Germy Puppet Bread

Zdrastvuitye!

I don't actually have a lot to report on this week because I had the flu for the first half of the week. I had lots of Sisters around to babysit me since there were quite a few companionship's visiting for transfers and visa trips. I'm not exaggerating when I say they babysat me. One of the sisters, Sister Chase, bless her heart, literally babied me. She warmed up a rice baby for me, brought me food, tucked me into bed, the works. Sister Chase is such a gem. Another Sister that babysat me, Sister James, watched movies with me... church approved of course. We only have like 3 short movies, so I watched a few of them multiple times. Living the dream. This went on from Monday to Thursday... being sick is definitely not great on a mission. Can't bring people unto Christ when you can't get yourself out of bed.

I was still pretty sick on Thanksgiving, but thankfully Sister Johnson and I were able to pull something together! We ate a ton of unhealthy foods, but it was so worth it! We ate pastries, candy, Russian pancakes, ice cream, lots of different types of cookies, and a cucumber to make it healthy. Not a typical Thanksgiving for sure!

On Saturday, Sister Johnson and I got to help out at a primary activity which was a ton of fun! The Relief Society President organized a puppet show and we got to play some of the characters. Since it was for the children, the theme of the puppet show was "eat your fruits and vegetables." Thankfully the dialogue was on a recording because I'm pretty sure if I had to come up with the words on the spot or read off a script, the children would have laughed at me and not at the actual play. Everything worked out though. Sister Johnson had a nurse puppet and a mother puppet, the Relief Society President had a little girl puppet, and I had two fuzzy, bright colored puppets that were supposed to be germs. Of course I ended up with the germs. The plot was the following: the little girl didn't listen to her mom and didn't want to eat fruits or vegetables... the germ puppets somehow infected the bread that she was eating... the little girl got sick and a nurse told her that she needed to eat her fruits and vegetables... the germs died when she ate a strawberry. The end. Short, but informative. I had a blast helping out with the puppet show! I had no idea what the recording was saying, but I guess it was funny because the kids were laughing. The activity was such a nice break from walking around in the cold for hours, and it was great being able to help out the members.

Yesterday Sister Johnson and I got to go to a family night at our Senior Couple's apartment. One of the members in our branch has a sister who isn't a member, so she wanted us to become acquainted with her. The member, the member's daughter, and the sister showed up with three live crayfish. I think they were intending on eating them when they got home, but the crayfish were definitely alive when they showed up in the apartment. We spent a good 10 minutes playing with them on the table which probably wasn't the best idea, but it was super funny. After that we ate tacos since the sister had never had them before and then the Senior Couple shared a spiritual thought. When the thought was over, we played the game "Hot and Cold" by hiding a little toy sheep and then having one person try to find it. We were all pretty partied out after that. Two of the crayfish died by the time the family night was over, so the member's daughter wasn't as excited by them at that point. As a whole, it was a successful family night. Everyone had such a great time.

Today, Sister Johnson and I went to McDonald's for lunch... as per usual. I may have misplaced my camera battery charger, so we went to the mall to try and find one after we finished eating. No such luck. This mall happens to have an H&M in it, so we looked around while we were there. I bought a cheap hat that isn't super thick because the babooshki always get mad at me when I go outside without a hat even when it's not that cold. Now they'll have nothing to complain about.

Well, that's all folks! Keep smiling and being happy! Have a fantastic week!