December 13, 2011 w/ pictures

Man, I was so grumpy this week! Me being grumpy = me having a very pessimistic view on the week so bear with me - there will be some good in this post, I promise! On Wednesday and Thursday we had a lot of cancellations and schedule changes. For those of you who know how anal I am, it drove me nuts. We did some service building bookshelves, which was fun, but otherwise Wed. and Thur. were a bust.

On Friday, we had our ward Christmas party. You would think that would be a highlight and fun but you would be wrong. There was a guy there who always pokes fun at me but sometimes takes it too far. He totally loves me and just doesn't realize how sensitive I am. He kept going and going and finally I burst out in tears and had to leave the party early. I couldn't stop crying! It was embarrassing and my poor companion felt so bad and it was just awful. I hate crying to begin with and I hate that I can't stop myself from crying....so another bust.

Saturday was good though. We rode bikes! Talk about humility -- I had an ugly helmet on, in a skirt (which kept getting caught in the brakes so I had to tuck it into my g's) and we stopped and chatted with people with sweat running down our faces and out of breath. Ha. We looked like such dorks but I don't mind. My companion literally did not make it up a single hill...she had to stop and walk. I am mean and wanted the workout so I left her behind and rode up the hills and would go back and check on her. Later in the afternoon, we helped clean a house (which I love cleaning and organizing so that was fun). We had an amazing dinner and then went to a Christmas choir concert called "Sing Noel" -- it was really cute and fun. We sat with some other missionaries who are hilarious and always make me laugh so it helped ease my grumpiness. Also, throughout the week we helped decorate three Christmas trees. I hardly ever even helped decorate my families' Christmas tree, so it was fun to do three and see the different ways people like to do their trees.

Sunday is always busy busy with Church and meetings. We had a yummy dinner and went to Sing Noel again. This time we sat almost front row, which made it totally different and still fun. It helped bring the Christmas spirit!

Monday was rainy and cold. And rainy. We had a good district meeting, had a couple member visits, and taught three recent converts/less actives. I like keeping Monday busy because it's the day before P-day (P-day's eve) and it will feel 100x longer if we don't keep busy.

This seems really short and without much "spiritualness" so I'll add some. For personal study, I am reading "Jesus the Christ". It is huge and hard to read, but I really like it. If you want something to do in your free time, read chapters 16 and 17. I am only up to chapter 18, but 16 and 17 were probably two of my favorites so far. We have what we call a "study journal" where we add any insights, quotes or scriptures to each day. I love it because it's so organized and I have a place to record everything. Anyway, when I am reading, I always find such good little insights that help put together pieces and allow me to feel like I know Jesus Christ on a more personal level. It's a legit book, but you def. need a dictionary when you read.

Hope all is well. pce out.
-Sister Christensen