There's No Place Like Haleyville For The Holidays!‏

This week has been non-stop since ... Well it never started at any particular point. It's just been non-stop ever since ... This last week we had a Christmas Party with President and Sister Hanks and a few other zones. Sister Williams was there!!! Our District (Haleyville and Hamilton) did the 12 Weeks of Training. The Sister sang, and the Elders held up the signs. I have pictures, but my camera is dead and I can't find the cord ... so maybe next year y'all can see them. So sorry! Then on Thursday we had our Haleyville Branch Christmas Social that Sister Downs and I got put in charge of. We actually aren't sure how that actually happened, but thankfully it turned out fabulous! Oscar read the Nativity Story from Luke 2, Sister Downs and I were in a skit with Starr, Dayne and their friends, as well as the Elders. I'm sure President Pate posted it on Facebook. We also sang Silent Night with the Elders, there was food, Santa came, and I could not stop smiling that whole night because Angie and Oscar and their 4 kids ALL came!! 

So Sister Downs and I are sure that the Zombie Apocalypse is going to start in Haleyville. (First because everyone pretty much has the plague right now. It's hit Elder Barben too) On Saturday night we had a Tornado Warning, and then Sunday morning on the way to church we didn't see one human soul outside. .. Then later that day there was a dead cat on the side of the road (sing it Anthony). But really. There was. Speaking of animals though ... Well first here's the Southern explanation of the story. Angie and Oscar didn't come to church Sunday because of the storm and were up until 2:00 a.m. So naturally we dropped by their house after church. They were just about to leave to finish some Christmas shopping so they asked if we could come back that night. We talked for a little and Oscar made jokes at us about our bikes because he's never seen us in them. So being the cool missionaries that we are, Sister Downs and I road our bikes to their house last night. We watched Joy to the World with them because that's what they missed in Sunday school. We bore testimony of the Savior, answered some of their questions, and gave Oscar a spanish Book of Mormon, and invited him to read Alma 32, and talked about baptism again ... I just LOVE that family so much!!! So, as we are riding back, it wasn't but 1 minute later, and a pack of DOGS comes towards us out of NOWHERE! I mean, there were at least 10. So my reaction is to freeze, and I start screaming, while Sister Downs is yelling, "Peddle faster! Just peddle faster!" ... We get home to text Angie, and her response was, "Sorry about the dogs. There are a lot of them out here." Embarrassingly enough they must have heard us screaming and yelling! She told us to stick to the car. I do NOT like dogs out here! There are so many stray dogs. 

We tracted a little with the Elders looking for a referral yesterday and it was a sketchy area and so Elder Thompson said, "This is the kind of area where people come out with shot guns." We told him that as Sister we try and avoid these kind of places for that reason. We were trying to find some less actives on Saturday and right as I went to knock on the door I turned to Sister Downs and she said, "Let's go!" We both had the WORST feeling! So we ran to the car and drove away. After that we felt so shaken up that we went to the Pates, and then texted the District Leader and went home because of the Tornado watch. 

There's no place like Haleyville for the Holidays! .. Right?!

Love y'all!

Sister Reyne