The Lake's Alpine Mission: December Highlights Part 3

We were blessed to attend a special Christmas Zone Conference on the 21st of December in Zurich, Switzerland. Three zones came together, the St. Gallen Zone, the Bern Zone and the Zurich Zone. Thanks to our outstanding mission president and his wife, President and Sister Brown, it was a tremendous conference. Sister Brown began by teaching about the significance of the Temple Shepherds as well as the gifts of the Wise Men using a power point presentation. President and Sister Brown had an interactive discussion with everyone on the Doctrine of Christ. Then President Brown gave a power point presentation about the miraculous coming forth of the Book of Mormon. We had three terrific musical numbers from some of the missionaries. President Gappmaier, from the mission presidency, taught a wonderful lesson from Preach My Gospel. We had a discussion with ideas from the missionaries about practical ways to keep our spirits up in the dark days of winter. After a delicious lunch prepared by the members there, we divided into zones and played a fun left/right game with wrapped gifts brought by everyone. Elder Lake was the reader of the left/right story. It was lots of fun when everyone started opening and "stealing" gifts from the group. Then we sang Christmas carols with Sister Brown accompanying on the piano. They passed out tiny electric candles and we listened to the nativity story from Luke 2 read by President Brown. The Browns brought the mission van packed with all the Christmas gifts and letters mailed to the missionaries. Such fun to watch those distributed. Zone conferences are always a delight because we all have the opportunity to connect with the missionaries we don't see very often. This was a wonderful day and we are so grateful to the Browns for all their efforts and the love and dedication they have for all the missionaries in the Alpine German Speaking Mission. They started on Monday, the 18th and did 5 of these Zone Conferences, one each day, and had to travel all over our large mission. We all love them and appreciate their tireless service and love for us. They are amazing examples and leaders!

The assistants to the President, Elders Tunnicliff and Whitaker.

Two amazing senior couples, the Gassers and the Andreasons.

Elders Ormsby, Lake and Davis

Elder Lake

President Brown

Sister Brown and Sister Lake in our dirndls.

The Lakes, the Browns, the Andreasons, and the Gassers.

Sunday, the 24th, we celebrated Christmas Eve. We enjoyed attending Sacrament meeting in the morning and focusing on the birth of the Savior. We watched the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. It was shown in German in the chapel and in English in another room for some visitors we had that day. I watched with them. It was such a beautiful meeting and the choir music and the messages shared truly helped us feel the spirit of Christmas. We had a single brother from our Branch, who is all alone, come home with us to celebrate Christmas Eve. We traveled to Dornbirn, Austria, where we joined the Dornbirn Elders at the home of the Vuissa family, Andreas, Carola, and their teenage daughters, Lena and Emily. Three of the girls' grandparents were also there. We were treated to a delicious dinner. Then we sang Christmas songs, Andreas shared a spiritual message, the Elders shared a video, message, and their testimonies of the Savior. Gifts were opened and we shared the American apple pie I brought for dessert. It was a lovely evening and we appreciated the hospitality of the Vuissas. We didn't get back home until almost midnight, so our friend, Alex, missed his train and stayed the night with us.

Carola's mother, Emily, Elizabeth, Carola, Lena

Harold and Andreas

Elisabeth, Carola, Lena, Elder Bushman, Alex, Elder Hilton

Christmas morning we had breakfast and then, while I started dinner preparations, Bob and Alex went for a brisk walk. We invited some people from our Branch who would be alone on Christmas to join us for dinner. One elderly sister caught a cold, so she stayed home. Another brother wasn't able to come, so we had two single men and a young couple with their brand new baby join us. I cooked all afternoon and made pork tenderloin in mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, home made rolls, and cinnamon rolls, and a special salad. We also had mulled cider. It was different for us to spend Christmas without any family, but we loved sharing a meal with some new friends who we really cherish. It was especially sweet to have a tiny new baby here who reminded us of the Christ Child, whose birth we were celebrating. We were able to FaceTime with each of our families in the evening and share a part of their Christmas with them. This was a Christmas we will always remember. We are very grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord in this mission and thankful for our numerous blessings. We feel the love of the Lord daily.