What a sweet assurance it is to know that you are HOME for CHRISTMAS even though you really aren't. Home truly is a feeling more than it is a place or stuff. Although we miss being back home sharing special Christmas activities and special events with our children and grandchildren, we feel of their love and prayers and support every day. This week we received a fun set of Christmas letters from some of them who thought we might be homesick for Christmas back home. One 9 year old granddaughter mailed each of us a dollar bill as her Christmas gift to us. Their sweet sentiments were so touching! Children are one of the necessary elements of Christmas. After all, it was a tiny Baby in Bethlehem who is The Reason for this Special Season. We are grateful for all of our little and not so little children and grandchildren everywhere! We want all of you to know that when we walk through our apartment door after serving our shifts at the temple, we both say, "We are home!"
There have been some fun and exciting activities to get us in the Christmas spirit. Last weekend we attended the annual Christmas Tree Lightening program in the Visitors' Center in Old Nauvoo. There was even a little band Christmas concert put on by the local High School. All the kids in the band wore Santa hats. We could picture all of our grandchildren who play instruments all over the country performing in these similar settings. Music brings joy to the Christmas season! There was also a live nativity portrayed by the site missionaries. The Christmas tree is big and beautiful and we had our picture taken by it since we consider it our tree for this Christmas. We also went on a wagon ride which included caroling and ended at the Family Living Center with hot chocolate and cookies. All the streets of Old Nauvoo were lined with luminaries and looked so peaceful. We were blessed with beautiful weather that night!
Well, we were blessed with beautiful weather on Friday, Dec. 2nd, however, on Sunday, Dec. 4th our first snow storm arrived with power and powder! We were blessed with about 5 inches of snow in a matter of a few hours. This decorated the temple grounds to look like an old fashioned Christmas card. Unfortunately, it snowed on the roads, too, not just on the temple grounds! It made traveling to church in both directions very treacherous. Our Temple President and his wife, President and Sister Irion, were with us on that scary drive. We were blessed to make it safely home for which we were most grateful!!!
We have been assigned to travel to a little town in Iowa called Mt. Pleasant to attend church each week during our 12 month mission. Each temple missionary couple is assigned to a unit which needs extra support, much like the 6 years we served in the Salt Lake Inner City Mission.. Our little branch averages about 50 members on a good day. The drive for us takes an hour each way. Some of the missionaries travel over 2 hours to their assigned unit. Although we have only been going there a few weeks, it is beginning to feel like our home on Sunday mornings. The Mt. Pleasant Branch also has a set of young sister missionaries. They are Spanish speaking and this Branch has several Spanish speaking members. They sing the hymns in both Spanish and English at the same time and always have someone translating the lessons and talks in the background. This past Sunday in Sacrament Meeting it was especially touching as a mother gave her Christmas message in Spanish and her young adult son simultaneously translated her words into English standing by her side.
One thing that makes Nauvoo seem like home are the kind and welcoming friends we are making who also serve as Temple Missionaries. On Dec. 4th we were assigned to host one of the Break the Fast dinners at our home with 3 other couples, the Vintons, the Thompsons, and the Mabeys. It was so fun to get to know them and to share our home with them. Other couples have included us in their dinner plans, too. Last night, Dec. 12th, for Family Home Evening all of the missionaries gathered for a fun evening of music and treats. We were all assigned to make instruments and then we performed a song featuring all of them. Our group played cymbals, actually metal pie plates. Afterward, President and Sister Irion had 2 sets of pipe chimes and we all took turns playing and singing Christmas carols with chimes. It was a very festive way to bring more joy to all of us who are away from our families during the holidays. President Irion gave a brief message about that very topic, reminding us that we are each others family this Christmas. We are blessed to be part of the Nauvoo Temple Missionary Family which is a big reason that we feel like we truly are Home for Christmas this year.
The other thing which makes Nauvoo seem like home is our opportunity to spend so many days of the week within the Nauvoo Temple serving the patrons and The Lord. The spirit in the temple is always sweet and peaceable. People are kind and appreciative for everything you do. This past Saturday, Dec. 10th, my cousin's wife, Kendra Severinsen, who lives in Fremont, California, came to the Nauvoo Temple to be with her sister, Kathy who lives in Missouri while she was sealed to her husband. It happened that Brother Peterson was asked to be the sealer for them for their special occasion. We love serving here and receiving the blessings of having a White Christmas everyday in His Holy Temple, The House of The Lord. This brings the true meaning of Christmas to us everyday through the love of the Lord, the love of His children, and the blessings of the temple. When we are in the temple, we are HOME .
Please know that we will be HOME for CHRISTMAS and we send our love to all of you at this special season of LOVE and HOPE and PEACE!
Elder and Sister Peterson in Nauvoo
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