Missionary Christmas Part 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  These cute trees have adorned my walls all through December. They are priceless to me, as each Christmas ornament was personally decorated by my grandchildren. The Nay's brought them with them at Thanksgiving and adorned my walls with them. They also brought me the cute little tree pictured below. They didn't know it, but a white Christmas tree is very meaningful to me as Dave's and my first tree as a married couple in 1969 was a white tree that someone gave us. With the tree came twelve days of Christmas gifts. What a treasure. The names of Christ star ornaments were included in the gifts. What a beautiful gift.

 

The twelve gifts included a Christmas CD, a Christmas book, a wonderful Nativity Story book read by the Clark boys, gift cards, an XXL bag of M&M's, beautiful necklace and earrings, a calendar, a Bruce R McConkie quote card, diet coke, Dove chocolates, sitting snowman holding a sign and a snowman nativity. What a joy it was to open something from home every day before Christmas. I am so thankful for my thoughtful family for giving me this precious gift. Thank you my precious family.

Sister Ure also sent a 12 Days of Christmas package which included some fun things. Each day had a note beginning with "On the 1st (2nd, 3rd, etc) Day of Christmas, my former companion sent to me: 1 Advent Calendar; 2 Red Scripture marking pencils; 3 packages of hot chocolate; 4 sticky note pads; 5 Cherry Chocolate Santas; 6 jingle bells (a bracelet); 7 Holiday stamps; 8 oz of silky Smooth Dove Chocolates; 9 window stickies; 10 tootsie warmers (Christmas socks); 11 $ in a McDonalds gift card and 12 candy canes!
Thank you Sister Ure. We feel loved - and our toes are warm!!










 


CHRISTMAS EVE
On Christmas Eve we were invited to the home of Jim and Shirley Sirman, a couple in our ward who have had us to dinner three or four times. Elders Rader and Meacham who are assigned to our ward were there also. We celebrated by having a nice meal, their grandkids putting on a nativity, watching a Christmas video and ended up with Sister Olson reading them the story "Humphrey's First Christmas". We are grateful to the Sirman's for their kindness in sharing their family with us on Christmas Eve.





L to R: Elder Rader, Jim & Shirley Sirman, Elder Meacham

 

Christmas morning we had invited a single older lady in our ward for breakfast, but at the last minute she cancelled because her water heater was leaking and she had to wait for maintenance to come and fix it. So - we hung out in our PJ's, Skyped with family and had a very late breakfast.

Later that night we had a dinner invitation with the Martin family in our ward. I forgot to take pictures! It was a fun night with a great family. They had three granddaughters there. Twins who are almost 13 and a 9 year old. That made me homesick for my beautiful granddaughters. We did get to feel the love and joy of the Savior as we shared a message with them and got to bear our testimonies.

 

When we left the grandma gave us each a big gift bag with tons of stuff in it. There was a toothbrush, toothpaste, flosser, mouthwash, body wash, deodorant, lotion, a can of soup, a can of corn, a box of hot chocolate, some dishcloths, a bag of almonds, a razor and shaving gel, Kleenex, hand sanitizer and mandarin oranges. Wow - we were surprised. That is a nice gift. The best part of the day though was talking with my family and seeing all your faces.

Christmas Day was Hump day! My first nine months are done. Nine months to go. It doesn't seem possible.

 

I am so grateful to be serving in this mission. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. He loves each of us with a love we cannot comprehend. I am grateful for his birth (probably in April), for his life and for his willingness to follow the Father's plan and allow each of us to return to their presence. His is the greatest of all gifts.