"Hallelujah"

On March 9th we had our last zone conference here.  It was one of the most spiritually exhausting, but wonderful, days we have spent on our mission.  It was great to see the new public affairs initiative presented and to get our cards.  The website, FollowHim.mormon.org has a short video as well as the Tabernacle "virtual" choir presentation.  It is amazing!!

As always, hearing President and Sister Johnson's messages was totally inspiring.  We were also asked to give our departing testimonies at the end of the meeting since it will be our last zone conference before we leave.  President Johnson arranged the last musical number right before our talks to be a medley of songs played by Sister Welch (Megan) of God Be With You Till We Meet Again and I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go.  She played it beautifully and it was so touching to us.  Needless to say it was pretty hard to get through our testimonies without a few tears.  We are overwhelmed and so grateful for all that has gone on in our mission.

Then three days after the zone conference we were then able to spend another morning with Megan and her companions in a special stake member missionary conference at the stake center in Plum.  It was unique to be able to be picked as a "family" in a role play about presenting lessons to members about missionary work.

After the meeting we were invited to a member's home for lunch.  This family is affectionately known as "Mama Z" and "Papa Z" because their last name is so hard to pronounce and they really are like a Mama and Papa to the missionaries in the area.  They invite them for meals often and are just real friends to them.

It was great to meet the "Z's".  It seems like most areas have someone who steps up to be a Ma and Pa to the elders and the sisters and it is a blessing on both sides.  We think we may have been like this to a few missionaries in Pittsburgh and we feel like it has blessed us more than them!


Then....another two days later we spent a P-day
with "the trio" in Pittsburgh.  It was supposed to be a rainy day so the girls had decided to go to the Science Center.  That was crowded and the weather improved so we stayed awhile and then left so that we could walk across the bridge to Point State Park.  The weather actually improved and turned into an absolutely gorgeous spring day.  We finished our day at our favorite Pittsburgh restaurant spot....Peppi's.....and then picture taking at the Northside Lookout.






We were invited to dinner at the home of President and Sister Peterson later in the evening
and we had a short home evening with them and the Northside Elders.  They are a wonderful family and we have learned so much from them.




We also used a P-day recently to visit the Flight 93 memorial.  It was a sobering, humbling, and  inspirational visit.  It is located about an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh in a farming

community.  The guide told us that the average number of visitors a year to the site and memorial since 2011 has been 300,000 per year.  It was amazing to see and feel the examples of faith, courage, and hope that this small group of ordinary people displayed.   They did something so heroic and unselfish with only minutes to make decisions.  Also, many miracles could be seen in the event even though it seems so tragic.

Then.....we got great news in a voicemail from President Johnson.  There will be a new couple coming to replace us!!  This is something we have wondered about, worried about, and been praying about!!!  At least one of the wards that we work with just isn't very strong right now.  Having a new couple come to replace us will make it so much easier to feel like the work we have tried to do will be continued.  We are busy trying to put together a folder and lists to help them know how to begin.  The Hansens, the couple who served here before us, did this for us and we have communicated with them many times throughout our mission.  It has been so helpful to have them to talk to occasionally and we feel like we are close friends even just on the phone.

Hallelujah really is an appropriate word for how we feel right now!  I recently posted this picture on Facebook with the comment that through all of the ups and downs of our mission that we are so glad that we came.  It is one of the best things we have ever done!

The Work Goes On

One of the members at Sister Wells memorial service said that she had come feeling very depressed and discouraged, but that she left feeling uplifted and comforted.

We were glad to hear that.  Many others said the same thing.  We believe that continuing on in the missionary work that Sister Wells loved is one of the best things that we can all do.  We feel strength and unity through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

.....And so the work goes on........

On February 12th we had a fun Valentine's experience at the Vintage Senior Citizen Center.  We previously visited Tom, the Activities Director, to tell him about the JustServe website.  We were excited when he told us they had an upcoming Valentines Luncheon and Line Dancing.  He said they needed about 6 volunteers as servers and so he submitted the project for approval on the website.  Before we knew it the project was approved and we were there with a member and a few elders to help.  It turned out that they had a professional chef, Nick, coming from Chatham University.  He had

a lot of expertise and treated us just like his "team of servers".  We had a "toast" of sparkling water to begin our work and then we each were given our assignments with specific instructions.  For example, the elders who were to present the plates to the diners were told how to hold the plates in a very professional way.  Then they were told how to transfer them to the table by presenting one from their left hand, then transfering the plate from the right hand to the empty left hand, and finally presenting again from the left hand.  At the end of the luncheon we were introduced to the crowd and Jim got to talk a little bit about who we are and what we do on our missions.  Nick was introduced and he praised us all greatly since he was impressed that we followed instructions and had never been on a "serving team" before.  Little did he know about our participation in many, many Relief Society and ward dinners!

