Letter from Tacoma #7: December 14, 2015

 Hey, family! Tis the season to be jolly!

Christmas out here certainly is a bit interesting, but it sounds fun. This week, there isn't much in the way of celebrating, except for the Key Center Ward's Christmas Party. I'm really excited and looking forward for that, if it's anything like the Halloween Party I was here for, which was a ton of fun.

But next week is definitely the big week I'm waiting for: On Tuesday, the 22nd, the mission is having a Christmas Party with EVERYONE, and it's going to be great; they'll have trees we can each bring an ornament for, they'll have a white elephant gift exchange (I've already got the gift I'm gonna bring), and they'll be giving out presents that came to the mission office from home! Plus, I'll be able to hang out with my MTC buddies there, so that's cool, too.

But we can't forget about Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and, as the Canadians kindly put it, Boxing Day! Those three days, from what I've heard, are going to be spent mostly with members, and just generally spreading good cheer!

Oh yeah, that reminds me. Elder Hansen and I had to move out of the members' home we'd been staying with before. Don't worry, it wasn't that we were being stupid and we got kicked out. I can't believe you'd even jump to that conclusion. The fact is that their son is getting married next week, the same week as Christmas, and they have a ton of family coming over for both. So, as best put by the bible, "There was no room in the inn."

So, Elder Hansen and I had to move our stuff to another member's house, who gladly took us in (They used to host missionaries here before), and we're all right as rain. By the way, this is the address of where I'm staying:

18315 115th st. KPN

Gig Harbor, WA. 98329 (I'm pretty sure this is the right zip code this time, but you might want to double check)

The new place, though, was an old temporary home that was handmade out of a section of a garage, so it's is kind of small, and it has minimal insulation. But hey, it's great in every other regard, and the Small's, the members who we're now staying with, provided us with space heaters so we don't freeze!

Yup, an interesting Christmas, that's for sure. But when I say that, I partially refer to a little thing called "5-7"s, which you may have heard about. It's a commandment from the Mission President, that every single day, every missionary tracts in their area between 5 to 7 PM. Well, that's fine and dandy, and most of the mission's investigators are found because of this commandment, but it's kind of a different story in my area. Out here in the KP, the only streets that are lit are in the only suburb in this area, and that's barely a dot on the map of this place. So Elder Hansen and I are usually out in the middle of a dark street, wearing reflective belts and carrying flashlights, in the freezing night, going from door to door. And you can bet some people get scared when they see two guys wearing big, black coats come walking up to their house out of the woods, and even more so when you consider how many of them aren't exactly 'right in the head'.

So, with that in mind, we've had several members here telling us and our mission president that they're worried about us. Especially since, online, there seems to be some hostility coming from people who've seen us on the streets at night. But we've talked to President Blatter and he says we'll be fine, so long as we keep ourselves open to the promptings of the spirit. I've trusted this advice so far, and nothing's happened yet. But that doesn't mean nothing sketchy happens either. For now anyways, I believe we're safe with what we're doing.

Anyways, I've taken up a ton of time, and I'm sorry to have to end this letter a bit short. Sorry I don't have time to include any pictures!

Just one last question, Mom, Dad, on Christmas, would you like me to use Facetime or Skype, cause the members we'll be with on Christmas day have both and want to know which one you'll be using. Please send any information regarding the Christmas call and other details like that before next week, and what time should we do the call?

Love you all,

Thanks for reading!

Elder R. Austin Moe