I only spent one Christmas in the mission field.
My companion at the time was Elizabeth Gaye Reid - my 4th companion. Kind hearted and funny, ardent dr Who fan and talented artist who introduced me to tacos which are surely a celestial food!
We served in the East Grinstead ward which had both the London temple and Scientology headquarters in our area - it made for an interesting mix.
The London Temple visitor's centre holds many fond memories, most of them connected to elder and sister Roundy who served their mission there, and became our honourary grandparents. Feeding us dinners (dinner appointments were few and far between in that ward), entertaining us with amusing anecdotes and encouraging us through the challenging times.
For Christmas they gave us teddy bears (on the floor in this picture) which we named "Norma" (yellow bear, mine) and "Cuddles" (blue, sister Reid's) in memory of the Roundy's.
Sadly sister Reid was not well, and ended up getting an early release from her mission. As her parting gift, she made me my very own cartoon/mission chronicle that I treasure to this day:
Vale Beth Reid