Anyway, we think it happened in the way that "JustServe" is meant to
be used.  It was a community service, but also a tool to get to know others in the community more.  Nick even asked a little about the church after the dinner and we were able to give him a card with our church address and times.  We think a seed of goodwill was planted, and maybe one day he or someone else there will be interested enough to listen to the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have spent a lot of time lately working to aquaint community organizations with the website and see if they would like to become partners.  We see many good things in store for the future.


We have also been doing quite a bit of teaching with the Elders lately.  We have helped with lessons with Tony, Dave, and Donna.  They all seem to be progressing in their learning and search for truth.  We attended Stake Conference on February 20th and 21st and were so glad to have Donna come to Stake Conference with us on Sunday.  We were also able to meet a couple of sisters that Megan and her companions have been helping.  Then Tony came to church this last Sunday.  One of the quotes that we heard in a talk in Stake Conference was something I related to as a gardener.  It went something like this "we are all doing the work of softening the rocky soil of western Pennsylvania".  The quote referred to the parable that Jesus taught in the Bible about the gospel falling on good ground or stony ground.  We are hoping to keep trying to do our little part to till a small piece of good ground here and there!

We also attended the cultural talent night at Brashear High School.  It was great to see the talents and culture of one of the families that have become so close to our hearts. Dorcas sang and danced and Greg played the drums and danced.  Naomi was not old enough to participate in most of it, but everyone joined in the last number of African dancing and she was right there!  It was one of the favorite activities that we have attended while we have been here.

We finished up the month of February by taking a trip to Hershey, PA on P-day.  It was a fun break and somewhere we have always wanted to go. Actually it was a dream come true for my addictive side! We toured the museum, tasted some great chocolate, and enjoyed the fun atmosphere even though it was off-season.  It was a fun day, but we are now anxious to get
back to work with things in the mission.  We are realizing that we only have about 8 or 9 weeks left.  YIKES!!!!   Lots to do and think about in the next few weeks.




"The sweet fruit of the gospel is even better than chocolate".......and that is saying a lot coming from me!!

Tragic News and Peace Which Passeth All Understanding

In Philippians 4:7 we read that "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus"

It's been a hard couple of weeks.  We feel that we and many of the other missionaries

here have needed and then felt the peace that is mentioned in the scripture quoted above.  On February 9th we received a phone call from home about an accident in our mission that had been covered by KSL News in Salt Lake.  We quickly looked on our email to see a message from President Johnson entitled "Tragic News".  We were then so saddened to read of the passing of one of the sweet young sister missionaries in our mission due to a car accident that day.  She and three other sister missionaries were driving through an intersection in a town on the east side of the mission near Chambersburg, PA.  A school bus carrying 30 or so children ran a stop sign and ran right into their car.  After looking at the picture of the accident most people remark that it is a miracle that any of the girls survived.  Two of the sisters have finally been released from the hospital and are recuperating at a relatives home nearby and one of the other sisters is still in the hospital ICU Unit after having had seven surgeries so far for internal injuries.

Almost all of our thoughts and prayers have centered around asking for peace and comfort for them and their families and especially for the family of Sister Wells who passed away.  We had a mission fast a couple of days after the accident.  Our prayers have also been with President and Sister Johnson who truly regard these young missionaries as their own sons and daughters.  We know that it was one of President Johnson's worst fears that one of his missionaries would die or be seriously injured.


Sister Sadie Wells had been in the mission since last May.  We didn't know her, but remember seeing her at the transfer meeting when she first came into the mission a couple of months before Megan got here.

We probably saw her at other meetings as well, but she always served quite far away from us.  Megan knew one of the other sisters in the accident because they came into the MTC at the same time.

We think that Sister Well's sweet countenance speaks volumes about the type of person she was.  Her parents have expressed that they hold no animosity towards the bus driver or anyone else for the accident which we think also tells much about the type of family she comes from.

