Christmas with the Missionaries

All the missionaries in the Cambodia mission except the seniors from Vietnam gathered in Phnom Penh for two days together to celebrate Christmas. Christmas Eve started with a service project to put kits together for all the YM and YW of the Church in the mission area.  The kits included notebooks, pens and pencils, bookmarks, pictures and information to encourage the youth to prepare for the Temple. They received a coupon for a one year subscription to the Liahona. They also got some treats in the bags. The missionaries decorated the notebooks and wrote a letter encouraging them to seek the Temple. Everything was bagged and divided by Branch or Ward for the missionaries to deliver when they returned to their assignments. 

After the service project everyone had lunch together and the there was a missionary talent show. We were pretty amazed by the talent they were willing to share. Some were fun and some very serious but the best part was watching how the missionaries cheered and encouraged each other. Next there were some fun games like "don't eat Santa", and push up contests. Then it was time for a devotional and then dinner together. All the senior sisters helped Sister Moon with food preparation but she still carried a big load. The Moon's youngest three daughters were visiting for Christmas so they helped all day too.  The Sister missionaries who came from out of the city stayed the night at the mission home and the Elders stayed in a guest house near the Stake Center. 

On Christmas morning everyone gathered again for a training session given by the APs and the Moon's and that was followed by a wonderful testimony meeting. I feel like a child when I listen to the missionaries bear their testimonies. They teach me every time. They are wonderful and strong representatives of The Lord. As we listen we understand why Elder Wong called the missionaries here "Green Beret " missionaries. 

Next came lunch and then back home so the missionaries could call their families. They were all told to get back to proselyting that afternoon when calls were finished. The missionaries from the States called home the next morning because of the time difference. 

It was a wonderful two days.