Greetings from the coldest place I've ever set foot!

Cleveland, Ohio. Where to begin? I have been here for 7 days now. Here are some of the highlights of my first week in Brunswick.
My first full day in Ohio started with a drive to Kirtland. We got a personal tour of the Kirtland temple. It was amazing. We got to go to the attic where many revelations were received, and Carl Anderson got to give us most of the tour and so we talked about the importance of the Doctrine and Covenants and the revelations given in them, and the great significance of the Kirtland temple. We got to sit
in the chapel and read about when Jesus Christ visited Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry in the temple. It was a very spiritual experience to be sitting in the temple in early morning, watching the sun come through the windows and thinking about the events that took place there. Afterwards, Carl asked me to get up and
lead everyone in "The Spirit of God" because the saints sang that song in the temple. It was an experience I'll never forget.

Let me tell you... I think that I had to start my mission in the bitter cold of January, because it's all going up hill from here. It has to. Saying that it is freezing is an understatement here. It is miserable outside. For the past three days it's been snowing (we are talking almost blizzard), and slushing cold rain. I spoke with a woman and she said that she's lived all over (she moves every 9 months) and this is the COLDEST PLACE SHE"S EVER SET FOOT. Figures, doesn't it?

A true trademark of a Brunswick home is a goose statue in the front yard somewhere. Everyone has statues of geese in their yard, and many homes go so far as to dress up their geese in clothes. Sister Tingey once served in an area where a home had 365 outfits for their goose. In order for the goose to be truly authentic, it has to have it's nose, or ear, or some other body part broken off. hahahah. hilarious.
I'm sure Christmas time here is great as far as yard decor goes, because it doesn't have to be christmas for these people to get creative. I've seen statues of dogs, naked men, angels, animals, sillhouetes of human beings, and other indescribably unique objects in the front yards of Brunswick. A true blessing to keep me laughing as I tract.

Tracting is cold, but it's also humorous. I have developed a lot more respect for missionaries that are called to serve in the states. It's tough. People can be really mean and hardened. The other day a woman started screaming at us that had a full on beard. I couldn't even pay attention to what she was saying, becuase I was so engrossed in the curly black and gray hairs hanging down from her chin. That same day we met a true gentleman. We knocked on his door and started talking about Jesus Christ and he interjected, "I don't need Jesus.... I NEED THE BOOZE." Amazing. Sister Tingey and I both stopped immediately to write that one down.

The sisters before us had met with a woman a few times named Dorothy, and so we've met with her about three times this past week. I am so in love with her. She is 88 years old, and has about all the sass in the world. She is hilarious. We taught her about prophets and showed her a picture of President Hinckley. She said she liked his smile. hahaha. We've been reading the Book of Mormon with her and urging her to pray. Yesterday we were teaching her about the plan of salvation. She started getting a little emotional and said how that would be wonderful to see her daughter again that died and see Jesus again. She has been meeting with a Jehovah's witness for about six years now. Yesterday she told us that she's beginning to hope and think that we are right. She was raised Methodist and that means a lot to her... I think it's just going to take some time. She prayed for the first time out loud the other day and it was the coolest thing I've ever witnessed. She thanked God for sending us to her, and she told God that she thinks the things we are teaching her are true. What a gem. LOVE visiting Dorothy.