Hi Mom and Dad!
It was so nice to hear from you! It sounds like you had a really exciting week. I can just imagine you, Grandma, Brooke, and Ruby. Does Grandma call Ruby "the baby"? Haha- just like the old days!
That's scary that a few missionaries got the swine flu- at the MTC? A couple of people here said they were worried about the missionaries who just came from the MTC (like me), but I clarified I was in Korea BEFORE the outbreak. That's an important distinction!
And we have gone to Parade of Homes before. Remember? With Jenn and her mom and grandma. Those homes are huge! Nothing like that in Korea!!! Everyone lives in apartments.
Speaking of Korea, my companion and I went to a shiksa yesterday at a ward member's apartment. As we chatted with her family and another random lady in the ward, random people from the ward started showing up at the front door. People were coming in with other people's kids and I was so confused- it was a continuous stream of people for 10 minutes! It turns out the shiksa included about 10-12 families from the ward. That apartment was filled to the brim! The bishop has 9 active kids- so they caused a lot of excitement when they showed up. We ate on the floor traditional style (we do that at most shiksas). The men all ate in the living room, some of the women in the master bedroom, the kids in another bedroom, and the rest of the women in the kitchen. It was really fun! It was funny to see the cultural differences too. As soon as the prayer was over, all the men rushed the food table. I laughed and told my companion about "ladies first" in America as we got in line behind them. I miss that about the MTC! The shiksa felt like a big family reunion- all the kids had a lot of fun together.

Well I have to go! We're having a shiksa today with my companion's recent convert.

Love you!

Love,
Alyssa