Dear Family and Loved Ones,
The Holiday season in Long Beach is off to a busy start. It’s the best time of the year to be a missionary. So many people are in the Christmas Spirit, which means many of them are thinking more of Christ and of their families (the things which matter most). It can also be challenging for our missionaries to find families at home and people to teach.
We had a “Tune Up” (training for our newest missionaries and Sisters) on Tuesday. It was wonderful to gather these young missionaries together and to see how well most of them are adjusting to life in the mission. We served Sloppy Joes, veggies and dip, chips and root beer floats for lunch. Ted said the training went very well.
Friday was ZLC, our Zone Leaders are getting rather old, some of them have been Zone Leaders for almost a year. It’s time to make some leadership changes next transfer. It will be great to have many of these seasoned Elders available to train the many new missionaries who will be arriving in the next six months.
Mari was so excited to work at a Christmas boutique with some friends from our stake Saturday and to actually get paid for her work. She had a lot of fun and got some spending money :)
Ben went with some of the Laurels and Priests in our stake to the car show in LA. They went on the metro (train) which was new experience for him. He said the car show was great and even bigger than the one in Utah. They also had lunch at a famous restaurant in LA, Felippe’s, they are well known for their amazing French Dip Sandwiches. I think the restaurant was featured on one of the travel shows. Ben said the food was incredible. He came home in time to go to the multi-stake dance in Irvine. We are blessed that the Church provides so many wholesome activities for our youth!
We are gradually getting our Christmas decorations up and it is feeling like Christmas, especially since the past week was rainy and overcast most of the week. The temperatures were still very pleasant – we are spoiled :)
Things are extra stressful for Ted right now. For some reason many of our missionaries are in need of some extra TLC, that means hours on the phone and in interviews giving the needed encouragement. It can be very draining but once the missionaries come out on top it is extremely rewarding!
We attended Stake Conference in Cerritos Stake today. The speakers were all excellent and every talk was something I could work on: Making the Sacrament More Meaningful, Stand Ye in Holy Places (the Mutual theme for 2013), Provident Living and The Blessings of the Temple. Ted gave a great talk on Christmas and Missionary Work :)
The Stake President spoke on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was a powerful talk! This dear brother’s wife passed away from cancer about eight months ago. It was evident that the Atonement has given him peace, strength and the reassurance that he will see his sweet wife again. It’s never easy to go through the trials of life, especially the loss of a loved one but it certainly has made him an even more tender, compassionate, Christ-like leader. He taught us from first-hand experience that we can turn to the Savior for comfort and that through His Atonement everything that is unfair about life will be made right. These are things we all know but as we listened to his beautiful, personal testimony they sunk even deeper into our hearts.
I love this beautiful, sacred season. I love singing Christmas songs, I love thinking of family and friends, I love the symbolic decorations, I love Christmas because I love Christ!
May you feel the Spirit of this special Holiday.
We love each of you,
The Long Beach Buberts
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