Christmas...Come and Gone

     It has been a month since we have posted and the time has really flown by!  The office work is always constant and December was filled with so many other fun activities that we can hardly report all of them.
     To begin with, the Hermanas at the Visitors' Center had begun practicing for a Christmas Program in early November with Hermana Zapata at the piano and Hna. Anthony was going to lead the singing.  It was quite an undertaking because neither Hna. Zapata or Hna. Anthony really spoke a lot of Spanish.  Then Élder Zapata had heart problems and they had to go home.  With a Christmas Devotional with the area 70's, Stake Presidencies and Bishoprics a week or two away, we talked an Elder in our mission, Elder Koerper who (by the way) was an excellent pianist, into playing the two songs and we sang our hearts out.  Things turned out well.

     Elder Koerper went home the week after the Devotional, so we asked Brother Mendoza from our ward, the Allende ward, to play.  He was extremely helpful as he had a background in music and leading choirs.  We were so thankful for him.  The Hermanas had their program on the Sunday before Christmas and it was so well-attended that extra rooms had to be opened up to broadcast it to more people.  All agreed that it was a success and everyone quickly forgot all of the early-morning practices.

President and Sister Anaya were really proud of their Hermanas from the CV (Centro para Visitantes)

It was really a time for festivities.  Many grand feasts were held, not just in the Visitors' Center, but the mission held two different meals and talent shows.  President Anaya stole the show with some games he played with the missionaries.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Packages from home!

Nothing like FOOD!

It's always fun to get the missionaries together!  They really enjoy each others' company!

Hna. Carrillo was going home.

Yes, nothing like FOOD!

We had an "office" Christmas dinner in our little apartment.  The Anaya's had two of their children and their families here, which added to the excitement.  We had turkey, ham, funeral potatoes and all the trimmings, along with Sister Anaya's Christmas punch and traditional Mexican salad.  The Elders had come to our house to decorate gingerbread houses (just a little burned, and we couldn't make more because we couldn't find more molasses.)  They presented a candy house to the Anayas.

We told them that the tradition was to break it on
New Year's Eve, so they did with their family.

They were showing us how the "hulk" looks.

The Primary Christmas program was delightful!

Christmas Day was a bit quiet for us so we took a taxi into
the City Center, walked through a very rich mall, and hit
a couple of shows the next day:  Star Wars and the
Hunger Games!

The tree was 3 stories tall!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  We missed our families, but got to talk to them.  Merry Christmas and "God Bless us every one!"

This deer was two stories high!