Christmas Cheer, cookies and visits

Monday started our Christmas visiting; bringing treats, the Spirit of Christ and an ornament. We visited with 2 of our less active families that day. Sometimes I feel “inactive” is an inaccurate description. There are several families here that really find it difficult to attend church due to health issues. We try our best to bring the Spirit to their home and help them feel Christ and Heavenly Father’s love for them. We have been sharing a short video titled “He is the Gift”. https://youtu.be/yXWoKi5x3lw. This is the link if you would like to see it. The first family we shared it with really felt the Spirit. It was awesome!! There is another video that is new this year - it’s a bit longer - about 18 minutes. It is REALLY good - about the Nativity. It’s called “The Christ child - A Nativity”. Here is the link for that one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXWoKi5x3lw So along with cookies and a video, I have made some ornaments like the ones I made last year for our ward Christmas party. There is a key, a tag that says “Let Him In” and a poem. Here is the poem. The Innkeeper’s Key “Mary and Joseph had come to stay But each lodging place turned them away. At the last place they tried, still no room at all Except for a simple hay-filled stall. Thanks to one man’s kindness to those needy strangers Jesus’ life began, safe in a lowly manger. This innkeeper’s key is a symbol of How a simple act fills the world with love. Keep this key, and remember God’s love is the reason We are filled with blessings each Christmas season.”* But wait, is that enough – Just keep the key to remember the reason for the season? Rather, shouldn’t we keep the key – yes Keep it where we might always be able to see - For the sad, the lonely, the ill and bereaved Have no certain season to show forth their need. We have a key like the Innkeeper did. Jesus gave each of us one when he said Love one another as I have loved you. Imagine keys being used all over the world Opening the hearts of men like Endless waves of clear water hitting against the shore Till acts of love and service permeate the entire earth. Why not turn your key and let him in. Ione Mortensen *original text by Les Hollowed

