December 17th Monday p-day
Christmas is a busy time and especially when you are on a mission. P-days never seem long enough. The mornings are spent studying so you only have the afternoon to get anything done. This Monday besides grocery shopping I went shopping for items to trim the tree. When I got home I decorated the tree and that was all the time I had.
We had dinner and then we went to the FHE seniors group in the Dalles 1st and 2nd wards. We were asked to show the a power point presentation of the birth of Christ that I did for the cottage meeting. They seemed to really enjoy it. Then we had a gift exchange. Everyone brought a $5 gift and each of us had a chance to choose a gift. I received some body wash and a mess shower sponge. Refreshment are always delicious they out do themselves. They served a really rich chocolate cake.
December 18, Tuesday
We had a district meeting and it was a great meeting. Elder Peterson is the our new district leader and an excellent teacher. He taught the lesson on how to teach to involve the learner. When we teach with the spirit how do we get those we teach to receive the spirit? Our job is to help those we teach to act and follow through on their commitments. In other words so they become active learners. We did several role plays to practice this concept.
After the lesson we went home and I made cookies to take to a special Christmas gathering for the senior missionaries at the mission home in Richland, Washington. We had to packed because we were going to spend the night at the Mission President's home. We left by 3 pm. and arrived after a 2 1/2 hour ride from The Dalles to Richland, Washington. We were shown to our room and then we joined 6 other senior missionary couples for dinner. During the dinner conversation I asked the other women what they were doing on there missions.
I found out that there was only one other couple doing what Don and I do. Some worked in the office doing different responsibilities. One couple took care of all the housing for the mission. One couple was a on a service mission. Another couple were on a proselyting mission. All of us felt that we were right where we belonged, and everyone was happy and excited about the work they were doing. As part of the evening we helped Sister Greer stuff envelopes with items for the Elders for their Christmas gifts from President and Sister Greer. When the evening was over most of the other missionaries went home because they lived in the area. Elder & Sister Pace and Don & I were the only ones sleeping at the Mission home for the evening. I was glad we didn't have to drive back home at 10 pm.
December 19, Wednesday
In the morning after a nice breakfast, Don and I went to the Columbia River temple only a couple of blocks from the Mission Home. It was a beautiful temple.
Elder and Sister Pace
President and sister Greer
All the missionaries getting ready to sing a song to thank those who prepared the Christmas luncheon.
When the lunch was over we decided to get some things done in this larger town. I got a hair cut and Don and I went to Walmart and while I shopped he had the oil changed in our car. Then we headed back to The Dalles and home. As we neared The Dalles we stopped at an Indian town, Celilo the we visited a less active sister and her non member husband. We left a special Christmas message and made an appointment for a follow up visit.
When we finally got home about 6:30 pm we remembered that we had another appointment, so we got our projector and headed to the S family that we were teaching. We showed the power point presentation on the birth of Christ to them. They were so glad that we came over and shared the Christmas story with them. They have an 8 year old daughter who was recently baptized and she loved seeing the pictures of baby Jesus.
December 20th, Thursday.
After our morning studies we went out in the afternoon to make visits to a couple of families that we were working with. We visited AG a single mom who is making a comeback. She has been out to church for three Sundays in a row. She is following through on her commitment to read the Book of Mormon. Since we started visiting her about 6 weeks ago her countenance has changed and she is so much happier. It is so great to see the gospel change people's life for the better. We also visited this other couple, she is a fairly new convert and her husband is a member becoming active in the church. We had a great visit with them. They are making progress too. We had a discussion about the birth of our Savior and what we could give him for Christmas. We then went home to dinner. I had a special RS meeting in the evening so Don went out with the Elders for the evening. The RS social was a University Graduation and a Red Carpet event for those who fulfilled goals throughout the year. It was so good to hear the small and simple things sisters did to improve their daily life. I was beat when I got home and the Elders had a sleepover at our home because on Friday we were going to go to Vancouver, Washington for a Christmas Conference for the west side of the mission.
December 21st, Friday.
I was up at 5 am. and prepared an egg and bacon breakfast for everyone. Then after we were all ready we left for Vancouver. We stopped in Hood River to pick up Elder's Carr and Heldt. We arrived at our destination at 8:30 am. and we were really blessed with the weather because the gorge can be treacherous at this time of the year. In the morning we had a great lesson on a few of the gifts we receive from the Savior. They had a huge box with presents that had numbered tags. Different companionship's went up and choose a box and opened it and read what gift they had received. The gifts were The Doctrine of Christ, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Plan of Happiness, the Gift of Angels, the Gift of Agency, the Gift of Assurance that this is Christ's work, the Gift of the Temple Endowment. Each gift was expounded on and it made you feel so grateful for the special gifts we receive from Christ and these are only a few the list could go on but these were the ones we talked about. We were served a Christmas feast by the ward and each missionary was given a carved manager.
After the luncheon they showed the missionaries a movie. This year it was Brave. It was a time for the missionaries to kick back a little during this Christmas season. We headed home about 4:30 pm. It rained most of the way home and I was so glad to make it home safely.
December 22nd Saturday
We had a 9 am meeting with the 1st ward Mission leader. When we got home we studied and had lunch. We got a late start for the afternoon. We didn't have any appointments so we just knocked on doors. We found that some people had moved and others weren't home. We don't usually call ahead for an appointment when it is our first visit, so we aren't always lucky. In the evening the community put on the Messiah. don and I went to it and I just loved it. I love the music anyway but it was done in this historical catholic church and the building was ornate and beautiful. The choir sang magnificently and the solos were wonderful. After there were refreshments and we visited with several members that were there also.
December 23rd Sunday
Even though church was as long as usual from 7:30 am-4 pm it was so enjoyable because they had Christmas Sacrament meeting. The talks are always so wonderful and getting to sing so many Christmas Carols makes the meeting so spiritual. All the classes revolved around the birth of Jesus Christ too. After the last meeting there was a linger longer and Christmas cookies and milk was served. Everyone stood around and fellow-shipped for about 45 minutes. We felt all warm and cozy feeling and a part of the ward because we now can remember quite a few of the members names and have gotten to know them as well.
We were invited to dinner by Sister Royer, she is the Primary president. her parents were also at her home for dinner and they are our age and Don and him hit it off talking about music. We had a very enjoyable evening but I was glad when we were finally home and could relax a little.
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