So much has happened since my last post that it is hard to know where to start. I guess I will start with the bad news first. On Monday December 2nd, Velyn and I went to Walmart after work to get some groceries. While we were in the store, someone broke out the rear seat window and stole both of our laptops and computer bags. My bag also had our passports in it, along with all of my adaptors and slide changer for power point presentations. Velyn's prescription glasses were in her computer bag. 

We submitted all our losses to Farmer's Insurance, and fortunately, they reimbursed us for the replacement costs. The glass deductible was $100, and the personal property deductible was $1,000. That was hard to swallow but we were fortunate that they paid us the replacement cost. They got everything taken care of in a short time and were excellent to deal with. It is not often that you can say that about an insurance company. We have had the same agent for 25 years and she has been excellent. They never questioned us when we had to have a windshield replaced every 3 months when Katie hit another deer.

We have been going to the Spanish-Speaking ward for about 3 months now. I think I mentioned before that I teach a young man from Honduras English for 2 hours after Sacrament Meeting each Sunday. There is also a couple from El Salvador that are taking the missionary lessons and attending church. They have been in both of our English Connect classes since we started last February. We feel like we need to be there to support them.  We took them out to dinner several weeks ago, and they invited us to their house for dinner the next Friday. His wife made Pupusas for us, which is a traditional Salvadoran food. We really enjoyed them and it was fun to get to know them better.  They both work long hours to try to keep afloat.  When I was working in Mexico and South America a lot, it was hard for me to adjust to the fact that "Tiempo Mexicano" was about 30 minutes later than "Tiempo Americana". The following pictures illustrate my point pretty well. The first picture is the clock, about 10 minutes before Sacrament meeting was supposed to start:

I took the next picture of the chapel right after the picture of the clock, we were lucky to get a seat:

In Spring City, UT, we have to get to Sacrament Meeting about 30 minutes before it starts if we are going to find a seat. My Dad always emphasized how important it is to be early, and I really appreciate his guidance. 

We recently had two sister missionaries finish their mission and return home. In the picture below, Sister Layton is the one standing next to Velyn. She and her companion are the ones that are teaching Luis and Xiomara that I previously mentioned. She left to go home on December 3rd.

Another set of Sister Missionaries have been giving the spiritual thought at the end of our English Class. Sister Clawson was the most outgoing missionary we have had and all of the students really liked her a lot. In the picture below, she is the tall one next to Velyn:

Velyn has been walking around the pond early in the morning for some exercise. I can't walk that far because of the pain in my foot, plus she likes to walk fast and my foot certainly won't allow that. She has named all of the wildlife that like to hang out around the pond. There is Sterling the Stork, Bert the Blue Heron, the black ducks are Dan and Doris, the ducks in the picture below are Ralph and Rhonda. I looked on the internet to see what kind of duck these are and was surprised to find out that it is a goose and not a duck. It is called an Egyptian Goose:

It seems so weird to have temperatures in the 80's in December, and then some days where the high is in the 50's. We are constantly changing from air conditioning to heating and back. I took the following picture at 8 am last week:

Almost 70 degrees and 99% humidity in the morning:

The leaves have just started to fall from the trees in the last few weeks. It seems really different to see the leaves turning color and falling at the end of December. Another thing that we are seeing is that the snap dragons and pansies are blooming now. The rose bushes are blooming like crazy now:

We have been quite busy at the Employment Center. There are a lot of people out of work now, and it seems like the job market is not very good. We have many people who are really struggling financially and desperately looking for a job. I had an MD from Cuba that is a Board Certified Radiologist in Cuba and does Ultrasound to diagnose fetal anomalies, come in to the Employment Center. His first job in the US was washing dishes at Denny's. He took a course in the US and is a Licensed Medical Assistant but cannot get a job because he doesn't speak English. I feel like our work in the English Connect program is one of the most important ways that we can help these people be able to find a good job. I have had University Professors, Attorneys, Registered Nurses, Civil Engineers, PhD's and other highly qualified people that have work permits and social security numbers but can't find a job, mainly because they can't speak English yet. It is heart-breaking to see what these people have been through and are still going through just to have a safe place for their family to live. Multiple people have told be about close relatives that were murdered in their home countries, just because they didn't have the money to pay the protection money demanded by the gangs and the drug cartels. Many were kidnapped at the border and a family member had to pay $5,000 to the cartel for them to be released. We are so blessed to live in this country. 

We have been able to attend a Stake Conference that had the most amazing choir! It was the best I have heard outside of the Tabernacle Choir. We went to a Christmas Cantata last week that was also excellent. The narrations and songs were very uplifting. We are very fortunate to be able to focus on the birth of the Savior and ponder the sacrifice that He has made for all of us.  I hope this Christmas Season will bring you great joy when thinking about the blessings that are ours because of the Infinite Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!