Week 30 - A Caribbean/French/South American Christmas!!

















Hello everyone! Happy last day of 2018 and Merry Christmas again! I hope it was wonderful for you all! 

My Christmas was AMAZING!
It started on Monday with Christmas Eve. We went to Soeur Virginie's house to have a Haitain Christmas Feast of Banane Pesé. It was SO good. We played some games like Tic Tac Toe and Hangman with her two sons, David and Abraham as well. Then we read the story of Christ's birth together and sang Silent Night. We LOVE Soeur Virginie and her sons!!! :)

Then Soeur Morrell and I had a little movie night in our apartment in our PJs and blankets! We had popcorn, hot cocoa (with a fan blowing on us so we wouldn't sweat to death), and watched some of the videos from "Stand in Holy Places," the Youth Theme from a few years ago. It brought us back to our days as young women.
(side note I just remembered-- with Soeur Virginie her son Abraham muttered under his breath at some point (as a young 10 or 11 year old boy), "Franchement, les jeunes de nos jours," which means "Frankly, the youth in our days..." Haha just a funny thing for a kid like him to say :)

Soeur Morrell ended the night by singing Silent Night, and we went to bed!! Then I got up again real speedy to charge my camera battery for the awesome day we were sure to have ahead... but I got shocked by our electrical outlet and our A/C turned off!! I guess that's what I get for breaking the rules a little and staying up past 10:30 hahaha. I learned my lesson! 
(Luckily I've picked up some electrician skills out here and was able to flip the switch back on in the power box so our A/C was restored lol).

The next morning we woke up, sang "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (which is a tradition in Soeur Morell's family) and opened our presents under our mini tree!! Then we booked it to the church across the street and cooked Christmas breakfast with the Elders plus Ancitho, a 15 year old who was baptized a little bit ago. We had a good time cooking together and a not-as-good time playing Bean Boozled (if you don't know what I'm referring to look it up-- it like jelly bean russian roulette that ends in everyone scraping their mouths out into a garbage can hahaha). 

After our breakfast and games we went to the Leno's house, a Brazillian family where we ate a HUGE feast of lots of meat!! We also sang Silver Bells along to a guitar for the whole family (there was quite the crowd there!)

Then we got to call our families!!! That was one of the most magical parts of Christmas!! My heart was filled with so much love seeing the ones I care so much about again! :)

And theeennn we went to the D'Abreu's house (another brazillian family haha) to watch our special Christmas movie-- Incredibles 2!! It was SOO good, I was very happy with the music choice :)

So that was our Christmas day! My first and only Christmas as a missionary is already past.... 


And the rest of the week was great as well!! We met some AMAZING people this week that we have lots of hope for. Christophe, our friend being baptized on January 19, is doing SO well too! He treated us to some banane pesée this week as well :)

Soeur Morrell had a bit of a mid-life crisis this week as we were staring at the Globe one night realizing how huge the Earth really is. And then realizing the Earth is just one world among many in a universe that is bigger than we can even comprehend... I came to the conclusion that even though that makes it SEEM that we'd be super insignificant and that nothing we do matters, we also know thanks to the Gospel that God, the One who created these worlds without number, also created us, and loves and knows each one of us and you individually. That is a WONDERFUL, INCREDIBLE, MIRACULOUS things! Merveilleux!! 

This morning we've had a good relaxing P-Day. We played Ballon Prisionné at the church, tried to make crepes with the Elders (failed, and I burned my arm). Also played Book of Mormon Battles (every deacon quorum's favorite card game haha). Afterwards we headed to McDonald's and all of us ordered MEGA MACS to celebrate the last day of 2018!! Thankfully I had Soeur Krucher as a companion who taught me to eat a LOT because I actually finished it all haha!! :)

Well I think that wraps up our week!! It's been great! I'll hopefully be able to send all the pics I took :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :)
Bisous,
Ta soeur, Soeur Gardner :)

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