We concluded a very busy Christmas day yesterday and are now enjoying a few quiet moments to clean up the house and take care of some preparation day activities. As Sister Collins said during a recent phone call home, this certainly has been a Christmas season to remember. Although we greatly missed being with our family and carrying on our usual Christmas traditions, the uniqueness of this first Christmas in South Africa will never be forgotten. The primary reason for this, was the weather. In spite of having full knowledge of what to expect, the heat and absence of snow was something we never could quite accept. I remember grocery shopping in mid-November and asking Sister Collins, with some degree of astonishment and resentment in my voice, why Christmas decorations were on the shelves since it was 95 degrees outside, I was dripping with sweat, and there was absolutely no hint of any cooler weather arriving any time soon. Even when Christmas day finally came with an unseasonably cool temperature of 75 degrees, I still had to reason with myself to accept the incongruity of celebrating it in the middle of summer. Never has Christmas been as cerebral of an experience for me as this year! Truly, it will not be forgotten.

We spent Christmas morning attending sacrament meeting in Port Durnford. Following church we returned to our boarding to assist our elders with phone calls home and visit with them. We had invited each companionship to drop in any time during the day, or multiple times for that matter, to enjoy an “all day” breakfast of pancakes, potatoes, sausages, and fruit. We were quite busy keeping up with all of this, and that was probably best as otherwise our thoughts would have focused on how much we missed being with our family back home.

In addition to our Elders, we invited our friend, Thobani, to stop in as well. He arrived with his 6 year old daughter, Anele, and his girlfriend, Hlingiwe. The Elders interacted well with them and engaged them in discussing the topic of temple marriage. Marriage, in general, is a sensitive topic in South Africa as cultural and religious traditions often clash. Depending on what side you take, discussions can get very heated, very fast. Fortunately, our group handled the discussion calmly, and the Christmas spirit was never dampened. It was great to have Thobani, his guests, and the Elders in our home. It was a busy but very enjoyable day for everyone.