Our last Christmas in the New Hampshire Manchester Mission has come and gone. Our last zone conference was on 12/28/23. It doesn't seem possible that 23 months have almost come to an end. At our last zone conference we had the honor of giving some parting remarks to the missionaries and then had the privilege of being the narrators for the nativity story as we had done last year. We've served with 71 missionaries during our time here in the Lowell District. We've grown to love each of those 71 missionaries and will miss them when we head home on January 9, 2024. 
Earlier in the month we had a festive Christmas Party in the Lowell First Ward. It was an evening of musical performances, highlighted by the missionaries of the Lowell District performing the Little Drummer Boy complete with percussion. They are very talented and received a standing ovation from the ward members in attendance. Here are some pictures of that evening.

Truly it was one of the best Christmas parties I have been to in many years. Lots of people attended and we enjoyed this experience with friends who have become very precious to us.

During this month we've battled colds and COVID much like everyone else it seems. But we managed to make a trip on December 23, 2023 to the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial in South Royalton, Vermont to see the Christmas lights and bid farewell to Elder and Sister Hegsted, a senior couple that serve there. We've grown close to them during our time here. They are from Pocatello, ID, and we found that we actually lived in Pocatello in the same ward many years ago when I was in the Navy. We didn't know each other, but have the same background and didn't know it. 

On December 19, 2023 we celebrated our 42nd wedding anniversary. It cannot possibly be that long! We were so young when we married!

We continue to teach the temple preparation classes in the ward. On 12/22/23 we were privileged to help Pierre Laurent enter the temple and make his temple covenants. Afterward we enjoyed a picture with friends to remember the moment.

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed the evening with the Nerio Family and the Spanish Speaking Hermanas and the new senior couple, Elder and Sister Reynolds, who will replace us when we go home. The Nerios are a wonderful family who we've grown close to while we are here.

On Christmas Day we had dinner with the Meirelles family and all the Spanish speaking missionaries and the Portuguese speaking missionaries. Afterward, the missionaries entertained us with music again.

And so here we are, at the end of 2023. We wish all of you, our friends, a Happy New Year!

It doesn't seem possible but we are entering into the last month of our mission. So many things to do and not much time. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with our good friends, the Meirelles family in the Lowell First Ward. What a treat to be with this good family and the family of their son's girlfriend. We have met so many great people here in our New England journey. We continue to work as before with the Spanish group. Our hearts will always have a place for these people and their goodness. We continue to teach temple preparation classes. One of the students will journey to the Boston Temple on December 22nd to make his sacred covenants there and we will accompany him. We are teaching others as well right now. We teach the lessons to a sister in the Spanish group in Spanish. We teach another family who are from Laos. Another sister who is from Cambodia, and another brother in the English ward. So, that appears to be our focus until we leave. It is our own way of "lighting the world" at this time of year.

We had Zone Conference on November 28, 2023 in Nashua New Hampshire. We enjoy meeting with all the missionaries and being taught by our mission leaders. We get to see some of the missionaries who have served with us in Lowell, MA and renew our friendships. Zone conferences are the best!

In Sturbridge Massachusetts their is a living history type of venue called Old Sturbridge Village. We've been there before to see a revolutionary war reenactment last year. At Christmas time the village is decorated to reflect life in the early 1800s during the holiday season. We were able to go last week and enjoyed seeing the displays and people dressed in period clothing. Here are some pictures that we took.

Still no snow here in Lowell, MA. Surely it is coming. It has been sunny but cold and a little bit of rain the past few days. Up north there has been over a foot of snow in some locations. We will see if we can avoid it until leave here.