Christmas this year felt like I was in a strange dream and I couldn't wake up. Having said that, I appreciated the special once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate Christmas in Puerto Rico. I had more empathy for all of those missionaries who experience Christmas on the mission. Even though you really wouldn't want to be anywhere else at that particular time, it is like "fasting from Christmas". The key I guess, is to truly remember Christ and focus on Him. I can't lie, I had to do this - remember Him - to stay in the right frame of mind.
Christmas highlights were:
On the 22nd of December we shared in a very special Sunday Sacrament meeting with the saints of Humacao. We had a choir - yes including Kyle - and the Spirit blessed the meeting. While being the accompanist isn't my favorite, I grew and became very familiar with the Spanish Christmas Hymns. For me, this was a case where "weak things can become strong". I appreciated the help from heaven while playing the music for this program. Plus, I got to do something I love: I sang in a trio with the sister missionaries. We double attendance (106) that day and the missionary sisters said they had ten investigators there! Our neighbors, Peter and Terri, showed up and brought friends. We finished up with a breakfast. I enjoyed contributing by making banana muffin and the island bananas are over zealously sweet. The almost 15 dozen were gobbled up quickly!
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| Kyle, Me, Frankelena, Maribel Burgos and Gabriel |
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| Frankelena |
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| I made 15 dozen Banana Muffins |
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| Liliana, Ian, and Julian - investigators |
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| Gely, investigator and Richard Pagan |
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| Hermanas Ellsworth and Hohne |
Christmas Eve we stopped by Frankelena's house. She is our friend from St. Lucia although she has lived here in Puerto Rico for many years. She gets harassed by Kyle every Sunday on the way to church and she harasses him back. I just sit and watch the show. It is pretty comical. We took her a much needed microwave oven.
We next went to Nestor and Gugene Lazo's home in the tippy-top of the south east corner of Puerto Rico. Kyle met this family in the summer. They provided a traditional Puerto Rican Christmas dinner. The tembleque coconut pudding was my favorite! They are so loving and giving. We enjoyed getting to know them better. The Buehlers - instrumental in this family's conversion in Mexico- were there also from Idaho. They know Kyle's brother, Jed, and live in Malad. Yes, it is a small world.
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| Tippy-tops of Yabacoa |
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| Kyle, me, Sister Buehler, Nestor, and Brother Buehler |
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| Gugena and Nestor Lazo |
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| Mateo (right) and Cousins |
Christmas Day we were suppose to have a dinner with Liliana and family, but they got sick. I was grateful to FaceTime with my children. You would have thought that they made a schedule. Our calls stretched from 9 a.m. in the morning to 9 p.m. that night. My arms ached to hold by grand babies and hug my children. It was hard not being together as a family. The sisters, Ellsworth and Hohne talked to their family. They are on fire and we have loved getting to know them. They call me their Puerto Rican Mom. We exchanged gifts and we even got a surprise from Santa!
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| Whitley Lynn |
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| Hyrum, Ty (just home from the hospital) and Harlan |
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| The Button Family (Kendy is our oldest) |
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| Whitley Lynn 2 years old |
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| Sister Ellsworth used my "classroom" to FT her family |
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| Surprise santa gifts from our neighbors |
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| Christmas Day dinner |
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| Sisters Ellsworth and Hohne |
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| Peterson Children (NeKell's 2nd daughter) |
Our ward party happened three days later, the 28th of December. If you are familiar with the Puerto Rican culture you won't be surprised that the activity was advertised as starting at 1 p.m. At 3 p.m. we finally had opening prayer. Then we had a program that was about an hour long followed by a traditional Christmas dinner. All of the primary children got gifts to open. It was then followed by games which went on for several hours. We got home at about 8 p.m. I have often said that Puerto Ricans have the "patience of Job". This culture is good for us. ;)
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| Stephanie and Jonathan (Left) new convert |
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| Mataeo, Julian, Liliana, Ian, and Wilda - investigators |
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| Traditional Christmas Dinner |
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| Primary |
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| Games |
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| Rosa and Bishop |
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| Paquita |
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| Rosa, bishop's wife |
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| Tony, investigator, and his brother |
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| Paquita,, Maribel, and President Burgos |
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| Nestor - new convert and Kyle |
We might be leaving Christmas a little bit but we are on to Three Kings Day Celebration which is January 6th. According the the saints here, things are just getting started! Merry Christmas friends and family! We love you and we miss you too! May Christ be with you daily as you remember Him.
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