Dec1

As I said last week, it's like the tornado swept me from my home in Kansas to the land of Oz! I honestly feel like I just got a new mission call: I'm in a new area, working with a new ward, teaching in a different language, and with a companion I'd never imagined working with - it's very different, but I love it! I still take note of Asians, pray in Cambodian, and do language study, but I'm adjusting to the fact that we teach every white person we talk to, these English investigators we have are now mine, and it's bizarre to be the missionary that ward members come up to and say "So you're the new one!"  

Lacey was actually one of my first choice of places to go, and it's definitely proved to be the best place! Comparing Tacoma to Lacey is like comparing apples to oranges - it just doesn't happen, so I'll just tell you my experience with Lacey so far. The work goes fast; we have member with lessons almost every single lesson, we have two baptisms coming up this week and two on the horizon, the members feed us nearly every day, and if not there are members in surrounding wards that we meet at WinCo and they pay for our groceries!! (This just happened an hour ago and apparently it's never happened to Sis. Smith before either, so that's kind of an exception) The dogs are more tame, there are more trees (yes!), and there are still Cambodians in the area I can scout out and... send over the Cambodians. Obviously it's a mental hurdle I have yet to overcome in realizing I teach English people for now, but that doesn't mean I still can't help out the others. :)

For Thanksgiving we went to three different meals. Not a smart idea! We ate as little as possible, but the middle meal was Samoan, so of course we had to have chopped suey, raw fish salad, taro, and rolls in coconut syrup (really good), in addition to the classic American meal they had out. So by the time the third rolled around I could barely manage of few more mouthfuls before I stopped. But I got to meet quite a few key members, and I love them! The ward, and the investigators we're working with! We've taught with both a member and with the elders now which is very different, but can actually work, and we have some good elders in the ward with us that have never served with sisters before (one's a greenie) so they're conscious not to step on our toes and are great in helping out.

The weather's taken a dive as it snowed on Saturday! It stuck in areas with shade, and the temperature never recuperated, so we're stuck in the 20-30s, but we randomly got a text from a returned missionary from another ward who wanted to go tracting with us! He just got back from Ohio, so he's plenty adjusted to the cold, but I still had to give him kudos for volunteering in this weather!

We'll be going on my first exchange this coming week which will be fun and exciting. I'm told it's exhausting work, but worth it! I've learned a lot just from my first week here, one of them being gratitude. The reasoning's a little obvious, but as I pondered what it means to have an attitude of gratitude in your daily life and not just for little things, I realized literally everyone has something to be grateful for. No matter where you are in life, whether on cloud nine, or rock hard bottom, everyone has access to the Atonement. That's why, as much as some people don't like it, we missionaries are out spreading the message of the gospel to others; because there is miraculous power and life through the Atonement, and no one should be exempt from access to it! It's real, I've experienced it, and I've seen it in the lives of those around me. We have everything to be grateful for, and I'm so excited for the opportunity to really focus on it during the Christmas season, as it is the greatest manifestation of God's love for us.

Love you!

Sister Dunster