There were memorial services held almost every day this week in one part of the mission or another.  President and Sister Johnson have traveled to all of them and they will be speaking at our Stake Conference again on Sunday.  We can't imagine how they have been able to withstand the physical and emotional pressures they have been
under except by the Spirit of the Lord helping them.  We had our memorial service here at the Greentree chapel on February 18th. Both President and Sister Johnson said it has been one of their hardest weeks ever and yet one of their most spiritual weeks ever.  One of the comments made during the service was that when a missionary dies that the whole church grieves.  We really believe that.

At the service in Greentree a few elders and sisters who served with Sister Wells shared memories of her, President and Sister Johnson spoke, and Elder Butler was asked to give a talk on the Plan of Salvation.  It was a meeting that we will never forget.  The highlight of the meeting was the closing song by all of the missionaries.  We all sang a combined hymn of two songs "As Sisters in Zion" and "We'll Bring the World His Truth".  Anyone who has ever heard missionaries sing this arrangement of songs knows that it is hard to put into words the spirit of unity and strength that we felt.  President Johnson also shared a gift that the Wells family sent to all of the missionaries here.


It was a short message with a pair of colorful socks attached.


 Sister Wells loved colorful socks and they wanted each missionary to have a pair to remind us all of her and her example of "following in His footsteps".



As we have felt the loss of a fellow missionary we also had a sad happening at home the day after the car accident.  One of our good friends and neighbors had their oldest 12 year old granddaughter, Brinley, pass away.  We have known her grandparents and parents for years and we know that it is such a loss for their whole family.  She passed away at
her home in Las Vegas and some of her church classmates came to visit the day before.  They brought a picture painted by a woman in the church there.  The likeness of Brinley looks just like we remember her and shows her friends in the background.


Being here in the mission field we are constantly studying and teaching the Plan of Happiness that our Heavenly Father has created for us.  It does help us to appreciate more than ever that all of these trials are really part of that great plan.  They give us the experiences we must go through to progress in the plan.  One of the quotes that Jim used in his talk at Sister Wells memorial service is one of our favorites.  Knowing this truth about the resurrection definitely helps to give us the peace that we sometimes don't understand how we can feel in such difficult circumstances.

"All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection, provided you continue faithful.  By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it..."                             Joseph Smith  

When life gives you snowstorms--make igloos!!

One of the profound thoughts
sent to us by text by one of the elders on a day when it was snowing quite hard here....
When life gives you snowstorms....make igloos!

We experienced our first really big snowstorm of the winter the middle part of January.  The storm hit really hard east of us near Washington DC and New York, but here in Pittsburgh we only got around 8-9 inches.  Other parts of Pennsylvania were hit alot harder and the snow stayed a lot longer there too.  We heard on the news that cars and buses were stranded for more than 24 hours on part of the Pennsylvania Turnpike (76) where we have occasionally traveled.  We were so glad that we were relatively warm and cozy.  Within a few days, the snow melted in Pittsburgh and we experienced thawing temperatures of 50 degrees and above.  On one of our P-days Elder Butler went to play basketball with the elders and I took a walk around Highland Park.  It was so nice to get out of the stuffy apartment and into the crisp winter air.  While we were thawing out here in Pittsburgh we got some pictures from Sister Wall and Sister Welch in Monongahaela.  They got a lot more snow in Monongahaela than we did.  They ended up doing a lot of "service" snow shoveling and just plain
playing in the snow.

We also had a fun experience of visiting and eating dinner with the Reyes family in their home.  They are just a great Spanish speaking family who recently joined the church.  We have a feeling that they will be a great strength to the Spanish group here in Pittsburgh in the years ahead. They have an inspiring conversion story and they feel so blessed to be part of the church.

They invited us for chicken and mole sauce which was very good......but also quite spicy for the taste of Elder Butler.  He is especially sensitive to anything with a very hot flavor.  But he went ahead in true missionary fashion and pretty much cleaned up his plate while silently sweating and swallowing hard.  When he was all done someone mentioned that he has a hard time eating spicy food and the mom said "Oh, I have some on the stove without any spice at all"!!  He then had a second helping which he enjoyed much more.

Enjoying dinner and the company of the Reyes family

We also enjoyed hosting our district here in our apartment on January 20.  The occasion was a Worldwide Missionary Broadcast to all 75,000 fulltime missionaries who are now serving around the world.  It was inspiring to hear words from apostles and other leaders about the most important principles of missionary work.  One of my favorite quotes was from Elder Dallin H. Oaks when he said "You are not called to preach what is politically correct or personally comfortable.  You are not called to invite people to join a social club whose rules are made by its members.  You are called to testify of Jesus Christ and to invite people to do what He has required to come unto Him and walk the path He has defined by His doctrine to reach exaltation in the celestial kingdom."  We had lunch for the elders after the meeting and discussed the things that had been covered during the conference.

