Dear Mom and Dad (or, Elder and Sister Turner),
Well, how about a Christmas letter? By the time you get this it will be old news,
thanks to the technology of this day and age.
That said, it’s been great to talk with you guys every week and even
skype occasionally. I can’t imagine how
much harder this would be if you were only allowed 1 or 2 calls home a year… That would be rough on everybody!
It’s been a pretty different year without you guys here
though- the boys didn’t get their week
with Grandma and Grandpa, and we didn’t get our week without the boys while
they were with Grandma and Grandpa. No
trip to Canada- a first in a VERY VERY long time. No July the 1st, no Waterton, no
stuffing our faces with all the yummy food while visiting with friends.
However, I just want to say again how thankful we are that
you are doing what you are doing. Your
mission has had a wonderful affect on our family. I have been given opportunities to talk about
the church to people I normally wouldn’t have had any reason to. Our boys love the fact that their Grandma and
Grandpa are missionaries, and I’m sure they have had opportunities as well to
tell people about what you are doing.
The world keeps marching on.
When you get home things will be different, but this is a good
thing. Just think about all of the house
repairs and moving boxes you didn’t have to deal with while you were away!
Right.
Christmas. I want you guys to
know that you did a wonderful job of teaching me the true meaning of
Christmas. It still to this day bugs the
heck out of me when people write it as “X-mas”.
Yes, I was probably not the best Joseph in our nativity scene, no, I was
not happy to have to do random acts of kindness to earn a single blade of straw
to put in the manger, and sure, maybe I wasn’t super excited about writing my
gift to Jesus on a block of wood and wrapping it up as a present and putting it
in the sleigh that sat on the table.
Interesting though how those things stick out the most to me now,
especially as we go through many similar things with our boys.
Thank you for teaching me who Christ is and why its so
important to celebrate his birth. Thank you
for your wonderful examples.
Enjoy your Christmas in a new way and in a new world this
year, but know that we look forward to spending many more with you to carry on
the traditions that y’all started.
Love,
Doug.
If your goal was to make your mother cry, you succeeded! Thank you for this letter! As a parent, you never really know if what you try to teach "sticks" or not. Thank you for letting us know that we may have done a few things right. I just remember the many, many things I did wrong. And you all turned out to be exceptional in spite of that!
ReplyDeleteWe, too, missed our week or two with the boys, too! We look forward to spending more time with you all and boring you with tales of living in the Caribbean.
We Love you!