Almost, but not quite Christmas

How different today (Dec. 16, 2018) was from a year ago, December 16, 2017, just  arrived in Santiago after some Christmas celebrating in California, then in Salt Lake City with good-byes to  family. Last year in Santiago, we spent Christmas morning having breakfast with the MTC missionaries. Today it was just us veterans welcoming the new temple missionary arrivals, Holly and Ralph Young from near Charlotte, North Carolina (right) ...and meeting the Thompsons (left) who are in charge of missionary  housing (repairs, furnishing, and "cleanliness" inspections). They had hoped for a temple mission!

Isaacsons, Youngs, Blacks (welfare), Alma Umberg, Wallaces (recently arrived but already cooking up a storm), me

Lunch in the Isaacsons apartment after church.
Yummy food! Good cooks! We can get most ingredients for familiar food. I still need to learn to cook Chilean dishes in my last 6 months.
And this wonderful Nunez family (below) just moved into our ward after 3 years serving as mission presidents in Argentina. They gave me a delicious Christmas cake.

University classes are over for a couple months, but each university is encouraging enrollment and students are invited to admissions information fairs. These are two universities on our street: above Catholic Finis Terrae, below Universidad de Chile (huge posters in the metro station). Recently new students had to pass a two-day comprehensive exam. They get the results the end of January.

There is a nativity in front of U Chile

Interesting tree encouraging people to donate used books.

 The Providencia city hall on a warm December Sunday afternoon and evening. The lights change color and the tree is now lit, after a big lighting ceremony. 

But there is  lots of greenery on the street with lights wrapped around the tree trunks, and flowering bougainvillea in a beautiful yard in the neighborhood. During the day it is very warm/hot, but very pleasant in the evening and light until about 9 PM.

Three of us enjoyed an amazing free concert at the national library featuring 20th century Chilean composers Isamitt, Becerra and Urrutia. The musicians in different combinations were fantastic! The flautist played almost one hour straight! Many of the pieces were quite complicated and some were inspired by indigenous motifs (lots of bird songs)

Meanwhile....and halfway across the world in England, my daughter Anne and husband Neil just decorated a gorgeous tree in their beautiful 17th century home in the Cotswolds, where they married in July. They will join all my other kids and grand kids in Utah for Christmas. I will be with them in spirit.



In California, friends on my street gather at our monthly meeting to celebrate friendship. We always discuss favorite books, too. 



And my friends (Nicholas Welch having recently completed his mission in Toronto, Canada, now at Stanford University, where his dad Jim is bishop of the student ward) are skiing at spectacular Lake Tahoe. They said no one was there...all getting ready for Christmas, I guess!


And in Utah my grand-daughter Phoebe is enjoying her first Christmas in the arms of my daughter Julie, while her sisters and a cousin (in the center) dance the "Nutcracker" ballet they just saw.

Julie and Phoebe
I am really not able to mail gifts from here, but my loved ones are in the forefront of my thoughts. I have been especially thinking about the deluge of expensive gifts, excessive shopping and frenzy to decorate the perfect home that many of us stress about. I think most of us can create a warm and loving atmosphere in our homes without the money we don't have or could be better spent. Here are a few thoughts from an article by Joni Hilton:
If you are worried about gift giving  (now a few days before Christmas), consider an anonymous quote, “The richest man is not he who has the most, but he who needs the least.” 
She loves the story of Socrates, who would stride through the city marketplace, and instead of being awed by all the wonderful goods and treasures there, he would simply marvel at all the things he didn’t need.
"Parents can instill true appreciation for the things that matter most—for one another, for the gospel, for Jesus, for temples, for nature’s beauty, for all the things in life that are free, but are to be cherished. Even for laughter, music, friendship, patriotism, education, honesty, and so on. When children have—and learn to express—gratitude, they are happier people. They feel fulfilled without material trappings. Occasional gifts are nice, but not the core of their joy. Sometimes a gift from the heart is the most precious of all."

Service, a hand-printed quote, a drawing, or spending time to listen to/call or send a note to someone who is lonely or who is usually ignored, is a perfect gift. We don't have to look very far to find that person. Even those who are healthy and seem happy, connected and surrounded by love, appreciate your care!
I hope that serving my Savior and some of His children is an acceptable gift. I testify that He came to show us how to live, how to give of ourselves, how to be grateful. I know He lives, loves us without condition, is always ready to comfort and guide and forgive us, and wants only our happiness. Let us do try to do the same in our own way for others.

The temple is His house where we feel peace, learn His will for us, and perform the saving ordinances which help us stay focused on our spiritual well-being and unite families for eternity. I love the Santiago Temple (l), and am thrilled that our beautiful Oakland, California temple will be re-dedicated June 16, 2019, after renovation and remodeling, and will be open to the public (the only time those who are not qualified members of the Church of Jesus Christ can visit the inside and learn a little more about our beliefs) beforehand. Please come see on one of the following dates! I wish I could be home to accompany you. Set on a hill above the Bay, it is a beacon and landmark for planes flying into our 3 major San Francisco Bay Area airports, and is especially spectacular at night.