Christmas Eve at the MTC

We had a very fun Christmas Eve and Christmas Day here at the MTC. On Christmas Eve we had a sort of "Family Home Evening" where we sang the traditional Christmas songs and told of our Christmas traditions, conversions to the gospel, and why we chose to come on a mission. Then President read to them out of Luke while Silent Night played in the background and then we all joined in singing Silent Night. When it was over, we gave them all a stocking stuffed with candy, ties, sox, deodrant, a CD, etc. etc. We learned that most of the Africans do not give or receive gifts for Christmas like the Americans do so it meant a lot to them to get a gift. Then we went into the dining room and had root beer floats. Remember it's summer here, not hot cider and hot chocolate time. :)

On Christmas Day we had an extended Sacrament Meeting where some of the Elders gave talks, and others sang to us as quartets, districts, etc. Elder and Sister Cook of the Southeast Area joined us for the meeting and both gave wonderful talks. (I totally forgot to take a picture of them!) We had about a half hour after the meeting ended until lunch so we all got in a circle and they were able to ask the Cooks any question they wanted. It was so nice and we were wishing we had had more time. The Cooks stayed and had Christmas lunch with us and the missionaries got to visit with them on a more personal basis. The staff went all out with the lunch. They fixed us turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, rice, pap (made out of ground maize which they call mielie meal. Pap means porridge and is a very thick consistency), salad, and Malva Pudding with custard sauce. They put table cloths on the tables and it was very nice.

After lunch the missionaries e-mailed home for a couple of hours and then we showed them The Testaments. After dinner we had a testimony meeting interspersed with music. It was a very spiritual meeting and a nice way to end the day.

(Click once to see them "up close and personal").