Seven days of a wonderful Christmas season have
already passed and we have been involved with the NHMM
activities coordinated with the Light the World campaign.
But first, a climate and conditions update.
The snow storm that was promised by meteorologists
and news casters last weekend delivered with a punch!
The forecast was for 10-14 inches. Before bedtime,
we peeked intermittently out the balcony window to see the snow,
and while it was a serious "powder sugaring", it seemed unlikely
that such a light rate would lead to that much accumulation.
In the early morning hours, I spread the blind slats to get a view
and was astonished to see that 10" on the roof of the utility
shed behind the apartment building, and on the stacked
picnic tables next to it.
We dug out around our un-sheltered car in
the parking lot to make our way to the Mission Office.
Now we see one reason for the habitual back in parking
that is the norm here in Manchester - it is easier to get moving
in the deep snow by going forward. We also noticed, and then followed suit
to stand our windshield wipers up as we left the car for overnight.
Back to Light the World:
Because I am involved with regular pass along cards and other
printed supplies, I was enlisted to track down information
about getting printing done for pass along cards, Christmas
sacrament meeting post card invitations, month-long calendars
of daily prompts, and other ideas for the missionaries to share.
The artwork for the campaign is provided by the Headquarters
Missionary Dept., but it was a chore to get access in a way we
could use in those early days. (Shortly after we had made first steps
and placed printing orders, the pdf artwork for an array of
display and hand outs became available through the regular
missionary portal.)
We tracked down banners among our supplies,
prepared last year using mission funds,
and then a decision was made to have a couple of 2019
versions printed for circulation to December events around
the mission. This image is taken from the newest Church
nativity video, which had some wonderful, touching elements
as it presented the scriptural nativity story.
At Zone Conferences in November, the Mission's
"roll out" for Light the World included distribution of
pass along cards, calendars, and Dec. 22nd meeting
invitations. Since I had used graphic art tools to
modify one of the pdf files to the format that could be
best printed by our local Staples stores, a request came
just this last week from the Spanish sisters in Lowell, MA:
could I modify what we had to offer some in Spanish?
I was prepared to re-create them, but then realized that
the Global Missionary effort probably had already done that.
Discovering the files in Pres. Beck's portal, I arranged
to have them printed, but missed the in-and-out of
missionaries coming in for transfers this week.
So I traveled to the southern reach of the Mission
to deliver the printed cards to the Lowell District at their
Friday meeting. This is the group picture of the Sisters there.
Aren't they wonderful! (And beautiful!)
Transfers on Thursday were extra hectic (postponed one day
because of the heavy snows and concern about 2 to 3 hour
car rides in from northern Maine and Vermont) .
We moved the activities, supplies pick up, snacks
and socializing to the Primary and Young Women's rooms
side of the Manchester chapel building because the main gym,
RS room and kitchen were being prepared for the event
advertised with the following post card.
The official title is Creches, Carols and Cookies.
This event was described to us in advance, but once the crews
had actually started setting up, we were absolutely amazed
by the hours and hours of volunteer time to collect,
plan, stage, unpack, and decorate the large gym with
more than one hundred nativities. This event is intended as
outreach to the community. Shown here are (right) this year's
chair person Jennifer Smith, and Valerie Earnshaw who was
instrumental eleven years ago in starting the Creches event.
We saw them for long stretches each day this past week
getting things ready. Long as in Dawn to Dark!
The following are a few shots of the gym as they
awaited the first guests to view their displays.
Though parts of the same view, additional photos give some
small sense of how large the display is. Chairs are
set up to provide audience seating for the performance
on the stage of small singing and instrumental groups
as the 'Carols' part of the evening events.
Lighting is a major part of what makes this special.
The attention to detail was absolutely astounding
and inspiring.
In a separate room, activities geared to children
were set up, including this scenery to represent
the Bethlehem experience, with dress-ups, crafts
and touchable nativity sets.
Below, this beautiful porcelain was special to me,
since it represents the flight to Egypt -- not usually
part of the nativity story for pre-Christmas decorating.
It is always a pleasure to see the representation
of the traditional nativity figures from other cultures.
Here is a cute one from Mexico, with the baby Jesus
in a "manger" that is a hammock.
Though not among the most glamorous of the nativity sets
on display, this picture shows how thoughtfully the crew
arranged the scenes: on shelves, with down light discs,
LED candles and votives for a subtle glow.
It dawned on me on Monday, as we saw the transformation
in the gym, that I had recently designed and constructed
a paper (and wood bead heads) holy family. They
accepted my invitation to include it in the display.
Here you can see how wonderful they made it look.
Kinda fun to be a contributor.
The display was non-denominational and welcomed
visitors from the community, so the missionaries had
restrictions against actively proselyting or presenting.
One thing they were permitted to do was to share
the Light the World information. And their plans turned into
a fun chance for me to use my paper crafting design skills.
I had already worked up the "word art" to replicate
artwork that we, at the time, couldn't get our hands on,
for LTW pass along cards. The Manchester and Bedford
Sisters were scrambling to complete their "assignments"
prior to the transfers that would shuffle the areas they
would be working in. Vince overheard their plans,
and came and retrieved me (from practicing piano
in the chapel), thinking I could offer them help.
They were trying to enlarge artwork so they could
cut out the letters for this bulletin board calendar.
When I gently introduced the notion that I had a fast,
already-to-go way to help them cut using the die cutter
(Silhouette Cameo) that I design for, they seemed relieved.
So the next day, I brought the machine, laptop,
tools and supplies to work with them on site.
They did a great job didn't they! The bulletin board
looks like a patchwork quilt - and it's made of paper.
This group shot, below, includes three of the "new" incoming
Sisters who had arrived the previous day, but were
kept busy with the local area Sisters until transfers
which would take place the next day (Thursday).
They also worked together for this interactive
"How will you light the world?" ornaments onto
the tree activity.
(l to r: new Sisters Linford, Jones, and Gaunt;
Sisters Hepworth, Chesley and Goldrup)
Busy as usual - busier than most.
It has been a fun start to a special holiday season.
And our lamps have been richly filled once again.
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