Christmas in NYC

So...Christmas in New York City is probably one of the most magical things ever.  I have had the most wonderful week!

Last Friday was our Mission Christmas Devotional that I got to organize.  It went very well.  People all seemed to really like it, and the musical numbers all sounded lovely, especially Elder Murray's piano solo and the flute/piano duet Elder Foley participated in.  The speakers were great as well.  Sister Morgan read The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, which some of you may remember I was in a stage production of last year.  As she read the story I kept seeing Annadee and David Morgan acting out the parts of the Widow McDowell and Jonathan Toomey.  It was awesome.

At the Devotional, I saw some awesome people, including Elder Witbeck from my BYU theater days, and Sister Broderick, who is one of the coolest people ever.

My favorite talk was by President Morgan, however.  He spoke about the gifts that were given to Christ by the Wise Men when they found Him in Bethlehem, but he did it in a way that I had never heard of before.  He compared the three gifts to three of the crucial gifts Heavenly Father has given to all of us.  The gold, which must be purified for it to be of value, is representative of Jesus Christ, the pure Son of God.  Frankincense can be compared to the gospel.  It is derived from the sap of a tree that can grow on anything, even solid rock.  We have been told today that the gospel of Jesus Christ will never again be taken away from the earth.  Myrrh is representative of the Atonement.  In order to make myrrh, sap must be taken and dried from the myrrha tree.  It has to be cut to the very center, and a deep red sap emerges from the trunk, which reminds us of the suffering of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It was a really cool talk.  I love hearing President Morgan speak.  Every time I do it reminds me of what I need to become as a missionary and who I want to be long term.

Last Saturday I went tracting for the first time on my mission!  (That's right, I have been in the field for three months, and it was my first time knocking doors.)  The Elders invited us to go caroling with them, and Sister Liu and I were more than happy to join them.  We handed out Joy to the World DVDs and had a lot of fun talking with people about the Church and our beliefs.

Monday was awesome.  I will admit I have been a little worried that it wouldn't feel like Christmas, since I'm not at home this year, but when I woke up on Christmas Eve, the feeling was still there.  What's more, it was stronger than I had felt it before.  I was so excited, and the rest of the day just made everything better.  Because we didn't have a Christmas dinner appointment, a companionship of Elders, Sister Liu and I went with the APs (Assistants to the President - a companionship of Elders that help President Morgan with administrative work) to dinner at this wonderful French woman's house.  She fed us a fantastic dinner, then afterwards we had cheese (SO GOOD) and "sweets" (yule logs are going to have to become a thing at my Christmas dinner).  She was wonderful, her friends were wonderful, the food was wonderful, everything was wonderful.

Christmas Day was fantastic as well.  After opening some presents in the morning, and an awesome personal and companion study on service, we went to a member's house so I could skype (!!) with my family.  I love them.  They are so great.  Afterwards we went to a dinner with the temple missionaries that we were invited to Sunday night (after we had already been invited to the other dinner) that was just lovely.  I talked with some of their family, and out of the three young women who were return missionaries there, one had actually served in Taiwan!  We are hoping she will be able to come down to Chinatown and have lunch with us sometime next week.  It was another French style meal, and I have decided that I really like French food.  And cheese. Cheese is good.

The day was pretty magical, and we were able to find ways to serve people along the way.  I am so grateful to be serving a mission in New York, with the people I serve with here.  It is wonderful.

I love you all and hope you have had a wonderful Christmas.  Continue to enjoy your holiday season!

Merry Christmas from the Chinatown Missionaries!

Love,

Sister Beer