The reason for the season

The Christmas season and the reason for the season brings me much happiness and joy. 

On Monday night, our FHE group met at the church for pizza and to assemble gifts for missionaries who receive no/few packages from home.  Many of them have families who live in distant areas of the world and shipping packages is cost prohibitive.  Others are more or less on their own.  For whatever reason, we put together 30 gift bags.  People/parents/missionaries donated money, candy, other items that Sister Williams and some of the other senior sisters gathered together and organized for the assembly process.  It was a lot of fun.  Much joking, giggling, and love going on in that room on Monday night.

Tuesday I drove to Hicksville to take some medicine to a missionary.  While there I coerced a set of elders to go to dinner with me.

Elders Rhodes and Perry

Wednesday and Thursday I prepared for the Mission Christmas Devotional by going grocery shopping (The senior couples each provided 2 pans of “funeral” potatoes for the dinner at the devotional.) and going to a practice for our Zone musical number.  Each of the 9 zones prepares a skit/musical number for the conference.  It is always a fractured Christmas carol presentation with lyrics relating to our mission and missionary work set to a familiar carol/song. Out zone did a medley of several songs.  So you get the picture, here is our skit script:

Game plan---

Sing silent night while walking stage

Elder Sundet says "who is that?"

Elder Thomas plays Santa clause is coming to town (sing one verse while Santa walks in) 

---Baby It's Cold Outside tune ---

(Far Rockaway) We really should go 

(Everyone Else) But elders it's cold outside

(Far Rockaway) You're starting to scroll

(Everyone Else) But Elder it's cold outside

(Far Rockaway) But president said

(Everyone Else) I'm just gonna stay in bed

(Far Rockaway) Where is your purpose

(Everyone Else) How has it really come to this

(Far Rockaway) The zone leaders will start to worry

(Everyone Else) I'm trying to watch Steph Curry

(Far Rockaway) Our numbers are looking grim

(Everyone Else) I really wish we could swim. 

(Far Rockaway) So really we'd better go

(Everyone Else) It looks like it's gonna snow

(Far Rockaway) You told me just an hour more

(Everyone Else) That was twenty minutes ago

(Far Rockaway) We really can't stay

(Everyone Else) Cause Elder it's cold outside

--- Last Christmas tune ---

We should go, but it is cold outside

We're half hour late, more memes to rate

Get up, out of that chair

Jay needs to cut my hair

How is your battery life

My Facebook time is way too high

New transfer is gonna begin

So I can start to grin

--- Feliz Navidad tune ---

Feliz transfer day

Feliz transfer day

Feliz transfer day

Now I can start my purpose clear 

Elder Peter's going home

Elder Rossi's going home

Their mission is done

They have seen two visions come and go

We get a new vision next year

Another idea to pioneer

Wonder what we'll get

After 5, 6, 7

--- Jingle Bells Rock tune ---

Ring the bell, show the tag

Give out a card

Find when you teach,

And teach when you find

Snowing or blowing,

We really don't care

After 6 were all out there.

Swipe the card, Find a seat,

Talk to some peeps

You studied it all at 8

Look through your eyepiece, ***(eyeglass)

and follow the rules

Be obedient,

Be obedient,

Be obedient!!!!

(Last Song)

We wish you a merry Christmas, We wish you a merry Christmas, We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year

(Slower 2nd time)

We wish you a merry Christmas, We wish you a merry Christmas, We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year

           --- The End ---

Again, we had fun (always having fun!) practicing and trying to get the words to the tune so the audience could understand what we said.

Friday, the day of the conference, a missionary was sick so I stayed in my apartment with the sick missionary so the companion could attend the conference.  I had a most rewarding day.  We talked and shared stories and thoughts and testimonies.  What a blessing for me.

Saturday was a “get ready for Sunday-Christmas day.”  I always love primary songs and Saturday is a Special Day is a favorite song of mine.  Anyway, I invited 6 sets of missionaries, 2 senior couples and Laura to brunch after Sacrament Meeting on Christmas Day.  I cleaned my apartment, set up the tables and chairs and finalized the food preparation that could be done ahead.  I made French toast strata which is made the day before so the bread can absorb the milk and eggs.

