Lucky Indie

I'm lucky people think that my way of doing things is at least interesting. Everyone calls me indie, so when I wrap all the presents in solid colors and simple designs and newspaper, they just say "it's so indie" and like it as a change from the normal flashy Christmas. It's the Christmas I grew up with, even though I often wished for the colored lights and four in the morning fits of mad present opening that my friends and cousins had. I'm afraid I don't know how to do that Christmas. I don't imagine it would be hard to learn, but now I feel ours is the right way. Slow and paced. Bridling the appetites. Thanks Mom and Dad.

In China, Christmas is known as Silent Night. So today we're having our mission Silent Night activity. Food, skits, gift exchange. I got a Chinese piggy bank and filled it with M&M's for Elder Fogt. I don't know him at all, and those who do just told me to do something crazy. I'm afraid the bank was maybe still a bit wet from washing it, so the M&M's might be all stuck together. It will be an engineering challenge for him.

Sister Ruan's husband is opening up a bit, though he still has a lot of doubts about "the Mormons." He actually came to a few activities though. But he doesn't want her to be baptised into a church that he is not a member of. He says that can lead to problems later on. He is right, so he needs to join too. The problems would not come from her baptism, but from his not being baptised. He believes that no church on the earth has authority from God. So close, but as of now unwilling to find out for himself. But he's nice. Just stubborn.

On Sunday at a caroling zone find we met a man from mainland who is here staying with his daughter for several months. He had no Hong Kong Cell phone, so we just scheduled him for Tuesday. We had no way of contacting him, so we were afraid he would forget, but he came, and accepted a baptismal date for next month, and is going to church with us Sunday, and got a cell phone so we can contact him. Yay! It's a Christmas Miracle! Or just a miracle. A regular old one.

I love you all! Happy Silent Night and Merry Christmas. Talk to you tomorrow!

-Noah