Although we’re miles apart, and we can’t hug, kiss and touch, our hearts are united in spiritual communion with warm wishes for this brightest of all seasons. We want to wish you all the blessings of this great time of year when we accept the greatest gift of all, the gift of God’s only begotten son, who is the Savior and redeemer of all the world who gave to every person who has lived, is now living, or will ever will live upon this earth the gift of resurrection and immortality, along with the possibility of eternal life.
We are so filled with the Christmas Spirit this year and the joy of serving the Lord and Master of us all. We see the true spirit of Christmas in the eyes of the people we meet on the streets and in their homes filled with traditional decorations: arbol de Navidad, Santa Clause, reindeer, snowmen, nativities, poinsettias, and stars. The only big difference here is the length of time they celebrate and the emphasis on the various virgins, and the prominence of the Three Wise men. In the nativity scenes the wise men arrive at Bethlehem, in a little different mode of travel; one on a horse, one on a camel, and one on an elephant. The other big thing is the use of piñatas. The children have piñata parties throughout the entire season, from the first week of December to the first week in January, when the wise men arrive bearing their great loads of gifts. Of course we must have the cannons at various times and days of the week. Cannons are heard frequently here in Mexico. It’s the old philosophy, when the ear hears the noise the brain knows it’s alive. Mexican people thrive on noise, LOUD noise!
The little children are the most touching. We see them with there dark eyes all aglow with warm aspiration and excited anticipation of the arrival of Santa, and or wise men bearing their fondest hopes and dreams. By American Standards these people are poor, and the poor among these people are beyond our imagination of what poor really is, but they are resilient and resourceful. They make the most of a devastating situation and they smile with the true spirit of love and goodwill toward all. We have only seen a few of these poorer people, but where we live there aren't very many. The people we live and work with are working class middle income ($10,000 pesos - $1000 per month) people who keep the wheels of commerce and industry moving along in this society, by working 12 to 16 hours a day six or seven days a week..
It has been our tradition for many years to try and have a small gift under the tree for each and every one of you. We toyed with the idea of having Corinne withdraw enough from our account to do this again this year. Instead we have decided that this year we would distribute a few small gifts to the people we are working with, including the 18 elders in our zone, and make sure that the elders have a little Christmas luncheon. Then we will give the money we would have spent on the family to our Bishop and ask him to use it to help a needy family have a little Christmas joy. We hope you will all feel the joy of this decision and know and feel in your hearts that you have helped another, less fortunate than yourselves, have a little warmth and joy in their life
We sincerely hope and pray that all of you will draw close to one another in the spirit of Christmas joy and love and keep your hearts and souls united in the celebration of the birth and life of our Lord and Savior, the only begotten Son of our Father in Heaven.
We love you all and we know that your lives along with ours will be blessed because of the work that we are so blessed to be a very small part of. President Castillo told us at our monthly interview this past week that he hoped we understood that we were exactly where the Lord wanted us to be, doing exactly what the Lord wanted us to be doing. He also said he hoped we knew and understood how many people past, present and future that our work here has influenced and blessed. He thanked us and expressed his appreciation for our service. He also said that he knew our grandson Andrew would be a wonderfully successful missionary.
When you are all together this Christmas season, please read the scriptures, ponder their meaning and remember the birth, life and atonement of our Savior. Families ARE forever and the church is true, and the only true path to return to our Father in Heaven is in the footsteps of His beloved Son Jesus Christ.
We love you all very much and thank you ALL for your love, prayers and support.
Mom, Dad, / Grandma and Grandpa.
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1 comment:
Fun Post. I love the idea of passing the Christmas Presents to those in you mission. I think its a great idea. We are super fortunate to be in such a great country and we have tons of blessings just because of that one thing. I love the idea of sharing down there.
Im super glad that your both serving a mission. We miss seeing you of course and expecially during this time of year. But Your mission no only serves those people in the areas your serving but it serves our whole family. All of the grandkid and all of the Kids have told many people that they have good and faithful parents and Grandparents serving a mission. And it centers that goal for at Least Corinne and I. I have always wanted to serve at least two more full time missions. One where we get to search out and teach people and another in either a service mission or at a temple or historical site or helping in a country that needs our help. So You guys are our example and I think its really cool. I know that Andrew mentioned it in his fairwell talk. Corinne has mentioned it to so I know its important to them.
So how is the spanish coming? By now Im sure you have learned a great deal. I was thinking the other day that your mission is alread 1/4 of the way over. WOW time flys.
Andrew is assigned to his first area. He is in Cranberry Township PA. No joking! 2727 Chelsea Court, Cranberry Township, PA 16066. He asked for your address and is excited to start writing you. Now that he has gone throught the MTC and is in the field he is excited to share with and hear from you.
We love you both.
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