8 Dec 09

Don't hate me…but I forgot to mention last week that we were moving. I didn't
know the new address at that point anyway, but I should have mentioned it. Sorry! We
moved on Tuesday. We’ll fill out change-of-address forms ASAP so hopefully no one has sent anything that will get lost.

New address:
6295 Main St.
Trumbull, CT
06006

The move made things a little crazy, which is to be expected. It was rather enjoyable, though, as moving goes. The weather was unusually warm so it wasn't too bad for being in and out a lot. The Trumbull elders came to help us move our furniture. They came to the old apartment and moved all the furniture out, and then the trailer was about 2 hours late. Hmmm...two elders and two sisters outside, can't go inside (un-chaperoned), and there's a bunch of furniture lying around on the lawn. What would you have done? We got creative with our entertainment. Creativity may or may not have included some of the following: throwing furniture, jumping on the mattresses, and Elder Allred testing out the stair-stepper while describing it in his Shrek voice, all on video. (I told you, he does an AMAZINGLY good Shrek accent.) Then somehow Sister Johnston was up in the top of a tree. Don't worry, nothing was damaged. No animals were harmed in the making of those films.

I love missionary life! There is just no substitute for a bunch of kids in their twenties in an environment with no TV. I've really learned how to have fun out here. The best part about this type of "creative" entertainment is that it really doesn't sound fun when you try to describe it to someone else. It's mostly those "you had to be there" moments. So everyone thinks you're strange when you describe what you do to entertain yourself. (Except other missionaries who have experienced the same.)

Then the trailer finally came and the elders had to take my stupid desk apart to get it through the door, then put it back together in Trumbull. It took forever and I felt so bad. Hey, at least I had no control over it. If they'd asked me I would've said gimme a futon instead of a desk. So much easier to transport. I can study on a futon, right? Why not?

The other day Sister Johnston and I were tracting in one of the neighborhoods that's
very close to the Bridgeport city line. Bridgeport is, well, let's just say it's one
of those cities sisters are NOT allowed to serve in. The neighborhood in question is one of those where people always tell us, BE CAREFUL! Bless their grandmotherly hearts. Anyway, someone had told us recently about a bar nearby where people supposedly have shady dealings going on in the parking lot, and then they go out and mug people while under the influence of who knows what, and they have two guys to jump you and one guy to be the lookout. Thanks, that makes us feel really safe! (I know. You don't believe Connecticut would have ghettos. No one does, until they actually get here. Hartford's supposed to be in the top ten in the nation for violent crime, or something like that.)

Long story made longer ”itâ's dark, we're in this neighborhood and are feeling a bit
paranoid anyway from all the recent stories. We're crossing from one side of the street to the other and Sister Johnston stops dead in her tracks, and is staring at something, and starting to freak out. I'm asking her what's wrong, thinking it could be any number of things. Then she points it out to me. What did it turn out to be? A TOY gun, lying on the ground. It sure looked real from far away, though. So have no fear toy guns are the scariest thing we see around here. (Things will really get fun when we get put in the Bridgeport district and have to go to district meetings in Bridgeport. Good thing those meetings are in the daytime!! That's all I have to say about that.)

Side note: I keep forgetting to mention this every single Monday Easton is Helen
Keller's birthplace! Easton's in our area. It's a beautiful town. Y'all should
come see it sometime. (Not while I'm here, though. That could be distracting.)
Trumbull is also a beautiful town. We got the first snow on Saturday, and with all the lights and snow Trumbull looks like a little Dickens village. (People go all out here with decorations, just like they did for Halloween.) The new apartment is fun it's a little in-law type apartment on the side of a house. Apparently the Trumbull Republican party previously had their headquarters in our little apartment. It reminded me of Dad going to Utah Democratic Party conventions in someone's living room. Almost the same thing, just the tables are turned now.

Anyway, we have our own washer and dryer and we're on the main floor and very very
spoiled. It does make VERY weird noises, especially at night. The first night we thought someone was banging on the side of the house, trying to break in. Nope, just the pipes! We're living in Trumbull but will still just cover Fairfield and Easton until the elders leave, the week of Christmas. Then we'll be the only missionaries in the ward. Sad! So right now we live out of our area. "Elder, can we get permission to leave our area so we can sleep?"

Wow, this is a really long epistle, and I talked about very non-spiritual things. But believe me when I tell you that the miracles and spiritual experiences are real, and they happen all the time. Most of them are so personal that I don't put them in the mass emails. You may not hear about them, but they are so real!

Love,
Sister Monson