Dear Familia,

BIG NEWS! I'm staying here! And so is Elder Rowley! That was weird. I was not expecting that. They are re-opening the Spanish area this week so we'll be back up to 6 Elders. No one signed up to feed us this week, or the Zone Leaders, and definitely none for the Spanish Elders, so they day they come in Elder Rowley and I are gonna cook a big meal in the Crock-Pot(which a family gave us for Christmas) for all 6 of us. It'll be a fun experiment. :) I do love to cook.

Christmas was awesome. I loved it. Thanks to everyone who sent cards and gifts! :) They were very much appreciated! :) BTW, I got a copy of Lectures on Faith from another missionary, so I got that too! :) haha. I'm spoiled.

We spent Christmas Even night at the other Elder's apartment. We slept in till about 9 a.m. We had French Toast and bacon(I bought 2 pounds, haha). The French Toast was good. Elder Woodward made it. Instead of mixing milk with the eggs he mixed in Coffee mate Creamer. He usually uses the Pumpkin Spice flavor but they didn't have it. So he used the Cinnamon Bun Flavor. It was so good. Cinnamon Roll flavored French Toast.(he also sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon on the toast itself). We each called home. That was fun. Then Elder Rowley and I went and had dinner with a family. We then went to our apartment and the missionaries brought over games they borrowed from a member. My favorite one was a Mormon card game called "It Came to Pass." It's KINDA like Uno, but way more fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. it wouldn't be all that fun with only 2 people, but if you have 3 or more people, it's a blast. They then spent the night at our apartment. Then we went to Church the next day of course.

I'm going to go buy a desk today. Probably at Staples. Last time I was there I saw one for like 30 bucks. I haven't had a desk the whole time I've been here. Studying at the the kitchen table gets old. All I can think about is eating, haha.

Overall, I'm still enjoying life. Our investigators aren't progressing very well right now. We need to find new ones. We're working on it. :)

I don't have all that much to say this week, since I just called home, sorry.

Have a great week! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Go to the temple!

Love,
Elder Bracken