WEEK 45

This transfer is drawing close to an end....and there are so many events coming up...so many things to do, so many responsibilities...this is the busiest Christmas season of my life!

Starting next transfer, Sister Lu and I have been called as the new coordinators for the teaching aspect of the Chinese Free English class program. I don't really know exactly what to expect, but that we will be coordinating the missionaries teaching roster, the teaching curriculum, the class "break-time spiritual thought" assignments etc. We can't really put together a schedule until after transfer calls come in on the last Saturday night of the transfer (Dec 15), which gives us only Sunday to put everything together for the new week and new transfer to begin by Monday/Tuesday. I'm glad I'm not doing this alone. Dearest Sister Lu will be a huge help in this!

So tomorrow, Tues, 11 Dec, the sisters will have the opportunity to record some musical numbers to put into a CD, just for fun. We will have a professional recorder person come tomorrow morning to the VC. Elder Pedersen has ordered to make copies of about 400 CDs for us to keep, and to give out to all the missionaries in this mission, and for our family and investigators etc. What a Christmas gift it'll be! I'll be a part of several of the numbers...lots of singing....laaaa...=)

On Wednesday, 12 Dec, we will be having a Mission Christmas musical devotional, and I will be singing in a (SATB) quartet "O, Holy Night." It's a beautiful piece. I might be doing a (SA) duet "Born to Wear a Crown" but I'm not sure yet...

Then, on Tues, 18 Dec, our stake is having a Christmas Asian Night performance. There is a young sister in our branch who was supposed to play a chinese number, but she could not make it that night, so the Branch President had asked me to play a number on the piano. He called up President Beck to make sure that I was going to be in the Chinese branch next transfer and if it was ok for me to perform a piano piece....yikes....I need plenty of piano practice now!... I picked out "I Saw Three Ships" arranged by Jon Schmidt, but I am still having trouble finding a good chinese song piece to incorporate with this traditional Christmas piece.... the blessing is that I am serving in the Visitors' Center and we now have 2 pianos in the VC, so I've managed to sneak in some piano practice time here and there throughout the week... pray that it will go well on the 18th....

I just have to say that I was SO happy to receive an e-mail from Jie Jie FINALLY! And It was a delight to hear from dad and to see those cool pictures you sent me =) I'd send you some pictures now, but I don't have my camera with me right now...I will send you those pictures next week...
I also enjoyed reading your testimony of our Savior and how this message of the gospel of Jesus Christ truly does bring peace into our lives. Thank you for sharing that thought with me! It brought peace to my heart from just reading it too!

I really will miss having each one of you with me for Christmas this year...but know that there are many loved ones here in Oakland whom I will be spending my Christmas with too...
This morning each sister at the VC just received a gift from our VC directors, Elder and Sister Pedersens. We each got a beautiful nativity set, and somehow, receiving that gift this morning just made my Christmas a little more complete....Elder and Sister Pedersen are such wonderful givers....they are always giving and giving....when I grow up, I hope to be like them =) May we all find something this Christmas season to give to our Lord, Jesus Christ, is my humble prayer, and my Christmas wish to you this year.

"I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." ~ Acts 20:35 ~