Merry Christmas!

O.K. with the Skye call. I looked at the email of Bryan's and he said he won't get off till four so I would have to Skye at like eight p.m.  I thought I was only three hours ahead, not four. I will try to talk to my comp so I can talk at eight so I can see Bryan too. Be ready around three-thirty to four. I hope everything works out. The next time will be easier because it will be my second time to Skye and I will know what I am doing. I don't like that I have to call on  the twenty-fourth. It makes it harder for the people in the states, but its good. 

I am glad Landen Bradshaw finally got his mission call.  Tacoma, Washington will be good  I am glad he is going. Hopefully Tui can get everything figured out. Maybe it will put a little more pressure on him to get going without Landen around.  That  is super sad about Seth getting killed. That was certainly an unexpected thing and it had to happen this time of the year. And Scott Woody and Lindsey Crosland getting engaged. I couldn't believe that when you said that, but Scott is a nice kid.

This week was probably one of the most interesting in my mission. We went to an investigators house. He was progressing and went to church last week. Then this week, we had an excommunicated member that comes to church still and he saw our investigator in the street and talked to him and then things went down hill from there.  He told the investigator all this crap about his excommunication in the church and how people don't talk to him and the bishop did this and that and all this he told him the church was true. At this point, the investigator was so confused. So that really stunk. It was so frustrating! So yesterday the bishop called us into his office with the excommunicated there.  The bishop basically cut him down and asked him why he cut down the church and did he think he was right?  The ex'd member said this and that and the Bishop said, "This isn't a game. We don't play around with souls." So now the investigator won't progress and the ex'd member will be responsible. The ex'd member got mad after a while and left. You could tell his life wasn't with the church. He was doing things he wasn't supposed too. So yeah, this week wasn't that great. I don't know. I haven't really found any new investigators with the parties and all that So I don't know. It's like the recent converts are mad at us because we didn't come teach then this week because they know it's different when we are there. I just wish we had more investigators. We taught a less active girl this week. She is twelve and her parents gave her permission for a belly button ring. Like what parents would do that! The parents here have no control over their kids.   

I am super excited to talk to you this week. Have a good week and a Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Gillies