The Buoy and I went over to the Bishop's new house this morning and helped them paint some of their upstairs rooms in preparation for their move-in next week. We both were more than pleased to offer our service to he and his family.

* * *
The afternoon's work schedule was surprisingly full until around 5PM when suddenly everything grew quiet once again. I also took note of the fact that the sky at that hour is no longer as dark as it has been since the time change; the Solstice has turned the corner and we can now look forward to days growing longer once again.

* * *
We went over to my folks' this evening for a cioppino feast; it was tasty fare even though the shelling of crab-meat made it a messy proposition.

Boxing Day festivities included a fine trip down to the East Bay to visit the K.s down there, and to enjoy a feast with the family members. We enjoyed sumptuous fare and delightful company, and a game of Carcassone that my brother Mok had brought. This was curious, since I had never seen him as a gamer geek – but his apple has apparently fallen less-far from that particular tree than I had ever expected.

Amongst the fun was seeing brilliant nieces Katie and Kristie K., and in being mightily impressed by the maturity and charm of these two excellent ladies.

* * *
Afterward, we headed back home in the gathering rain – got lost in Vallejo, but were ably rescued by the iPhone's Map – and then made our way to the D. family, where we enjoyed yet another sumptuous meal and their equally-fine company.

We spoke of missions and kids, of the future and of the past and many other things. We love this fine family more than we can say, and are ever-more-grateful for their generous love.

* * *
Now the household slumbers while I wait for my electric blanket to heat up the bed. My shivering toes tingle with anticipatory pleasure, knowing that in just a few minutes they will be on the fast track to Toasty Acres.

We waited all morning, then through the mid-day. Finally, in the late afternoon, the phone rang at last; I answered it and heard the low, friendly voice of Elder Beis calling out to me.

It was 3:55PM.

For a glorious hour – and not a minute more – we conversed and caught up and made plans and shared our love. I was immediately struck by his marked maturity – instead of conversations about his inadequacies and weaknesses, we spoke of his determination and goals and plans. He specifically asked for advice on how to become a more intuitive, more fully willing servant. And finally, with but a few minutes to go, he finished up by bearing his testimony to us, and we listened with rapt and ready attention, with pride and admiration and a yearning love for this mighty ambassador of the restored gospel.

I find it eminently consistent with his carefully obedient spirit that we closed off the call after precisely one hour. Elder W. will never be one who stretches the rules when nobody is watching. He understands the incalculable value of certain righteous acts, and for our part we stand firm in our determination to not entice him to stretch those rules. For him, obedience is not a nuisance – it is his quest, his goal both willingly and anxiously sought – and because of his humble, noble and righteously obedient spirit, it is easy to perceive how God has endowed him with power to do this work.

Of course we would have loved to have talked to him for longer. Of course it is natural for us to want to call him – but deep down, I know that he wants more than anything else to finish this mission service knowing that he left all of his will obediently on the altar. We are determined to do everything we can to aid him in this quest.

It was a phenomenal hour, a wonderful call. For the first time, we spoke of the onset of the End, but for now, all we can think is that we have a Noble Son, and that next Christmas we can look forward to the fact that he will not need to cal home.

* * *
The Bugalet was given a copy of HBP for Christmas, which included the digital download of the movie which I promptly downloaded from iTunes and then loaded on my iPhone. While waiting for Elder Beis' call, I burrowed in a bunch of blankets on our bed and watched the movie with headphones on. Although I had blankets placed over my body & head (it was delightfully dark in my private flannel theater), my feet still were frozen. *sigh*

* * *
We went over to my folks for Christmas Supper and enjoyed some excellent Oysters Rockefeller – the first time I have ever had oysters, quite delectable – and some tasty grilled salmon. It was an unorthodox (for Christmas) but delicious feast.

