Merry Christmas

We thought Christmas Eve would be a little less hectic, but it wasn't.  We started the day with a short visit to a less active, then on to district meeting.  After the meeting, we ordered Dominoes Pizza for our district and we all relaxed for a few minutes.  The sisters had a teaching appointment at the church and asked if we could stay with them, as they required a chaperone.  They gave a very good lesson on the atonement to two young men.  The spirit was felt in rich abundance  and I thought this was a great thing to be involved in on Christmas Eve.  Next we drove the Elders to Liverpool to pick up the last of the Christmas mail for the district.  The elders told  us about a family in our ward that was low on food for Christmas, so off we went to the grocery store to get some.  We each picked out some things,  and the  elders and sisters shared some of the treats they had received from the ward members.  Shortly after we finished that, we were due at a tea appointment for Christmas Eve.   We had a beautiful Christmas dinner with our friend Steve and his family.  We all had Christmas crackers and everyone got a crown with notes of music on it and a little whistle .  Each had a different pitch and Steve led us in some Christmas carols with our little whistles.  Afterward we helped clean up the kitchen and had a nice visit with Steve's wife.  She is not a member yet, but perhaps someday.  I think she is one of the nicest people we have met.  Last of all we were off to deliver the box of food.  The elders dropped it off and ran and we waited in the get-away car.   One last good thing happened at the end of the day.  While we were recording the events of the day,  we heard a knock at our door.  It was Reese, a young man who lives down the hall from us.  He brought us a package that the mailman hadn't been able to deliver because we were gone.  He also brought us a treat to thank us for helping Sarah, his friend a few days ago.  I had helped her when she was having a panic attack, as she waited for the ambulance to come.   We were especially grateful he came, because about a month ago he asked us some questions about our church.  I was so excited, I told him to come in and have dinner with us.  Just then his phone rang and he said he had to go.  We thought we had scared him off.  We have been praying for the chance to talk to him again.  I think now we will get to talk to him again.

Christmas day dinner.

Christmas morning dawned bright and blue.  We had no snow, but we also had no rain or clouds.  It was a mild day.  We attend a short Christmas service at our ward at 10:30.  Craig and I each took part reading part of the Christmas story.  All who came felt the spirit of the day as we sang carols together.  Afterward we took a plate of cookies to our Bishop's family.  We took a short rest and visited with two of our children on Skype.  It was almost as good as being in their homes.  We were invited to another ward members home at 4:00 to have dinner with them, the elders, and our hosts parents from Yorkshire.  We had a big dinner and a nice visit and returned home to skype some more.  We were able to get to almost everyone.  We had to make do with a phone call for one of them and we'll try to catch the daughter who was out, today.  We had a merry Christmas even though it was quite different than what we were used to.  Many ward members gave us gifts.  One of our favorites was our singing chicken.  Of course we loved our children's gifts and photos.

This cute little chicken sings We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve with pizza and our missionary grandchildren

Our musical cracker prizes

We had a festive Christmas Eve dinner with a kind family in our ward

Twas the Week Before Christmas

This past week has been full, though not all of the plans turned out as expected.  Tuesday, I was supposed to take the Faith in God children to carol to people in the ward.  The father of the largest family going, and driving, got stuck in a traffic jam and we only had two people show up.  I served the hot chocolate and cookies to them and anyone else at the church who was there  for other reasons.  I was able to participate in the Book of Mormon class and Craig gave a good lesson.  Wednesday night we were supposed to go caroling with the Relief Society, but it was raining so hard and the wind was so strong that it was cancelled.  We decided to take the sister missionaries with us to visit a family that needed a visit and it was a good experience.  Thursday night, we did go caroling with the YSA at Tesco a large grocery store. It was a good experience, but getting there was tricky.  The Sat Nav (British for GPS) took us right past the only entrance to Tesco, around the corner, up the road, and finally down a narrow alley that ended with a brick wall.  I find it strange that every large shopping center has only one access.  We did finally get there and we raised some money for a local charity with our singing.  One woman came up to us afterward and told us that our singing lifted her

