Christmas Eve started with a District Meeting from 4 to 5:30PM. Then all 10 of us went to Courtney and Betty Ward´s for Christmas Eve which starts the Icelandic Christmas at 6 PM. Betty is from Uganda and Courtney is from Pennsylvania. They met in Iceland while he was in the service and she had just joined the Church. He left on a mission to Korea and a month after he completed his mission they were married in the Washington DC Temple. Betty has two girls from a previous marriage and they have two of their own. They are a very special family with a love of the Gospel and they are full of charity. When she set out all the food I thought she had prepared for 50 people but she said no Ugandan men eat lots and so she was prepared for the 8 Elders to eat lots. Well I tried but the young Elders did a good job trying to eat it all. We had flavored rice, meatballs, Icelandic potatoes in a white sauce, turkey Ugandan style, deep fried chicken, deep fried potatoes and lamb Uganda style. Sister Bremner brought fruit jello and apple pie and Sister Koyle brought rolls, banana bars and homemade root-beer. There was also a pasta dish with hot dogs that never made it to the table. It was a fun Christmas Eve. The Elders wanted to hear her conversion story. We then shared the story of Christmas from the scriptures. Betty then wanted to share how happy our coming had made her because she could see her Dad sitting there so happy that she had shared this wonderful meal. She was 5 years old when he was assassinated in Uganda and 15 when her mother was assassinated. She said he looked just like she remember and he was so happy and it made her feel so happy.
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