MERRY CHRISTMAS

December 25, 2013 

EDITOR'S NOTE

Mikayla had told us that she would be able to Skype at 2:00 pm EST.  Her family was ready and waiting at 2:00 pm with a laptop connected to a big screen TV.  2:00 pm came and went. Finally at 2:45 pm the phone rang and Mik called letting us know she was ready to Skype.  The CA LA mission requires all mail and packages to go through the mission home.  Mail is delivered to the missionaries on Fridays at their district meeting.  Because many packages didn't arrive at the mission home by Friday, December 20th, the mission president had the zone leaders play Santa and deliver the packages on Christmas Day.  The zone leaders had a package to deliver to Mikayla's companion so they were waiting for them to arrive before leaving for their bishop's home to Skype, thus the delay.  

We were able to visit with Mikayla for 40 minutes and she shared a few stores with us.  One being that even though she and her companion are living in Beverly Hills they were able to provide gifts for a teen that otherwise would not have had much of a Christmas.  When Mikayla and her companion realized their were no gifts for the teen, they opened their Christmas packages early, took one of the Christmas stockings that had been sent to them and filled it with gifts they had received.  

Mikayla also said that even though she is now serving in an English speaking area she continues to practice her Spanish and share the gospel with Spanish speaking people working in the Beverly Hills area.  She said that one day her companion and she saw a couple of gardeners working in a yard.  They quickly put together some treats for them but as they walked out the door they saw that there was more gardeners than they thought.  They ran back in the house to make some additional treats, but were then disappointed when they went outside and found that they had already left.  

Mikayla's family has a tradition of opening PJ's given by Mrs. Claus on Christmas Eve.  Mikayla's mom had sent Mik and her companion PJ's so they could continue the tradition.  Mikayla's mom had ordered fabric with shells and clams on them to make pajamin bottoms since her mission is know as the CLAM.  Mik said she thought the bottoms were cute and figured they had shells on them since LA is close to the beach but was oblivious to the clam theme until her landlord saw the PJ's and commented on the clams.  Mik then made the connection!  

Mikayla also said she loves serving in the LA area and enjoys the diversity of people in LA. 

Skyping with Hermana Pillar 

James, Mik and Madeline