All ready for Christmas

Craig taking a well earned rest.

spirits while she was shopping and she was grateful.  Friday night was our ward Christmas party.  We had a cute nativity by the primary and then a visit from Father Christmas.  Everyone was able to get their picture taken with him so of course I wanted a turn.  The pictures of the caroling and Father Christmas will be included later, because I am waiting for someone to e-mail them to me.   Saturday night was the baptism for a young women.  It was  a very nice evening.  Sunday, people gave us gifts at church and we all exchanged Christmas cards.  We have spent the last few days visiting people and delivering treats and trying to spread some Christmas cheer.  We do miss being with family at Christmas, but serving others is the best antidote for that.

Our Mission home Christmas Party and a "Dickens of a Day"

This past week, we were hosted at the mission home for a Christmas party.  We were served a delicious ham and turkey dinner complete with Christmas Crackers ( a fun English favor).  Each district in attendance performed a skit.  We did the Shrek version of Nephi gets the plates.  Only, in our skit it was an area book.  Craig was Lehi and Laban and I was the Angel.  It was our elders idea.  It think it turned out pretty well, considering how little time we had to rehearse.   We each received a cloth gift bag, hand embroidered, with some small gifts and treats inside.   We did a gift exchange and watched a movie,  Ephraims Rescue.  Our mission president and his wife host  ten of these parties for 24 people each day the last ten,  week days before Christmas.  They were so kind to do this and they made the day feel almost like being home for Christmas.
Saturday we went to Lymm,  a picturesque little English town that hosts a Dickensian Festival every year before Christmas.  There is a parade and  many of the citizens dress up in victorian costumes.  There are also lots of booths selling crafts and gifts and good things to eat.  The parents of a young woman we have been working with invited us to go with them.  We had a nice time.  In the evening we took two sisters in our ward and went to see a musical version of the "Christmas Carol".  It was put on by the Liverpool Stake and it was very enjoyable.  It was performed to earn money for a local charity.  A  large number of people put in many hours to put this on.  We had a good turn out from our ward.

Our Mission Presidents wife and her friend cooked a great dinner for us.
Sister Preston is on the left.

Craig at Christmas dinner.

Here we are in Lymm with Hannah

We see these canal boats often on our drives.

The canal is so pretty and peaceful

The white house in the background was built in the 1700's

A Dickensian Mayor

Elder Whitehead is arrested for preaching.

The Morris Dancers

Getting Ready for Christmas

The days continue to fly by and we are beginning to get ready for Christmas.  We have been handing out,  Joy to the World pass along cards.  Most people take them with great hesitancy.  In this world no one believes anyone would give away a free DVD without expecting something in return.   We  will

We continue to see some great sunsets.

Entrance to the Christmas Markets

In Front of the Christmas Markets in Manchester

Craig was holding the Camera, thus the goofy pose.

Our cute little Tree

keep trying.  Two weeks ago we had mission transfers again.  We said goodbye to another  Elder from Bountiful.  He was a good young man and we will miss him.  We visited the Christmas markets in Manchester last Monday and tasted some nice foods from other countries.  We had the opportunity of going to a teaching appointment with the sisters to teach a man one of the missionary lessons.  He is such a good man and he is preparing for baptism.  He will be a great asset to the ward.
Today we were able to attend the sealing of a family in our ward.  It was a lovely experience and the closest thing to heaven we can experience on earth.  We put up a little Christmas tree in our flat and decorated it.  In the evening I called a sister to change an appointment time and she told us that she wasn't interested in any more visits.  We felt sad about that, but we have done the best we could and it her decision.  There are always ups and downs on a mission.  We will keep pressing forward.  We think of home at Christmas, but we will try our best to bloom where we are planted this year.  We love you all.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is God's plan of Happiness for us.

This is a picture of Our Senior couples Thanksgiving dinner  a few weeks ago.

The Liverpool Zone and Chorly Zone at a recent multi zone conference.