CHRISTMAS EVE

THE BEAUTIFUL MANILA TEMPLE



THE VIEW FROM OUR BALCONY





THE TEMPLE GROUND CHRISTMAS LIGHTS





WE LOVED HAVING A WARM CHRISTMAS





ENJOYING DINNER WITH THE OTHER MISSIONARIES





FILLING BAGS OF GOODIES FOR THE MTC MISSIONARIES

 Christmas Eve was the day I finally felt like it could be Christmas time. We were warmly remembered by all of our temple missionary friends. They all brought us plates of Christmas goodies.That evening we got together and had a pot luck gathering. We practiced for a program we were going to present to the Missionaries at the MTC Christmas morning.It was really fun and the best part was putting together goodie bags for the missionaries.On Christmas Day we went to the MTC and presented a program about the birth of the Savior. We sang a lot of carols as part of the presentation. To hear the missionaries sing was so touching. The best part was when we were through with our program the missionaries sang back to us I'm trying to be like Jesus.Then the tears were in everyones eyes and the spirit was so strong. These beautiful missionaries come from places you don't even know have the gospel. They were from Pakistan, India, Shri Lanka, Indonesia, Mongolia and the Philippines. They were beautiful and some had given up their families and the life they knew to come on a mission. About 1/3 of them were beautiful sisters.It was a great christmas for us.