Christmas Fun
President and Sister Sainsbury invited all the Senior missionaries to the mission home for a Christmas Party. Each couple chose to bring something Savory or Sweet. They had a snack type of offering where there were a lot of Christmas dishes and treats to try out. Two of my favorites were the clam dip and the shrimp with cocktail sauce.
After we ate, President Sainsbury shared how they were called to the Mission Presidency and all the thoughts that came to him when they received two different invitations to meet with General Authorities(Elder Stevenson, President Eyring). Their family was hunting for a pinion pine tree for Christmas about 40 miles from their home in Payson, UT where he didn't think he had any cell phone reception. President was told to only share the interview information with his wife.(Sister Sainsbury was really enjoying her kids and grands and didn't want to be bothered with President trying to "Talk" at that outing moment!!) They were both kind of walking around numb with knots in their stomachs when their grown children said, "Dad are you okay? You're kind of quiet!!"
He said no one would tell him what the interviews were about and to relax if he had not heard back after 6 weeks. After the time passed, he relaxed and received a call the next day saying he was needed in the ABM. President Sainsbury said his patriarchal blessing had told him he would serve at home and abroad.(as a young missionary, he served in Sweden) So he felt right about the calling!!
Several Senior's shared their favorite Christmas memories. Sister Barfuss shared when she was seven years old and her family donated the plastic piggy bank full of Christmas money to the Eagle Ward building fund. She and her younger sister, Diane(3yrs) walked up to Bishop Marshall's door and gave him the bank and told him it was to help build the new church house. We were a struggling farm family with two brothers serving church missions and the oldest in Chiropractic college. Mom was so worried how she was going to make Christmas happen with no resources!! Roger, Kenny and Richard all sent money home for Christmas that year and we each did have a small gift to open. As the years have passed, this story has taken on deeper meaning because I know what it takes to cover a nice Christmas. Many years, I would play at it all year long, sewing, crafting, watching the sales to make sure each child had a wonderful Christmas experience. The sacrifice and faith it took for my parents to give and subsequent teach the children was amazing!!(Our family received a new Stake Center to attend and were told the meeting schedule. It was anti-climatic for me because I remember the fund-raising dinners, the bazaars, the auctions and work on the Eagle church house by all of us. I contemplated the lost lessons of sacrifice and faith that insurance protocols have taken from church members, not allowing the layman to help.)
At my father's funeral(LeRoy Smith Fairbanks) Bishop Marshall spoke and told the Christmas Piggy Bank story and about "those cute little girls giving away their Christmas."
This past week, Elder Barfuss met Bruce Marshall(one of Bishop Marshall's sons) who serves as a Temple worker in the Birmingham Temple. They had a great discussion about growing up in the Eagle Ward, the tragic car accident of seminary students where black ice took them into a tree and two died. My father needed my brother Wayne to transport a vehicle for routine service, otherwise Wayne would have been in the car that morning. Bruce Marshall still suffers PTSD from the accident and told Elder Barfuss he finds the greatest of all peace serving in the Temple.
Sister Lucy Christensen told her husband's childhood memory of steeling three goslings from a nest along the Boise River. He and his two brothers named the goslings, "Andy, Dandy and Gandy." An uncle clipped their wings so they couldn't fly away once they grew a little. Those geese would follow those three boys to and from the bus stop every single day, just like a faithful dog! One day after school, the geese didn't show up and the boys hunted everywhere. For several days they looked without success.
A few weeks later, a lady stood up in Sacrament meeting and bore her testimony saying, "The Lord has been so good to our family. We have been struggling along and just before Thanksgiving, three tame geese walked into our yard. We were so thankful for a lovely Thanksgiving dinner together!! (Three Christensen boys were sobbing on their church bench!!)
Sister Barfuss added their family had two pet ducks, "Peter and Potter" who played with the children and ended up on the platter!!
On the internet there was a cow who gave birth to quads(1 in 180 million chance of them living) They named them "Eenie, Meenie, Minie and Moo." (Grandma Barfuss told Steve her pet cow was named "Moo.")
Sister Dance told about her parents having their Grandparents over for Christmas Dinner. They did not actively attend any church in her youth. They were a struggling farm family and her father only owned overalls. Her mother made sure her father polished his shoes for the company and dinner. Her Mother's parents came dressed in their finest clothing and grandmother had on her pearls. The grandparents and parents spoke about putting your best self forward and giving your finest to honor the Savior's birth. This had made a great impression on young Sister Dance and she remembered the reverence and love they showed toward Jesus. This helped prepare her heart to embrace the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ when she was older.
All the Seniors sang, "Silent Night" at the end of the evening just before a closing prayer. Last,
Brother Prosch shared about serving in the military when Bob Hope entertained the troupes for Christmas. He did a great job, but at the end he said, "The President is trying to find a way to get you boys home as soon as possible" and the G.I's booed at him. Bob Hope asked Connie Francis to help him out of this and she began singing "Silent Night." The peacefulness of that hymn brought the ruckus down to the place where everyone was singing along with her. " Peace on Earth" was once again restored.
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