Another new thing here in Pittsburgh is the initiation
of the website justserve.org.  We have heard that Pittsburgh is one of the last places in the U.S. to start using this website, but it is a wonderful tool to help church members partner with other churches and community groups.  We participated in our first project with a Presbyterian church in a neighborhood close by us called Shadyside.  The project was making personal hygiene kits for girls in underdeveloped countries.  The sponsoring organization is called Days for Girls.  I took my sewing machine and 6 or 8 elders showed up to cut, iron, and assemble kits.  The ladies there gave Jim the "Ironman" award for doing the best job of ironing bags for the kits.  We also got a tour of this beautiful old church by the assistant pastor, Kari.

We finished the month of January off by helping to organize a Senior Missionary Conference here in Pittsburgh for President & Sister Johnson and six other couples besides ourselves who are serving in the office and in outlying areas around the state.  We began with an activity of walking to the Cathedral of Learning on the the University Pittsburgh campus. Then we had the treat of taking a tour of the Heinz Chapel which is so beautiful and inspiring.  Sister Johnson was even able to play the organ which was a very unexpected blessing since we were previously told they do not allow outsiders to play the organ.  We joked that it is probably the first time some of our LDS hymns have ever been played in this chapel....Come, Come, Ye Saints....Praise to the Man...etc.  Then we finished with all of us singing together....Called to Serve.  We are hoping there will be a way to hold a missionary fireside or something similar in this chapel before we leave.

After the activity we went back to the church for lunch and get-to-know-you introductions.  We went around the circle with missionary highlights (short experiences or insights about our work) and then President and Sister Johnson gave us inspired counsel and teachings.  Their messages were just what we needed to strenghten our resolve and keep us going when times get tough.  Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves and loved getting to know each other better.

What an amazing work that we have a privilege of being a part of -------------we are so grateful that we came on our mission!

2016

One of the fun Christmas gifts that we got this year was from Kent's family---A Trunky Survival Kit--- meant to help us combat being "trunky" (or homesick) during the last few months of our mission and to help us finish strong.  We heard that Jackson played a big part in putting together this kit for us.

Actually, we have kept so busy that we don't have much time to get trunky.  The other day we were talking about our kitchen at home and Jim even forgot that we remodeled it before we left!!

We spent New Year's Eve participating in a mission wide initiative for everyone to deep clean their individual apartments.  Then we spent January 2nd thinking about Baylee getting baptized at home in St. George.  We even got to Skype with her as she opened up the "Heritage Book" that we had prepared for her before we left.

We are so happy for her and her family and we know
that she will be a great member of the church.  Baylee is the last of our three 8 year old granddaughters to be baptized while we are on our mission... so we will go home to three new church members in the family.  What a blessing!

It was also on January 2nd that we had an awful experience here later in the evening.  We went to help some elders with a lesson and then stopped to get groceries.  We were thinking it would be so nice to go home to a nice clean apartment all cleaned up after the holidays.  As we came in the door with the groceries we could smell a REALLY bad smell and thought we had left some garbage out. Turns out that we had 2 uninvited guests---one of which ran right in front of us in the kitchen.  It was a rat---not a mouse---but a RAT!!  Jim stayed to "fight" but I took "flight" to the bedroom in the farthest part of the apartment and stood on the bed screaming in an octave that Jim said was the highest he has ever heard!!  When I finally came out Jim was standing guard with a broom at the kitchen doorway.  I tried to call the apartment management, but it took us a very long hour to get someone to come help us with the situation.  Then it took another 4 days for the managers to find 2 dead rats that we had trapped under our kitchen cabinets.

We spent a few anxious nights and we did alot of eating out in restaurants since the smell in the kitchen was so bad.  Luckily, we have a good fan in the kitchen that kept the smell out of the rest of the apartment.  When we told one of the bishops about the situation his response was "Welcome to Pittsburgh"!!!  At least  we will have a good mission story to tell when we get home...and the size of the rats will probably get bigger and bigger!!