* * *
We also heard from Bunge throughout the day; I miss her and Glenn also – but it seems that they had a creditably pleasant Christmas themselves. They gave me a book about Pearl Harbor that I have already read about halfway through; it is a fine dramatization of some of the characters and events that led up to that infamous day.

* * *
Both boys seem content by the Christmas gifts, as does my wife. I immediately perceived anew that the greatest gift she can get for Christmas is to have seen others receive the benefit of her generosity and consideration.

So it has arrived at last – the Night Before Christmas. ( Spirits of the Season... )

Lately, the sentimental part of me has been tickled by the list of Tweets that have accumulated over the past sixteen months. As I have already recorded, I was slow to adopt this medium for the purpose of recording whatever we record there, but as I poked around a bit in there I discovered in hindsight that I liked the things that I found I had written. Most of them were spur-of-the-moment thoughts – limited to 140 characters, of course – but I found myself thoroughly enjoying the spontaneity and immediacy of those notations.

In fact, I found that I liked them so much that I decided somewhat impulsively to inject those into my LiveJournal here, just to make sure that they were preserved within this record.

Now most of these have already run their public course – they were already automatically forwarded into my Facebook, and I have little reason to think that everybody there would appreciate being on the receiving end of this thoughts once again. I know that more than a few LJers have, in the past, stated their firm disgust for Tweets being forwarded to LJs, and I frankly share their feelings – automated Twitter forwards reek of laziness and indifference, and are no substitute for real, substantive explorations of thoughts.

Because of these perceptions, I decided immediately that the Tweets I will nonetheless be injecting into my LJ will be kept as Private entries. I have my own reasons for wanting to remember these – these are personal reasons anyway – so the Private filtering seemed like the best way to go about preserving these posts.

If one of these Tweet posts creeps through unfiltered, please accept my advance apologies for this oversight. I will do my best to make sure that my indulgence does not tax your patience.

We went out caroling this evening with a number of families from the ward; we specifically visited families who are long-beloved from our ward family, including some who have not been able (because of health reasons) to come out and be very active lately. It is always very tender to see these faces once again – to know that they would love nothing better than to come out and be with us week in and week out.

Funny, also, as it to visit our last family; the door was knocked and we could see the silhouettes of two kids standing behind the decorative glass, listening to us... as we sang the dad suddenly poked his head out of a small window next to the door. When we finished, he laughed and said, "I've never been serenaded in the shower before...!" We all gave a hearty chuckle with him – it was a funny turn of circumstances!

Afterwards, we ran Miss Sierra N. back up to her home in RP; she had asked for permission for hang out with the caroling party for the evening and we were only too happy to oblige her. She also gave me a Gift of Cheese which (despite having been Investigated by their dog) still looked to be a delectable and appreciated present.

* * *
I can scarcely believe that we are on the cusp of another Christmas Eve. It seems shallow to beg once again for the time to slow down, but here we are again.

We went over to the H.'s home this evening for the purpose of celebrating Emmy's birthday. What makes this remarkable is not only the pleasantness of being around dear friends once again, but moreso the highly curious sensation of seeing a young woman and suddenly realizing that she has become a lady.

When did this happen?!? And where was I...?!?

* * *
While the kids constructed gingerbread sleighs, I chatted with Russ M. and the Buoy and nearly dozed off alongside the wood stove in their living room. It was a good night.

The blog of the DCS Mission President's wife was updated this morning; my wife was the one who discovered this great photo of the entire mission posing on the steps of the capitol building, where they had just finished a fine Mission Conference. Apparently, some high-placed folk secured space within the capitol chambers somewhere for this conference – I expect we'll get a comprehensive report on all of this in the next letter from Elder Beis.

( Big Photo... )

Sometimes, prayers get answered in wonderful, random ways...

( Out o' the Blue... )

All day long, we have been following the weather reports in DCS... and while I cannot say that we have been worrying, it would be an untruth to say that we are not concerned.

