Merry Christmas!

 

This picture of me sitting on Santa’s knee from 4 years ago came up in my FB memory so I thought I would share it.

It has been a fairly quiet week here in the mission field. Transfers and arrival of new missionaries will be next week so I have gone through the health history of the incoming missionaries to make sure that I am prepared to help them get appointments with doctors to get refills for medications they are taking prior to coming to the mission, if there are health conditions such as diabetes, etc, and to know if there are any allergies, food or otherwise, of which I need to be aware. 

Sister Barker and I inspected 3 apartments this week. After the inspection, we took the sisters to lunch. I have neglected to document with pictures this week. 

Tuesday was leadership training again. It is always a delight to help with the lunches and to get to mingle with the missionaries.

Sister Sutherland and I have a tradition of getting a picture when we see each other. This time she is recovering from a cold so we get to see “the Masked Sister Sutherland”

Wednesday evening I took four Elders out to dinner at The Dough Co where we had calzones to celebrate Elder Robison finishing his mission. He will be leaving us next week and that is always a sad day to say goodbye. Again, no pics!!

I have walked every day this week. It has been foggy/misty most mornings and it rained one morning. Mist or rain - we get wet either way. Not complaining. Just saying…..

Early morning shot of the Willamette River

Friday it was Elder Crump’s birthday. We had Chinese takeout for lunch in the office and then cake made by Sister Crump – carrot cake with raisins and cream cheese frosting- Elder’s favorite! 

Saturday morning I walked with Elder and Sister Crump in the prairie/wet lands. Again it was foggy. We haven’t seen much wild life this week but I did get a video of a huge flock of noisy birds flying over the prairie.

Foggy morning walk through the prairie

Saturday my friend, Diana, and I went to lunch at China Sun Buffet. Always fun to go there. I have eaten out so many times this week. With my weekend on the coast last week and all the meals this week, I have gained 5 pounds!! Now I have to get back into a routine and get rid of the excess weight. Sure has been fun gaining it thought. LOL

Sunday after Sacrament Meeting I was invited to lunch along with the elders serving in our ward to the home of Denise and Jeff Salisbury. It was an enjoyable meal and an opportunity to get better acquainted with a wonderful couple.

When I got home to my apartment, there were 4 turkeys wandering around the yard.

In the evening, I was invited to a ham dinner with all of the trimmings at the home of Sister and Elder Crump. They invited several missionaries who hadn’t been received invitations to spend Christmas Eve with a ward or friend family. The food was delicious and the company was fun. After dinner we played a couple of games and had a lot of good laughter. 

We ended the evening by reading the nativity story from Luke 2 and singing Away In a Manger. I always love reading the scriptures and remembering the story of the Savior’s birth.

Luke 2:1-20

1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Cæsar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I love my Savior

I love you my family and friends.

What a fun week it has been!

 

Along with the normal week of calls, interviews, reports, etc I have enjoyed two zone conferences and a weekend with my granddaughter, Cicilee, and my son, Jake.

Normally there are four zone conferences but this time, to celebrate Christmas, there were only two LARGE conferences. The south zone conference was held on Wednesday in Central Point which is adjacent to Medford. The north zone conference was held on Friday. We have over 200 missionaries so each conference had over 100 missionaries in attendance.

The meetings began at 10:00 with training and lasted until 1:00. Talks and presentations by missionaries, President and Sister Cornelius, President and Sister Hopkins (1^st counselor in the mission presidency), the assistants to the president, Elder Barker (car business) and me (health business).

Lunch was then served with games and fun following. I will include pictures to let you know how the days went.

Training session in the chapel

This chapel in Eugene is an older chapel. It is beautiful with its wood construction.

Lunch is served

After lunch, all were divided into four groups for games and activities. They rotated through the activities over the next 2 hours.

This game divided the group into four smaller groups. They played Prophet or Princess. Quotes were read from prophets or Disney movie characters. The group had to choose who the quote was from. A lot of competitive spirit here!!

Each district decorated a gingerbread house. Here are Elders Welch, Tufuga, and Reynolds displaying a couple of creations.

