rejoice!

Christmas greetings from the New York Rochester Mission



(left to right) Us, Elder and Sister Servoss, Elder and Sister Jensen, and (seated) our wonderful Mission President
and his wife, the Christianson's.

What a blessing it's been to meet every Monday morning  with these tremendous folks. 
Along with planning and coordinating all the details of running a mission,
 we are strengthened spiritually as our mission president shares with us
 his testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, his tremendous knowledge
 of the scriptures (he can pull any scripture out of his head) , and his many insightful thoughts.

This week we had our Christmas Zone meetings. Each day ended with
 musical presentations by the missionaries, a movie and testimonies.

One of our missionaries, Elder Goedel, a former national hoop dancing champion,
 was able to perform a dance taught to him by his father.

 

 

 

 

 

 He starts off with just one hoop, and  gradually adds more hoops, until he is dancing with all 8.
The dance is very intricate and graceful,
 representing the growth of a fledgling into a mighty eagle.

These young missionaries emerge from their missions as mighty men and women of God.
 Jesus Christ gives us wings to soar like an eagle.

So, wishing all of our family and friends a joyous Christmas.

 Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers sent our way this year.

 And, y'all -- looks like we're in for a white Christmas!

 

 view from our bedroom window this morning