I hope that the mission president has given directions for all misios to stay indoors as much as possible. The last time they had a big storm, orders went out to stay on foot – no driving, not even bicycling (although who could successfully bicycle anywhere in two feet of snow...?!?). Word is getting out that the local congregations are canceling services today – both to avoid risky travel and to keep the roads clear for clearing and emergency vehicles.

To our somewhat bemused exasperation, the Mission Mom's blog doesn't even mention the storm, nor the directions being given to the missionaries in these conditions. It would have been extraordinarily easy to make a quick post saying something like: As all of you know, we are in the midst of a tremendous storm. We have given specific directions to the missionaries to stay close to home – no driving, and to check in with their district and zone leaders every few hours. So far, everybody is just fine, so you families out there needn't fret about your missionaries.

It'd be what I would do under these circumstances.

If they still have electricity, that is.

Today I met up with another Fantasma.

This one still carries the suit bag and the boarding pass, ready to pass through the PIP line and on to Flight 384. His glasses are trashed, his shoes worn; the slacks of his suit are several degrees more sun-faded than is the coat. He is also wearing the excellent wool-lined overcoat (that he only needed two or three times during his entire mission), but bears it sheepishly, as it is being used to smuggle home a stuffed piranha, hidden deep in the bowels of the largest interior pocket.

He is coming home with much less capacity for English than Spanish, but more self-confidence than he ever dreamed of having. Along the way, he has loved (and been beloved of) dozens of folks, he has walked hundreds of miles down dusty roads and cobbled streets, he has lost about twenty pounds – not entirely from all of the walking.

He craves a shower without having to wear sandals, an honest hamburger and a drink of fresh water that doesn't need to be boiled first. He is ready to hug his mom, who wrote faithfully to him every single week; he is eager to see his little nephew and the niece that he has yet to meet in person. He is sunburnt and weather-beaten from the southern hemisphere's summer – but he is just about to be reunited with Northern California's winter chill. He looks forward to being welcomed home, and feels a bit of a butterfly in his stomach at the realization that he is very close to being able to actually smile at a girl, and mean it.

This Ghost has worn that black name badge on his lapel for these twenty-five years past. He looks at me now and probably chuckles to himself, because in spite of all of the living and growing that he had been doing during those months in Peru, never yet did he foresee himself growing to this age – creaking and lurching through life, remembering those brilliant and bitter and taxing experiences with such clear and present affection.

It was fun to meet this ghost this evening. And good to realize that he seems to feel OK with what he has become.

We had one of those days when everything began with such vision and enthusiasm that I could hardly wait to get started... but by the end of the day, circumstances evolved into such a disappointing slurry of foolish short-sidedness and fanny-covering petulance that I completely lost all of my passion for the things that had been so appealing to me this morning.

Some days are like that.

* * *
At least we had a killer stake presidency meeting tonight, even if it once again involved my humble mea maxima culpa for having not been able to accomplish way too much lately.

For some time, we have been offering our home to the misios in case they ever need a safe and quiet place to do some teaching, and tonight they took us up on the offer. The occasion was the first New member Discussion for Amy F.; she and her husband joined Elders L. and M. in our living room for the evening. I arrived home just in time for the start, and was very pleased to see that both the Buoy and the Bug were also willingly present for the lesson. My wife had already performed her function as hostess for the evening and was itching to volunteer as a close fellowshipper for Sister F. as well.

The elders did a great job, as we fully expected them to. We talked about Priesthood and membership in the Church, and Relief Society (as coincidence would have it, my wife taught much this very same lesson yesterday in RS, so she was the Resident Expert). We had cookies and then the misios had to move on, but Peter and Amy stayed on and visited with us, and we delighted to get to know them a bit better, to catch up on what has been happening in their lives. We also volunteered on the spot to host next week's follow-up discussion.

By the time our evening wound to a close, we were all the more grateful for two of them, inspired by their testimonies and desire for the Gospel, and refreshed in our appreciation for the blessings that come with being a part of this Church.