Ryan Lott's Status Updates: week 12

Oh my goodness! It is crazy how the week flies by. Muy loco! A lot of things happened this week.

Last P-day was awesome! I went from having a district with two elders to all elders. We got together at the church and played games. There were ten elders and Hermana Berry and I. We played Monopoly and it got pretty heated.😂 I still don't understand it but apparently they play it a lot so they will teach me the ways. We played volleyball and my team lost. I totally thought we were going to win. I mean Elder Pugsley is 6'4"-6'5".

Tuesday was Christmas Zone Conference! It was super fun! There were about 60 missionaries there, not including the office missionaries (Elder/Sister Whitaker & Elder/Sister Goodfellow) plus President and Sister. We had a training on weekly planning and gained insights on why we do it. President Monson told us to keep planning in the future. Then came the Christmas party part of it. The office missionaries made us lunch. I love them so much. They are amazing. There was ham, rolls, potato salad, cheese and crackers, salad (bunny food), and more. We had some more training and I'll touch on that in a second. It's about driving... THEN, we had our talent show. There was a rendition of the 12 days of Christmas but missionary work, some singing, a crazy dance with puppets, and people played the piano. I was one of those people😅. On Monday night I had a feeling to call and say I'd do something. I played "Autumn Walk" by Brad Jacobson. It was super scary, but fun. I need to get more comfortable playing in front of people anyway. I might have to play for sacrament when Hermana Berry goes home, so that is a little nerve wracking.

I got to see everyone from my previous zone😆. I was soooooo excited to see Sister Robinson. I miss her a lot! It helped to be able to see her again. I got attacked by all the sisters in the zone too. I loved seeing Sister Donahoo😊. Hermana Berry's past companion, Hermana Hansen is her new companion. Sister Donahoo is going to BYUI when she goes home, so this isn't the last time we'll see each other.

The training said Hermana Berry isn't allowed to drive anymore. You can't drive in your first transfer or your last one. She wasn't too happy to find that out. I have mixed feelings. I like to drive, but have only driven in Utah😳. If you think Utah and California drivers are scary, you're wrong. Drivers in South Carolina are psychotic. It is ridiculous😂. You have to drive really careful out here so you don't die. The roads are very interesting.

After we left Zone Conference, Hermana Berry and I helped wrap Christmas presents at a fire station. It was pretty neat to see all the presents and gifts donated to families that don't have a lot. We take for granted the things that we have. It reminds me of a song that says, "...you only miss the sun when it starts to snow." It's true! Being grateful for things is really important. We need to be showing how grateful we are to the people we love, those around us, and especially our Heavenly Father. He has given us everything. I need to be more grateful and I invite you all to be as well. Say a prayer of gratitude everyday.

We went out to eat twice this week! Hermano y Hermana Torres took Elder Pugsley, DeMille, and Hermana Berry and I to Longhorn Steakhouse for Christmas on Wednesday. It was delicious😋. I got steak and a baked potato. They were so nice to take us. On Thursday, we had a Zone dinner. We went to a place called Wasabi. It is pretty much Tepanyaki Japanese Steak House in Utah. The guy who made our food was hilarious. When he put the chicken on the grill he said, Meowy meowy chicken, I mean yummy yummy chicken."😂 He made a volcano onion. When it started to smoke, made train sounds and moved it around. Then we had a dance party as he made some beats with his spatula.

Yesterday, Hermana Berry and I went to Johnny's house for a lesson. We taught Sandra and him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I couldn’t say much because my Spanish isn’t very good. I bore my testimony on faith and repentance. They understood everything and we are planning on having a lesson with our branch president to explain what priesthood is more. Hermana Berry and I really want to get Johnny on date! We are going to ask him to be baptized really soon. It is cool to see how my spanish is slowly improving, emphasis on slow😂.

¡Los amo a todos! Have a great Christmas!

Here are some pictures:

Sister Robinson and her two babies!