I Got Crabs!....The Good Kind of Crabs! - August 24, 2015

Hello family! 

This has been such an amazing week! Ok so let me just catch you up on everything that has happened this week. So on Tuesday night we had the wonderful opportunity to house the new Sisters coming in this transfer. They were so tired by the time we picked them up that we decided to be nice and let them sleep in our beds and we would sleep on the air mattresses... Worst idea ever! First off they decided that right when we got home at 10 o'clock they were going to go straight to bed.. So me and Sister Sorensen decide to make some muffins before bed for their breakfast so it would be less work for us in the morning. By the time we said our prayers and got to bed I go to get on my air mattress and it is already going flat... I didn't want to wake the sisters by turning it on and inflating it again so I just decided to deal with it. That was the worst idea ever. Basically all the air went straight to my feet and I was laying on my head all night.. It was probably the worst nights sleep I have had my entire mission.. About half way through the night I just decided to lay on the floor between the bed and my air mattress. Haha things you do to be kind.. Haha finally after one long night of not sleeping Sister Sorensen and I got up and made them some delicious green smoothies to go with the muffins. They were not too keen on our green smoothies. One of the sisters asked what was in it and took one small sip of it and the other sister did the same thing.. So that was quite the adventure of having them sleep over. 

On Wednesday we had the departing sisters with us. It was such a good night. They were actually the sisters who were serving together in Mandarin right before us. So it was so fun to go out to see all the people they had taught and we were still teaching. We actually got to have an awesome lesson with Heidi and her husband Sokol! We talked about eternal families! The spirit was so strong. It brought Sokol to tears! We then invited both of them to baptism! Heidi was so excited and said yes right away! Yay!!! Sokol still has some concerns but he is so close!! It was such a great lesson! 

Sister Sorensen and I have made a goal this transfer to have at least 3 baptisms!! We are so excited! This week we are planning to set dates with Heidi and Sokol. As well as with our investigator Paula. Also with Makayla and Tyler Mall. They are a part member family we have been working with as well. We also invited our neighbor to be baptized last night. She said if she read the Book of Mormon and knew it was true she would be baptized! The Lord is truly blessing us for all the hard work we have been doing here in Mandarin! 

So on Thursday we decided that we had not seen good old sister Roberta in a very long time.. If y'all don't remember who she is, she is the old lady who believes in saving everything and she tries to teach us a new craft every time we visit her. She gave us scrunchies and every time we visit she questions why we are not wearing them. She loves to tell us all about her dead dog she had cremated. And she loves to show us all the things she recycles and reuses! Well this time we had a lovely visit. She showed us all of the Christmas tree ornaments she had been making. They were made out of light bulbs she had painted. They were all penguins. She even gave us one of these precious gems to take home with us! You never leave sister Roberta's house empty handed! Haha she totally reminds me of a more extreme version of Grandma Webb! Haha anyways after she shows us all of the ornaments she starts telling us how she is getting ready for the holidays. She tells us how every November she makes homemade pumpkin bread from real pumpkins. Well she tells us how amazing this bread is and how if you store it in the freezer it will last for an entire year.. She goes on to say how last year she made 200 loaves of pumpkin bread and she still has some and she wants to give us some! So, we go to her freezer out in her garage and we look in this freezer and it is packed full of fish and seafood because her son is a fisherman.. Let's just say we got 6 loaves of this pumpkin bread! When we got home we ended up leaving them in the car over night.. That was the worst idea ever. When we got in the car the next morning it smelt like fish so bad I was dry heaving... Haha sadly we threw all six loaves of bread away because if it smelt like fish that bad I'm sure it tasted like it as well.. And y'all know me and my problem with eating old food. If it is older then a week old I can't eat it. I'm pretty sure bread can't be stored for an entire year and still be good. Haha at least we always get a good laugh when we visit with Sister Roberta! 

My next stories takes place on Saturday and this is one of the most exciting things that happened this week besides my awesome lessons! So every week since I have been here we have been visiting the Albert family. They are so sweet and so close to coming back to church! They could basically be my second family here. Well just recently we started eating dinner with them every week as well. This week was quite an adventure because I had made the mistake last week of mentioning the fact that I had never eaten crab before... So this week they told me would be crab night.. Brother Albert bought us 8 lbs of crab legs and then shrimp to go with it!! Y'all know me and my seafood.. I was dreading this all week and then to find out he bought 8 pounds of it! Haha well I hope y'all are seated before reading any more of this letter because this next part may shock almost all of you! Remember how I was the little girl who would cry every time we had crab or shrimp or any type of seafood and make mom make me a separate meal? Well, I tried crab legs and oh my, I loved them!!! It was seriously the best thing ever! and one of the most fun dinners I have had my whole mission! Don't worry though! I promised the Albert's when I get home I will have a giant crab leg feast and show y'all how to crack the crab legs properly and eat them! Haha learning to crack the legs and get the meat out was quite the adventure as well! Let's just say we may have had crab flying everywhere at first... But by the end I was a complete pro at it! I'm still trying to find a love for shrimp.. At least I can eat it now with out gagging and almost throwing up everywhere! Haha oh and to top off the dinner brother Albert knows how much I love my Oreos so he bought me a giant pack of Oreos to take home! Man, I love them! We had a wonderful lesson after dinner and we invited them to church! They didn't say no which was a good thing! Finally the exciting part, when Rose dropped us off at our apartment that night she said see you tomorrow! We were so excited she was planning to come to church! Well, unfortunately the Albert's were unable to make it to church Sunday but we are hoping for next week! 

Yesterday we were able to have a wonderful day at church! The ward choir sang on church which means that I got to sing in church. Basically the ward has a special musical number every week.. Haha well this week we sang 2 songs it was really good! It amazes me how much singing can invite the spirit! We had half the ward in tears.. Haha and the funny thing is, the choir isn't that big and not that good.. Haha the spirit was doing all the work! Later that night we  had an awesome lesson with our neighbors Bill and Gene! I don't know if I have told you about them or not. So Bill is the sweetest old man, he is 88 and has dementia. He is always looking out for us though and worries because we are two young girls living by ourselves with all the creeps out in the world. So he always makes sure that the management keeps the hall lights working for us. Gene is 66 and she works full time and tries to take care of Bill the best she can. Anyway, we decided a few Sunday's ago to bring them some cookies and get to know them and try to teach them! Gene is very open to our messages and loves learning all the thing we have to teach her. She is so elect and I'm sure one day she will be baptized! 

Last night we had some free time on our hands before bed and let me tell you, we had quite the night! We decided to dress up in some of Sister Johnson's old clothes and then we turned on Christmas music and danced to it while singing at the top of our lungs.. I'm sure our neighbors love us! Haha 

My final stories happened this morning.. It basically traumatized me... I went to get one of my granola bars out of the box this morning when I saw something black in there. Before I could get a better look at it, the black thing started crawling across my hand!!! You may have guessed right, there was a giant cockroach in my granola box!! Ahhhh!!!! I may have screamed and cried a little about it! Haha a week never goes by with out a cockroach encounter. Haha

Well, I hope y'all have a fantastic week! I'm so glad to hear all is going well at home! I got Rachael's package this week! I loved it! It was so cute and all the letters were great! I feel so loved when I know that pretty much all the kids wrote me because grandma promised them ice cream as a reward.. Haha the candy was great! I basically already ate it! I miss getting letters from y'all so keep sending them! 

Have a great week! I love and miss all of you! 

Love,

Sister Webb