A letter from my missionary sister vilja.

Note: to those of you who don't know, I have a little sister who is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus christ of Latter-day Saints in Estonia. She has been there for a while. And she is a little bit crazy.

"I have decided that I am slowly but surely turning more and more into a cat. I always loved the sunshine and sleeping (neither of which I get very much ofhere in Eesti), I love to eat fish (not allowed in the Baltics), I like to have people pet my hair (DEFINITELY not allowed) and I even had to get rabies shots. I thought that was a prety good list, but I have a new addition that pretty much takes the cake: fleas. Yeah, somehow I got fleas in my bed and woke up one day with over 40 bites EVERYWHERE. I doused my bed and bedclothes with permetherein, so I haven't gotten any new bites, but these things last a week at least and they itch like CRAZY. I have tried every single type of cream and medication and home remedy available (note: All vinegar does is make you smell suspiciously like a salad.), and NOTHING works. My companions got so sick of being on scratch patrol to keep me from taking off all of my skin that I have simply resorted to wearing mittens all the time. I study in mittens, I sweep the apartment in mittens, and I even have to sleep in mittens. I kind of feel like one of those dogs with the gigantic collar to keep them from biting themselves, only I have some opposeable thumbs, which is a plus.

Itchiness aside, missionary life is fantastic. I love talking to people. I love teaching peole. I love testifying of the Savior. I love the Spirit. The most painful, heartwrenching second of missionary life is worth wearing mittens for the rest of my life. The gospel has the power to work miracles. I love that. I have seen that happen. I just don't even know what to say. I love everything about it. So I guess that's all I have to say for today. Have a lovely week!"