The gingerbread house decorating room

Passing the hoop game

This challenge is stacking the cups with a web of rubber bands – no hands allowed

Here you see two missionaries holding plungers against their bodies, no hands, trying to get a washer tied to a string to wrap around the stick.

Next was a talent show. Each zone presented. Here is a sampling. It was fun!

This zone did a haka but I got a phone call and didn’t get more than a few seconds of a video so I took a screen shot of one frame. I felt so sorry that I missed it. Took me back to my New Zealand days

Following the talents show, the Christmas gifts were distributed. Beginning in November, the family of each missionary was asked to send their Christmas gifts to the office labeled “Christmas Gift” so we had a cargo trailer full of gifts to haul to each zone conference. You should have seen the office! It was wall to wall boxes in a couple of rooms.

The gifts were hidden behind the curtain on the stage waiting for distribution

To end the day, after the fun and games, there was a devotional.

I was blessed to have my granddaughter, Cicilee, come to spend a few days with me. She arrived on Friday. We drove down to Bandon, my favorite beach town to visit, on Friday afternoon and returned to Eugene on Sunday evening.

My son, Jake, was traveling to see the redwoods and joined us for our time in Bandon. It was so fun walking on the beach, finding places to eat, playing UNO and laughing until our sides hurt. I took so many pictures that I couldn’t put them all here in my blog so I have made a separate post on FB with additional pictures.

Jake and his dog, Sugar, on the beach at sunset. I didn’t get any pictures of Jake with me because he was always behind the camera taking pictures. He is a fantastic photographer. 

These 2 pictures are photographs taken by Jake

Took this as I walked down the street in Bandon

The weather over the week end was fantastic!!!

Friday evening sunset over the beach

Saturday morning walk along the bluff overlooking Bandon Beach

Coquille River Lighthouse at sunset

Sunday morning before returning to Eugene, I went to Sacrament Meeting with some wonderful missionaries.

Overlooking the nativity in the foyer with Sister Sutherland

Sisters Davis and Sutherland. Elders Darrington, Nilson, Sibley, and Robison

Welcome back to Eugene LOL

In my zone conference presentation, I talked about homesickness and missing family especially at this Christmas season. It is important to stay healthy during stressful times by eating properly, exercising, and keeping a positive attitude. Attitude can truly affect our physical and mental health. An attitude of gratitude is especially important. I challenged the missionaries to keep a gratitude journal and to write down 3 things for which they are grateful every night before going to bed.

I also know that thinking of and serving others is healthful. I love the following quote by President Spencer W. Kimball. I read it and try to incorporate the thoughts into my life everyday regarding service but it is a good quote for the Christmas season.

From the words of President Spencer W. Kimball: 

“Though we make an effort to follow the pattern of gift giving at Christmas time, sometimes our program becomes an exchange—a gift given for a gift expected.

Of the Savior's service, and His example to us, President Kimball goes on to say: "Never did the Savior give in expectation. I know of no case in His life in which there was an exchange. He was always the giver, seldom the recipient. Never did He give shoes, a scarf, or a vehicle; never did He give perfume, a shirt, or a fur wrap. His gifts were of such a nature that the recipient could hardly exchange or return the value.

His gifts were rare ones: eyes to the blind, ears to the deaf, and legs to the lame; cleanliness to the unclean, wholeness to the infirm, and breath to the lifeless. His gifts were opportunity to the downtrodden, freedom to the oppressed, light in the darkness, forgiveness to the repentant, hope to the despairing.

His friends gave Him shelter, food, and love. He gave them of Himself, His love, His service, His life. The wise men brought Him gold and frankincense. He gave them and all their fellow mortals resurrection, salvation, and eternal life. We should strive to give as He gave. To give of oneself is a holy gift."

It is my prayer that you have a wonderful Christmas.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.

We live in a wonderful world

With the announcement of the new apostle, Elder Patrick Kearon, I wanted to listen to some of the talks he has given. I found one that I particularly enjoyed. He gave the commencement address at BYU in April 2019 titled A More Wonderful World. (I’ll mention more about the speech later.) He quoted the lyrics of a song that I have liked for many years: “What a Wonderful World,” made famous by Louis Armstrong. The words are:

I see trees of green, red roses too.

