News from CAM                                                                                        December 20, 2016

Dear Loved Ones All,

       What a week!  We had a FHE with the Senior Couples at the Mission Home.  I volunteered to bring ham since our Hungarian Sister had given us one at Thanksgiving.  President Taggart was thrilled (he doesn’t like beef that much since serving in Argentina on his mission because that is all the missionaries were served there.)  Anyway when he heard that, he lit up and turned to Sister Taggart and said “Oh, you can make scalloped potatoes to go with it.”  The dinner turned out fabulous, of course, and we had a wonderful evening telling memories of Christmas. President Taggart’s was the best.  He had requested a desk for Christmas even though he knew his parents could afford the one he wanted.  Christmas morning he kept looking for the desk but was sorely disappointed.  When he opened his gift under the tree it was a set of a few tools. Then his dad told him that the following day they would go down to the lumber store and get the supplies to make him a desk together.  He still has the desk. 

Tuesday was our R.S. president’s birthday and since my birthday was the next day, she and her husband invited us to go to the North Woods Inn where they always go for lunch to celebrate her special day.  It was delightful and so fun to get to know them better.  Elder Macbeth and I shared the “Lumberjack Special,” a huge steak, baked potato and all you could eat red cabbage salad, tossed salad, cheesy toast.  Yummmm.  Bishop cancelled his Tuesday evening meeting, but we went to the church anyway so Elder Macbeth and Brother Ferreira could try to track down some difficult to find membership records. 

       Wednesday is our day to serve at Mary’s Kitchen and afterwards we were able to make some visits.  That is so awesome to be able to actually do what we are supposed to be doing. We also had an appointment that evening to meet with a less-active that we have been trying for months to see.  In truth, he called us up and asked us to come talk with him and his sister who is a returned missionary who wants to start coming to church again.  He has a non-member roommate, and two nieces who live there while attending school as their family transition from where they currently reside.  What a fantastic experience.  Then we went over to the Gudmundsen’s (he was the first bishop of the ward and they are both in their eighties) to help tie bows onto the Book of Mormons to hand out for the Ward Christmas Dinner and Program on Friday.  The Sister Missionaries were there and they were already finished when we arrived.  So we came back to our apartment and made cookies for Thursday instead.  I made cake mix cookies.  So easy, tasty, and quick. 

Thursday we had district meeting and went to help our Hungarian friend.  I wash dishes while Elder Macbeth vacuums and then helps her find the channels on her TV because she can’t see very well and pushes the wrong buttons.  We also cleaned the crystals on her chandelier.  It looked amazing.  I spent much of the afternoon calling people to remind them what they were bringing to the dinner on Friday.  I got a few leave a message but mostly people surprisingly answered their phones.  Thursdays is also the day we have Book of Mormon reading class.  Our newest member brings her 8 year old son and he does and awesome job when it is his turn to read.  Following class we went over to the Clemens to get some Nativities that she said we could put on display for the Christmas Dinner.  I felt like the proverbial kid in the candy store, she had shelves and tables full of all kinds of Nativities.  The most unusual one was from Africa, but we put about 10 into tubs with blankets tucked around them.

     Friday was a killer day.  I called a sister in the 1^st Ward to borrow a large life-zed nativity a sister had painted for a previous Christmas party.  Then we headed over to the church to start decorating.  We met the Elder’s Quorum President there and he helped carry in the tubs with the nativities plus the ones his wife said we could borrow.  She had one that she got in Bethlehem that was carved from an olive tree in Bethlehem.  It was gorgeous.  The Gudmundsens arrived with decorations that he had to climb up to retrieve in the rafters of their garage.  So we covered the tables with tablecloths and festive decorations, strung garland across the stage and wound in Christmas lights, then strung lights across the front of the stage, and hauled out a couple of lighted Christmas trees..  We had fresh pine bough that were placed strategically to await the placement of the nativities.  We had to make a quick Costco run to get plates, cups, and dinner utensils.  In the hour before we need to go back to finish setting up repaired 3 pair of pants, making it 5 pair for the week.  When we got back to the church we put out the nativities we brought, the R.S. president had 4 more, and another sister brought 6 or 7 more.  There was enough to cross the whole of the stage.  The hams arrived, but they were still in their wrappers, so several volunteers quickly lit the gas oven and piled them onto a large cookie sheet and prayed they would be heated in the hour before dinner.  Elder Macbeth and I hustled to pick up a widowed sister and to borrow a sharp knife for cutting the ham since there didn’t appear to be one at the church.  The traffic was horrific so we made it back minutes before it was time to start.  The poor sister missionaries were struggling to cut the ham with butter knives so they were thrilled to have a real knife.  That was the only crisis.  The rest of the evening went like a dream.  I had the missionaries serve the food.  There were just under a hundred people there.  The Young Women planned a fabulous program centered on the birth of Jesus.  Everyone was happy, well-fed both physically and spiritually so we felt it was a definite success.  It was so wonderful that so many had been willing to help, and it took a lot less time to clean up than to set up.

     Saturday we helped clean the church building.  Then we went home to practice the song for the Christmas Devotional while we waited for Brad and Becky and kids to arrive.  They took us to Downtown Disney to celebrate my birthday and have lunch.  What a delightful time we had. Kids are so awesome to be around and it was a great end of our week.

Sunday was downright relaxing…neither one of us had to teach a lesson, we sang with the choir in Sacrament Meeting, no stress there, and in fine were just regular members for most of the day. 

      So here’s to all of you, have a most wonderful Christmas and remember whose birth we are celebrating.  We love you all.

Sister and Elder Macbeth                       Go!    Fight!!         WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  J