I'm sitting on our couch looking out our back door and want to see snow on the roofs. Last month we got some snow. The temperatures are around 2 to 5 degrees Celsius. The snow falls then it melts away. I was hoping to see inches and inches of snow by now. I can't say that I am entirely disappointed though. I'm sure January will bring more snow and more snowmen. Sometimes, I get a glimpse of sitting at my kitchen table back home and look out the back window to see golf carts pull up and stop. Golfers dressed in short sleeves t-shirts sometimes shorts, grab a club from the bag and head to the tee box. I really miss watching the golf carts and seeing green grass all year long, but there is no place I'd rather be right now than on a mission in Slovakia. I love it here. I love the fact, that after over 30 years, I get to have a winter with snow. I love the challenge of bundling up in a down parka, wool scarf, and knitted cap. I can't imagine leaving home without them. I can't explain it, but I am warmer here than back home. At home my hands and feet are constantly cold and I can't stay warm. I have these really warm wool mitten that may solve that problem.
I don't know if I mentioned, I have a branch calling too. I am the Relief Society 1st counselor. There are only a few active sisters in the branch. They all have long histories, and wouldn't accept any calling. I teach Relief Society every month and give a sacrament talk about every 5 weeks. I was asked to talk on Christmas Eve about the Light of Christ. When I teach, I need a translator. It took me several weeks before I felt comfortable teaching in Relief Society. I've learned to get comfortable reading along in the manual while the others follow along in Slovak. Actually the manual is printed in Czech, and Czech is closely related to Slovak so Slovaks can read and understand Czech. Our Relief Society lessons are both in English and Slovak. It is awkward at first, but you learn to accept it. Some goes for sacrament talks, we read from our talks in English and someone stands next to us and repeats what we said in Slovak. We have a few good English speakers in church, but we always stump them with something that the leaders of the Church have said like President Uchtdorf. One Sunday, I was speaking in church and my translator was struggling with quite a few words and concepts. The congregation was calling out Slovak words for her to say. Half way through the talk, she asked if she even needed to translate because everyone in the congregation was English speakers. The branch president told her to continue in Slovak. One good thing to keep in mind here is that our talks are about half the time required back home. Always something bright to keep in mind.
I can't get over how quiet the weekends are. The people here spend time indoors with families. The streets are quiet and few people walk about. Most shops are closed on weekends and the few that are open are open until noon on Saturday. There are fewer cars on the roads too. I still don't know what people do all day on the weekends. I think they must stay home and read or embroidery. Slovaks are very well read and their traditional clothes are embellished with elaborate embroidery.
Well, Greg and I hope you are staying well. I'm off to find my "postcard" of the day. With much love and hugs.
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