Well this week was fun with Christmas, getting to meet some really cool members, and eating some really good food. I learned that I don't like biking. I did not go biking back in Oregon so my butt was super sore, but I got to see the area and that was worth it. I actually serve in one of the most dense populations for older people in the USA; pretty much everyone here is retired so it is really interesting. I also learned that things here in Florida are surprisingly cheaper than back home.
On Christmas Eve we got to drink eggnog with the whole district and play games in the morning. That was pretty cool and I got to teach/ host a blackjack game with everyone (no gambling!). In the end everyone goes all out and someone (who had the most of course) had to get blackjack. After we finished playing and hanging out we took off for home. We had some time to kill before dinner so we took a nap. For dinner we were fed by the Bishop, and every dinner with him is always interesting. We had smoked Turkey with mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, it was all really good. Afterwards we shared a message with him and his family, then left to go home and sleep.
Christmas day started with me opening the remainder of my presents and eating a lot of candy. For dinner we went over to the Klein's house. As we drove there, Elder Rice looked at us and said, "Just so you know, Sister Klein is a really good cook." I knew this was true the moment I walked in the door. I looked at everyone and said, "She really made a shrimp boil on Christmas?” It was a shrimp boil with sausage and three different kinds of crab (king, snow, and rock crab). I thought I was going to die just looking at it! Sadly, I was so busy looking at it I didn't think to take a picture. After I sat down, Elder Kent said that he’d never had crab before, so I sat next to him to show him how to open the shell. I have never felt like going into a food coma before, but eating 5 pounds of shrimp kinda pushed me to it. After dinner, the Klein's have a Christmas gingerbread house building competition. It was me and Elder Kent vs. Elder Rice and Elder Kelly vs. the Klein's oldest son, his girlfriend, and their other three kids. Of course with my great house building skills it was never really a challenge, but I did do something they never thought of doing before. In the end I won first, and the other Elders got third, but the grand prize was a 12 pack of cream soda so we all truly won.
Saturday the Elders from Lake Placid had a Baptism and they don't have a baptismal font so they had to use our building and I got to attend. It was weird because there were only 12 people there and ¾ of the people were the missionaries. For dinner we were treated to Hibachi, which if you don't know is a Chinese style buffet. I tried sushi for the first time and it wasn't that bad.
Sunday was not that entertaining, but we got out really early from church because the speaker finished 30 minutes before we were supposed to close, so the Bishop said some words for 15 minutes, and then he just closed the meeting. After that we went to a younger member’s house for dinner and it was nice to talk to someone a little closer to our age.
P-day is always fun. We went to a park to play pickleball, but it was pretty windy so that wasn't the most fun. After throwing pinecones at an alligator for 3 minutes we started playing a game we called "something." We took a soccer ball and played tennis with it, but you have to use your feet and head only. After that we went to a barbecue place and ate really good food, then went to another Elder's house and played flip Uno.
My time here in Florida has been super cool and I wouldn't trade it for anywhere else (until maybe summer). I am extremely grateful for the hospitality that I have received and happy to have made good friends.
Elder Waite
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