Thanksgiving was quite enjoyable (although it was a really bad week 


for proselyting). We hung out with members and, of course, had 


turkey. We first ate lunch with the Ludwigs. Brother Ludwig is 


actually from around Sandy. He went to Brazil on his mission (he's 


about late 70s), and he and his wife have been on five missions 


together, one at the Swiss temple. We talked quite a bit about 


missionary work and how things have changed in the past 50 years or 


so.





We had a good lunch. Sister Ludwig forgot to make mashed potatoes, 


and kept joking about her disappointment in forgetting a traditional 


Thanksgiving dish throughout lunch, which was hilarious. She also 


made some sort of pudding-jello mixture. It didn't look too 


appealing, but it was really good. Apparently she found it in a 


magazine or something decades ago, and made it for Thanksgiving. She 


put it in front of one of her family members, who asked what it was. 


She said some kind of pudding, and invited him to make a name for it. 


He called it "nervous pudding--'cause it's pretty shaky." They've had 


it every year since then. I need the recipe.





We had dinner with the Sillymans, and had some neat conversations 


about his family history, and border-line gospel topics. Brother 


Sillyman also came out with us last night to see David, the Druid. We 


had a really interesting conversation. David says that he believes 


the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but 


he has some hang-ups that we don't quite understand. Unfortunately he 


typically works on Sundays, but we have Stake Conference this 


weekend, and he should be able to come to the Saturday session. Also, 


he may be switching jobs.





My new companion is Elder Gregory. He's from all over, with his dad 


being in the military. Right now he's from Taylorsville, and has a 


farm in Orem (apparently visible from the MTC). He's a really good 


missionary. He loves snowboarding, rock climbing, and all that 


outdoors stuff. He's really personal with people, especially while 


tracting.





Holidays aren't so great in the mission field. We're asked not to 


tract on certain holidays, so there's nothing to do but hang out with 


members. We'll see how Christmas goes. I can remember last year when 


I called home. It's really odd. I've determined that in order not to 


get too trunky, I'm just going to tell people I've been out for "a 


bit over a year" for quite a while.





Mom, no I haven't gotten my package yet. Since you sent it to the 


mission home, I'll probably get it at Zone Conference, which is the 


6th of December. Yes, I am a 30 long rather than a 32. As for my 


Christmas list, here it is:





Church History DVDs


Apr 07 General Conference DVDs (3 English DVD set - $7)


Mindy Gledhill - Feather in the Wind


Mormon Tabernacle Chior - Sing, Chiors of Angels! OR Consider the Lilies


Fiddlesticks (A music CD)


BYU Concert Chior - Praise Him


Praise to the Man DVD





I hear that the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration movie came 


out this month. If that's true, add that to the list. It sounds like 


you already got me those Puritan pants, so I won't mention those.





Anyway, I'd better get going. See you all later!