Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Santa's little helpers

All mail to missionaries in this mission goes through the mission
office. The Office Elders get to then take that mail to the
missionaries in every zone. Normally, mail gets delivered once a week,
but we've delivered mail three times since I got here, because there
simply is no room in the mission office to store everyone's Christmas
packages! Yesterday alone, between the mailman, UPS, and Fedex, our
mission received 88 packages, and they are expecting the daily number
to jump into the hundreds as Christmas approaches. So we get to load
up Telula, our affectionately named 12-passenger van, with as many
parcels as we can and try to haul out the mail at least as fast as
it's coming in. Rumor has it Telula drives as nice as a fat man's
sleigh with eight reindeer, and she delivers just about as many
presents at christmastime.

So mail has occupied more time than anything else over the last week,
and our other assignments on top of that have kept us very busy, but
every now and then we get to pop on over to an investigators house or
knock a few doors.

On Monday, I got to participate in one of the family traditions I
didn't think I would get to this year: decorating the Christmas tree.
Except it wasn't my family's tree... It was the tree of R* and
M* Gailor and their adopted son. R* is an episcopal priest
and a member of the local interfaith council. He and his husband are
very friendly people and amazing hosts. They had lots of fancy cheeses
and crackers and cookies and we're tell us all about the history of
New Rochelle. Not quite the same vibe as it would have been back home,
but it was still an enjoyable evening.

On Sunday we got a media referral for a man named D*. He
lives in a very nice part of the town of Pelham. The guy was so
excited to get his Bible and a copy of the Book of Mormon, he was
giving us fist bumps and asking questions. Then he asked the question
every missionary wants to here after meeting someone: "So when will
you guys be coming back to tell me more?" He seems quite promising!

This Friday is our mission's Christmas devotional. Good music, good
food, good friends. It will be great! We're going to be busy tomorrow
getting everything ready for it. We get to set up on the chairs and
tables, and haul supplies up to the chapel in Ossining from the
mission home.

Looking forward to seeing some familiar faces over Skype this
Christmas! Thanks for the love and support!

-Elder Samuel Burton

Photos: Santa (aka Brother Anderson from the Stake a high Council) and
his little helpers at the Ward Christmas party, the R* and
M*'s Christmas tree, Elder Casper taking a selfie while I drown
in the mail.



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