Santa with the Elders

We had a great time with the Elders at our apartment. Santa came to visit and boy were they surprised!!! While they were studying, Santa burst through the door to wish them a Merry Christmas. They were so excited we just had to take pictures. Elder Justensen, who lives with us, and Elder Simmons, Zone leader.

Christmas in the Missionfield 2011

Well, Christmas has come and gone, but there will always be memories. Dad was asked to be the Santa for the Elderly Center in Mescalero. about 30 elderly people came to see him. He was very good and teased them and they had a sack of goodies to give them. He was very good. I took a few pictures for you to see. They take pretty good care of the Elderly there in Mescalero as many of them are shunned by the family and are homeless. Anyone who is over 60 is welcome there all day long and they feed them and do crafts with them. They also take meals on wheels to those who are homebound. Michaeline, who is a member of our church is in charge of this facility and she does a great job. They are lucky to have here.

Enjoy

Christmas Program at the school

We were invited to the Christmas program at the school. It was very good. All the kids sang beautifully. We did notice, however, that when they sang the song "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, with the accent words "Like Columbus" they said Like Geromino.

Cute huh. Kids are beautiful the world round

Grandma got run over by a Reindeer

Look for me on the floor

OK Here are the Mission Christmas PIctures

Whoops, I forgot there were a lot of Sierra Blanca under the heading of Mission Christmas Party. Hope these are the ones

Mission Christmas Party 2011

We drove all the way to Lubbock for the mission party with the elders and sisters. My what a great time we had. I have never been so entertained. Each one of the districts put together a skit about missionary life and I thought I would laugh myself to death. Our district did not get together so at the last minute (as we were walking up to the stage) they decided not to sing Christmas Carols, but sing "Grandma got run over by a reindeer. They instructed me to fall down when one of the elders ran into me. I did just that! I fell so realistically that everyone gasped, for they thought I really did fall. President Agustin said I stole the show and I great artistic talent. We had a lot of compliments on our skit. It was so much fun. They fed us a beautiful Christmas dinner and President Agustin spoke of Christmas. He said, we are all inkeepers like the one in Bethlehem. Do we have room for him in our lives and would be let him in if he came knoking at our door.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas

Sister Lee and Santa

We were invited to the Ruidoso Christmas party last night and I got to sit on Santa's lap. We had a wonderful time renewing our friendships with the members of the Ruidoso Ward. They are great people and very warm and friendly.

Another Convert Baptism

Wow! #7 Convert Baptism. We are in seventh heaven! Darren Ahidley was baptized on December , 2011. We was so happy because it was scheduled over a month ago, but the day of his baptism the indians turned off our gas supply and there was no heat in the building, so we had to cancel it. It took us over amonth to reschedule, but he has been baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and says he wants to go on a mission. What more could a couple of missionaries ask for.

We have another Baptism

Here comes number five member baptism! Kayla Comanche was baptized on December 4, 2011. We actually contacted her mother about her getting baptized in the spring but she said she was going to baptized in another church. Then one day she started coming to church and told us she had a a dream from her late grandmother who told her to get Kayla baptized in the Mormon Church. So she asked us if that was possible. Of course, we happily accomodated her. Kayla is a very special girl and very musically talented. She smiled all day long. We are glad that she was baptized and happy to have her come to primary.

More Thanksgiving with Senior Couples

Here are some more pictures of the Senior couples that we had Thanksgiving with for November 2011. Great memories and worth the trip

Thanksgiving with Senior Missionaries

Thanksgiving this year was an absolute blast! We traveled to Lubbock Texas and stayed in the Mission Home with President and Sister Agustin. Our first night we went to the Lubbock Texas Temple. It is very beautifulbut very small. Some of the senior couples stayed at the mission home as well and we stayed up very late visiting and enjoying each others company. We had at least 10 pies and cookies and food that came from some of the best cooks in town. It was fun to share our expereiences and everyone agreed that we have the hardest mission. Two of the couples were office missionaries, one family search, and the other two (including ourselves were proselyting). It was hard to say good bye and we feel we have made eternal friends.

Thanksgiving Day at Mescalero 2011

Well, we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner at the branch the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We had 60 people attend. They had to stand in line to get their food and there was lots of it. We had eight non memnbers there. It was great! We were so crowded that we had to have people eat in the foyer. I wish all these people would come to church!!! It was a traditional pot luck dinner and the branch furnished the turkey. Dad and I spent the whole afternoon at our apartment cooking mashed poatoes because we only had one large pan to cook with. It was crazy. The night before at 6:00 p.m. Lula called and said President Fossum had gone deer hunting and she didn't have a check to buy the turkeys! Yikes! Of course we came through and met her at the store and purchased the turkeys. Of course, we will be reimbursed, but the whole thing could have been a disaster. When we asked him at the dinner, he said he forgot. Oh Well! It was a wonderful time and we got to see almost everyone that is active in the branch.

Lorraine's Baby Blessing

Lorraine Luna, who lives with the Naiches, had a baby girl and she was blessed yesterday at church. They named her Lalani Rainbow Naiche. She is a beautiful girl with tons of black hair!!! I keep teasing them that they should nickname her Cherylee, but they won't listen to me. Lorraine is the mother, but her sister Teresa is adopting the baby because Lorraine doesn't want to be a mother just yet. She is a very lucky girl to have such a good family to help her grow up. I took a picture of the cradle that they put her in. The Apache's put her in the cradle after birth and she stays in that cradle all day long except when she is hungry or needs to be fed. They say they stay in the cradle until they are one. Now think of that girls - no crawling babies running around your feet. When they are placed into the cradle they know it is useless to fight so they just go to sleep.