Such a Wonderful Time of the Year

As usual, we have had such a busy week at the office!  There has been so much mail and so many packages that it takes me forever to get the mail done--which I am so happy to do, but it does take a long time.  I started working on the transfer board which has to be redone, and we were trying to figure out different ways that it could be done.  Glen and I tried some things on IMOS over the weekend for a few hours, President Black also tried some things on IMOS, and Elder Conder worked for hours trying to reduce the whole transfer card so we could keep the information that was already on the card. It just wasn't working the way we were hoping, and I was getting so discouraged about it. I just didn't like the looks of the things we had tried and yet we had put so much time into it so far!  I had even asked Brandon if he could make a new template for the transfer cards for me and had emailed him the old template a few days earlier.  So on Wednesday when I was feeling so discouraged and overwhelmed about how the transfer board could be redone, I got an email from Brandon with the new template that he had created, and it was perfect!  It was such an answer to my prayers!  After seeing it I knew it would be easier to just input all the information again onto the template and cut the picture down to fit the new template than to do all the other things we had tried.  So I finished redoing one zone (I thought I would redo one zone at a time) and it looks great!  It will take weeks to finish it but at least I have hope now--because I also need to get things ready (files, new mission notebooks, etc.) for the 26 new missionaries coming. We also got two new visa waiters this week that we had to process and orient. One of them is from Kaysville!

We were pretty excited to also be getting ready for David, Juliann and Clarissa, and Jared, Michelle, Siena, Turin, and Brockton to come for Christmas!  It just couldn't come fast enough!

But our fun Christmas events really helped the time go faster.  On Monday night, we had our senior missionary FHE at the mission home with President and Sister Black.  The counselors to the president were also there with their wives as well as the assistants, Elder Fairbanks and Elder Weekes, and the rest of the senior missionaries.  We had a wonderful dinner and program and then did a white elephant gift exchange--it was awesome! The picture above shows Elder Weekes exchanging a white elephant gift with us and President Webb is sitting next to us on the couch.  What a fun evening it was!

We were thinking we wouldn't have a Christmas tree this year because we just didn't have any time to go buy one or find decorations and lights for it.  But I kind of wanted one since the grandkids were coming--but what could we do?

On Tuesday night, I was in the bedroom putting things away and when I came out, Glen had put up a Christmas tree!  It just seemed so magical!  I couldn't imagine where he had gotten it--and then he told me that while he was in the garage getting some things, he found it--all decorated with lights and everything!  I guess it had been left by other senior missionaries who had lived here!  I was so so excited.  I don't know why it just feels so much more like Christmas when you have a tree!  Even though it was small we felt like it was just right.

On Wednesday night I went with the sister missionaries to go teaching!  Oh how I love to do that.  We went to a woman's house who was getting baptized on Saturday, and it was so amazing to talk to her.  She was probably around 50 and had been very active in another faith for 32 years when the sister missionaries came to her home.  She was very educated and beautiful and was really prepared to be taught.  She had read the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, (which she just loved) and was now reading Preach My Gospel.  We also taught her 11 year old granddaughter and she was adorable and very receptive to what was taught.

On Thursday night we were able to watch the second half of the BYU- San Diego State bowl game.  It sounded like the first half wasn't worth seeing anyway, so it was awesome to watch BYU pull out a come from behind victory--by Kyle Van Noys!

On Friday we were able to go the mission Christmas party.  It started with an incredible luncheon put on by the Las Vegas stake consisting of a full Thanksgiving type meal with turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, potatoes and gravy, rolls, pie, etc.  Even though this picture is blurry it was all I had, so I put it on the blog anyway.  Seated with us is Elders Ringer, Findlay, Alford, and Driggs.

After the meal the missionaries all sang "Army of Helaman" with the last line being changed to say, "And thank you for the food" to the Relief Society sisters who do such an amazing job of cooking and serving the meal.  Notice that the missionaries are all in blue shirts--a member who wanted to remain anonymous had all these shirts made with the mission logo for every missionary in the mission--and we got one too!  Members are just amazing here.

In fact, the Las Vegas stake Relief Society had made these bags (almost grocery bag size) and filled them with gifts for each missionary!  Can you even believe it?  The snowman faces were made of painted salt dough glued onto the bags--so much work and truly a labor of love!  The boxes were filled with cold cereal, socks, candy, toothbrushes and toothpaste, mouthwash, an ornament, a little missionary cookbook, some Christmas stories,  a plan of salvation visual, and other things.  The time it must have taken these sisters to make these is mind boggling--but just shows how much the members here support the missionaries.  They were so excited to get them!

On Friday night we went with President and Sister Black to see the Christmas display at the Bellagio Hotel.  It was unbelievable!  There was a huge polar bear family made from thousands and thousands of live white carnations and a huge 45 foot Christmas tree that was oh so beautiful.  Pictures just don't do this display justice.  

Afterward we walked outside to see the fountain display in front of the Bellagio, and it was just magical to see the beautiful fountains go off in sync to Josh Groban singing.  In the background is the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Hotel all lit up.  It was just beautiful.  Then we ate a light dinner at the  French restaurant inside the Paris Hotel.  What a fun evening!

On Saturday was the baptism of Debbie, and it was so beautiful.  Pictured are the brother who baptized her, Sister Dewey, Debbie, and Sister Carr.  Debbie kept saying, "I finally found the whole truth and the loving people who teach it.  My former church was a church of doom and gloom and this church is a church of hope and love.  And it's all because of YOU!"  as she embraced Sister Carr and Sister Dewey.  She felt it was the best Christmas gift ever.  And here we are on a mission at Christmas time and it's such a wonderful place to be!  We too are giving our gifts to the Savior, gifts of service and love for Him, whom we love so much. I kept thinking about all of the missionaries here who are away from their families this Christmas and who are willingly giving this service because they love the Lord.  None of them who I talked to said they were homesick, but that they were grateful to be serving.  Aren't missionaries the greatest?  We're so grateful to be here too.