A Christmas to Remember

Being in the mission field at Christmas definitely has it's pros and cons.  We had some beautiful experiences, but each time we watched family produced DVDs or listened to our grandchildren singing Christmas carols or sharing their Christmas eve activities, we would dissolve into a blubbering twosome.  But this will most assuredly be a Christmas that we will reflect upon often with joy and good memories.
One of our favorite parts about a German Christmas season is the bounteous Christmas markets, which I have posted about before.  Our final, and FAVORITE, was to a little town about 45 minutes away called Rudisheim.  It is located along the Rhine river and we loved it in the summer when we went on the river cruise.  It was decorated and lit up so festive and had wonderful things to enjoy (and buy).  Stopping for refueling with delicious hot chocolate was a must.

Christmas eve morning we enjoyed a fun and yummy Christmas brunch with 35 other dear friends/missionaries.  It was like none other with a crepe bar, cheese blitz bar, waffle bar and an array of other fruits and egg dishes.  These missionary couples know how to have a good time.  We had a fun gift exchange and lots of chatting.

Then in the evening we jumped on the U-bahn and went downtown to the pealing of the bells (10 churches ring bells in unison for 30 minutes).  It is quite the tradition here and it was fun to join the mob along the river and in the town square.

And our own quiet personal time together with  special Christmas traditions and loving skype calls with all our dear ones made this a warm and peaceful occasion.

It is such a blessing while serving a mission to be able to be somewhat removed from the stress and commercial demands and have a deeper and more personal relationship with the Savior and feel his tender mercies and love during the time of celebration of his birth.

Return to Scotland

We had the wonderful opportunity to return to Edinburgh, the glorious mission for Allan and Karli.  We were asked to come and present to a mission conference and do some training.  We were privileged to stay in the beautiful mission home that both Karli and Allan passed through.  It is an old 1800's Scottish home that has been beautifully refurbished.  Pres. & Sister Griffiths were so kind and hospitable.

We had a few hours one day to do some sightseeing at the Edinburgh castle, Princess street and the Royal Mile.  It was all that Allan remembered and more.

What a blessing it was to spend a few days reliving the wonder of Scotland and listening to their marvelous accents and meeting the good Scottish saints.

Surviving Cape Verde

We just returned from the land of Cape Verde.....you might ask, where is that?  Well it is a group of islands off the west coast of Africa and once belonged to Portugal, thus it is in our Europe Area jurisdiction.  The church is thriving there; much like Brazil 30 years ago.  The people are of African decent but speak Portuguese or Creole.  We have 5 Centers there on 4 islands and were asked to go and do training with church leaders and YSAs.  It takes about as long to fly there as back to the U.S. (and it is a night flight).
Our first day we were driven to the far side of the main island which is Praia.  We visited a small Branch there and saw some amazing volcanic mountains and valleys.

The people in the countryside were beautiful and reminded me so much of India with their simple lifestyle.

This sweet little lady (carrying the LIVE chicken) snuggled right up for a picture and had a gigantic smile when we gave her a few cents.

Anyone interested in a fresh tuna for dinner??

Life in the big cities is quite different.  We have nice meetinghouses where we conducted training meetings with local and missionary couples and YSA leaders who were fantastic.  Of course every word we spoke had to be translated which made things a bit more challenging but when the spirit speaks heart to heart, all who are present (particularly us) are inspired.

We flew to Mindelo, which is another island with a large church population to do training and visits.  There again we found beautiful YSAs who are faithful in missionary work and activation.

A cute local girl who shared our taxi.

We held a training conference one day with the Mission President and our 3 Advisor couples for Centers for Young Adults in the Cape Verde islands.  Here again we encountered mostly Portuguese speakers but were blessed with divine translation.

The local food was lovely.

What a grand experience we had with these simple, faithful and beautiful saints.  They are embracing the gospel in large numbers and moving forward with happier and more focused lives.  What lessons we learned by being in their homes, meetings and country.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas in Germany

It is so fun here during the Christmas season.  It is so easy to feel the joy and enthusiasm the Germans have for the holiday.  We have been going to Christmas markets the past 2 weeks.  They begin everywhere the first of December and proceed to the 23rd.  Our first stop was at a ward Christmas festival of some of our dear German friends.  They had been making things all year to sell and good food for lunch.  This sweet man works at the front desk in the Area office and lightens up our hearts every morning.  His wife made tons of beautiful things to sell .

We then went to a small village nearby to an outdoor Christmas market.  It was fun and cute and got us into the Christmas spirit.

One evening a group of couples got on the Ubahn and went downtown Frankfurt to the largest Christmas market in the area.  It is unbelievable with hundreds of booths selling German sweets and food and a huge array of handmade decorations.  There were thousands of people there and proved to be very festive but crazy crowded.

Friday the Area Presidency gave a Christmas devotional for all the missionary couples and employees working in the Area offices.  It was a lovely devotional with our regional choir singing and the Area Presidency speaking.  Elder Causse, 1st counselor in the Area Presidency,  is a professional pianist and he played a magnificent Christmas hymn.  Following was a yummy catered dinner.  We feel so blessed to be working with such wonderful people here.

So we are off to a happy and interesting Christmas season here in Germany.  There is excitement in the air and feelings of love and harmony abide.  I know as we turn our minds and hearts and actions to worshipping the Savior Jesus Christ we will feel great joy during this season.