Dear Mom and Dad, December 16, 2008

this week was a great one! Chris is continuing to progress wonderfully. he's read into Alma. he quit smoking for good. and hes still facing the very jaws of hell gaping its mouth wide trying to swallow him whole. but i have faith he'll pull through it.
the final transfer meeting falls on the 15 of july. so unless something crazy happens to the transfer cycle that should be it. i dunno what time ill call on Christmas just yet im hoping we'll receive some guidance on what Christmas will look like in our transfer meeting/zone conference tomorrow. ill let you know for sure soon. but tentatively i suppose we can say about 3pm my time 1pm yours.
i bet it was a neat experience to be Santa for a little bit. it must be like being a missionary. when youre santa you get to talk about the things santa would talk about and feel the warmth and spirit of the little ones faith. i imagine thats why the savior liked being surrounded by little ones so often. and as a missionary i get to go and talk about the gospel Jesus brought to the earth and feel the spirit and power of that message.
well i love ya and hope you have a great week, john

i suppose ill have to write a general epistle to the ward this year. i think that'd be a good thing to do. haha maybe i can title it the epistle of john and someone can read it over the pulpit =p
well i dunno how long it'll take to show you indiana. i suppose no more than a week but probably 3 or 4 days. it kinda depends on how often im transfered from here on out haha. if they leave me here i imagine we'll have to come visit for a bit. franklin is deffinitly on the list of places to stop. crossroads. and i guess we'll have to drive through dunkirk and see president Shrak for dad. hopefully by then ill be able to gather all the addresses etc.
sounds like the christmas party went pretty well. as you described it it reminded me of theater kinda. ill never forget the night Geri taught me one of the lessons thats really stuck with me since. he walked up, looked at me and James moments before 'flaming idiots' started and said calm as a summers day,"sh** happens", he stated and gently added, "its all about how you deal with it" and then he walked off.
Chris is doing really well! i updated a bit more elaborately in dads email but hes definitely doing really good. he has a baptisimal date scheduled for the 27th this month. we sat down to talk with him about word of wisdom and baptism and before we could start he started asking all sorts of questions. then he said "so you guys said that this all includes baptism right?". yup. "ok so when can that happen?" ... i paused... ive never had to answer that question. we taught him the word of wisdom and then told him he'd need to quit smoking and be done for 2 weeks before he could be baptized. then he said "ok so in two weeks ill be baptized". HOLY COW. hes rad.
haha maybe you did end up with more elaborate details. maybe i should just write one big email to both of you.
well i hope you have a great week. i plan on it. love ya, john


I love it when I catch him online and we can have a "conversation."

Me: That's so cool about Chris. I'll put more details in next week...lol.

John: btw, neither of us are getting transfered

Me: That's good to know. I figured you'd tell us if you were. Did you get the warm socks yet? I think I mailed them on Friday so if not they should be getting there. Do you need anything else?

John: ohh yeah! i was gonna thank you for those socks. theyre really good!! and they couldnt have shown up at a better time. yesterday dropped down to like 20 degrees. im doin pretty good right now. thanks again though.