If you plan to send a holiday card to Elder Luymes please use the mission address as transfers take place on New Years Day and he thinks he's going to get transferred:

Wisconsin Milwaukee Mission                  

7111 W. Edgerton Ave. Ste 100
Greenfield, WI 53220
Oh yah, don't yah know, it’s Christmas week EH! This new week is going to be fantastic. We have many dinner appointments, we have Christmas, a Zone Training Meeting, we have Skype calls with the family and puppy on Thursday, and the weather won't be all that bad either. Actually the weather hasn't been too bad at all this December. We did have a few windy days that made things less desirable, but overall, in summary I could enjoy my last winter in Wisconsin if the temp stays where it is right now. Wisconsin still needs mountains though, what the locals call skiing I would call a bunny hill at most.

It was a great week in Oshkosh. On Tuesday we had District Meeting with the Oshkosh Sisters and the Elders/Sisters from the Fon Du Lac Ward. Having 8 missionaries in a District is a lot of fun. We had an entire DM on the Atonement, which is easily the best topic ever for a Pre-Christmas District Meeting. We shared our testimonies, talked about what we had been learning in the Book of Mormon recently on the Atonement, and we also listened to Bruce R. McConkie's talk on the Atonement: The Purifying Power of Gethsemane. The Spirit filled our hearts and we each expressed our gratitude for the Savior and His wonderful Atonement. It was an amazing District Meeting; I will never forget it, and those whom I was with. At the close of District Meeting I expressed my gratitude for each Elder and Sister, and then we had our white elephant gift exchange. This district gets better and better. There were some top of the line white elephant gifts, by that I mean the ones that make you belly laugh forever because the gift is so funny and the person who picked it just seem to fit the picture. I got a clay cat that stands 1ft tall, and is plastered with tacky mail stamps. The cat had beads for eyes and whisker hairs that looked more like an Adolf Hitler mustache. It was very comical. Some other highlight gifts were Elder Walley and his Pope John Paul II picture frame that also came with a scary looking clown that you could wind up and it would sway back and forth very slowly with eerie music playing. Another highlight was Sister Kilger and her Christmas lawn deer that has broken lights, and also Sister Cosgrove and her Santa Hot tub cookie jar. We had a great laugh; I took a district picture of everyone with their gifts. (My gift got stolen and so I ended up with brownies in a jar)

District white elephant gift exchange. My postage stamp
covered clay cat got stolen so I ended up with the brownies. Great Fun!

I went on exchanges with Elder Walley after District Meeting. He and I had a good time together; we found some people and made contact with a few Less Actives that hadn't been seen in a while.

We got a Church Headquarter Referral on Friday. The only problem is that the person lives in Oakland California and not Oakland Wisconsin (which doesn't exist). That made for an interesting phone call. She had typed in the area code wrong and that's why the referral was sent to us. That could have been my one shot for getting to California for the winter and also for Christmas (sorry family)

Our Ward Christmas program was on Sunday. It was very nice and I messed up in the choir, that's why I shouldn't sing. The speakers did a great job and the Bishop and his wife read Luke 2 along with a few other scriptures that go along with the nativity scene. I love this holiday season because as a missionary there is a whole different focus. It’s not about the gifts or the meals or skyping family. The season, the time, and really all of life, is all about Jesus Christ. He is our Lord and Redeemer. He is our Savior and He is filled with love and compassion. He has taught His gospel and has invited all of us to "come unto Him", I am grateful for these 18 months of service, I am grateful that He has let me serve these people, and to testify of Him.

* Merry Christmas *

Love,

Elder Luymes

FAT Squirrel that hangs out in a tree near our apartment.
He doesn't move too fast and probably has a secret loot
somewhere nearby to keep him in shape.