Merry Christmas! Christ Lives!

Merry Christmas!  We enjoyed having a mission Christmas with less commercialism and more time focusing on Jesus Christ and sharing his gospel. As a mission we memorized and recited together the Living Christ. Some parts that stood out to us:

"As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth.

We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary.

We testify that He will someday return to earth. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him.

As we start a new year we remember the words of our prophet at this last general conference, "The best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening His work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ.”

Invitation: 

- Read the Living Christ

- Bonus points to memorize it between now and Easter

Quite a fun and diverse group on Christmas Eve... 2 missionaries from France, a Senior couple from Utah, the husband from Peru, wife from Italy, and our friends from Africa. Dinner was a delicious mix of Italian (Pandoro cake), Peruvian (rice, chicken) and African (Beet Salad) cuisine.

What does a Senior couple do on Christmas morning with no family in town? A beautiful run of course!

Time for Laura to update her resume with these mad fruit skills she has learned. Although, Steve doesn't seem too impressed in the background.

We have very different feelings when it comes to shopping. In the end, Laura wins and Steve is left carrying the bag. 

When family can't be together, we do the next best thing and grab a few beautiful sister missionaries for a wonderful afternoon of shopping and Five Guys. It's actually more like 7 Girls and a Guy (with the Credit Card)

Not even shopping can distract us from the joy of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Action shot courtesy of the shopping sister missionaries

We love the tiny specialized shops throughout town including this cute flower shop.  "I'll buy violets and Daisies to hide all the crazy... but [it's] a good day for flower shops."

Another favorite Italian holiday tradition is chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Surprisingly, they were naturally sweet

Standing in front of the famous opera house in Milan, La Scala. Steve says he prefers to be cold standing outside, than warm inside listening to an actual opera.

After 7 months and 3 visits to the government offices (think rundown DMV) we are finally 'legal'. Yes, it was so cold inside that Steve wore a coat and gloves while he stood in line for 2 1/2 hours. The extra layers doubled as protection from the pigeons flying around indoors.