Merry Christmas

Me with Sisters Balita and Castillo after the Christmas Zone Conference


Our Christmas tree, decorations and gift - notice the little Filipino house
two of the sisters made for us - very cute.

December 24, 2005

I went to the office to help prepare for the Christmas Zone Conference for all the missionaries on Cebu Island. Elders from Lilo-An were already there waiting for the President to come and begin interviews. The office was very full of missionaries all morning and I didn’t do any desk work – I just visited with them. Sister Castillo is still very homesick – not easy.

The Christmas Zone Conference began with us all watching the Broadcast of the Joseph Smith Commemoration Fireside. It was wonderful. Fantastic music, great talks, and strong spirit. Then we all went into the cultural hall for pizza, soda, apples, oranges, banana bread and rice krispy treats and lots of talk and laughter. Then we met back in the chapel for an inspiring program of scriptures and music to celebrate the birth and life of Christ .

It was nearly 6 P.M. by the time the last of the missionaries left. I had a good talk with, and Bob took a nice picture of, Sister Castillo, Sister Balita, and me. Bob and I had tuna sandwiches for dinner – we weren’t that hungry after all the pizza etc. for lunch. We then opened our presents – boxes for each of us from Karl and Carmen. The girls had decorated the outside of the boxes with Christmas drawings which we greatly enjoyed. Bob opened his huge package of M & M’s immediately, while I was more leisurely opening my box. The pink sweater fit fine; the jerky will be great for lunch on our travels; and I will enjoy the onion soup mix for making dinners.

We went to bed tired, but very grateful to be here and grateful for the wonderful support of our family.

Sunday, December 25, 2005
Well, Christmas is over – but not quite, for me. It will be over after I have talked to each family. I have been trying for two days, but it has been quite difficult since several of the Elders had planned to use the office phone and have their parents call them here. They have been on the phone steadily since 5 A.M. this morning – it is now 9:30 A.M. Yesterday they were on most of the day. I may have to wait until tomorrow since it will soon be too late to call home.
We went to three Christmas Sacrament meetings in the Stake Center adjacent to our apartment. The first one was Cebu 1^st Ward. They had a program after the Sacrament that was put on by the Primary and involved many adults as well. They had a mom, dad and two children – boy and girl – acting out a Christmas family home evening. They would each tell part of the story and then other members of the ward, in costume, would act it out – with songs interspersed. The best part was at the first. The father started reading in Luke. Then the boy spoke up. “I know why they left Nazareth. Joseph had to pay taxes and had to go to his own place to do it. Then his sister, about six years old, spoke up – loudly and clearly in the microphone. “Mary went with him, even though her stomach was really, really big because Baby Jesus was inside there.”

Now for the baby, he was beautiful, and sound asleep when he was ‘delivered to Mary’ right on cue. But Mary was a newly-married girl who didn’t know how to hold a baby and was holding him out away from her sort of in a standing position. So, of course, he woke up and started to squawk. From the congregation her father, the stake president, was trying to give her directions on how to hold the baby. The Primary children were talking – quite loudly – “Baby Jesus is crying,” “Baby Jesus is crying.” It was so cute!

Some of my other favorite parts were when the angel (a man dressed in his white dental technical coat with a wide gold paper belt) stood up to talk to the shepherds. As he stood up the scotch tape holding his belt to his shirt came off and the belt gradually started sliding down. He saved it with a quick grab and then went on with his speaking part.

Then I must tell about the shepherds. They were three men dressed in robes, or cloth wrapped over their Sunday clothes, with head gear of some sort, who came wandering down the aisle, gazing upward the whole time. So, they would occasionally bump into the pew, or each other, but no matter. But, they arrived at the place where Mary, Joseph and the baby were before the song was ended and then decided to wander – looking up the whole time – back and forth in front of the pulpit. This led to a lot more of bumping into each other before the song ended. They looked at the baby for a second and then took their place next to the angel.

The Wise man had great cardboard crowns and gifts wrapped in Christmas paper and assorted cloth draped over their shoulders, some of the draping being finished as they walked down the aisle. A little boy about four had some sort of orange and black balloon creation – very large- that he periodically picked up and waved, but I am not sure what it represented – maybe the star.
The Primary children sang very well and the whole thing was delightful and a good reminder that the first Christmas was probably not so well-organized, rehearsed, costumed and polished as many Christmas pageants are.
We then visited with people and Bob arranged to teach Sunday School next week. By then it was almost time for the next ward Sacrament meeting. I dashed home to use the bathroom. On my way back I saw a woman outside the mission office. She said she had left something in there earlier and wondered if she could go get it. I said, “Of course,” and took her inside. I was greeted by Elder Lowry who said, “Your son called. I just hung up.” Oh dear. I felt sad at having missed the call.
The Apas ward had a more usual Sacrament meeting with speakers and a couple of Christmas carols sung by the congregation. Again, we visited with the members afterwards, then went home for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Soon it was time to go back for the Cebu 5^th ward. Again it was a normal Christmas Day meeting with speakers. The highlight was a Priesthood Chorus number sung with great enthusiasm.

After visiting a bit, we headed home. Bob photographed the photos of the incoming elders and then I helped him download them to the computer and reduce them to the 1 x ¾ since size he needs for their bank cards. The mission used to take pictures for this purpose right when the new missionaries arrived then rush like crazy to get them ready for the bank the next morning. Last incoming batch, Bob prepared the cards ahead and it really made things go smoother, so he will do it this way from now on.

We then went to the President’s condo for dinner, along with two elders and two sisters who met at the office and rode with us. I had made a big cole slaw earlier in the morning. Sister Anderson made grilled chicken breasts, diced potatoes in a cream sauce – very good, green beans, homemade rolls, and an apple cake with ice cream for dessert. We had fun visiting as we ate, and as we cleaned up.

When we got home and were just about ready for bed, Karl finally got through and we had a great talk with him that was such a treat. Unfortunately, every one else at his house was asleep, so we didn’t get to talk to them ---a good excuse for me to call again.