SNOW DAYS and CHRISTMAS PACKAGES!!! :D

HEY EVERYBODY!!! So... ya know when I say things like, "I'm really sorry about how short this e-mail is going to be this week cause I really don't have much time", and then my e-mails still end up being pretty long?? Ya... well, let's just say that this is NOT going to be one of those weeks... SORRY MOM!!! P-day was CRAZY busy today (we played some games with the Elders in our ward - Elder Stone, Elder Harper, Elder Smith, and Elder Richards - and that was SO much fun! However, we spent longer on that than we planned, and we didn't calculate much time for e-mailing... So anyways! This past week has been SO good! I'm for realsies just gonna give you the bullet point high-lights for the week this week, even though I HATE doing that. Hopefully I can really fill you in next week! Monday: I cut Sister McKenna's hair and it's SUPER cute! She gets compliments on it every day! :) We went grocery shopping at Aldis - a Greek store that sells everything for SUUUPER cheap! Seriously - I get about $75 worth of groceries for under $40. It's AMAZING!!! LOVE it!!! :) A nice woman at Rite Aid said that my hat was cute! That was nice! Haha. Seriously though, it made my day! :) Had a really great lesson with Derek! :) Tuesday: SNOW DAY!!! I REALLY wish that I had more time to tell you about this day because it was SOOOO much fun!!! We weren't allowed to drive for basically the entire day, and pretty much all of our investigators live WAAAY too far away to walk there in the freezing cold, so we went out to lunch at Chipotle with the Elders in our ward, then we went to the church and did some online proselyting via facebook. After that we had choir practice at the church, which is always SO much fun! :) After choir practice, Sister Clouse taught me and Sister McKenna some amazing vocal exercises that made me realize that I can still really sing! :) (She's an incredibly well-known opera singer, by the way. No big deal.) Wednesday: Got our oil changed in our car. Visited the Orlands and Sister Orland offered to make me some gluten-free banana bread! I LOVE HER!!! Saw Katy for a minute right as she pulled in her driveway and talked to her really quick and invited her to the Christmas Fireside on Sunday night and she said that she might come with her family! :) Finished off the night by visiting Sister Stolpe! She made us hot chocolate and showed us some Christmas lights around their neighborhood! SO fun! :) Thursday: Helped out with the toy distribution with Koinonia and helped give gifts to families who are less fortunate so that they can have a Christmas! It was SO speacial! :) Choir practice with the Clouses! SO fun! :) Found out I officially have bed bugs, so we spent some time that night de-bugging everything. SO fun. NOT. It's ok. At least on the bright side, I was able to get all of my laundry done a couple of days before P-day! :) Then we went to the Relief Society activity, and Sister Clouse came, too! It was SO much fun! There was a white elephant gift exchange, and I kept on getting baby things... weird... Haha. It's ok. People finally stole from me and I ended up with some little spice organizers. Fun. Haha. Then sweet Sister Sheng felt sorry for me and gave me her gift - which was a mug that says "Be Merry - and stay that way!" I LOVE it! :) Friday: We had a full mission Christmas conference! So I got to see all of my past companions! SUCH a blessing! I got to see Sister Akin and Sister Schramm - the two that I wanted to see the most! :) Sister Akin gave me a gift that Keren (investigator from Crystal City) gave to her to give to me that she got for me when she went to Israel! It's a really pretty necklace that's the symbol for "God". I LOVE it! :) Had dinner with the Shengs and made pizza (mine with a gluten-free crust). SO good! I LOVE THE SHENGS!!! :) They also gave us gluten-free oreos to take with us! :) Saturday: we went to a baptism for a couple in our ward that Elder Smith and Elder Richards taught. Then we spent most of the rest of the day helping Brother Clouse sew scarves for all the Sisters for the Christmas fireside on Sunday! SO much fun! :) Sunday: Christmas fireside was AMAZING!!! We were definitely the hit of the night! I LOVE it! I'll tell you more next week! :) I love you all!!! Thank y'all SOOOO much for your continual love and support!!! Mom: I got the package on FRIDAY!!! WHAT?!?! Haha! THANK YOU!!! And thank you SOOOOOOO much to everyone who spoke into my recorder and sent me a message!!! I've listened to those over and over again! But don't worry, Mom! That's all that I've gotten into in my package! I'm saving the rest for Christmas! :) Oh! And Elder Stone loves his package and he says thank you SO much!!! :) The church is true!!! Please everyone follow me on facebook and "like" and "share" my posts to help share the gospel! Thank you! I love you all!!! :) Love always, Sister Aubrie Orrock