Holiday Activities

The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year, but it can get pretty busy with all the holiday activities. Here are some of the notable ones we've participated in so far:

• Adult Christmas RS Dinner: I helped on the RS activities committee for this. We had a very nice dinner with a program of Christmas singers. In return for the nice dinner people signed up to bring parts of a nice Turkey or Ham dinner that we could take to the needy families in our neighborhood. People were very generous and we were able to assemble 13 dinners complete with a turkey or ham, potatoes, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, sprite, apple juice, and pie. I was in charge of collecting the food and boxing it that night to be delivered to the families.
• Ward Christmas Activity: The ward decided not to invite Santa to our ward Christmas party this year and instead we focused on the events leading up to and following Christ's birth. Jason and I were responsible for the "temple room" where we wrote a 5 minute script and invited a couple in our ward to be Mary and Joseph and another couple to be Anna and Simeon. Another ward member painted a large wall size version of the temple at Jerusalem from a picture we gave him. All the ward members came dressed as people from Bible times. It was a fun activity. The ward provided some dinner and we watched a re-enactment of the Christmas Story while the Bishop read Luke 2 from the Bible.
• Holiday Work Party: We have a yearly work party at Christmas where everyone participates in a White Elephant gift exchange. It gets intense at times and people really get into it. We had 60 people there this year and it took about an hour and a half just for the gift exchange. Before the gift exchange I sang in a small Acapella group from our office. It was a lot of fun and people seemed to really enjoy it. If you want to see some of the songs we sang you can look here on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JVWx17sNUI  and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmzx4BuSJyg
• Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert: Friday Jason and I attended the MoTab Concert with Jason's parents and his brother Steve and wife Kirsten. I just stayed at work until they came and we met for dinner at the Macaroni Grill. I enjoyed the music, the lights, the scenery, and the company. The guests this year were Jane Seymour and Nathan Gunn. It was a very nice date night.

 I guess the other interesting happening of the month is that I got two new callings. Several weeks ago I was sustained as a ward organist for Sacrament Meetings. There are three other people with this calling as well so I will just play once a month. I played today and enjoyed playing the Christmas hymns. I don't know how to play the organ so I'm just playing the piano for now. Today I was also released as a primary teacher and sustained as the 2nd Counselor in the Primary Presidency. The Primary President is very organized and on top of things so I think I will enjoy working with her. This year has been a record number of callings for me. The bishopric has set me apart for 5 different callings this year not including an unofficial calling to help with the RS activities committee. Since we moved here last Fall I've served as a ward activities member, RS chorister, roadshow co-director, RS activity committee member, Primary teacher, Sacrament Mtg pianist, and now as Primary 2nd Counselor. It's been a busy year, but I'm happy to serve wherever I'm needed.