Feliz Navidad

Hey y'all! Sorry about the late post. The library was closed for Christmas break, and it's been a chaotic week with transfers and all. I think the library will be closed next week for New Years. 

So we had Christmas this past week! Hottest Christmas I've had, it was about 85 degrees that day. On Christmas Eve we had to be in our apartment at 6, so we baked some cookies and watched super cheesy Church movies about Christmas. I got a bunch of presents from my loving family, half of which was candy. I dedicated an entire drawer to all the sweets, and haven't bought groceries for this week. I'll be eating solely candy for this next week. 

Although my area is mostly Zapata, we also cover San Ygnacio, a small town about 15 minutes north by car. San Ygnacio is the oldest town in Zapata County, and was originally a small fort this guy made for his family. We've only just started working out there, and I haven't seen anyone walking around. Ever. It really feels like a ghost town. It's very well kept though, and walking around feels like a trip though a historic movie set. It's also right next to the Rio Grande, which we just had to sneak by. 

That's Mexico right over there

A Zapata South missionary who we lived with was transferred out yesterday. Elder Barney was awesome, and we already miss him. Today, my companion and I are both wearing the goodbye ties he gave us as a sign of solidarity. He just started his mission, so I'm sure we'll see each other again. His companion, or District Leader, will be training a brand new missionary. We will be meeting him today. I'm very excited not to be the newest one here.

The Original Zapata Crew

That's all folks,

Elder Gray

Christmas Party

The Branch Christmas Social and Sweater Vests

Man it got even colder! We were having lovely 80 degree days and it dropped down to 40 in one day. I should have packed more than just a sweater, but it goes with my Christmas hat.

After cleaning the ranch house for weeks, we were finally ready to throw a little party. A lot of people came, and like 4 families have never been to our church before. We had Christmas tamales, ham, corn, cinnamon rolls and Abuelita hot chocolate. After we had eaten we watched a short video of the Nativity, and then watched a cultural celebration with many South American cultures and their Christmas songs. Then I spent the rest of the night playing kickball with the kids. It went really well and we met some cool new people, some of whom we are meeting with later this week. 

The Cow Whisperer

I feel like we are finally starting to pick up momentum here in Zapata. we have met a lot of really great people, and I'm finally getting used to knocking doors and talking to people. We have a lot of ideas to help the Branch grow and become stronger. Right now the missionaries do a lot for the Branch, and we would like to shift it over to being more member-run. 

This week is Christmas week. I hope y'all are having a good break from school and work, and enjoying all that snow. I'm looking forward to the Skype call with the fam!

Love you all,

Elder Gray  

Texas

Hey ya'll,

It got fairly cold recently! All the way down to the 40's. This may be nothing for those in the mountains and snow, but for Texas the world is about to end. More on that later. 

Last week we helped out our investigator clean out his ranch house and prep it for a Parade of Homes. It was really fun, and our whole Zone even came down and helped out as a service project. He also got us breakfast which is also a huge plus. Sunday went pretty normally, after Church we go around to people who aren't able to come to Church and give them the Sacrament and sing them a hymn. This coming weekend we have interviews with the President, which should be exciting. 

Not not a lot has happened so I thought I would talk a little about Texas.

Falcon Lake, Zapata

I really love Texas. I felt at home the moment I arrived. The people are always friendly and willing to talk, which is both a pro and a con. It's good because they usually will talk to us as missionaries instead of slam the door, but they are too nice to say they aren't interested and will lead us on. They are very sharing of what they have, especially food. Many times as we're talking they will give us a plate of carne asada to go or offer a drink. One thing I've noticed is they are highly superstitious of the weather. If it's raining they won't go to Church because they believe if they get wet, they will get sick. And if it's cold, they won't go to Church, because it's bad to breath cold air. It's pretty funny, but I'm beginning to think they just don't want to come to Church. Love them to death though.

Tomales are super common, and are a Christmas tradition for many families down here. I'm lucky I love them, because we have them weekly. Another thing I was introduced to was Abuelita's Hot Chocolate. It's like a circular block of chocolate that you melt in hot milk with some cinnamon and it makes a crazy good cup of chocolate. I was also introduced to menudo. Menudo is a soup, and it's very common down here. It's like a southwestern chili bean soup, which is good, but then they went and added pig intestines to it. These little chunks of pig intestines are chewy and flavorless and I try not to look at it. Many people trying it for the first time will scare themselves beforehand, but I kinda liked it once I stopped thinking about it.  

I hope you learned something, and enjoyed my bomb sunset pic I took. Have a blessed December ya'll.

Love,

Elder Gray

December

Zapata missionaries waiting for the Christmas parade

Happy December!

Almost as soon as December hit, it began to be cloudy, dark and rainy. I love this weather because I don't get sunburned, but all the native Texans really, really hate the cold. Now it's actually pretty cold and I don't have a jacket. I think I might get one at Burlington today.

We've been feeling the Christmas spirit lately. We make hot chocolate every day, I wear my Santa hat almost everywhere, and we put on Christmas music in the house when we are not studying. Taylor Swift is a favorite. We also had a Christmas devotional yesterday, broadcasted from Salt Lake. It was pretty nice, the choir sang some Christmas songs and they gave talks on the birth of Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. 

The Crew and our gear

So this member in the area went on a trip, and we took care of his animals while he was gone. As a thank you, he got us all slingshots. I've never really used a slingshot before but I think I'm in love. I've been shooting at stuff like cacti, telephone poles and signs as we drive by. We have bottle shooting competitions and personal bets. I'm basically a sniper with this thing. It's also very useful for all the stray dogs. I've never really hit one directly, but if you hit a stop sign it makes a loud noise and they scatter.  

Can't wait for Christmas and my one Skype call! I hope you all have a great week.

Elder Gray