Sunday after church, I assembled a savory casserole with sausage, onions, tater tots milk, eggs and cheese.  Cut up some fruit and was ready at 3 when they arrived. Then the sisters and Laura stayed after we ate to use my wifi to talk to their families in the Philippines, Hawaii, Brazil, and Utah.  Laura didn’t talk to her family in Colombia as they will be meeting her in Florida in two weeks.  She will be going back to Colombia as her work visa will expire then.  She desperately wants to stay here but has no choice but to return to her country.  She is going to see if she can get a different kind of visa so she can return.

Laura

Sister Talaboc and Laura. We practiced Laura's English by reading and singing the words to Jingle Bell Rock

I was able to FaceTime my family as they all gathered at my home for Christmas pho.  Jeff made brisket pho, a Vietnamese soup.  I missed going to Grace Mary Manor with them to serve breakfast and I missed out on the pho, but it was great to talk to them and share in the festivities from a distance. 

Rory, Katie, & Reed

"Christmas" Pho

 

 As the missionary and I chatted on Friday, we talked about adversity in our lives.  I found a thought that I really like.

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.”

—Orson F. Whitney, quoted by Spencer W. Kimball, in Faith Precedes the Miracle (1972), 98

Then I read a talk given in October 1973 by H. Burke Peterson.  You may read the whole talk but I liked these thoughts:

Let us remember—trials are an evidence of a Father’s love. They are given as a blessing to his children. They are given as opportunities for growth.

Now, how do we approach them? How do we overcome them? How are we magnified by them? There seems to be a reason why we lose our composure in adversity—why we think we can no longer cope with what we’re faced with here in this life. There is a reason why we give up, why we “fall apart at the seams” so to speak. The reason may be so simple that we lose sight of it.

Could it be it’s because we begin to lose contact with our greatest source of strength—our Father in heaven? He is the key to our enjoying sweetness in adversity—in gaining strength from our trials—he and he alone.

May I suggest the best way I know to keep close to the source of this great strength is through prayer.  No man can stand alone in his struggle through life. Sometimes in discouragement our prayers, at best, become occasional or maybe not at all. Sometimes we forget or just don’t care. Brigham Young once said, “Prayer keeps man from sin, and sin keeps man from prayer.”

Some may be thinking that because they have a Word of Wisdom problem or because they have been dishonest or immoral—because they have not prayed for years—because of any reasons they now feel unworthy—they may say, “It’s too late, I’ve made so many mistakes—so why even try?” To these we say, “For your own sake, give yourself another chance.”

Sincere prayer is the heart of a happy and productive life. Prayer strengthens faith. Prayer is the preparation for miracles. Prayer opens the door to eternal happiness. The Father of us all is personal, ever waiting to hear from us, as any loving father would his children. To learn to communicate with him, to learn to pray effectively, requires diligence and dedication and desire on our part. I wonder sometimes if we are willing to pay the price for an answer from the Lord.

As we learn to develop this two-way communication, the standard of our life will improve. We will see things more clearly, we will try harder to do better, we will see the real joy that can come through trials and testing. Although problems will still be with us, peace, contentment, and true happiness will be ours in abundance.

I know that adversity is a blessing that gives us the opportunity to learn and grow.  I also know that prayer is a vital part of my life.  Without it, I would be lost.  I hope that you know and trust that you are loved by our Heavenly Father.  He desires and hears our every communication to Him.

I love you my family and friends.

A corner of back yard (Utah) in winter splendor

This is an "I'm a Morman" video. This man lives in our mission and is really good to our missionaries. I love his video.  (If you can't play the video, you can go HERE to view it.)

 

"Peace among men"

I have decided that being busy is better than being idle.  Around here there is little idle time, but this week has been super busy. 

Lots of colds and stomach virus cases.  I’ve had increased phone time and documentation time.  Much of it is repetitious except for names and times, but each is important so even though it seems I am repeating myself, each new missionary with an illness hasn’t heard it before and needs the reassurance that all will be well if he/she will follow my instructions. 

