Ahhhh! We are finally to the last day of the year in 2023 - What an interesting year this has been! From the normal life in St George for half the year, and then whisked away to a new life as Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chula Vista, California serving a highly active group of Young Single Adults. Our association with this amazing group of Young Adults has caused us to have greater hope for the future. The young Missionaries have great faith & amazing testimonies of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel - we are continually uplifted by their purity & the consecration of their FULL time in gathering Israel!
Christmas was the first of our week - Monday - so we decided to host a Christmas morning breakfast for 9 of the young Missionaries in our small apartment, so that they would have a small "family" type get together first thing in the morning. Debbie made plenty of egg, sausage, and cheese quiche for all of us, and then a pile of pancakes with REAL maple syrup and butter. After breakfast was cleared up, we all sat down & shared with each other thoughts & impressions we had about Christmas & Christ! It turned out quite nice & brought a beautiful spirit into the room.
For Debbie & I, the Cello case became our Christmas "tree" with a couple of Amazon gifts at the bottom; simple but comforting that we were here striving to bring Christ's gospel to others - the true meaning of Christmas!
Following breakfast with the Young Missionaries, we ended up throughout the day visiting family using skype, face-time, & messenger - ah, the wonders of technology!!
It was meaningful to still share some time with each of our kids & grandkids - It was fun to feel of their enthusiasm to give & receive gifts. One particularly funny 2 year-old granddaughter (Tilly Hardy) was so completely enamored with her yellow & blue "Snow White" dress AND purse that she couldn't stop smiling & twirling! I had a feeling that if anyone had tried to take away her new purse, she would have yanked their arm off to prevent it!! No way was she letting go of it!
We decided to try something new for Christmas dinner, so we found a Himalayan restaurant that was open Christmas day with some wonderful dishes of Salmon, rice, vegetable dumplings, and some kind of special sauce - all very delicious!
Most of the weekly YSA activities got cancelled because most of them spent Christmas with their families but we were able to participate in several baptisms. One of them was a young Hispanic Single adult who had wanted to date the Elder's Quorum President's younger sister and as the story goes, the EQP said it probably wouldn't happen unless he got baptized! Well, it started the young man taking the Missionary discussions & developed into a spiritual experience for him, so he decided to get baptized! Fortunately along the way, he developed a testimony of the restored gospel, not just a desire to date the EQP's sister!!
The other Baptism we got to experience was with our Grandson Gideon Kirkman via Face-time. As an 8 year old, he was excited to have his Dad baptize him & his family support him!
We did manage to get up to Newport Beach Temple to enjoy the Lord's Spirit in His Holy Temple - The Temple helps us to focus on what really matters in this life & God's plan for us to follow. We are thankful to be able to go!
One of the most enjoyable activities we experience here is helping to teach the friends of the Missionaries - we had two lessons with them & 2 different friends, both progressing towards baptism. They have good questions, and really appreciate the truths they are learning about God's restored gospel & His plan of Salvation for His children. The simple truths starting with who they really are (children of a loving God) & the truths about our Heavenly Father & His Son, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are game changers for them. The world is so confused about the nature of the Godhead, but the reality & simple truths that we know brings peace and helps us develop faith in God!
We wish all of you peace & joy in the year to come!
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