Christmas 2008

Dear Friends,

We just want to send a message that we are alive and well in Taiwan. The stores are full of Christmas decorations including a plush, life-sized Santa playing The Yellow Rose of Texas. There are decorated trees and poinsettias all over but Christmas is not a holiday deserving a day off from work or school which reminds us that we are not in a primarily Christian country.

To remind us of the true meaning of Christmas, our Stake presented a wonderful program last night which we were thrilled to attend--twice. It was held in the church parking lot, a multi-media production with a huge and very good choir and Chinese actors all including a group of little angels who acted a lot like little angels in America and all over the world, I suspect. The beauty of the birth and life of our Savior was beautifully presented and came through loud and clear although it was all in Chinese, the language we have yet to learn to speak or understand.

We are definitely feeling the joy of this special season. On Wednesday, we will be spending the day with our 152 missionaries. We will be traveling on four fancy buses to an ancient village, posing in front of a giant Budda, eating in an "all you can eat" restaurant, spending the evening at the church in a devotional including the First Presidency, and enjoying the wonderful spirit of our favorite holiday with the greatest people in the world. We are happy and grateful.

Thursday the missionaries will call their families at home and then get back to work, as will we.

We send our love to you and our wishes for your happiness and well-being. Thank you for being our friends. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
Judy and Hank