Champion - January 7, 2013

Okay so this one time I just super duper loved my family. Aren't you great?! You are. Own it.
Yes, I did eat oysters the weekend before Christmas. I also had crab, fried alligator (oh wow it was really good), and shrimp. I was worried about the alligator because last time I had it in Louisiana it wasn't very good. Maybe it was because it was dark meat and this last time was whiter meat. I don't know. The oyster was gross. I only had one. But I chewed it. And put a lot of Tabasco sauce on it.
Admittedly, Phoenix winters are a lot like Austin winters. Just dry rather than humid. It's been really interesting.
And okay. Sounds like Les Miserables will be on my "to watch" list. But bam the rest of the world - I already knew Hugh Jackman could sing. Love him. One day later when I'm not a missionary...
Glad to hear that Christmas ended up all right and that you had all the presents you needed haha. Oh boy.
The piano is frustrating me a lot - this past zone meeting I did terrible and was not very gracious. So I apologized to our zone leaders and now practice every night before I go to bed. Still breathing.
No I definitely did not have an unlimited time on the phone. I was 45 seconds short of my limit. In fact, President Taylor had us report to him in our weekly email how long our calls were. Then in zone meeting this past week, we had to report in front of our zone (anonymously through cards) how long our calls were and if we did anything else other than call our families the normal way. So thankfully my time was fine but I shouldn't have texted Taylor. Our mission is pretty strict haha. I don't know why things are so different between missions - especially mine and Trenton's.
Yeah I'm so excited for interviews this week!!!!!!! And then we're still having district meeting on Friday!!!!!! Apparently we'll be watching a talk from Elder Bednar that he gave at the MTC last Christmas. Should be pretty good! I'm excited to hear about what Elder Christofferson says to Trenton's mission!
Yes, sometimes I feel pressured to bring in numbers. But it definitely depends on the area, what leaders I'm reporting to (so like different district leaders, ward mission leaders, and bishops), and how the work is going in general or how many wards I cover. This stake is pretty good about it - we'll really focus on names of people rather than the numbers. We talked about it at zone conference too - a renewed focus on the names of people. It's something that's easy in a companionship and even as a district but harder as you go up in levels.
Yes, Mom I totally picked out that shirt for you! It's totally your style. I'm glad you liked it. And yeah back in August Sister Taylor gave us yarn and taught us how to finger knit at sisters training. So I made the scarf :) I'm glad you like it.
This week was pretty good. We had a hard time with appointments this week - lots of people are still out of town and everyone is sick haha.
Oh and I got Aunt Kathleen's card! She's a dear! I'm hoping to write her a thank you card today. And Jenny and Leonard sent me a card too.
Also, I went to Target hoping to rebuy my red shoes in a 7 and 1/2 but they only had them in black :( Can someone go online and use my money and buy them or something? I don't think I need them for the rest of my mission, but I definitely want them for after my mission. Does that make sense? And my purple coat. I don't know what to do about my purple coat. I want it brand new again.
Here's the rest of my pictures.
Anyway I love y'all. The work is really booming here which is fun to see! My personal studies have been improving, as has my patience and love for my great companion!
On my calendar that Taylor and Matt sent me, I write down one miracle that I see every day. It's fun! :) There are lots of miracles and lots of good to do. We rode our bikes Saturday morning, and  talked to a lot of great people. It was fun! Which was good because Saturday morning we got a ton of bad news and cancelled appointments, so it was nice to ride our bikes and talk to people. Even the crazies hahahahaha.
Phew sorry this email was mostly just responding to your questions. I'm sure there's more to say that is more inspiration and beneficial to mankind, but it will not be on this email. LOVE Y'ALL.
Sister Parks