Tuesday (transfer day) I welcomed in the new missionaries by giving them their medical ID cards and then went to a cardiologist appointment with a missionary. The appointment was at noon but we were not seen until close to 2:00.  By the time we finished and got back to the office, it was 4:00.  I help Anthea at the mission with laundry and dinner on transfer day but I didn’t arrive at the home until a little after 5:00.  They were already eating dinner.  We had 24 missionaries leave this transfer so it was a large group to feed.  I was able to help finish the laundry and help clean up.  I usually stay for the testimony meeting to hear their departing testimonies but because it took so long for dinner and clean up, it was time to take Anthea home before they started the meeting.  I felt bad because I didn’t even get time with them to take the traditional one last picture I like to capture.  LONG day!!

Wednesday morning early I received a call from President Reynolds.  One of the departing missionaries was sick and the plane left without him leaving him stranded at the airport.  The assistants to the President picked him up and brought him to the office.  I went to visit him there and got permission to bring him to my apartment.  The sisters upstairs were home so I wasn’t alone with him.  Poor person just couldn’t hold down anything.  I took him to an UC and he was given anti-nausea medicine.  I tried to give him sips of ginger-ale and Gatorade so he wouldn’t get too dehydrated.  And of course, chicken noodle soup, the cure-all.

When I went to Urgent Care with the missionary,  look who I ran into there.

That night he stayed with some other elders and was good as new (almost but well enough to fly) the next morning so he could be on his way home. 

Thursday I invited some elders to lunch with me at Nur, the Thai Restaurant.  I had pad thai.  I’m in a rut.  The curry I had last week was good and I will have it again, but the pad thai called my name:  “Foodie, eat me.”

Elders Sakurada and Barton

Laura from Equador called me Thursday morning to tell me her older sister who lives in Iceland was visiting and wanted her to meet me.  I asked her what time she wanted to come over and she asked if I could give them dinner because she wanted her sister to have my food.  Flattered as I was, I accepted.  So I invited the hermanas and the sisters from upstairs so that they, Laura and her sister, would have someone who speaks Spanish to be here.  Even though Laura is learning, her sister speaks little English.  It was a nice evening.  I opened a few cans of beans and threw in some chicken breasts for white chicken chili with corn bread.  I love the challenge of fixing a meal with what I have on hand.

Friday I was invited to lunch at Olive Garden. The sisters were so gracious and would not let me pay.  I am spoiled!! 

Saturday I woke to about 3-4 inches of snow.  Beautiful!  I went out to shovel the area in front of my home but all I managed were the porch and steps.  The snow was wet and HEAVY!  I left it for the elders who finally arrived in the afternoon.

Hermanas Staker and Bush couldn't resist making a snowman.
(Taken through the window and screen-I didn't want to go help them!)

Sunday it was 60 degrees and the snow was gone!!  What a waste of energy.  If we had all just waited, Mother Nature would have taken care of it for us.

Sunday was our ward Christmas choir Sacrament Meeting presentation.  The whole meeting was music and narration/stories/scriptures.  Very nice.  In Primary we did a similar thing with the children. No rehearsal.  Just gave them lines to read and we sang songs. The president and a counselor told stories.

A sister sang I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day in our Sacrament Meeting program.  She sang it a capella and with such feeling and emotion that I could hardly sing the next song.  Good thing I was singing with the choir so it didn’t matter that I was tearful.  The message that the carol brings caused me to think of the despair and hate that exists in the world today just as it did in Longfellow’s day of civil war and how grateful I am at the end of the song as the bells carry renewed hope for peace among men.

1. I heard the bells on Christmas day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet the words repeat

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

2. I thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rolled along th'unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good will to men.

3. And in despair I bowed my head:

"There is no peace on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

4. Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men."

5. Till, ringing, singing, on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

I love this season when everyone is focused on the Savior.  I miss sharing the season with my family and friends but knowing that we have common desires to be close to the Lord and to be united as a family, no matter the miles between, makes it a little easier.  I wish you all the greatest of blessings this Christmas time and always.

I love you my family and friends.

Jake sent me this picture from a hike he took along the Bonneville trail.
I love how gorgeous the icicles are and how blue the sky is behind the snow covered trees. Had to share.

I just found this picture Kristin took when she and Jake came for my birthday. Jake told me that I carried
him for 9 months so he was going to carry me. We made quite a ruckus in the subway!!

The missionaries found my kazoos.

My nativity set under the tree