Happy New Year!

Hola, todos. Como estan?

Anyways, things are going okay for the most part. Christmas just barely passed, and it was fun, for the most part. Except for a small number I saw, I had a lot of fun this last Saturday. Here's essentially what happened this week.
We've had a program called the Living Christmas card going on in our ward, and here's how it worked. We would receive cards from ward members, and deliver them, as well as "Stories of Christmas" DVDs to the neighbors for these members. That has occupied the majority of our last two weeks, and it's been sometimes hard to do. We actually had cards that were well over 3 miles away from us UPHILL. That wouldn't have been fun if we had to bike all the way up there, but, thankfully, the ZLs didn't need to use their car for that time, and se we used it one day, and knocked out a large chunk of the cards. We put about 17 miles on their car, which they probably weren't too happy about, but it helped us out a ton. That occupied us from Tuesday till Friday night, so we didn't get much done in terms of missionary work.
On Saturday, I woke up, and went straight for my small present pile from home. I got some good stuff, including a sweater, two new t-shirts, a home haircut kit (really useful), and a Settlers of Catan expansion (We're allowed to play board games out here on P-Day, for those who don't know). I haven't yet used that expansion, but I plan on using it a lot on and off the mission, so I'm happy with that. Also, I got a picture of a gift I couldn't get sent out here: The Complete Calvin & Hobbes collection, a 3-book set of every Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, for all ten years of its circulation. I'm happy for that, and will enjoy it a lot when I go home. Anyways, we didn't do much missionary work on Christmas, but we got to spend the evening with a family called the Buterbaughs. They are all really good cooks, and they made some awesome food. It was fun, but when I secretly stepped on their scale, I saw that "small" number. (192.8) I have NEVER seen that number in my life. I am incredibly disappointed with myself, and am doing my best right now to lose weight. It's not going to be easy, especially since I hate working out, but I'll have to do it, for the sake of not being overweight.
Also, the call home was awesome. It lasted for about 2 and a half hours. Although the "White Bible" Missionary Handbook says only 30 to 45 minutes, our mission president said we can take "as much time as we need to feel satisfied." So, 2 and a half hours satisfied me. We talked about a ton of different things, I got to talk to everyone at the house, and learned so much about what's been going on. It was so much fun, that I want to call them up right now. But, I can't. I'll get to do it again on Mother's Day, but that's not for another five months. Around then, I'll have been out on my mission for 11 months, almost a year. Isn't it funny how fast time flies? Well, I better not focus on time, or else I'll make myself trunky.
As for Sunday, it was a fairly regular sunday. Not much. Monday, we did service. I personally wasn't too happy that we lost some valuable time on P-Day, but one thing that this transfer has definitely taught me thus far, is that missionary work always has precedence over your personal wants. That's definitely going to help me out. However, on Monday, I was feeling pretty lonely. I wanted to play Settlers of Catan really badly, but no one else did, and we didn't do anything at all. I was feeling pretty down, and feeling almost sorry for myself, because I realized I haven't really connected with the elders in my apartment. I want to, but they're so different from me that it's almost a bit hard. But, I'll keep trying. This week is looking to be better, anyways.
Well, that's about it. I hope all of you are doing well, Les quiero, and take care.

With Love

El Buen Pastor.

Missed Email, and missed week

Hey everyone

Sorry for not getting an email out last week. The computer I was using was being very problematic, and so I lost a ton of time, and had to end. But, here's my update,
I've been transferred to Northridge, CA, english work. I know that I'm supposed to be a Spanish-only missionary, but I guess I need to be here for some reason. I love the ward thus far. They're all really nice. But, the only gripe I have thus far is that things seem much stricter and a tighter ship around here. I loved the lax nature of Spanish work to a certain extent, so I won't miss English work when I'm done.
My companion's name is Elder Bills. He's also from Farmington, and we knew each other at one point. I've had some problems with him recently, and so I am scared that we may not be able to work as hard, but I'm doing my best to get along with him, so things should be okay, I hope.
As for last week, I was really sick. I was getting sick on Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday, I got hit by a truck. It was awful. I was like that until Saturday. I feel fine now, but it wasn't too fun.
Today was pretty fun, though. We went to the LA Temple. It's a really beautiful building, and the new Visitor's Center is really cool. There'll be pictures on the next SD card home, but that won't be for a while.
Well, I have another quick email to write, so I gotta go. Until next week, les amo, y que les vaya bien!

Love

Elder Shepherd

Last Week, and my 6 month mark

Yes,

You read the title right. This Thursday, I will have hit my 25% mark on the mission. It surprises me, too. I seriously can't believe that I'm already at 6 months. I couldn't believe it when I hit my first month mark in the MTC. It feels like forever ago and just like it was yesterday. Time really flies fast on the mission. But, enough about time, I'll probably reflect back on it when I hit my year mark.
As for the last week comment, this coming Monday marks the end of another transfer. I'm guessing that I'm gone, since I got a new companion at the start of this transfer. How it works is that you'll usually be in an area for a while, being familiarized with the area by someone who already knows it, then they leave, and you get someone new. You familiarize them, and then move on. I don't control the transfers, so I'm still guessing as to whether I'm leaving or not. I'm about 75 percent sure I'm gone, though, so if you want to send me letters or packages, hold off until next week, when I say whether I'm still in Van Nuys, or somewhere else. I'll have new information this week.
As for what happened last week, I'll go about it like this. On P-Day, we went to the church and played dodgeball. It was way fun. I was being pretty beastly on the court, if you ask myself. My comp even said I was playing good. I love dodgeball, but that, like all other things, comes to an end. On Tuesday, it was pretty normal as far as I can remember. The same with Wednesday. On Thursday, we went on exchanges with Elder McElderry and Torres. I went with Elder Torres into his area, and we got a missed lesson, and a dinner. The dinner was interesting because they had a mexican TV show on called El Chavo. It was weird because I couldn't understand a lot of it, but it was funny because one of the characters made some pretty hilarious faces. That was odd.
On Friday, it was fairly normal. Saturday was a slow day because on Friday, my comp tried to backflip off his bed, lying on his back, but it didn't go well, and he landed on his neck. He's fine, but Sister Martin told him to stay inside that day. Sunday was fairly normal. We had the Christmas devotional, though, and I got to watch it in English. I really miss English. I like Spanish, but I've been craving some English. As for yesterday, it was fairly dull. We went to another chapel to play indoor soccer, but I got placed on crappy teams, so that wasn't too fun. Then, we had to go to a dinner at the very unsanitary house of a less-active member. I faked being sick, but I didn't do a very good job. I think I made her mad, but I didn't want to eat the food, so I had to do something.
That's about it. I'll let you guys know next email what the transfers entailed.

Con Mucho Fuerte Amor

Elder Shepherd