CHRISTMAS

After Santa's run on Saturday, over 40 packages came into the office on Monday, Christmas Eve.  The office elders and assistants donned their elf hats and reindeer antlers and set off, again, to deliver Christmas cheer.

Elders Haufano and Walker



Christmas Eve was spent at the home of ward members, who served us a prime rib dinner on Spode Christmas china.  Wonderful!

On Christmas morning I hosted the six "little sisters" in our zone for breakfast.  One of them brought her family's traditional Christmas morning bread.  I made rice pudding and served egg nog with 7-up, neither of which was a hit.  But we had a good time.  They left to go skype with their families, then wash their bedding. Seems they had slept on the floor of the living room and made a nice fire in the fireplace early Christmas morning...without opening the flue.  I've been there and done that.  Undaunted, they planned another fire for Christmas night and were pretty sure they could pull this one off.  The office elders and assistants apparently had a sleepover, too.  They took the tree from the office to their home, so they could sleep underneath it.  Kind of a sweet mind picture.

One of the newer couples in the mission, the Hudnors from New Hampshire, invited us to share turkey dinner at their apartment in the afternoon.  Good food; good friends; good visit.

It rained all day.  Just as I was climbing into my flannel PJ's for an early night, the biking sisters called me to see if I would pick them up from the church where the zone was playing basketball. Still tucking "kids" into bed...

A few of my favorite things from Christmas 2012:  Elder Austin receiving a package containing his dad's missionary tag; the Star of Bethlehem flowers Brooke brought into the office, which have lasted all month; the generosity of strangers wanting to supply gifts for needy missionaries; the goofy Christmas cards the missionaries all made at Wal-Mart.

Star of Bethlehem flowers

                               


And through it all, the work went on.  We had 18 baptisms last Saturday, and 4 on Christmas Day.  A "white" Christmas and the promise of a happy new year.