A-Z: Andersons in Zimbabwe: Christmas in Lynchburg and Tiny Tim's Wooden Toys

William, Isaac, Paul, Ruth, Elisa, and Jane Anderson enjoyed their African aprons. Susan, the Highland Ward Relief Society president in Zimbabwe made all our family members African print aprons. I also had her make skirts for the girls and vests with bow ties for the grandsons. It was a fun homemade gift that helped employee her also. 2023.12.26

Merry Christmas from Lynchburg, Virginia! It was fun to participate in William and Elisa's organized Christmas Eve and Day. Elisa had planned activities throughout the day. She homeschools the children and is well-organized. We frosted sugar cookies in the afternoon. We had their traditional meal of cheese fondue for Christmas Eve and read the scriptures from Luke, Mathew, and 3 Nephi's accounts of the birth of the Christ child. They really tried to bring the true spirit of Jesus Christ's birth into the season. Every morning in December besides scripture study, they read from the scriptures and add a nativity figurine to their creche. You could feel the excitement of the children before going to bed. They each wrote a letter to Santa and left him a plate of cookies and carrots for his reindeer. Bruce and I were exhausted since our time clocks kept getting us up at 3 and 4:00 a.m. We went to bed at 8:00 p.m. in perfect happiness and bliss to be among family again.

Six a.m. was the appointed time to meet in Jane's room upstairs before coming down to see what presents Santa had brought the night before. I was proud of myself for sleeping until 5:00 a.m. It's hard to reset your internal time clocks. Isaac and Ruth were both up so we played a little game Isaac had creatively made, even though we had no idea of the rules. Isaac kept us informed. William and Elisa held a family prayer and scripture study before beginning the festivities. Once again, we were impressed by the structure and spiritualism of this little family and the patience of the children with mom and dad. The children lined up from youngest to oldest as they descended the staircase to the magical scene of Christmas tree lights and gifts below. Santa even brought Bruce and me a stocking of treats! Santa always leaves a note for the children explaining how he's watched their every move during the year and his impressions for the year. Elisa has incorporated a lot of "Rawlins" family traditions from her childhood. I asked William if he had any "Anderson" traditions. He said, "No", we always went to Grandpa and Grandma Andersons. We did however have "breakfast burrittos" the next day, an Anderson tradition from our home. We did instill a lot of traditions as far as a formal china dinner, Santa piling up everyone's individual presents, and reading the birth of Christ from Luke 2. We loved going to Grandpa & Ma Anderson's every Christmas Eve and getting spoiled with gifts and a nice fancy meal. We continued this tradition for years even after William was married and on his own. The children were very good at watching each of us open a present one by one. William and Elisa thoughtfully gave us a large box we opened with unfinished wooden toy cars for Zimbabwean children. Bruce was brought to tears by the thoughtfulness of planning this service for the children of Africa, who virtually have nothing. I couldn't help but feel ashamed at all the gifts and overabundance of material possessions we all have compared to our newfound friends in Zimbabwe.

Our favorite thing we brought home was a handmade African axe from Persuade's auntie Tata's kamosa. It belonged to Persuade's father, Amos, and has his initials carved on the handle. We bought it from Auntie Tata when we went plowing with the oxen. William collects old axes and is elated with the gift.

Ruth got rollerblades so Grandpa took her outside and taught her some tricks. It's a bit chilly outside but nothing compared to Utah and there is no snow here. 2023.12.25

William worked hard and smoked an 11 lb. brisket all day and night. The next morning the Trager smoker fire went out. He was concerned about ruining the expensive piece of meat. We called our friend, Alistair Gibson, in Zimbabwe. Alistair smokes meat at the market and is an excellent chef. He gave William some good tips and saved the day for our Christmas meal. The brisket turned out perfect and was very tender. William was happy about the success of the smoked meat. We enjoyed calling the kids both days and got to talk to everyone but Hunter & Katie. We hope they all had a very Merry Christmas. We also texted a lot of our friends and temple site workers in Zimbabwe. The Muchenje's uncle died and they had a funeral on Christmas Day. To many of these Africans, it was just another day without celebration or any gifts. Persuade bought a new tuck shop and is sleeping in it every night to prevent theft. His shop was open on Christmas Day just like any other day. Recently we explained the story of the nativity and showed some church videos of Jesus Christ's birth. It was something new to Persuade, being raised without Christ in his life he wasn't familiar with the story.

The day after Christmas, we enjoyed breakfast burritos and leftovers for lunch. We started our craft service project and all the kids helped sand our "Tiny Tim's" wooden cars. We also all oiled them and made faces to make them special for each African child. We've participated in giving out these special wooden toy donations through "Eyes for Zimbabwe" and they always bring delight to African children. It will be fun to bring some wooden cars we actually helped to finish. What a thoughtful act of service William and Elisa thought of for their visiting missionary parents. We had some friends of William and Elisa's come over Tuesday and help us assemble and paint the cars. Everyone got involved and they turned out cute.