-33 is cold, yes.

But, and this is the important point here, it's not nearly as cold as -37. HOLY COW. I think I understand why animals caught in traps will occasionally bite their own legs off to get free. I think I may have done the same to my fingertips if I thought it would've made them any warmer. Thank you everybody, I've officially had my fill of disgusting and cold. I will be coming home in February with suntan lotion on, and I will be spending several hours in the sunshine (rain. Whatever. The point is that it isn't going to be cold) every day. In fact, I think I'd rather we all just took a family vacation to Hawaii. I'll talk to the People in the Office and get it arranged so that I fly straight there and you can all just meet me in the airport... wherever the airport is located in Hawaii. Then I'm going to head to Arizona. And possibly Mexico. Feel free to join me as time and funding permits.

On the plus side, however, they say it's not going to get nearly that cold again. I'm not sure how much of that I believe, but I'll take whatever they give me at this point.

On the other plus side, nasty illnesses all seem to have... mmm... if not disappeared, then at the very least they've made themselves a little more scarce and less noticeable in my life. I've been offered several home treatments to try from a few well-meaning people, but seeing as how half of them involve either pine oil, garlic, or cabbage (or, as in one case, all three together), I haven't actually gotten around to trying them out yet. Then again, who knows? Maybe it's because I haven't tried any of the native remedies that I keep getting sick. Maybe I'm supposed to be building up an immunity here. HA.

In any case, this week was one of those on-the-street kinds, which you may or may not have noticed already from the first paragraph I wrote. The funny thing is though, nobody seems to want to do much in the way of stopping and talking when the temperatures drop. Huh. Who would have thought? Sister Jarman and I have taken to looking through all the Conference Liahonas and trying to find (a) Sister Missionaries on Temple Square and their plastic-covered copies of the Book of Mormon, (b) Young women looking contemplatively off into the distance, and (c) The Jodi Dress, which, for those of you not quite familiar with the Sister Missionary Standard of Dress, is that wonderful piece of fabric favored by many sister missionaries which looks like a really long button-up shirt and has all the shape of a bag of potatoes. Then we spend our time on the street (when there's nobody around and/or nobody interested) discussing how we're going to use all three things (the plastic BoM, the contemplative face, and the Jodi Dress) to get ourselves into every issue of Conference from here on out. Ha. We figure that combining them is going to make our chances that much more likely. Now I just have to figure out where I'm going to get myself a Jodi Dress without actually going to the effort of actually purchasing one. Maybe I'll be able to find one in the cast-offs hanging around our appartment. Basically what I'm saying here is don't be surprised when and if you see me in one when I get home. Ha.

Anyway, I dunno what else to add here. We've got plans to hit some of the more souvenier-y type stores later today, so I'll probably be getting around to actually getting things for people, nesting dolls and all. Oh, and I did get Grandpa's letter (and enjoyed it very much), and, not to worry, I will definitely be bringing The Hat home. I paid too much money to leave it here.

But that's all you get for this week. I love you all, I know for a fact that your week was much warmer than mine (and therefore I don't think I need to tell you all to have a warm one this week), and I expect this week to be an entertaining one. For everybody.

Much love,
Sister Read. Still have all my fingers and toes, don't worry.