We had the annual Zone Christmas Party in Bucharest on Friday, December 12th. Wendy and I took the Harry Potter Train, overnight to Bucharest arriving at 6am Friday morning. The Christmas Party was great, it is wonderful to be with these young men and women who are serving so valiantly. They love to get together and have fun. The above photo is of our mission president and his wife and son along with the assistant's doing their "skit". All of the districts put on a skit and everyone had a good laugh. After we had the exchange of ties (for the Elders) and scarfs (for the Sisters). Everyone put their gift in the center of the room, we drew numbers then chose a package. Then that tie or scarf could be taken by the next numbers for a total of two steals. It was alot of fun as you can see by the expression on Elder Sandbergs face above.

Christmas in Moldova is different than what we are used to. The traditional Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. The other Christian Church's recognize December 25th so you get two holidays. However all of the faiths do their gift exchange and Santa comes on December 31st. We are planning a Christmas Eve party here at our apartment on the 24th, all of the missionaries (from our district) and many of our young adults will come over and we will watch the Hollywood movie The Nativity, sing Christmas Carols and eat. It will help all of us to be together since we will all be missing our families back home.

From us to you, we wish you a Merry Christmas. Enjoy the Holidays with your families. Don't forget to thank your Father in Heaven for the wonderful blessings you enjoy. We are truly blessed. Wendy and I are grateful for the opportunity to be here in Chisinau, Moldova we truly love the people here and are thankful for this opportunity to serve these wonderful young adults.