I see them bloom for me and you,

And I think to myself, “What a wonderful world.”

I see skies of blue and clouds of white,

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night,

And I think to myself, “What a wonderful world.”

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,

Are also on the faces of people going by.

I see friends shaking hands, saying, “How do you do?”

They’re really saying, “I love you.”

I hear babies cry, I watch them grow.

They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know.

Yes, I think to myself, “What a wonderful world.”

We do live in a wonderful world. This week I traveled with President and Sister Cornelius to Klamath Falls and Medford driving through mountains, meadows, and farmland. I walked along the river and through the wetlands/prairie. There is no place on this earth that I have been blessed to visit that is not absolutely beautiful. 

Monday and Tuesday mornings were cloudy but not rainy. Last week it was 24 degrees when walking and rainy. This week the temperatures were in the 50’s and 60’s and cloudy. 

The sun rise was colorful both mornings.

My walking partners Elder and Sister Crump

My other walking partner, Sister Barker

This tree fell over across the path knocking down the fence on one side and crushing the top of the fence on the other side

We are seeing nutria almost every day along the path

Tuesday evening I had dinner with Sisters Campbell and Crouch at Tacovore. I had a taco asado.

I left early Wednesday morning with President and Sister Cornelius for the 3 hour drive to Klamath Falls where we had interviews with the missionaries in that zone. We drove over several mountain passes. Some had received snow but the roads were good.

Clouds on the mountains in the farmland.

Clouds over Upper Klamath Lake

After interviews, we drove to Medford where we stayed for 2 nights so we could interview the 2 zones in that area. 

We carried mail to the missionaries in all of the zones we visited. In the Medford zone, Sister Chatwin got an advent calendar from her grandmother.

A picture before interviews started. Sisters Chatwin and Cummings, President and Sister Cornelius, and Elders Varty and Fawson

The Medford sisters gave me this Christmas Card. Sisters Bottomly, Chatwin, Cummings, and Thompson

We returned to Eugene Friday evening to Eugene. 

We have had a cold virus running rampant in the mission. Many have sinus congestion, sore throats, runny noses, coughs. You know all that goes along with this season. I have joined in with a cough but I don’t feel sick. I just cough. I’ll wear a mask for a while when I go around others.

Saturday morning I walked at the prairie. With all of the rain that we’ve had over the past couple of weeks, the ground was flooded in many areas and the geese and ducks were most happy.

My favorite tree at the prairie

The trees, clouds, and colorful skies do make for wonderful pictures and a beautiful world.

In the speech by Elder Kearon that I mentioned earlier, he is speaking to the BYU graduates in detail about making the world more wonderful. I have shown pictures and talked about the physical aspects of the wonderful world. He talks about the ways that you and I can make this a more wonderful world for ourselves and for those around us. 

He teaches about repentance and becoming a true disciple of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He says: 

“As you take your next steps along the path of discipleship, let this new understanding and relationship with your Father and Savior shape your life. You can shape this wonderful world, or you can certainly shape your corner of it. And you will definitely see it differently. 

Wherever you have come from, whatever your background, you are enormously privileged to have had these educational and spiritual opportunities here on this campus. There are so many across the globe whose lives and situations are so much less than this. Our sisters and brothers suffer from poverty, oppression, injustice, war, and corruption—to name but a few of the conditions of this telestial world. As you set goals and make plans for your life, working to relieve the suffering and lift the burdens of others should be present in your endeavors. These don’t have to be grand acts. You may not be in a position to make a global impact—though some of you will—but all of you will be able to do your part in spreading light, hope, peace, joy, and love in your circles of influence, helping to make this a more wonderful world for more of God’s children.”

There is so much more to learn and enjoy in this speech. I would encourage you to read, watch or listen to it.

I pray that we will have the light of the Savior in our lives as we serve and lift and help those around us. I’m going to try to be a better citizen of the world and make it a more wonderful place.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.