Daniel's Missionary Adventure: Week 14: New Year, New Goals, New Outlook on Life

JANUARY 3rd, 2013. I received a letter (it was actually 2 in 1, (and one for my companion) which gives away who sent it if they weren't sure haha) that was sent to me on Dec 18, 2012. It took 16 days for it to get to me. I was SO PUMPED. Not that it took so long, but that I got it. Thank you so much! That was a GOOD DAY.

January 4th, 2013. I received a card with pictures in it from my family and the family Christmas letter with a little note from my Dad! Another awesome day! It was sent on Dec 28th, 2012. It took 6 days to get here. What in the world?! My parents must have secrets, so ask them about it!

I also received the next day a package from the Primary in Ogden! That was some good stuff haha the pictures were all awesome! You have some real artists! I also got a card telling me about my new NEPHEW. Yeah I know, pretty sweet. Whatup.

Editors Note: By "new Nephew" he means, that I'm pregnant with a boy....This nephew hasn't made his way into the world yet.

So this week was an awesome one for my mail box! Thank you everyone for everything you sent! Seriously, it means a lot to me!

Interesting thing that I noticed this week: Nutella is cheaper than brown sugar here. SO some days I have no choice but to use it in my oatmeal. It's a rough life I live! haha

So the other day, we were porting ("knocking doors", in french "porte" means door, so we call it porting haha) and we were porting a street by the river here in Poitiers. We ended up down a dead end street, right next to the train tracks, and behind a military base. So, it wasn't the most welcoming looking area. It was also pretty late and we were going to head back to our apartment soon. We walk up to a house with overgrown bushes, only one light on in the house, and a broken gate. I started to walk down the path to their door and to lighten the mood I say "this looks like a place where people get taken and never found again" haha and then the dog behind the gate came out of the bushes so I decided against going in that way haha. So I walked around to the side of the house to the door there, and the dog came out of the broken gate and my companion just about jumped out of his skin haha but the dog was a super old quiet dog haha. I was nice and didnt laugh, but now I'm telling all of you the story so maybe thats not super nice...oh well! I knocked on the door, and a super nice man came out and invited us to come back! So, now I know never to skip a house, no matter how scary it looks!

I cant remember if I mentioned Lino in my last email, but he is a man from Martinique who is super cool and we meet with him a lot! He came to church a week ago and he really enjoys talking to us and he wants to know Christ better. Our last lesson with him, he had read 2 Nephi 31 like we asked him to, and he had read more than just that, AND he had really dug down deep into it and had a ton of awesome questions for us! It showed me that I should study the scriptures more like Lino, and so that's what I'm going to do while I read the Book of Mormon this year!

I was reading in Jesus the Christ, and came across this quote: "Prayer is made up of heart throbs and the righteous yearnings of the soul." Wow, right?! I'm going to make my prayers more like THAT now!

Just a reminder, it's a new year! Happy New Year everyone! It was a little weird this year because I didnt stay up late and shoot off fireworks, but it's still a new year! I hope you all made some awesome goals and resolutions and are really stuck on achieving them! I know you can do it!

Some more interesting things I've eaten: Pheasant, frog legs, and cow tongue. That was my New Years Eve Meal haha

I hope everyone has an awesome week! And enjoy going back to school! It'll be whatever you make it!

Oh, and I know that the play, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" is going to be great. I bet you are going to be awesome in it too!

à la prochaine!

Elder Daniel Anderson

Some pictures: