Almost Christmas

Sup Momma and Poppa!

Sounds like your Christmas concert was a good'n! I’m so glad I wasn’t there to get forced into any choir or anything haha. :) And you got your hair cut again? Is Jackie getting good? And that’s crazy that JT is already in Utah...or on his way up and about to go into the Missionary Training Center! That’s crazy, but I’m excited for him. Zac will be in and out faster than JT will believe. That sucker has to be there for like almost 3 months learning to speak Tagalog and Zac only has 3 weeks for English speaking missions. haha. It’s awesome that they’re so close to going out though. Lauren told me she’s coming home on Thursday...not Wednesday. I’m excited to talk to y’all too! It’s going to be cool / weird haha. And I think I’ll just sign up on my old Skype account because I’m pretty sure I still remember the password and all that good stuff. And yeah, I’ve been getting packages like nobody’s business lately! Puttin’ Elder Hardy to shame ;) Got 5 last week! From Sis. Reynolds, 2 from the teenagers at church, and 2 from Jackie. So our apartment is very Christmassy? If that’s even a word? Anyways, haha, I’ve felt love like crazy this week and it made this week awesome for me. So tell everyone thank you for the packages! Especially Sis. Reynolds! Elder Hardy loves his pillowcase and our nativity set is up right by our little Christmas tree.

That’s still crazy to me that people actually read the blog haha. But hey, if it’s getting a good review and people enjoy it, then why not! Tell Tony that his sitcom idea sounds amazing! “The Adventures of a California Kid doing up his Mormon Mission in Hillbilly Country”, huh? It would be pretty funny and boring though. But hey, if you have someone like me doing it, it would be hilarious! I make everything fun out here. I have to, or I would go crazy! Like yesterday, Elder Hardy and I were walking around tracting, and no one was answering their door. So I taught him how to shoot beer bottle caps by flicking them. And we had a contest as we walked. Needless to say I smashed his trash all over the place. But it kept me sane and into tracting. So I pretty much do anything I can to stay happy.

Your couch reclines....sounds like heaven! We have one recliner in our apartment and it’s busted. So when I lean back, my feet are pretty much touching the ground and it’s at a way awkward angle. So I'll be excited to try that baby out when I get home.

And yes, I got transfer instructions on Saturday morning. Elder Hardy and I are both staying in Tuscaloosa, and we're both getting new companions. On Friday we got called to Birmingham for a "special training" so we went and I thought we were going to get yelled at or something haha. But it turns out it was a trainer training, and I'll be training a new missionary come tomorrow! Yeah, training already! Crazy! But the president could change his mind between now and tomorrow morning like he did last time. So I might not be training haha. Nothing is concrete!! But word on the street is I’m training. So I’m way excited for that! Kind of nervous though, I won’t lie. Got a little baby missionary’s life in my hands, so I hope I can treat him right and make missionary work fun for him. But I feel like I can do it. Elder Hardy isn’t training, just getting a new companion. So the four of us will probably be living in the same apartment. It will be fun :) I get my new companion tomorrow, and Bro. Mays is going to feed the four of us tomorrow night so he can get to know the new guys. But yeah, this week has been way good.

Elder Clegg came back to visit the Los Alamitos Ward! That’s cool! He was a way good missionary. I remember going on a team-up with that guy. How do you like the 2 new missionaries in your Ward? Sounds like they’re doing things right though, helping set up for the concert and getting support from the ward. That’s how you do it. Haha. I’m glad Savannah liked my letter and man, I'll be out for 9 months when PJ reports to the Missionary Training Center in March ... that’s crazy! Did you talk to Teralynn, Carolyn and Diana? I haven’t talked to them forever!

Our appointments went super good this week! Except Mary...she smokes illegal substances so we called her out on the way to church, and she didn’t have too good of a church experience haha. Bro Mays just went for it and I’m pretty sure she just felt super uncomfortable that he was so blunt with her. But it needed to happen and I’m not worried about it. She knows that you can’t be doing that. Other than that, this week was super good. Had 10 lessons with investigators that members attended, which is a ton. And we just had a good week. No complaints from me :) It’s been like 75 this week and has just started to get cold. So everything’s good over here.

OK, well I have church from 9:30 to 10:30. So I’ll be done 12:30 my time, and I have lunch at a member’s house after. So I'll probably call you around 12:00 your time and set up a time for us to Skype. So keep your phone on you and keep the computer close by!! And thanks for the almond roca recipe :) I’m going to make some of that :))))

Love ya! Let me know what else is going on!

Elder Oppenlander