With the rats all gone and feeling a little more at ease I was a little rattled again by being asked to speak in sacrament meeting.  My topic was "Faith to Follow the Will of the Lord".  I actually really learned alot by preparing this talk.  I found the best Old Testament story in Judges 3:15 to help illustrate the topic....but then in the midst of getting ready for the talk, Jim started to have symptoms in his left eye that were similar to the ones he had in September when he had a detached retina on his right eye!  So we found ourselves in the ER again on Saturday night during a big Steelers game.  Most people were home watching the game so we got seen relatively soon, but still didn't get home until almost 2 in the morning.  Gratefully, his left retina was not detached, but the symtoms got worse and today he had a laser procedure to repair a tear.  Anyway, we somehow made it through most of our meetings on Sunday,  I lived through giving the talk, the rats are still gone, and Jim seems to be doing better after having the retinal tear repaired.  We feel very grateful and feel like the priesthood blessing Jim got from the zone leaders Saturday night was such a help.

This month we also got an email from some new friends we made here last January.  Roger was visiting Pittsburgh for business and had some medical problems that meant we met him for the first time in the hospital.   We met LeAnn soon afterwards and found out they live quite near to us at home. We had some very special moments with them at that time. It has been fun to keep in touch with them by email occasionally.  They told us that they are now fulltime missionaries too---living at home and serving in the Salt Lake South Mission.  We keep finding more and more things in common with them so it will be nice to renew our friendship with them at the end of our mission.

Another "tender mercy" for January was being able to spend Monday afternoon P-day with Megan and her companion in Monongahaela.  We met them at the Mon Valley Hospital and went with them to visit a long time ward member and a new member named Russell.  The girls have started to sing together and did alot of duets during the Christmas caroling season.  We visited with them in the hospital as they sang some beautiful church hymns for each patient.  The nurse invited them to go into Occupational Therapy with Russell and sing to everyone there.  Russell was acting a little grumpy, but we saw his total countenance change after he heard them sing.  The nurse even commented that the sisters interacting and singing to Russell had made her day. Their voices really blend well and we are so glad that they have had many opportunities to share their talents.  We then went back to their apartment and enjoyed a homemade Cafe Rio lunch that I brought.  Fun times!

Also got a cute picture of Brynlee texted to us.  Mike and Heather are teaching 9 year olds in Primary and have challenged them to read the Book of Mormon.  Brynlee (age 5) didn't want to be left out so she has started reading and marking the Book of Mormon also.

We are proud of you, Brynlee.  Every day on our mission seems to strengthen our testimony of the Book of Mormon as a support to the Bible and as being another testament of Jesus Christ.

Feelings of Peace and Joy

We ended up having a wonderful Christmas season.  We did different things this year than last year, but it was all so good.  We definitely missed our family, but still tried to take advantage of this being our last Christmas in the mission field.  Most people don't understand what a wonderful blessing that it is to have some of the experiences at Christmas that you only seem to get on a mission.  Here are a few Christmas moments that we will always remember.....

Moment #1.....We got a call from Ian's parents from Texas

telling us that they would be in Pittsburgh with Ian for a few days for a follow up visit at the Children's Hospital.  Ian and his family are church members from Texas who came for a short hospital visit and ended up staying for months last summer when he went into heart failure.  We spent many sad and anxious moments with them then, so it was a wonderful experience to see him recover and to meet them at their hotel room during the Christmas season.  He was up and running around the room and being a very typical eight year old.  One of the elders who helped give Ian a priesthood blessing was still here in Pittsburgh and he was able to visit Ian and his parents with us.

Moment #2....Another small "hospital miracle" happened one day when we randomly found ourselves in the large waiting area of Children's Hospital on the slight chance that we would see a refugee family there that we really needed to talk with that day.  They had an appointment with us that had to be canceled because of one of the children's doctors appointments at the hospital.  We had a hard time communicating over the phone and we realized what a long shot it was that we would even run into them. But for some reason we decided to hang out there for a few minutes.  Then all of a sudden we saw the mom with her 4 year old boy walk in.  She had ridden the bus there alone because the older children who know English well were in school, her husband was at work, and she didn't have a phone.  She only had a paper given to her by the school and didn't really understand the reason for the appointment.  It is such a huge hospital that she was terrified of everything there. She said that she had been praying on the bus ride that she would somehow manage when she got inside.  Then she saw us!  We were so glad we were there.  We helped her and the little boy through the whole process from one office and floor to the next.  It was a very humbling and gratifying feeling to be an answer to her prayer.

