Today our "Christmas Sunday" in the NHM Mission,
and specifically where we attend in the Canterbury Ward,
was a beautiful, heart-warming and celebratory occasion.
Let me introduce you to LaVerne Blomquist who serves
as the accomplished organist and pianist for this Ward.
She has graciously invited me to use my piano experience
to accompany special musical numbers (to give her a break).
As the Christmas season approached, LaVerne suggested
that we could work together on organ/piano duets to play
as prelude in December, and also a special version of
Silent Night for the final hymn in the actual program.
Above is the worn and tattered music book from which
she/we chose our prelude selections. My siblings will
understand how this immediately transported me to
my mother's music collection, particularly to beloved Christmas
books and sheet music, which we pulled out and rehearsed
and performed from over many years.
Below, the book is open to one selection that was particularly
fun for me. I have never played anything from Handel's Messiah.
So when "He Shall Feed His Flock" was on LaVerne's clipped-on list,
I was thrilled. What joy and what memories in creation to practice
and then to play it. (The congregation may not have heard
much, though, since they were busy greeting and chatting.
Perhaps this music pleasure was meant just for me!)
Mission wide - even worldwide - friends and all have
been invited to attend the Christmas service with
a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints. (The photo below is one example
of the public way our missionaries are inviting neighbors to come.)
Helping to make that service "special" as advertised for Canterbury
was pure pleasure, and I consider it a "Christmas gift" to me!.
As a senior lady, I've been through scores
of Christmases. Now, the answer to the perennial question
"what Christmas means to me" is answered with
memories of playing and contributing sacred music in church.
As part of the program (and purely as a way to document
it here), I note that I also played for the Primary children's two songs,
a piano solo of The First Noel and a special organ/piano duet
of Silent Night, both of the latter by legendary LDS composer
Sally DeFord. I need to pen and post a HUGE tribute to her,
a woman of immense musical talent who offers her "wares"
to the musical community conveniently online and free of charge.
Below is a portrait of Sally DeFord from her website.
Her music was simple enough to prepare quickly, but beautiful
and heart-warming. Bravo, once again to Sally!!
Now I will recap what has been possibly the busiest week we have
worked since our arrival here. With the regular transfer and
reorganization of the missionary force in the NHM Mission plotted during
the first week in December, Christmas packages from
family and friends after that time would likely need to be
family and friends after that time would likely need to be
redirected, and the risk was that they would not reach missionaries
if sent directly to their apartment addresses. This is a fact we live with.
To work around this, and to try to prevent absence of packages
for devoted and diligent missionaries, the pattern in this mission
is to proactively invite parents to send packages to the mission office
by the first few days in December.
Below is a shot of the office as the packages accumulated.
These are gathered as they flow in day by day,
logged and organized by the mission secretary, grouped by zones,
then loaded and hauled to one of two combined Zone Conferences
for controlled and orderly distribution to the missionaries.
Below is a shot of the classroom at the Yarmouth ZC
where they were alphabetized so that, as the young missionaries
stepped from the line up out in the hallway to the doorway,
their package(s) could be easily found, checked off, and given.
Zones were divided roughly into the east half of the mission
(Bangor, Augusta, Exeter) for a meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 17
in Yarmouth, ME (we usually meet in Farmingdale, ME), and
as west half (Montpelier, Concord, Nashua) for a meeting on
Thursday, Dec. 19 in Sharon, VT. Weather for both meetings
complicated things. We traveled into Maine the evening ahead
to help decorate the chapel and cultural hall.
In Sharon (at the JSM), the senior South Royalton sisters
had planned and prepared world-class desserts:
individual mini bundt style cakes with chocolate mousse
filling and chocolate sauce "shell". Remember that there were
100 people to serve. Absolutely delicious!
And practically too beautiful to eat (on the red plates).
Sister Speer also had created, with some help, the tree trunk
discs with hand-printing, tiny wooden turned peg figures,
fancy bows and LED electric candles. It was beautiful indeed!
The meal in Yarmouth was provided exclusively by
the local unit there - a committee of mostly women
who call us in early October to make sure we still "want"
them to do this at Christmas time.
Below, the kitchen helpers in Sharon make an appearance
good naturedly to be sung to by the missionaries following
our abundant and delicious spiral ham and potatoes lunch.
(Sister Olado, Elder Sypher, Sister Kill)
There were many people who filled my lamp during
these events. I begin that list here, with recent member
Homer and his son Julian. They helped me personally
to peel the 14 pounds of granny smith apples so that
I could saute the slices with cinnamon as a sweet way
to embellish that delicious ham entree.
Also on hand as helper was Adam Porter, whose
wonderful conversion story has impressed and blessed
the mission as he presented in the recently-passed months.
Adam was an example that day to me, as he quietly
reached out to those helping, and to us, mentoring
and inviting and ministering and valuing those over whom
he had some leader stewardship. Adam is also remarkable
because he owns rabbits, and always keeps our edible
scraps - such as apple peelings and extra lettuce - from
going into the dumpster!
These Christmas "party" Zone Conferences were something
Elder and Sister Warner have been looking forward to
and planning for since late September. An idea was floated
which we commandeered - to prepare custom-designed jewelry
for each missionary: tie bars for the elders;
necklace medallions with chain for the sisters.
I worked to design these, partnering with a producer out of
Davis County in Utah. When the project lost traction,
Elder Warner stepped in and offered to sponsor the gifts.
We waited for them to arrive from production in China,
received the distressing and somewhat funny news that
'Manchester' had been misspelled on the tie bar, requested
special expedited attention to get them here on time.
Meanwhile, I designed and prepared the packaging so that
we could distribute them, one by one,
to the Elders and Sisters.
It was pure pleasure to hand them individually to
these young people we serve and whom we love.
Here, at lunchtime at the Yarmouth ZC, Elder Sanchez
models his tie bar, and even allowed me . . .
. . . to snatch a closeup so we could report it on this blog.
Finally, I include a picture of these wonderful young sisters
who now are "our missionaries" in the Canterbury Ward,
Sister Linford (a greenie) and her trainer Sister Parry.
They will help me begin my list of those who have filled
my Christmas lamp with oil this week.
Sister Parry, who has sign language skills, took initiative
to learn signing for the verses that the ward choir
sang of With Wondering Awe as a way of blessing
the life of our fellow member Judy Johonette-Young.
We were blessed by the Elders and Sisters who
so warmly reacted to our mission jewelry gifts.
My load was lifted by those volunteering and so ably
putting on the Christmas party lunches in Yarmouth
and in South Royalton.
My spirits soared as I played wonderful Christmas music
with my new musical friend LaVerne.
My heart was touched when my friend Andrea texted me to say
she loves seeing me, and that "you make the world a brighter
place", and that she loves us.
My heart was warmed as Elder Warner shared a mission
Christmas experience at both Zone Conference
meetings (more about that next week).
And even, unexpectedly, by a young girl in a white dress
with red embroidery who was the first thing I saw as I opened
the front chapel hallway door to make my way to the piano stand
to play. She looked like an angel, something out of a favorite
vintage Christmas storybook (Twinkle, the Busiest Angel, above)
from my childhood. I told her how beautiful she looked.
She spontaneously embraced me - a Christmas angel hug!
May your Christmas lamps be full and overflowing!
Merry Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment