Howdy de Texas (pronounced Te-hass)

My dear family and friends,

What a crazy week it has been. Holy cow have we had some adventures.

Monday: Our first p-day in Texas. It was spent cleaning the apartment and we STILL didn't finish! As Sister Jardine and I were talking that night, we made some totally random connections--we have SEVERAL friends in common. So if you read this and your name is on this list you should give us a shout out. Jamie Ann Moon Frizzle. Madalyn Dustin. Jessica Southwick. Derek Salisbury. Brandon Fowler. Sam Brown. Aaron Kinghorn. And those are all I can remember--there's a bunch more. And we figured out that we'd met before, fall of 2007. Her roommate/cousin was really good friends with my roommate and she totally came over to my apartment. Crazy, no?

Tuesday: We kept thinking of more people we know in common. We went tracting, and it was 109. HOT! And we FINALLY unpacked! I know, we'd been here for a week, but there were other things that were taking our priorities.

Wednesday: We went tracting in 119 degree temps. We got sunburned. And then it started to rain and dropped 50 degrees in 10 minutes. When we got home that night we found more cockroaches all over the dishes we'd washed that morning. We got really frustrated, went upstairs to our clean bedroom, sat on the floor and cried as we ate chocolate cupcakes. Pathetic picture, I know.

Thursday: We had district meeting, and can I just say that it was AMAZING! Elder Pearson started out by asking each one of us how we were. (He'd called Wednesday night when we were sitting on the floor in tears). And it was all just so uplifting. We were way excited and ready to get out and work. We made the Elders Spider cupcakes to make up for killing the tarantula and took them to district meeting. After district meeting, we called Sister Clifford in the office again, and she told us to have the Elders come and help us de-junk and haul things to the dump. So we called the Elders and asked them if they'd have time on Saturday or today, but they said "Don't wait that long! We'll be there tomorrow at 11." Okay. Sweet! We were feeling much better about things. Oh--while I was on the phone with Sister Clifford she asked where I wanted to have President send me next so I could clean up. I would SO much rather stay here for a while. And with only 3 transfers left after this one I really won't be surprised if I "die" here. Yes, I really did just say three. Crazy, no? Time sure flies when you're havin' fun! That night as we were out tracting, we saw a pitbull looking at us over a rock fence and were like "creepy" and then behind the same fence, a German Shepherd started brinking the whole length of the fence following us. Not barking, just jumping and leaping in the air. We were laughing so hard we could hardly walk straight. And we finished cleaning the upstairs, with the exception of the bathroom floor.

Friday: The Elders came and helped us get rid of the stinky infested couches, the washer-dryer combo that doesn't work, the disgusting hospital chair, and all the junk from the zebra and Harry Potter closets. In there we found papers dating back to 1973. No joke. Don't ask. And the exterminator came to exterminate the cockroaches. It didn't work because we've still been finding some, but EVERYTHING is clean now, so that should help lots. Things looked SO much better in our apartment.

Saturday: We went to two baptisms, one in the Spanish ward for the elders we work with, and one for the elders serving in Fabens. That was a good way to spend a Saturday morning. Then we went to the bakery of the member the Fabens Elders live with for lunch, and took district pictures because one of the Elders is being transferred to the West Side to train a new elder coming in tonight while he's waiting for his visa (and the other 2 companionships in our district are also getting a couple). All I can say is que triste. We're losing an amazing Elder who really knows how to work hard and who let us borrow his GPS (thanks to not having that we got lost again this morning). And we're getting 2 new greenies. My greenie is excited to not be the greenie in the district anymore... except she is. She's just less green than the others. So we took a district photo, even though that's a last district meeting of the transfer kind of deal. And I got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa and we discovered that we're related. And I'm looking forward to next week's letters to find out how. So all you with more access to technology and knowledge about genealogy, have fun!

Sunday: We went to Church. I had a sister from the Spanish ward ask me if I'm from Brazil. Okay... my accent isn't THAT good. But whatever. And we got to sub sunbeams in the English ward. I was totally in heaven! I miss kids! They're SO funny! And Sister Jardine tried her first Serrano pepper, which is hotter than a jalapeno, and it about killed her. And did absolutely nothing to me. She says that I have a mouth of steel.

So yeah. It's been a good week. We FINALLY finished cleaning the apartment this morning. And hopefully have annihilated the cockroaches. We have a can of Raid on hand to use if one finds its way in. And the carpet cleaner came. So now our apartment is clean AND it doesn't stink any more! Yea! We were able to get out and do some tracting and meet a lot more members. We have more energy to get out and work because our minds aren't focused on the mess at home. We're still trying to organize the area book, but it hadn't been touched in so long that there isn't much useful information. We're in the process of trying to contact all former investigators. I'm excited for the training this week and to apply what we learn as we turn this area upside down. The members are way excited that there's sisters back in the area and are way willing to help us out.

Hope you all have a great week! Love you!

Hermana Good