December 9. 2013Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,
I LIVE! So, we had an ice storm this past Sunday, of which was yesterday. At first, it was like, "Storm? There is going to be a storm?" Many of the wards cancelled church and their meetings, but there was nothing in the morning. It was all fine and dandy. The bishop of my ward here had the meetings and was planning on having church. He was from Utah and he said it will not be that bad. It had rained a bit, rained ice a bit, but nothing really bad. (The only thing you have to worry about in rain, snow and ice in Virginia are the drivers. And so they say.) Well, we have our morning meetings and my companion and I go home. By the hour, the roads freeze and it is raining ice and freezing rain. Church was cancelled. And it got worse. A lot worse. The roads were frozen, the plants froze. It was awesome. (Our "sunny" California born son couldn't wait to get to Virginia because of the seasons and storms.) We still were able to watch the Christmas devotional (broadcast from Salt Lake City commemorating the birth of the Savior), which was awesome. It was certainly different as well. But, during the night, our landlord woke us up to inform us the power had indeed gone out. So, no heat, no warm water, and we could not use our water downstairs. Later on, near eleven in the morning, the power came back on. So, indeed I do live. (I mean obviously, seeing as that I am communicating this to you. And this is in case you were concerned about my life during said ice storm.) (We don't pay much attention to the news and we were having our own unseasonably cold weather here. But we're glad he's okay since his heat was electric and he sleeps with an electric blanket.)
About your brush (His dog and one of our other dogs destroyed and ate some of the pieces to a laundry brush) , well, at least it was not a television remote, again. (the dog had previously shredded to pieces the remote to our sound system).You still have to love my dog and take care of her.
More on the week. So, thank you for everything (It was his birthday the December 7th and he received a package from
For Saturday, I helped people out. I got to watch a live Nativity, 10 times, because I had to help out with that as well. And it was outside in the cold. Then, I went to a member's house for dinner, which was awesome. My companion told her that it was my birthday and she got me an ice cream cake. It was nice. My companion promised me that he would not tell anyone besides her, but he ended up telling a youth, who put on Facebook. So, people knew. The sister missionaries baked me a cake and one of them is Filipino, so she made lumpia. It was delicious. And the ward mission leader's wife baked a muffin and put a candle in it.
I should tell you I love the downtown library here in Fredericksburg. You get to see a lot of interesting people. One time, there was a crossdresser that came in and I was like, "Oh." My poor companion had some interesting experiences as well. One time, there was this hippie man who was being kicked out, who had crazy hair. He asked my companion, "How are you?" My companion said, "Good." The man replied, "Good. Good good." When asked to leave now, the man replied, "Now? Now as in now? Now as in now now?" And just recently, there was a woman who was forced to leave and she started screaming about how the library is owned by the government and just ranted. You can only love this library.
I will Skype on Christmas; the rule is, even with calls and such, I have 30 to 40 minutes. If you think I am making this up, ask your local missionaries. I will be going to my ward mission leader's house for lunch and Skype then. You will have to set up your own account, because I have no idea what the password to mine is. My companion said that I will be using the leader's account, so I am okay, hopefully. I will ask about Grandma (WHICH, by the way, can you send the week to her this week) and get a card to call her (one of those phone card things).(We did.)
All is well.
Love,
Elder S. Todd
