short message

Hello family.
We hope you are all doing well. This afternoon we skyped with Russ and Christine and they are doing well. It was great to see them and also we visited with Rob and Whitney this week. So good to see them, Rob had a snow day, so he was home. Hailey is so cute and we loved hearing her say words, like "thank you" and "bye bye." It was so cute and soft. Just loved it.
On our P-Day, we were at the branch Christmas party. There is this cute little boy in the ward. He's just learning to walk so he's just a little unsteady on his feet. Well he started out walking towards us, then he stopped in his tracks and looked at us with his big dark eyes and started crying. I just think he saw his first "white ghosts". Even at church today he started to cry when he saw me. I just want to squeeze him and give him a hug. Our branch party was attended by so many people. There were over 300 people and half were investigators. There were over 150 kids and they had to wait hours for their food. I felt so bad for them. I'm not sure what the culture is, but they served the adults first, youth and then the young children. It was fun and these women cooked for hours over an open fire, preparing the food for everyone; sodza, rice, noodles, chicken , sausages, roasted potatoes, and soda drinks. Then the primary kids had a soup with rice and a little piece of chicken. So today at church, we started out the meeting with only 12  people. Then for the sacrament we had 31. After the sacrament, there were about 170 people. They all came on the busses. All in all, a good day at church.
This week we'll be having our zone Christmas devotional and dinners. I'm just a little stressed, because I've had to plan for 2 days of dinners. I just pray that the food is good and will be filling, because it needs to be special for Christmas. On Wednesday and Saturday, Alan and I will be going to the airport to get the 2 senior couples that are coming from the states. We have one apartment ready but the other apartment is empty. We need to have about 10 people working on this project to get it completed by Wednesday, but we don't have any extra people hanging around here. I know that I'll just be tired come Wednesday morning.
After our branch party, we were driving home and decided to stop and get some gas. We pulled up to the attendant, and we said to fill it up. Then he asked if we had any information about our church he could read. Out of the blue, he was interested in reading information about our church. We didn't have anything to give him. I now have a bag full of reading material in the truck. Elder Hermansen, said that is the first time any one has come to him and asked about the church. This young man looks and sounds smart and would be willing to read and learn. This referral goes to the Apps. in the morning.
I don't have a lot to talk about, just would like you all to know, we love you and pray for you all daily. Please be safe in the winter conditions that you are experiencing. The church is true and I'm grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ.
I'll write more in the next few days. Who is the new stake president in the Kanab Stake? I hear that Lex is doing better! Merry Christmas to all.
Love MOM