Hola Familia!! Bienvenidos - Laredo, Texas! Well first off everyone should know that this is completely different than anything I have yet experienced in Edinburg. Loredo is a spectrum from North Laredo > South Laredo > Nuevo Laredo (in mexico). The whole city just fades into Mexico and so we are right next to the border and everyone we talk to goes to Mexico on a regular basis, except border patrol. I am serving in an area called, 'Country Club' we are surrounding a golf course and we work on streets with some of the biggest homes I've seen since being out here. Our area is opposite of ghetto - that is one thing I am really going to miss - I loved working in the trailer parks... but instead of knocking on plastic doors I now have been knocking on mansions for the last week. Our area is full of the english ward members, mostly border patrol agents but also extremely rich 'mob boss' hispanics, the ones that run the drug crossing and all of that bad stuff. Everyone here is completely fluent in both languages so everywhere we go we can talk in english or spanish and they'll understand.The food reflects the language preference though - I wasn't expecting to miss the mexican food. We eat american food here which is something that my tummy is readjusting to. Its good and the members are super awesome! Goodbye nice house, we live in an apartment but really I can't complain. We are much more elevated in Laredo than in the Valley which is great because there aren't really cockroaches or much humidity - meaning less work in the rain. The living quarters are definitely smaller and dirtier which would be rough but I feel more like a missionary as I walk in the door at night. We live with two other sisters again, and they are awesome! We are all super different, one of the sisters likes to walk around in her underwear ...thats been an adjustment as I've learned to avert my eyes but she's nice and really funny, very confident. Her companion is super adorable and currently on a 'english fast' she hasn't spoken english since thanksgiving and is going until christmas 'solo espanol'. (I am going to try and jump in on the english fast starting the 13th of december and do the 12 days of christmas. On to my new companion - Hermana Sainsbury, she's awesome! Background on her, we were in the same house in the CCM, she came out to the field with me! She is super into fitness and did pole vaulting at UVU before coming out on the mission. Heavenly Father keeps putting me with people that really are intense about food and working out...not quite sure what He's telling me there. I was super excited when I found out that we were going to be companions and that we would be in Laredo together, but I was bummed to find out that she hasn't had much practice with spanish. She was in the upper level spanish class at the CCM and at the time I thought she was fluent but since being with her again, I have seen that my spanish has gotten so much better over the last couple months in the field. The trick will be not losing the spanish that I have learned but I know I will be able to get out of language study as much as I put into it, so here I will just have to try a little bit harder. Since we are the same age in the mission - we are co-companions but since she's been in the area longer she drives the car. It's crazy after being with Sister McMahon I feel like I sorta know how to be a missionary. (side note: Sister McMahon is now a 'sister trainer leader' and will be for the next 6 months) But anyway the area apparently hasn't had any serious investigators for over a year, and so the work has mostly been focused on members. We'll do both and I've learned I really like teaching people and so the focus will shift to finding the people that are ready to be taught. Long update, and not many specific events from this last week but overall its been a good week and I think that it's going to be a good transfer! I'm sorry to say this computer doesn't let me send pictures. This last week I realized that I really do love being a missionary. When I logically think about the things that I do each day as a missionary, it sounds just so bloody awful and hard but this week I realized that I genuinely like it. Who else gets to drop out of school and focus on other people for a year and a half? Also this last week we had a huge push on doing service for people - that's the best way to be HAPPY just Go Do Something For Someone Else. By the way, everyone should go watch the christmas video 'He is the Gift' on lds.org, it will make you happy. Heavenly Father put us here to love each other and be happy so I think we should all do that this week, especially since it's December! Tenga una sonrisa! Love de Laredo, H. Boo Crawford