Moment #3.....We had a very memorable day on December 17th with a zone activity.  We spent the first part of the time in a testimony meeting with the other missionaries in our zone.  It was a sweet experience to hear how each one felt about the gospel and some of their experiences on their missions.  Since Megan is in our zone now it was especially great to hear her testimony and share this spiritual meeting with her.  We then went on a Christmas

caroling "blitz" around Pittsburgh.  We did caroling at the Vintage Senior Citizen Center (our stomping grounds), the VA hospital atrium and halls, a hospice center, and another care center.  Megan played the grand piano as we sang at the VA atrium and it was really wonderful to share this time with her.  The faces of many we sang to were visibly touched and we saw tears streaming down some of their faces.  The spirit that the missionary force carries is unforgettable and tangible to others.

We then came back to the church and had a dinner together and a Christmas "white elephant" gift exchange.  We also took a picture with us, Megan, and Sister Allen.  Turns out that Sister Allen is a distant Butler cousin. Her mother was a Butler descended from one of the original Salt Lake Butler brothers (Philander).

Moment #4....We visited with our refugee friends and realized they had never celebrated any Christmas traditions either in Africa where they came from or here in America.  They seemed to really want to understand some of the traditions here and liked the idea of having a Christmas tree this year.  We invited a set of elders to come with us and we helped them understand the decorations that actually do have symbolic meaning and that

point to the life and birth of the Savior....the tree itself as a symbol of eternal life...the colors green and red to symbolize everlasting life and the atoning blood of Christ....a candle to mean His bringing light to the world....bells to announce the great event to the world.......etc. etc.  It was a super fun experience to be in their little home and enjoy putting up their new tree.  A few days later we came back and the littlest boy had made decorations at school and been able to bring them home to put on the tree also.  He was so proud of his work and the family loves having the tree!  Many thanks came from the family to anonymous donors who helped them have a modest but wonderful Christmas season.

Moment #5....We wanted to give a couple of small gifts to Megan and her companion.  I started to put a couple of gift bags together and found some cute scarves online to include.  They were ordered in plenty of time, but weather delays and other Christmas postal problems held things up.   So we ended up having to make a last minute trip to Monongahaela to deliver what we had of the gifts to Megan and her companion.  It all turned out wonderful though because they had scheduled a lesson with a new investigator named Mike.  Mike is very interested in learning more about the gospel and we were able to sit in on the lesson with them.  It was a very unexpected opportunity to participate in the discussion and watch both girls teach a powerful lesson where we all felt the Lord's spirit very strongly.

Moment #6....We had a very enjoyable phone conversation with Bishop Carsey, our home ward bishop.  It was fun to reminisce with him since he served his mission here in Pittsburgh around 1982.

He even lived on the same street that we do now... just a few blocks away.  We talked about the many changes in the growth of the church here.  It made us realize that the growth sometimes seems slow to us, but what missionaries and members do really does make a huge difference after a few years.  There are 2 family wards, a Young Single Adult ward, and a Spanish group here now as well as a large church building in Oakland.  They are all new since he served here 30 years ago.

Moment #7.... We were invited to a dinner on Christmas eve in the Stoddards home and another on Christmas day with Sister Eldridge.  Both times were very nice and appreciated so much.   We also especially enjoyed hosting all of the 10 elders in Pittsburgh here at our apartment on Christmas morning.  We had a brunch that, of course,  included breakfast casserole, sweet rolls, fruit, chocolate milk and eggnog.  We ate, relaxed, visited and the elders spread out in rooms around the apartment to skype home to their families.  Sister Causey also was able to join us that morning and we had so much fun visiting and interacting with her and the elders.  Then, of course, during various times of Christmas eve and Christmas day we were able to Skype home with each of our kids and their families.  All of them seemed so happy, peaceful, and joyful.  As we see these feelings in our family and others around us it gives us so much of the same feelings.

Glad tiding of great joy.......that's what we felt this year....the whole purpose of us being here on earth.  Amidst  a world of chaos and confusion.....Christ was born.......he lives, loves us and died for us to live again.  Peace and joy......that's what Christmas is all about!!

Christmas Begins Again

We had a wonderful start to the month of December with a trip to the Washington DC Temple with LaShaun and Mari.  We all had a great time and even got the bonus of being able to stay late enough to see the Christmas lights around the temple and enjoy the nativity scenes from around the world in the visitors center.

