Feliz Dia de Gracias

     FELIZ DIA DE GRACIAS!!! I hope you all had just as fantastic of a day as I did here in Sac-town! We started off right today with a Turkey Bowl! Holla! WE played football for a good hour and then ended with some touch-rugby (they were scared I would hurt them ;) ha). We did some shopping around town and enjoyed our all-day P-day! Woot! After our shopping we went over to an English member's house for dinner. They were the sweetest things ever! They are actually the members that the English Elders live with so we played some pranks on them and had a great time! We also sang for them (mom and dad should have got the video of it) in Spanish because they both have Spanish heritage, they just prefer English. It was so nice! Thanksgiving away from home really makes me think of the things that I am grateful for. However, I love my mission so much and I wouldn't trade where I am for the world :)

     We have had a very interesting past 10 days...that's for sure! We almost burned down the apartment...for realz. We have been putting candles on the burners on the stove (on low, of course) so we can have a holiday scent in the house. Well, Hna Hanson accidentally put the burner on high and walked away. Well, the wax caught on fire. Note to self and all others: don't pour water on burning wax. The flame has a tenancy to shoot up about 3 feet and THEN the fire goes out...I must have been asleep during that Chemistry lesson or something? Anywho, we got the fire alarm to stop sounding and put the other candle outside. I got a pretty sweet video of it :) God protects His missionaries...that's for sure! JA!

     Last Tuesday I went on an exchange with Hna White. It was so much fun because we got to talk about our time together and reminisce a little. I am slightly jealous that Hna Hanson and Hna Arntsen got to stay in Sac with Hna Toro because this is her last transfer :( However, I did still get to see her a little bit, so that was nice. I really enjoyed the moment when we were switching back because all of my companions (sans Hna Carlson) were in the apartment with me. I can say that I love every single one of them so much and wouldn't trade my time with them for anything. They are just like family to me :)

     Last Thursday we had zone conference and Elder David Baxter of the Seventy came and gave us a marvelous training! He was a little intense, but the Work of Salvation is no joking matter. He talked a lot about our relationships with the members and how important it is. I wish that the members of our branch could have heard it as well. It got me really pumped to do missionary work! I was sitting right in front of him while he was teaching and there was a point in his lesson about how no one "jumps into success." He asked if anyone was an athlete so I raised my hand. He asked me which sports I played and I told him, "Soccer, softball, basketball, and rugby." He did a semi-double take and was like, "I'm tired just hearing that." He then went on to ask me if I was good overnight at those sports or if I had to work hard. Obviously, I said I had to work at it. He went on to describe how missionary work is the same. We have to practice the basics over and over again and keep going in order to be a successful missionary. I really liked that part :)

     So, we met this new guy named Carlos. Apparently, he was going to church hace algunos anos atras and he went for like 6 months. I guess he dejo de ir porque su esposa no le gusto la iglesia mucho...we are trying to teach her too. He is more than happy to let us teach him. He wants to learn and I know he can feel the spirit because he never wants us to leave. His wife really warmed up to us last time we went because we were helping her with her English and she wanted us to help her with some vocab for her citizenship test (which is a complete joke, by the way. I'd be willing to bet that 80% of Americans couldn't even pass it). She really liked that. We will see how it goes. We extended him a date as a goal, but Hispanics are REALLY antsy about picking dates. They don't want to fall bad with anyone so if they don't think that they are ready then they won't commit...but he did agree to pray about Dic 21 so we will see. I've got a god feeling about this one!

     We were going to drop Daniel, but while we were doing it his friend came over and they both got-all of a sudden-interested in the Word of Wisdom...so we took that as a sign (yup, I'm becoming Hispanic) that we shouldn't do drop him just yet. Jose, the one that had to go to San Fransisco to work has been reading in the Book of Mormon and he even went to church there! YAY! I hope that I am still here when he gets back so that I can teach him again! We haven't been able to see Briana and Natalie for a while. I guess Natalie, who just turned 8, asked her mom if she could be baptized and she said no and that she was crazy! So, we are going to fast this Sunday for her mom's heart to be softened...por lo menos for Briana to be baptized. 

     Oh! We also had a miracle! We went over to see this family that we haven't been able to see for a while: la Familia Camacho. Well, the daughter just barely got her papers after 10 years and was so excited! But, she also wasted no time in telling us how unfair people are treated. She seriously went off for like 1 1/2. Then her mom was telling us her story of how she got to this country for another 45 min. It was rough to listen to, but none of us felt like we should interrupt them to leave so we just stayed and listened. After 2+ hours the daughter was telling us that we were something special to sit and listen to her and still be contect. She took it as a sign from God that we had something that she needed to hear. Long, amazing story short, we get to go back and read the Book of Mormon with her and her mom next week! I am so glad that we stayed. And Hna Hanson said it best, "Jesus wouldn't look at the sun and say, 'Oh I have an appointment. I'll catch you all later.'" She's right: He would listen. Obviously, we won't have 3 hour lessons every day, but this one happened to work in our favor :)

     We went over Blanca's house to decorate their tree with Nuno and Danielle. It was so much fun! I absolutely love them! I am totally going to come and visit them after the mission. Blanca asked me again for President Lewis' number so that she could ask him to keep me here for Christmas...we'll see :)

 I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving and ate some pecan pie for me. Ja! I love you all and look forward to your e-mails on Monday! LOVES!

Love, Hermana Freestone