Last Email for 2011!

As I mentioned in the last post, it was great to hear from Elder Broekhuijsen on Christmas Eve.  I suppose after our 40 minute conversation, it was difficult to come up with much "new" stuff to say.  So, we'll accept this relatively short email for today, but it better be longer next week!  (Uh oh - there I go getting demanding and being ungrateful - just kidding, Andrew!)

Wow. I can't believe 2011 is drawing to a close. For reals, it's crazy to think that one year ago, I was already drawing close enough to my MTC day to be counting the days in the back of my mind. Time that is already over has flown quickly, even though time doesn't usually fly quickly while it's happening :D

Skyping you all (except not Melissa, because that would have been DISOBEDIENT) was a pleasure. The first time I've seen your faces in 10 months, can you believe it? Hopefully I didn't say too many half-Russian, half-English sentences. I kind of realized after the call was over that there isn't anyone I really ever talk to who doesn't understand the weird English/Russian hybrid language all the missionaries speak among ourselves. So I stopped noticing that there were English words that I hadn't said for months because I always just said them in Russian. I'm pretty sure a good 10% of that call was in Russian, in hindsight. Garrett, get a haircut.  [In Garrett's defense, Andrew called earlier than we expected and none of us had had a chance to "do our hair."  In fact, Garrett had a haircut on Monday last week!]

Hopefully as I write this, you're sleeping from a really fantastic Christmas Day! I know I had one.

We had some really miraculous things happen throughout the Zone yesterday. Destin (*ahem* I mean Elder Swartz) in Penza had a lady come to church named J*. She is half African and half Russian, and 100% awesome. She wants to be baptized. She loved church so much. Yesterday was also the first day they had ever met or heard of her. It's a Christmas Miracle!

Thank you SO MUCH for the awesome Christmas package. It made the whole month just full of brightness and cheer, and cheer, and brightness. The entire apartment smells like Christmas juice still, because I sprayed insane quantities of it every day. I'm wearing the dicey gold tie, and wore the sick purple one yesterday. They are SO cool. The PJs will be happening every night for at least 363 more days, and I just really had an amazing Christmas!

Anyway, my hour's almost up. Elder Langston and I gotta get home and pack for exchanges with Orenburg; we're leaving to go down there on a train at 5:30ish today. It's going to be awesome; I love trains.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'll "see" you all in 2012!

Love,

Elder Broekhuijsen