Thursday, December 6, 2012

Missions!

Greatest news yesterday!  Our daughter Amber received her Mission Call to serve in the Montevideo Uruguay West Mission.  She will be entering the Argentina Mission Training Center on April 25.  We are so thrilled for her!  She wasn't sure what she would do, or where she would stay until she was able to leave, but now with the date she will be leaving it means she will be able to do one more semester at the University - and report the day after her finals!
Here I have been baking cookies to give out to families for Christmas.  We also have the video Joy to the World that we hope to show many of the members between now and Christmas.  We will be able to use our computer, we have extra speakers for it, taking it into their homes to show it.  Grateful for batteries!
We had District Conference last weekend, President Amado of the 70 and member of the Area Presidency presided.  We felt very blessed when Sunday afternoon we were able to have him, our Mission President and his counselor plus their wives in our home for lunch.  Our leaders our such amazing people, to be able to work closely with them, is an unexpected blessing that has come from serving here.
We are studying hard in the mornings and doing paperwork, afternoons we are out visiting and working with our members here.  It is so much fun, we will have one appointment or visit arranged and then on the way to or from we will run into other people who may need help, or have a question.  Yesterday was no different, on the way home from an appointment in Seamay a sister we greeted wanted to know about when the Christmas Hymn practice will be.  Then we ran into a member of the District Presidency who was trying to reach some Elders, we helped him reach them through our phone.  After he talked to them, we asked if there was anything else we could do for him and he asked us if we could go up to another village and help visit members there, definitely a big yes!  The little things and events that run together sometimes amaze us.
Tonight we are having a meeting of sorts at the church.  We have invited any and all members from the Seamay/Senahu area to join us in practicing the new Christmas Hymns from the new Kekchi hymnbook.  Since most members don't read music they are not sure how they go, so we are meeting on Thursdays for the next three weeks - getting ready for Christmas!  Hopefully some will want to go caroling with us even.
Funnest question from yesterday:  We were walking up a path from Seamay when some young girls greeted us, one about 10 years old had a ton of questions.  The best question:  Why doesn't Elder Spradlin have any hair?    His answer was even cuter - He left it in the United States.