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Thanksgiving was GREAT! We froze playing turkey bowl at 9am. We then had lunch at the mission home with the office staff and other missionaries. President and Sister Merkley actually were in Branson. (Yes, mom that's in the mission. Maybe I'll hit it before I'm done!) After that we went with some other elders to a home of a less-active man for a while where we ate again. He had the Saints and Cowboys game on. Needless to say, we had to look through Black Friday Ads for a while to not watch the game! That was an interesting household to say the least! We then had an activity at the church with the branch. It was a "Thanksgiving Dinner." But, there was no turkey in sight. I took a picture of the plate of food that they gave us. I'll have to print it off and send it to you. There was a good turn out. Thanksgiving day just felt like a regular preparation day. But it was good.


I have to tell you a story. We had an appointment set up with Laticia and Angie on Friday night. But----- we couln't find an exchange for the life of us! We called seriously EVERYONE on the ward roster and no one could help us. It was about an hour before we were supposed to be there and I jokingly said, "Too bad President is in Branson!" Well, my companion took that and decided we were going to call President Merkley to see if he could help us. Elder Holmes called him and President said, "Ya I'm back in Tulsa. I'm ready. Do you want me to pick you up?" So we went on exchanges with President Merkley on Friday night!!!! He doesn't speak a lick of spanish, but he still sat there. He had us tell Laticia that she has a beautiful daughter and that she's lucky that she'll be bi-lingual when she grows up! She told him- in broken english- how it was a priveledge to have him in their home. It was a good experience. President told us afterwards to keep him informed on how they are doing and to get him their address. He wants to send them something for Chirstmas. He said, "It's always fun to get something in mail!" He thanked us afterwards for calling him and that he enjoyed going with us. I love President Merkley! But Laticia and her daughter Angie are both on track to be baptized on December 11th- the same day Salvador and Roxanna go thru the temple! That will be a good day!


Yes.... We heard about the Holy War. Elder Holmes doesn't let me forget about the outcome! It was a lot closer than I thought it would be. It sounds like Kyle Whittingham hired those refs! The funny thing is that hispanics don't care too much about football- it's only soccer with them. But we heard from some members in another ward about it. Needless to say Tulsa was pretty dead Saturday night. That was the night that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State played. Out here everyone is either an OU fan or an OSU fan. There's no in the middle. You love the one and hate the other. I never realized how big of a deal football is out here. It's HUGE!


Yesterday at church we had 4 investigators that showed up. So it was another good week. Each week we teach the most lessons in our district- we taught 14 this past week. Yesterday I played a musical number in Sacarement meeting and also played the piano in primary. I was assured by one of the primary kids that I did a good job. So it was a confidence boost! It's funny though--- they do everything in primary in ENGLISH! But, it made for a good day at church. Elder Holmes and I were both dragging after a LONG ER night, but all was well.

Well- I had better run. My time here is about to run out. Have a good week!


Love- Elder Stoddard