It took us a week to unpack and place most of our stuff. We had to buy several items and food to stock the pantry. During the week, we met our Mission President (Pres. Maluenda), our Stake President (Pres. Elkins) and more Senior and younger missionaries. We watched the Las Vegas BYU vs. Utah game at Pres. Elkins home with he and his wife. It was a fun time, despite the game outcome.
The Mission President interviewed us and told us to enjoy our mission. If we were not enjoying our mission, then something was wrong. We needed to find that something and enjoy our mission. He also told us that the mission rules were relaxed for us. We also received an assignment to love the younger missionaries as our children. So far, we have done so and enjoyed their company.
We went to an area-wide Missionary Conference where all missionaries (200) were together for a day. Talks, testimonies, musical numbers, and games were held, along with a big Christmas dinner. Most of the talking was in Spanish. Each zone put on a skit and it was a lot of fun. We took the four Sisters (from Harlingen) with us in our truck.
The week before Christmas, we had a heat wave. It averaged 85-88 degrees F with 90% humidity and Tom sweated profusely. How could this be so hot during winter? One perk was that the price if gasoline is low here.
On Christmas Eve, we put up our Christmas tree and went to sleep. In the morning (to our surprise), Santa had found us and there were goodies and presents under the tree. Also, there were fun things in our stockings.
Later on Christmas day, we skyped Jakob and the Davis family and had a phone call from Christina. The Sister missionaries sang carols to us and stayed for a while. What a perfect Christmas.
It sounds like a great missionary Christmas--one you'll always remember!
ReplyDelete