Email received Sept 28, 2009

I've been found out! People have heard my voice and complimented me on it, but this Sunday one of the organists in one ward asked if I would like to sing something in church; of course I said yes, but now I just have to pick what to sing; I'd love to start working on something for Christmas, but I can't guarantee I'll even be here that long, I do hope so, though. My optimal plan (that I hope I don't jinx by actually writing it down) is to spend the winter in Vegas, then go up north for the summer and then come back down for the last few winter months; or, since there are now more sister areas up north, perhaps I could stay up north and actually experience a good winter again before coming home to lovely, wintery Houston. Either way, I don't think I could survive a real summer in Vegas - I don't know how anyone could, but apparently they do - but I don't think I would mind a nice winter - or maybe that's just the 103 degree weather talking. Poor Sis Moreno, she gets two winters up north and one summer down south, she's definitely a trooper.

I thought of y'all often on 9/19 (Editor's note: Sept 19 is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, visit www.talklikeapirate.com for more info.), wondered how the party went (did Tasha wear her eyepatch?) and tried to find the balance between pirate and missionary - we didn't really succeed so we settled on the safe side and stuck with missionary, but we did try to think of some good door approaches - arrr, would ya like to be hearing the good word?

So the last two weeks have been a wee bit slower, we're trying to contact all the less-actives on our ward lists in the hope of something, and it is actually starting to get a little cooler, with the promise of the big chill coming soon, so we're planning a lot more tracting. My new companion wants to do my hair and makeup, but I won't let her do my makeup without my MK eye makeup remover, and she won't do my hair if she can't do my makeup, so could you throw that in the box that's on it's way? Thank you so much! She is also insistent on getting me to talk more, which I am happy to go along with (but that doesn't make it any easier) so we should be seeing some improvement in that regard. Well I'm sure I could ramble on for a while longer, but I don't really have much else to say of any worth so I will close for this week. Hope to get your letters soon, it really is such a thrill in our missionary lives to receive communication from home. See you in 16 months!!!

Sista Cloward