'Tis the Season
Ho-Ho-Holy crap! The time man, it's just gone by at breakneck speed this week. I don't even know what happened to tell the truth. We have a car again, for one thing. Yes, about two days after I sent last week's email we managed to land another Toyota Corolla, this one navy blue. It used to be the sister's car, but they had a situation happen and now the sisters are home, so yet again, there was an extra. No, we don't get to keep this one either, so don't get your hopes up, but we did name it. "Tempo" is the name of this mighty vessel, short for "Temporary".
All of my Christmas presents arrived in the mail, and so did Elder Yorks. Our little tree is beginning to look really festive for the holidays, and that's not the only thing! Waimea is one of two small towns we cover in this area. The other one is Kekaha, where we live. But you wouldn't even begin to believe how decked out this place gets for Christmas. Every year a massive light parade comes through the town, all filled with local style venues and home made floats. There's food everywhere, and a lot of it is free. Needless to say, I tried everything. It was amazing. My favorite thing was the local style steak at Ishihara Market. They started slow cooking the steak via some magical process I can't remember the name of, and the end result was the most insanely good steak I've ever had in my life. Kekaha was empty all day, so we just drove up to Waimea early for the parade and camped out there. It was probably the most successful day we've had so far. There were so many people to talk to, and everyone was excited and happy to be a part of the season. Light the World passalong cards are my favorite things ever, because everyone takes one. We ended up giving out 2 copies of the Book of Mormon and somewhere between 65 and 80 light the world cards. It was crazy. It seemed like everyone on the entire island was there. Seeing all of the Christmas celebrations has really brought a home-style feel to the holidays, and for the first time on my mission it actually feels like Christmas time. Everyone has this magical joy to them, and it's something that you can really feel like you can be a part of. In a place as small as West Side Kauai, everyone knows each other, and seeing them all come together as a big ohana is something that I wish you all could see. Thus far we've been doing a lot of service for people around town who need help putting up Christmas lights and the like. It's been a lot of fun, so I think maybe next year I can help out at home with the decorations and such.
In addition to all of that, our ward is having a cool luau thing this Saturday, and we've invited as many people as we can. Ricky the Heropon (his actual last name is Fernandez) is really taking an interest in the gospel, and so is his family, which is awesome. He's coming to the party as a friend of bishops. Walt said he'd come to, which would mark the first time he's traveled to a church building in 47 years. We're also inviting Chuel, our friend from Ethiopia, and a few others as well. All in all it should be a great time, so look forward to hearing how that goes. We've been working harder than I think I've ever worked in my life. It pays off, honestly. But it's also extremely tiring. Elder York has taken up energy drinks to solve this problem, but I have ADHD to begin with, and I'm scared of what that much caffeine would do to my system. That, and I'd rather not finish out my missionary service with a crippling addiction to caffeine as well as a stronger testimony. The testimony part is enough for me. My energy has been coming from faith I think. Prayers and faith and trying not to die. I'm doing all right though. Besides, the joy of Christmas tends to fill me with happiness energy, so I can make it through the day just fine.
As for transfer news, I'm staying here with Elder York another transfer. I'm really happy about it, and I'm looking forward to the coming transfer. That's about it for this week. Nothing too crazy, but merry Christmas everybody!
I might skip the email next week because I get to actually call my family and I can just tell you guys what's going on that way, but if there's anything cool to talk about I'll probably end up writing an email anyway.
Happy Holidays!!!
-Elder Rogers
In addition to all of that, our ward is having a cool luau thing this Saturday, and we've invited as many people as we can. Ricky the Heropon (his actual last name is Fernandez) is really taking an interest in the gospel, and so is his family, which is awesome. He's coming to the party as a friend of bishops. Walt said he'd come to, which would mark the first time he's traveled to a church building in 47 years. We're also inviting Chuel, our friend from Ethiopia, and a few others as well. All in all it should be a great time, so look forward to hearing how that goes. We've been working harder than I think I've ever worked in my life. It pays off, honestly. But it's also extremely tiring. Elder York has taken up energy drinks to solve this problem, but I have ADHD to begin with, and I'm scared of what that much caffeine would do to my system. That, and I'd rather not finish out my missionary service with a crippling addiction to caffeine as well as a stronger testimony. The testimony part is enough for me. My energy has been coming from faith I think. Prayers and faith and trying not to die. I'm doing all right though. Besides, the joy of Christmas tends to fill me with happiness energy, so I can make it through the day just fine.
As for transfer news, I'm staying here with Elder York another transfer. I'm really happy about it, and I'm looking forward to the coming transfer. That's about it for this week. Nothing too crazy, but merry Christmas everybody!
I might skip the email next week because I get to actually call my family and I can just tell you guys what's going on that way, but if there's anything cool to talk about I'll probably end up writing an email anyway.
Happy Holidays!!!
-Elder Rogers
Pictures: Our Christmas tree with presents under it. The light parade: the best float was the ceptic cleaning company. The "Stool Bus" they called it. XD
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