12-26-07

Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 1:01 PM
To: Allred, Kevin
Subject: Merry Christmas! ... yesterday.

Hi Everyone!

Well, I was going to send some photos of Christmas here in Brazil, but the batteries in my camera just died.

So, on Thursday, President came to our house to inspect. We woke up at 5:30 to do some last minute cleaning. When he got there he said that he appreciated how clean we kept the place, that he wouldn´t mind sleeping or living there, and that it was a miracle that we could keep such a small place so organized. Apparently our house is the smallest in the mission. He told us we need to find a new place to live because it´s too small. We study at the kitchen table and hang our clothes on a bar over the bed. He says we need a separate room to study and a closet. So now, we´re looking for a new house. The members that rent us the house were really sad. The missionaries have lived with them for over 30 years.

Sunday morning was pretty disappointing. We weren´t able to get a single investigator to go to church. However, after church, we were able to teach 2 lessons and find an awesome new family to teach all before lunch.

Luckily, I was able to find an 'A' string for the violin I was using. But I didn´t get to practice at all before the performance on Christmas. It could have been a lot better, but overall it worked out. It was really neat to sing in a mission choir. Afterwards, some missionaries put on a very funny Christmas play from the view of a bull and a donkey who were at the stable.

Christmas was really neat. When we saw that we got Christmas decoration in one of the packages, we decorated the house at the last minute. Thanks everyone for remembering me here in Brazil. Now that the rehersals are over, I have time on P-days to answer your letters.

Love Elder Allred.