Letter #37

Merry Christmas 2016

No home, no family, no typical traditions. Christmas 2016 has come and gone. The Elder that came to Facetime his family for Christmas at our apartment said it didn’t feel like Christmas. He is an Elder in his first transfer. I told him it felt like Christmas, just a different sort of Christmas than what we are used to.

Here are some of the things we want to remember about this different Christmas:

1. It didn’t feel as rushed as most Christmases. We had time to focus on “Light the World” and were able to hear testimony of the impact it had as the missionaries extended that invitation to others. Our Elders in Stead stopped to help a local Pastor (didn’t know he was a Pastor) and gave him the 25 days schedule. He told them he was going to share it with his congregation and thought it was the greatest idea ever!

2. Our zone exceeded their new investigator goal by 2 last week! We heard the miracles of those ready to hear about Jesus Christ and approached the missionaries! D&C 123: 12 “For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it-“

3. We took our Christmas breakfast casserole around to many we knew would not have much of a Christmas to celebrate. I don’t think it made it until Christmas morning because they are so grateful for something homemade. We always feel humbled by the need we see.

4. Our spirits were lifted by going to see Mary and Judith’s amazing Christmas house. It is such a happy place. They decorate inside and outside and have Christmas things we have never seen before. They have 7 beautifully decorated trees. There are things everywhere!! You could look for hours and still not see everything. If the garage door is open and the lights are on you can ring the doorbell and they will let you tour the house and backyard. Their only reward is the reaction people have to their hard work. It’s fun. We also went back with the Elders on Friday to introduce them to the new Elders in their area and let them get to know them and share a Christmas message. I was looking up the stairs and noticed they had snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, I hadn’t noticed any of that before. Their generosity in opening their home is incredible. These are lovely ladies!

5. We fed our ward’s Elders on Christmas Eve. We told them to invite someone to come too. They brought (I should say Elder Hardman picked them up) Brother Gregor and Brian (the investigator). We have told you about them. Brother Gregor lived in his truck until about two weeks ago. Brian wears Brother Gregor’s clothes to church, but they both come to church! It is fun to have dinner guests that are in awe of everything you cook! : ) We played Christmas Pictionary. That was an entirely new experience for Mark and Brian. I don’t know that they have ever played a game like that. Brian said he wasn’t too excited about the idea but it turned out fun! They were pretty serious about the game. It was a fun evening.

6. The Sisters in our complex invited themselves to breakfast on Christmas morning. We are quite attached to Sister Neeley. We know she will probably be transferred in January and so she needed to spend some time with us on Christmas. We enjoyed having them come early and share Christmas morning with us. Sister Iongi was telling us something and forgot what she was saying, she said, “sorry, I got lost in the food!” She liked Christmas breakfast casserole too!

7. We enjoyed going to church on Christmas day. That is a special blessing.

8. We had some Elders come to the apartment because they needed a place to Facetime their families. It was fun to eves drop and hear their conversations with their families at home. Their enthusiasm for what they are doing overcomes their desire to be at home. They shared experiences, scriptures and testimonies. It was sweet.

9. We had the best twelve days of Christmas, thanks to our great family. Hunter brought us the Twelve Days of Christmas presents when he came. We really enjoyed looking forward to a surprise to open every night! I can’t even explain why it meant so much to us, but it did! Thank you for all the creative gifts. We are enjoying everything! We love you all!

10. We realize that we won’t always have the opportunity to be fully engaged in service to our Heavenly Father so we will try to remember what this moment in time has meant. We are grateful to have the love of support of friends and family at this special time of the year.

We realize many distressing things happened too. We are so very grateful that Kim received the help he needed so quickly and even though we know there is recovery time and probably a new diet (bummer!), we are glad for the happy outcome. Paisley had a window smashed in at work and her computer stolen on Christmas Eve day, but Paisley is safe and well, we are grateful.

The gospel’s true and we love you!

Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman