December 13, 2010

Hi family!
First off, thanks for all the information on the holidays that could have been the pope in the wagon, I'm betting on St. Nicholas Day just because of where we are, but I didn't remember to ask anyone about it! Maybe I'll remember this week. It was fun to read all the info on holidays, it's fun to learn about!

Second off, recipe for rolls:
2 C warm water
2 Tbl yeast
7 C sifted flour
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp salt
4 Tbl shortening
2 eggs

Dissolve yeast in water, add 3 1/2 C flour, 1/4 C sugar and 1 ts salt into water and yeast. Stir well. In a separate bowl use a beater to mix 4 Tbl shortening and eggs. Add that to the water and flour mixture, then add 3 1/2 C flour, 1/4 C sugar and 1 tsp salt. Let raise 2 hours. Make balls and put into greased pan, let raise another 2 hours. Bake 10-20 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit and baste with butter!
If it's wrong, that might be because I wrote it down in my planner and my abbreviations are a little confusing. But I'm pretty sure that's right.

Third off, THANK YOU FOR THE PICTURES!! I got so many this week from Amelia and Kelsey. It was so fun to see how big Tylie is and how cute Kelsey's whole family is.

Fourth off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUSTIN. This isn't in order of importance, Justin, so sorry you're number 4 on the list.

Fifth: this week was GREAT. We got three new investigators! That's a really good week, since we haven't had any new investigators in a while! Yay! All three are women and all three are really great. Hopefully we get some Christmas miracles!
Also, we had interviews with President on Tuesday, so he came down from Slovenia to Zadar. It was really nice and FUN to see him and have a conversation! Just because it's been awhile since we've had any meetings and haven't been to Zagreb! But we have zone conference next week. Anyway, it was a good day. He's a really inspired leader!
It's been mostly rainy and FREEZING, but today is sunny. It has gotten really cold, I've worn my winter coat almost every day for the last week and a half and I'm so glad I brought it! I was started to think that I would never use it! It can be annoying, with the rain, because it might be sunny in the morning, but the weather changes so fast here, a couple times this week we got caught somewhere without an umbrella! Because it didn't look like rain when we left, but a storm rolled in, luckily we borrowed an umbrella from an investigator one day, and the other day we borrowed one from the church.
We're making plans for Christmas! Which means that we're juggling ideas like "go to mass" with "take pictures of all the decorations all over town," and it will be really fun when we actually get to it! On Saturday for young womens we decorated the church and it was really fun, we put up a Christmas tree and made paper snowflakes and listened to Christmas music. And this Saturday we're going to have a Christmas Activity, which means dinner and fun at the church with the members. And then Sunday is our Christmas program during Sacrament meeting, which means we need to plan and prepare for BOTH of those things. Ha ha, which means that I need to learn all the Christmas hymns! And all that jazz. So it's going to be a busy couple of weeks. Which is GREAT.

This morning I started to read a talk by... a guy from the Presiding Bishopbric, can't remember his name, from the general conference Ensign and so far it is SO good! It's on faith and he was saying "Choose Faith" it actually might be called that, I can't remember. And I'm also reading in the Book of Mormon about when Christ came to the Americas and that's really good. The Book of Mormon is AWESOME.

I'm glad that everyone has been traveling safely (Amelia) and future travelers (Jesse and family and Mom) I hope everything goes well for Mom (in SD, with your Mom) and I'm happy to hear everyone is happy and well! Do something nice for somebody else this week!
LOVE
Sister Laws

oh, and for Christmas calls, Dad you'll have to call me at 8 or 9 Christmas morning, your time, so tell me which one would work better for you next week!