President Watrous also asked Signe and me to be on the program with him, so Gary sang the first two verses of "Silent Night" while Signe played a violin obbligato. Then the missionaries joined us on the third verse. This we did in four separate zone meetings throughout the mission: in Placentia, Anaheim, Santa Ana and Newport Beach. We both felt honored to participate in this manner.
Christmas morning we senior missionaries put on a Christmas breakfast for the four sister missionaries who also live in Portofino. They really appreciated it and serenaded us with "Silent Night" in parts.
At 3 in the afternoon we all attended a baptism in the Anaheim Stake Center, along with president and Sister Watrous. Tongan 11-year old twins (Kaolo and Filipo) were baptized, after havng been taught by the sister missionaries. We understood very little of the service, although we sang the Tongan hymns with gusto, pronouncing every vowel (as in Hawaiian). The baptism over, we were fairly dragged, almost against our own will, into the cultural hall where we were seated at the place of honor to participate in a Tongan feast and dance. The food was more than plentiful, and included several roasted pigs throughout the hall, including this one, where we had to extract the meat with our fingers! (Octopus, taro root, corned beef and shrimp were also in abundance.)
At 3 in the afternoon we all attended a baptism in the Anaheim Stake Center, along with president and Sister Watrous. Tongan 11-year old twins (Kaolo and Filipo) were baptized, after havng been taught by the sister missionaries. We understood very little of the service, although we sang the Tongan hymns with gusto, pronouncing every vowel (as in Hawaiian). The baptism over, we were fairly dragged, almost against our own will, into the cultural hall where we were seated at the place of honor to participate in a Tongan feast and dance. The food was more than plentiful, and included several roasted pigs throughout the hall, including this one, where we had to extract the meat with our fingers! (Octopus, taro root, corned beef and shrimp were also in abundance.)Then we escaped to the Mission Home down the street for dessert (from our earlier formal Christmas dinner) and for our "White Elephant" gift exchange. With us most of the evening was Sister Bobi Rush, who is a self-appointed missionary to the Persian people, which number about 30,000 people in Irvine. (Later she stopped by the office so that Gary could give her some copies of the Book of Mormon in Persian and Arabic, as well as some pamphlets.) The Christmas tree below was entirely decorated by the missionaries: all white, home-made ornaments, from cut-out stars to a well-made sheep made of a white sock and stuffing.
Although we missed our family this Christmas, it was made up for by 156 wonderful missionaries, office staff and president and his wife. We were also more involved in activities this Christmas than we ever have had. And although there was no snow, we made up for it with a weekend of baptisms, including a Hispanic one in Santa Ana we attended Sunday night, singing the hymns in Spanish this time!
Although we missed our family this Christmas, it was made up for by 156 wonderful missionaries, office staff and president and his wife. We were also more involved in activities this Christmas than we ever have had. And although there was no snow, we made up for it with a weekend of baptisms, including a Hispanic one in Santa Ana we attended Sunday night, singing the hymns in Spanish this time! Happy New Year, everyone!
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