the other person doing the thing, but neither of them want to budge. But Bill said that he's go on a mission if Alfredo got baptized.  So, you know, we'll see.  They want to know our first names and we said we'd tell them if they came to church.  Side note, THEY DID!  We're just pretty bold and sassy with them.  We let them know what's up.  And it's fun to see them rag on each other.  Like, Bill will defend the church until he's blue in the face.  Anyway, then we go back to the Ordinola's house.  I decide to FaceTime my family and 7:30, so I sit there with Lino, HErmana Shelley and the Elders for about a half hour.  Then, I go upstairs, call on the phone, get FaceTime up and running, and there we were!  Hermana Shelley left and I chatted with my family.  Daddy and Zak were gone when I first called, but they were there within minutes.  I opened and closed with a personal and family prayer, and I'm SO glad I did.  I honestly don't remember much of what we talked about, but it was so nice to see them!  And Devon skyped in at 8 and Dani did, too!  It was super fun to see them all.  I got a little emotional when I first called and when I saw Dev and then it was tough when I had to say goodbye.  [And then, I read the email mom sent me. :) ] That was comforting.  I was okay once I got downstairs again, but I cried for the little bit afterward.  I was praying and crying a bit and I prayed that I could keep it together enough to go downstairs, and be with people again.  I was able to be okay after that.  I talked about what my family said for awhile, though.  Hermana Shelley said every five minutes or so, they could hear me, I was so loud.  Oh, well.  They couldn't make out any words, though.  I had some food, too.  I got a slice of pan de jamon. It's DELICIOUS!  And we had apple pie, too.  And then, the Ordinola's gave us each a gift before we left.  Orlando Nike shirts!  The Elders' are red with a white Nike swoosh.  Hermana Shelley and I got black ones with a highlighter yellow/green Nike swoosh. Ours are cooler.  And they make us look skinnier!  Wooo! Anyway, we came home, did some really quick daily planning, and opened some gifts!  I opened my pj's and tried them on.  They're suuuuuper cozy.  And they came with socks, too!  I love them.  And then, we each (my comp and I) opened 2.  I opened the other two from my fam!  I got a skirt that I LOVE and an awesome Star Wars shirt! I couldn't be happier.  My pj's are super comfy.  I'm writing in my new journal with my new pen. I have peppermint and mint oreos.  And I get to open more gifts tomorrow!  I'm very, very happy.  Yeah, I miss home and yeah, it's not the same, but I'm definitely happy. Oh!  And I got a hyperbole and a half calendar, too!  For 2016! :) Good day.  Love my family.  Glad I'm out on a mission.

Wow, that was long and I really don't have much time.  But Christmas was good!  Thank you for the gifts!!! :)  I love my calendar!  We had Christmas breakfast with the Samayoa's and we had waffles and buttermilk syrup.  They were so good.  Love you all!  

Love,

Hermana Gneiting :D