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| Sam Austin Judy Born January 6, 2013 at 4:30 a.m. 7 lbs. 12 oz.-20 3/4 inches long |
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| Sam and his mom |
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| Sam with his happy family- Kate, Dallin, Claire, Jennifer, Sam |
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| Connie's little friend- Tomasa Valensuela, newly baptized |
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| On the corner of the famous Hollywood and Vine |
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| Connie on the same corner |
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| Connie in front of Paramount Pictures |
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| A few nights before Christmas as we left the visitors center, Dale said, "It feels like a crisp fall night, not Christmas." The following morning at the visitors center out one of the windows we noticed it did indeed look like fall, not Christmas. This was our cold spell while the rest of the United States was freezing. |
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| President and Sister Baker with Santa Claus. |
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| Sister Kelley sitting on Santa's lap! I think this could be a case of "I saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus!" |
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| Dale and Connie with Santa |
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| The Shakespears, Grovers, and Dale and I filled a large pinata for the sisters for Christmas. They were so excited, it made it so much fun! |
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| Sisters with Santa |
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| Following the mission activities December 24, the missionaries received their packages. Three came into the empty visitors center and unwrapped their presents in front of the Christus. |
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| That same morning with no one in the visitors center Sisters--Cole, (who is behind Barney) Barney and Coplan started dancing! They were so cute! |
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| Dale and I New Years Eve at the 6th Ward Celebration. |
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| Victoria Olasava, 6th ward Relief Society President asked me for some ideas for week day activities. I asked if they had ever done a service project. She asked for an idea. I was surprised they had never heard of the Humanitarian Center. I taught them how to make quilts for the Humanitarian Center. They loved it! They were so excited! |
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| They worked on a baby quilt and a quilt for a double bed that night. They had never tied a quilt and they loved doing it. They were just thrilled. |
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| These sisters finished the baby quilt that night. The bishop's wife, Hna. Segovia, (In the red sweater in the middle) speaks English very well. She helped me so much that night. She was a great interpreter. |
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| Ever since we arrived, Dale has wanted to go to the Autry Museum. We finally went. He is standing by Gene Autry--his favorite cowboy. |
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| They had many wonderful statues through out the museum. Gene Autry built the museum. He didn't want it about him but about the settling of the Western United States. It was a very interesting museum. |
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| A few mornings ago outside of our apartment building Hollywood had arrived to shoot a movie. You see them all over Los Angeles. When they arrive, every one caters to them.
January
Birthdays
Happy Birthday Dear Charity—January 12—17 years old!
Happy Birthday Dear Cliff C.—January 25—40+ years old!
Happy Birthday Dear Shane—January 31—40+ years old!
News Flash:
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WE HAVE A NEW GRANDSON!!
SAM AUSTIN JUDY
BORN SUNDAY, JANUARY 6, 2013
Missionary Work
When
you wait to write for such a long time, there is a lot of living that goes
undocumented. Thank goodness pictures
are a good reminder of things that have happened. We worked in the Visitor’s Center for almost
3 months. This was a great experience
for us but we didn’t have as much time to work in the wards and we missed that
also.
Christmas
2012 was one we will always remember. It
is probably one of the most spiritual Christmases we have had. The crèches (Nativity
Scenes) from all over the world that were on display in the Visitors Center
were phenomenal. The people we met from
all over the world were wonderful and interesting. Spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with
the dear sister missionaries added so much to the Christmas spirit. Every night in December at the Visitors Center
someone came and performed a musical program.
Next year we will miss receiving a Christmas card from the first
presidency. They send you one when you
are a missionary.
We
are so thankful for President and Sister Baker.
They added so much to the spirit of Christmas also. December 24th at 8:00 in the
morning we all met at the Westwood chapel in back of the Visitors Center. The elders and sisters performed musical
numbers for approximately 30 minutes.
They were beautiful and inspiring.
Sister Baker talked about being a good receiver as well as a good
giver. She started out talking about
Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, who prophesied 5 years before Christ’s birth of
the signs that would follow his birth.
As the time drew nearer and nearer there were those who lost faith and
said it wasn’t going to happen. They
mocked those who still had faith and believed.
They even said that if there weren’t signs of his birth by a certain
date, the believers would be killed!
Contemplate how the believers might have felt. Would their faith waver? Would they deny they believed? Were they afraid? Did they doubt? Think of their feelings as
the anticipated day drew near. Nephi,
the prophet, prayed mightily unto the Lord all day. The voice of the Lord came to him and said,
“Lift up your head and be of good cheer… on this night shall the sign be given,
and on the morrow come I into the world.”
Can you imagine the relief and happiness of the believers when the signs
came? Can you imagine how thankful they
were for the gift of the redeemer? Can
you imagine the astonishment of the unbelievers? What a great gift we all received on that
first Christmas.
Jeffrey
R. Holland talks about his first Christmas in the mission field. It was clearly uneventful and the least
festive Christmas he had ever spent but it was one of the sweetest Christmases
he ever had. Perhaps it was the first
time in his life he understood Christmas rather than just enjoying it. For the first time in his life he “got it”…the
message of Christ’s birth and life, his mission and sacrifice. That sums up how thankful we are for Jesus
Christ and for the opportunity we have had to be his servants. We pray all of
you will keep your faith.
Monday,
January 7, our good friends, the Shumans left the mission field to go home to
Georgia. My how we miss them. They were
just great wonderful people. We will
always hold their friendship close in our hearts.
Tuesday
was our last day at the Visitors Center.
They asked a couple who recently returned from a mission to substitute
until the couple, whose call was delayed because of medical reasons can come. We will miss being there but it has seemed so
good to be back working in the wards again.
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