The Ornament We gave one to our neighbor/land lord. When I asked Pam if the kids were happy about what we had brought, she said “They were over the moon!” I thought it was normal for children to be excited about cookies. She said they kept saying “We have the key - the key to let Jesus in”. That was so touching. It would be great if we all felt that same excitement - having the key to let Jesus in. Later that day, we went to Gillette for our weekly grocery shopping. Normally we go on the day we have District Council, but there is no meeting on the week of transfers. We decided to invite the Sister Missionaries to dinner (our treat) at a Chinese Restaurant there. It started to snow while eating, and traveling was a bit sketchy, but just a bit. We are quickly getting our snow driving skills back from last winter. It will snow to some degree about every other day. Tuesday we had two more visits. One sister is Sister G, who in the past 7 years has lost 2 sons and her husband. The last son passed away the same year as Michelle. She has such an amazing testimony of how much Heavenly Father blesses us in our trials and we should never, ever give up. In her calling as Stake Relief Society president (the past 5 years) she has had many many opportunities to share her testimony of those things with others. Our first visit with her back in February last year, she shared her whole story and testimony with us. We have done a lot of leaning on each other (Sister G and me) through some of the tougher times. She hasn’t really felt up to celebrating Christmas for much of the past 7 years, and feels I am really brave for how I have handled the holidays. I think having the support of our family and wanting things to be good for the grandchildren have kept us going. Sister G said, she wants to be brave like me and feels she is ready to make a bold move this year. Bless her heart! She knows we are there for her with anything she needs. She appreciated the goodies and the ornament. Hanging that somewhere might be the first step for her. She also makes amazing caramel popcorn. She shared some with us back when we decorated Lucille’s Christmas tree - one bag. I told her later how much we both enjoyed it. When I visited her on Tuesday, she presented me with 2 bags!! One for each of us, so we didn’t have to share. It’s so good, that it is addicting. I finally decided to hide my in the cupboard so I won’t eat it non-stop!! We also saw Renee on Tuesday. A sad bit of news there. It has come the time for Renee to be in the hospital until the end. She will come home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then return. It’s just too hard for Richard to care for her and her medical needs continue to increase. I like that she is so close to us and we can visit more regularly, but feel sad that she isn’t with her family. I went over to the hospital to help her “move in.” I just put her clothes and other stuff away. The hospital staff have decked her room all out in Christmas things; as well as, gifts from friends. She has a lot of friends and they do well at visiting her. Richard is really struggling - as expected. The only thing we know to help is to be there for him with service or visits, a shoulder for support and pray. There is much more that Heavenly Father can do for him that we cannot. Anyway, Walt brought an outlet that you can control with a remote for Renee. Hospital lights are always so harsh and Renee can’t really reach out and turn them on or off. I picked up a lamp at the thrift store, and we took them both to our visit on Tuesday evening. We’ll see if it benefits her. We told her it is no big deal, we can always return the outlet. Wednesday was 3 more visits. Our cute friend, Kay, that was baptized this summer was on our list for that day. Her mom told us when a good time was to bring goodies by. We didn’t really get a real visit, more of a drop off, but they liked the goodies. Later we took Kay to the Youth Activity (which was caroling). We also had an appointment after that. This family forgot we were coming and were in the middle of eating dinner when we came. So it was another drop off. At least we provided dessert. Their children were quite happy about that. I always explain about the significance of the ornament. Hopefully it brings them a tad closer to celebrating the true meaning of Christmas and letting Christ in. We were supposed to leave Thursday for a seminary meeting in Sheridan, spend the night at the Bailey’s and work at the temple on Friday. We found out Monday that there is a Christmas Zone conference in Billings on the 20th. So we switched our shift to the evening of the 20th for the temple, rearranged our overnight arrangements and will be able to attend. The sisters shared with us how wonderful the Christmas Zone Conference is. Lots of music, spiritual talks, food, and gifts. We aren’t sure if Senior Couples get the gifts too, but the rest will be quite uplifting. We have really enjoyed all the little celebrations and events that have occurred in the community this Christmas season. We do miss attending the annual lighting of the tree in the square in Greencastle. I remember Cash saying how much he loved it and how he loved the feeling of community it brought. Next year - Cash! Our new plan for Thursday was to pick up Nic Smith in Upton (Renee’s 4 yr old), drive him into Newcastle to visit Renee a bit, and then drive him back. This whole thing would take 3 hours or so. It would give Richard a break and allow him to focus on his work instead of what Nic was getting into next. It went really well. Nic was self entertained for the most part in the back seat. We took a game with us to the hospital so he would play with Walt. Renee just enjoyed watching him - just smiling the whole time. After about an hour, she was quite tired. Richard also gave us some ground elk meat for our freezer - love it. Really!!

The Goodies for the Smiths. I put other's goodies in pretty tins, but I didn't have a tin big enough for these. Later, for bigger groups, I wrapped the outside of boxes and used them. Since our plans changed, we made some last minute appointments for more visits. Friday, I decided to make all the cookie dough I would need to complete our goodie visits and put them in the fridge. That way all the big mess was over with, and all I would need to do is cook them. I made a board to keep track of who and when for the visits and how many cookies.

My Cookie board. The hearts, S, L, M, etc were the size of cranberry orange bread to give them Friday, we visited with Lucille, our 91 year old neighbor. Both of us feel it is like visiting our grandmother. Lucille is so delightful. She is aways kind and positive and loves to share stories. Since Walt wasn’t in on the tree decorating, she gave him the tour of her tree and all the stories that went with each ornament. She was happy to receive ours and gave me the choice of one of the ones she made herself from several years ago. I gladly accepted; it will be a treasure for my own tree for years to come. She severed us hot chocolate and cookies. Then the best treat - playing her player piano. I played a couple of Christmas “rolls” - the music is on paper rolled up that is inserted into the piano front. Then I had her pick out some favorites. I know she doesn’t get to her these very often, and brings back some great memories from her childhood. One of the rolls was made in 1908. She sang along and it was so fun.

Me playing the Player piano. You pump it with your feet.

