Week #4: Greetings from CALLAWAY!

Hello from Callaway, FLORIDA!  You guys!  Is this for real?!  I have been out here for 5 days and I still can't believe that this is my life.  BUT I love it, and have enjoyed every second of it so far!

My trainer is Sister Charles, she's a Russian that was adopted at age 7.  We have a lot in common, but our personalities are super different.  SO... I've been praying for patience.  haha it will come. :)  She is an awesome trainer though, so it's been great.

My area is really poor, and huge.  We are part of Panama City, but the beach area is a separate mission area... but we are allowed to go on P-days as long as a member takes us!  So hopefully one of these weeks I'll be able to go to Pier Park!  But most of the homes here are trailers, and really run down.  Very very small homes, and apartments. There are some sketchy areas here, but I've never felt in danger. It has been a little chilly here.  I've worn my jacket the past couple days, and the other night I could see my breath outside... what the heck!  Today it's 70 degrees though and that sun feels SO GOOD.

Let's talk about food..... you should be proud of me.  In the short time I have been here, I've tried Fried Gizzards and Shark!  What....

DON'T EVER EAT GIZZARDS.  Oh my gosh.  They are so bad.  hahaha  That's one part of the chicken that should never even be touched, let alone eaten.  And the shark was too fishy for me.  Not bad if you like seafood though.
The gas here is $2.77! Crazy huh! I haven't biked yet, but I think we are biking on Wednesday? We are in a car share with the two other sisters that live in the building next to us. Speaking of living places... our apartment is a one bedroom one bath cute little place! I love it, and it's homey. Plus there are two sinks in the bathroom so that's super nice. Our back yard has a pond with huge, bright orange fish, snakes, and TURTLES! I've tried to take a picture of them, but those suckers are camera shy.

I have met so many wonderful people out here already, and we have already tripled the number of lessons taught since I've been here. The work is truly hastening! We don't have any investigators right now... but we are praying that we can find one this week. We work a lot with returning members and inactive members. We also are doing the new member lessons, so it's been fun. Sister Charles and I are part of the YSA of the ward, so we get to go to their activities and help plan. I'm going to my first one tonight, so cross your fingers that it's good!

It was the Primary Program yesterday for Sacrament, so I got to start off on a happy note! These kids are ADORABLE. I was dying. The ward members are so so nice and welcoming, and feed us dinner ALL THE TIME. Our dinner calendar is full this month. They are super awesome about giving us rides places too!

Everyone here thinks I am the cutest missionary ever (I get told at least 5 times a day by different people) so that's awesome, and everyone teases me for my accent... WHAT ACCENT?! haha They say I have a really thick accent, so that's bizarre. I laugh every time someone tells me that because it's so weird. Oh, and wooden rocking chairs on front porches is a real thing. Every single house has one. haha yay for the south!

I don't even know what else to say because this week has been full of learning and getting into the swing of things! Missionary exhaustion is real, and I'm only on day five. Personal study in the morning is BRUTAL. I need to staple my eye lids open or something... but I'm trying really hard!

Thank you all for the love and support! I am so blessed to be out here sharin happiness with people. And I couldn't do it without all of you! So thank you!!!

One thing I want to share with you is something I learned in Sunday School yesterday. Funny enough it was about missionary work, and our cute teacher Sister Clark (the cutest little black lady ever) said "If you don't baptize one soul, preach the gospel." I loved that. It doesn't matter how many people you baptize, it matters that you are teaching people and being that example.

Well, that's all for today, and I'm crossing my fingers that gizzards are no where in my near future. ;)

So much love from the Sunshine State!

Sister Holmes :)

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Sister Alexa Holmes
4141 E 15th Street Apt #117
Panama City, FL 32404