From Eliza

Dear Family,
It’s nice to hear how you all are doing. That is way cool that Isaiah is so involved in things. And I’m glad Nephi was able to get the camera for his birthday. I can imagine how much fun he is having with it. I hope you all had a fun Halloween. Normally we, the missionaries of the Texas Houston Mission are given rules for each holiday, like be in your apartment by dark, etc. But this time we were not given any rules. We even asked Elder Beck, the assistant to the president, if there are any rules for us, and he said “no.” So we worked all day like normal on Saturday, and then at night when everyone was trick-or-treating we met up with the elders in our district and played games all night. The CS sister came and hung out with us as well. And then we went home by 9pm like normal, and went to bed early. So Halloween was fun for us.
This week as a pretty sad week for Sister Christensen and I, though. We only taught 1 member this week and were not able to get in with any of our investigators. We spent the whole week tracting and talking to people on campus. We also had a zone meeting this week and went to the temple. And the temple trip took most of the day. Saturday night and Sunday morning I was feeling pretty down about the sad week we had had, but then church was really good, and we got a lot of things set up for this next week, so I’m feeling much better now. Yesterday was a really good day.
Last week was also hard for me because I started thinking about the fact that I am going home and I started getting nervous and scared about it. Every now and then I’ll realize how close it is, and usually I just don’t think about it, instead of dealing with it. But this week I really started thinking about it and, according to Elder Wilcox, started “freaking out.” On Thursday when we went out to eat with our Zone, after we went to the temple, we were talking about it, that we are going home, because Elder Wilcox goes home the same time I do. And Sister Ireland said “I would feel nervous and excited and scared and not ready and sad and excited and confident and trunky, all at the same time.” Then Elder Wilcox said “yeah, they have a term for that------it’s called Freaking out.” And that is how I have been feeling all week.
But this week is over and This next week is going to make up for it-----we are going to teach all our investigators, find new people to teach, teach lots of members, baptize thousands, and be focused and work hard. I’m not going to “freak out” about going home this week...hopefully.
Anyway, I’m glad you all are doing well. Thanks mom for the info on my home coming talk. And thanks dad for the info on Free Masons. I actually have another question for you about that. One of the elders in my district, Elder Lemly, has been wanting to become a Free Mason for a long time, and he is wondering if you will invite him, or hook him up, to become a Free Mason? He’s pretty new out on him mission, I think about 3 months out.
Well, take care. I miss all of you and can’t wait to see you. Always, Sister Eliza Boren.