One of the music rolls. That evening we had an appointment with a friend from the Manor. He used to work there and we met him while calling Bingo. He is a minster at one of the local churches. He invited us to dinner several months ago, so we thought they might enjoy some Christmas goodies. We thought it would be a visit, but they didn’t invite us to sit down; just graciously accepted the cookies. I felt awkward because I took off my boots right away. oops! Richard had called and asked if I could take care of Renee’s laundry from the hospital until he moved into his trailer in town. No problem - that was easy. So after our “not visit”, we texted to see if we could come pick that up. We were able to visit with her for a bit; which was nice. We always make sure it’s a good time to visit first. Sometimes it is, and sometimes not. Saturday, we visited with Sister Jensen. It was nice to be able to stay and visit a bit. She is so sweet and loves to serve. She does all our mending and such for free - it’s her part of helping missionaries. Then I took over the cookies to our neighbors (mentioned earlier). At 2 pm, we had an appointment with the Knights. We love to visit them. They always feed us and are great company. We had elk roast - super yummy! Then we played some cards. We taught them the game 3-13. The first round was a learning experience. I figured we were done. Gary said - Ok, now that I really understand the game - let’s give it another go. He kicked our butts!! He had only 2 points until we got to 8’s. Crazy. They sent us home with the left over roast - sweet. It had started snowing during dinner. I knew there would be “snow showers” which usually means no accumulation. There was 2-3 inches already by the time we left. They live up the mountain so they get more than we do in town. I started out driving, but it was really hard to see - the driveway was covered and it was snowing pretty hard. We figured once we got to the main road (route 85) it would be better. Nope, it was really hard to see the road. So Walt decided to drive. He could only go about 30 mph. Usually it’s about 70 mph. As we got closer to town, the snow slowed down. In town, we only got about an inch or two. I did text the Knights to let them know we got home safely. They would have called to check on us. Sunday was church and then a Cantata at the high school. There is a “Community Choir.” People from Upton, Osage, and Newcastle. There was a Bell Choir as well. It was a nice concert. At first, all we saw were the elderly people. We sat in the front so didn’t see the other people filling in. When we turned around afterwards, there was a pretty full house. People here seem to come all at the last minute. We got there about 30 minutes early, because I love a good seat. We saved some for Richard and his kids. Renee was supposed to come, but wasn’t feeling up to it. Her mom and step-dad both sing in that choir. Afterwards, there was cookies, punch, and coffee. We did see a few people we knew; mostly from the Senior Center, and visited with them a bit before the Cantata started.

The Bell choir The rest of our Sunday was spent getting ready for Seminary - our Christmas lesson - Luke 2, dinner, and gettin a few things cleaned up in our currently very messy house. I also finished up the last of the ornaments. Today will be the final cookie baking and a couple of visits. We are actually tired of the cookies by now. Saturday, I made the first Rice Krispie Treats of the season; Walt’s favorite. The other big project this week, was the Ward Christmas cards. The Bishopric sends out a Christmas card to each member of the ward each year; inviting them to the Christmas service. This year, Walt and I got the job of writing inside the invitation, getting labels printed, and stamped. The Bishopric signed them. It was 150 cards. I worked on them as often as possible but felt it was going pretty slow. When I was talking to the Bishop on Tuesday, he said if it was too much, maybe I could get the Seminary students to help. Bingo!!! On Thursday, I printed out the message to be written, divided the cards among the students, provided pens, and played Christmas hymns while we worked. For those that didn’t want to write, the labels and envelopes were ready for them. The Bishop even came that morning to help, and brought us doughnuts. All the cards got done. It was quite the task to get the labels correct. I guess we need more tutoring from Eric. :). We mailed them yesterday (monday)

The Christmas cards all ready to mail That is it for the week. This week coming up will be a busy one. I am sure it will be for most of you - preparing for Christmas. Don’t forget to make time for the Savior! That’s really the most important part. Watch some of the videos I gave links for, they are really good. We love you all!!

This truck drove up to our house. It was helper Fed-Ex man delivering packages. We want to extend a Merry Christmas now to all our Senior Couple Missionary friends. We read all your emails, but are not nearly as good as you about responding. We love hearing about your adventures and spreading the love of the Savior wherever you go.