December Reflections

December was a very unusual month. It was very calm compared to other Decembers when it felt like every day had something happening, and there was so much to do to get ready for Christmas. I knew I would be working on Christmas which was interesting to think about. I found that in many ways it was a very peaceful and calm time. Many of the streets and stores were decorated, but it was either just pretty lights or things having to do with Santa Claus. Some of the larger stores did play Christmas music. I even heard Christmas carols now and again. It was a very strange feeling walking through the stores listening to Silent Night. As I said in an earlier post, it did give me time to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. Alhough I am not a fan of being by myself in a foreign country at Christmas time, with all of the rushing from place to place and shopping gone, it did cause me to go deep into my soul and look for the Savior in Christmas.

So the following pictures are just a walk through the month of December. Thankfully, I wasn't just a lonely hermit during the month. I had some very pleasant experiences with some good people to help me celebrate.

Decorations on a main street near my apartment.

The next three pictures were taken in the lobby of the building where we hold church. They are not the usual foyer decorations of a church. At least our church is on the fourth floor

Can't have Christmas without the branch party and the presentation of the Nativity. There was lots of good food, singing and visiting as part of the wonderful evening.

We have three couples in the branch who are here teaching English for the BYU program. They have been good friends and invited me to some of their activities. We had a little Christmas party with some great American food - although I don't recall eating strawberry shortcake at Christmas before, but it was delicious. They even added a beautiful little Christmas tree. I think is goes with the apartment that gets passed on to a new couple every year.

You can tell I went all out for the decorations. I made the table decoration at a Relief Society activity, or I probably wouldn't even have that. Then I finally added my beautiful Nativity set, and my apartment was as decorated as it was going to be this Christmas. I think I will try and add some more things next year - I will see.

Mary and Kyle Latimer invited all of the people who didn't go home for the holidays to a Christmas party. They ordered the biggest pizzas I have ever seen, added cans of root beer (which most of us haven't had for a while because we don't work at the US Embassy like Kyle does), and some great brownies. Can't ask for a better Christmas dinner than that. Everybody brought a white elephant to share. It was a delightful evening.

Mary Latimer with the pizza.

On Christmas Eve, Gloria Dell'Anese and her husband invited me to share the evening with them and their family and friends. She is Chinese and he is Italian, and they met while they were going to law school at Harvard. They are a delightful couple. We even had the opportunity to speak about the reason for Christmas Eve - a little unexpected blessing. She could talk about it because she is Chinese and she was with her family.

This is Gloria and her husband.

Finally it was Christmas Day. I got up and went to work just the same as every other work day. I did get to leave the school at 3:30 so I could go with some friends to have Christmas dinner with Pres. and Sis Hurst. We had turkey (which Pres. Hurst cooked), potatoes and gravy, dressing, salad, and rolls. At the end of the evening, we even had apple and pecan pie. I almost forgot I was in China for a little while. It tasted like a real Christmas dinner. Isn't it interesting what a big part food plays in our celebrations.

Isabel Berrios, Su Wei and Will Shegrud.

Isabel with Will. He was the hit of the party.

Pres. and Sis. Hurst

Will and his father Joe with Isabel.

Amy Shegrud with Pres. Hurst

Christmas walked very quietly through the month of December here in China. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I did miss my children and grandchildren, but thanks to Skype, I got to visit with everybody. I even got to participate in the opening of presents with some of them. It is a pretty amazing world we live in today.