Yesterday was National
Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I noticed
the flags lined up and down the bridge as we made our way to the Ward Christmas
party.
We had a brunch this year. A 10:00 morning meal is great for so many
reasons. Breakfast. Everything is catered. No setting up of tables, decorations and so
forth just to take it all down again (at least not by the ward members) no
responsibilities of signing up to bring a dish in addition to reminder calls
and a hodgepodge assortment of food. I
think the greatest plus is that it is light enough to see where we are
driving. The light invites. Driving in the dark often seems so dismal.
Roland had been asked to
play Santa Claus who hasn’t been a part of any ward Christmas that we have been
a part of in Oregon. Roland had
memorized a speech about how our focus needs to be on Christ rather than Santa
– for Santa wants to worship Christmas in a righteous way and that is why he
gives – to follow Christ’s example. I
don’t remember his word-for-word speech, but that was the gist of it. On Saturday he had spent a good amount of time (not to mention
money) looking for bells to announce his arrival. But when we arrived at the center, he learned
that the costume didn’t fit. At the last
minute someone else was given that position.
There were eggs, biscuits
and gravy, and pancakes for breakfast.
There was also a program put on by the primary and young women of the
ward. Excellent food. Excellent company. Roland ended up driving Jenna and her friend
back to the house without me and I ended up catching a ride from somebody
else. But I couldn’t just leave. I had a friend drive up all the way from
Medford. There were things on her mind
that she wanted to share.
At 2:00 there was a primary
baptism. One of the girls had been a
sunbeam in my class when we had moved into the ward almost four and a half
years ago. What I thought was most
awesome about the baptism was seeing two sisters stand as witnesses for the
baptisms. It is my first time seeing
that since it was revealed (see here). The sister next to me said she wished she
could have taken a picture. It was truly
a sensational moment.
We were told that there were
some paper hearts on a back table. We
(the congregation) were asked to write notes on hearts to give the girls so
they will remember their baptism. I
don’t remember anything about my baptism and had desired to provide them both
with as many details as I would like to have in regards to my own baptism. The hearts were small and I had written tiny
– perhaps too tiny. They also have
pictures that have been taken to commemorate the day. Perhaps my notes will make more sense
alongside the pictures.
I had a brain freeze as I wrote - thinking how awesome it was for one of the newly baptized to have both of her grandmothers stand in as witnesses for the baptism. She is such a special spirit. I love watching her sing. She knows all the words and really puts her heart into it. Her grandmothers witnessed the baptism for both girls. What a treasure.
Jenna and her friend had
decorated the tree and were watching “A Muppet Christmas Carol” when I
returned.
At 5:00 we were scouring for
a table at Pizza Palace. We told the
missionaries that we would meet them there.
We had chosen believing that the light parade would be last night, but
that will be next week. Yesterday was
the lighting of the Christmas tree. I
don’t know who conducted this year. The
event was supposed to start at 4:00. It
has been cold and wet outside ever since.
Jenna had wanted to go but decided that she would rather eat pizza with
the elders. She really enjoys their
company – especially one that she dubbed Elder Connecticut, but he told her not
to call him that. I told him that she preferred
it as it has more syllables than his last name – which he understood. They both feel that long words are more fun
to say. She asked if she could call him “Elder
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia” which
he agreed to.
We parted ways
before 7:00 as they had another appointment and we had to get Jenna’s friend
back to his house. I listened to the
rain fall as I typed this so I could post it this morning.