We seem to appreciate the temple more here.  It might be because of the distance we have to travel to get there.  The extra sacrifice of time and effort probably makes it more meaningful.  Also, I think we have studied more for our temple and seminary classes about the original tabernacle of Moses and other ancient temples.  We have come to value the ordinances and covenants we make in the temple even more than we ever have before.  Jim was actually able to drive to DC this time in 3 1/2 hours.  We talked and read an insightful article on temples by President Benson most of the way so our travel time seemed to go by really fast.

We also had a special zone conference on December 8th.  Since Megan is now in our zone it was really awesome to be able to share this spiritual meeting with her.

She was asked to play the prelude and postlude music and also accompany for the hymns sung and a vocal solo sung by her companion.  We enjoyed seeing the mission video at this zone conference and also many wonderful talks and testimonies.  The Christmas initiative "A Savior Is Born" was also discussed.  The initiative involves an internet website that is amazingly good at bringing the true spirit of Christmas into the season.  The web address is christmas.mormon.org.  We highly recommend making it a part of Christmas.

President Johnson's weekly letter today said that there have been 16 million views of the video on the internet in the first 10 days.  It is great to be a part of sharing the message of the Saviors birth with the world.

Another unforgettable Christmas season memory was the baptism of Nick.  He is such a nice man and so anxious to be of service in the church.  He bore his testimony at the end of the baptismal service and he made an interesting comment.  He said,  "I put the missionaries to the test as I wanted to see if they would live the principles they taught.  When they showed they lived what they were teaching I took a new interest in their message."  Nick was referred by his neighbor, Debbie, who is a member.  She is a great member missionary!  Elders Simmons and Howard were able to assist with the baptism and confirmation.  They along with Elder Gille who has been transferred were wonderful examples for Nick.

We also had more "tender mercies" in regards to one of the refugee families we work with for their housing needs.  They had financial and transportation needs that led them to decide to move to another area of the city that is known as "scary and dangerous." We weren't too happy about their decision at first, but they felt it was something they need to do. There were major problems at first with the lease not including their 18 year old son.  We decided we needed to find out for ourselves what could be done to help them.  The day we started to tackle the problem we ended up getting lost in the city trying to find the Housing Authority office.  We weren't even sure how to find the help we needed once we got there.  After going from one place to another we finally found the right place we were supposed to be.  We were SO surprised to see a member of the church we know there at the reception desk!  She made the comment that she was only filling in at that desk for an hour that day. It was awesome that we were there at just the right time.  We think this was not a coincidence.  She was so helpful in referring us to the exact person we needed to answer our questions.   Later on as we helped the family navigate through the paperwork at the apartment office, her help again proved to be invaluable and literally made the difference in whether the son had a place to live for a couple of months. It is so humbling when things like this happen.  It is wonderful to feel the Lord's love for His children.

Then a week or so later we helped the family move into the apartment.  President & Sister Johnson ended up being there too.  They have met the family before and love them as much as we do.  I had a great time that day helping Dorcas learn to use a sewing machine that she had  previously bought at a garage sale.  It turned out to be an amazingly great machine. We mended a pair of her brother's pants and sewed some curtains together to make them fit their windows.  We are hoping we can help them have a wonderful Christmas holiday this year.





I also had the time of my life at the first of the month recycling a little Christmas tree for our apartment.  A member was throwing it and some Christmas ornaments away because the birds had eaten red coating off the artificial berries on the tree.  My eyes lit up when I saw it.  I snatched it right up and had Elder Butler put it in the car trunk.  I did a little resurrecting work at home and.... I think it is the best tree that I have ever decorated!  We also have a few special decorations that were sent to us last year. They have helped make a festive little corner in our apartment!!!  Merry Christmas!!!

I also forgot to include info about a great P-day that we were able to spend with Sister Welch and Sister Wall during this month.  We did Christmas shopping in the "Strip District" and had lunch at a really good Mexican restaurant there.  We
especially enjoyed

the Mexican soft drinks along with our meal.  Then we took off to the Science Museum for awhile.  I think I have finally gotten my fill of this museum since we have visited it many, many times now!!


We ended up going downtown for a quick trip to Market Square where they have an awesome Christmas tree with an ice skating rink around it.  There is also a German Christmas village set up with many booths of unique Christmas gifts being sold.

 We ended our day by taking some great pictures of the two cute sister missionaries in front of the tree.   The tree looked so great with the PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) buildings in the background.  But of course, we think the girls in front were the highlight of the picture!

A Savior was born to bring light into the world!!