Hola Elder

Hola Familia,

So I'm back in the mission, and things are going pretty well. They put
me into a trio. My companions are Elder George and Elder Teng. Elder
George is from Florida and has been out in the field for 6 or 7 months
I think. He's really good. Elder Teng (pronounced "Tang") is waiting
for his visa to go to Taiwan. He grew up in Washington, but he learned
how to speak Mandrian from his parents. He's also really cool. The
funny thing is that before transfers this last Tuesday the
companionship used to be a trio (the third elder got sent off to
Compton). It's kinda of funny that I arrive just in time to fill in
the vacancy. I kind of feel like a "third wheel" to this companionship
right now, but I'm getting used to things pretty quick and my
companions feel rather motivated to get me talking.

Our companionship covers two wards in the area: an English-speaking
family ward (Cypress 2nd) and the Singles Ward (covers the whole
stake). Compared to my last area, that's like a quarter of the elders
per ward. Between these two wards, we have way more than enough stuff
to do (or rather, nowhere near enough time to do the stuff we need
to). Also, going to 6+ hours of church meetings on Sunday feels very
bizarre, scheduling-wise.

I have my tennis shoes (thanks for asking), but I think I forgot my
coat. If you could check (I think it's still in the entryway) that
would be nice.

Speaking of coats, the weather here has been weird. Supposedly this is
supposed to be the rainy season, but since I've arrived the weather
has been sunny and in the 70s. It's the middle of January and it feels
warmer than when I left in mid-October (when I was in the
supposedly-hottest area of the mission). I mean, it feels just like
summer (except that summer here is warmer than summer back home, but
you get my point).

Sincerely,
Elder West

Adios...Again.

We dropped Alex off at Sea-Tac this morning. Traffic was brutal, but we made it in plenty of time to get him checked in and to check his two suitcases (both weighed 47 pounds). Having him go was bittersweet. We're happy that he's healed up and returning to the mission field, but we will surely miss him - and his selfless service around the house.

Hey mister! Move your head!



Hey Alex! Look at the camera!



At least we got a smile.



Vaya con Dios, Elder West.

Alex Update

I'm not sure whether it was harder to wait the first time Alex got his mission call, or this time. 
Let's say this time.
Every step of the process this time seemed to take twice as long as I wanted it to it should have.
Well, the wait is over.  I got a call last night around 5pm from our stake president. He asked me if I was sitting down (dead give-away). No surprise that he's going back to Long Beach - we were pretty sure that Alex would be.  The surprise is when. 
Tomorrow.
Yup. TOMORROW!!
Tomorrow morning.
That gives us one day to get him packed and say goodbye.
Can we do it?

You betcha.

Closet Clean-Up

I drove down to IKEA on my own last Friday - specifically for this shoe cabinet. 
I had a little trouble finding it - it was in the IKEA aisle equivelant of Platform 9&3/4.
We already had the mirror up (also purchased from IKEA).

I love how many shoes it tidies up out of sight.  My pull-out holds 11 pairs of shoes!
Steve can only get about 6 of his larger shoes in his pull-out - but that's more than enough room for him.

So...my closet is clean and organized and my bedroom is done (except, perhaps for new bedding?). I need to sort out one or two things in the bathroom and then our 'master suite' will be done! 

Snow Day III

The branch is even more bent.

We have hairy icicles.

My plot to NOT pick all the apples has paid off...for the birds.  Evidently they've been passing the word along that our yard has apples - there are between 2 and 10 in the tree at any given time. 
Just doing my part.

Oh, and YES, it's still snowing.

Snow Day II

notice how bent the branch is now...



Wet, wet, wet...



Snow Day

Snow.

Wet snow.