First - Happy New Years to everyone!
Most of the pictures for this blog come from missionaries who email what they've photographed. These are a few of the pictures that have come in over the course of the month that captures what happens at the Visitors Center during the month of December.
Even with these pictures, it is difficult to really recreate the excitement, energy and spirit that accompanies each event. But I hope this will give you a sense of why Festival of Lights is so important for the sisters who work there each night and why it is a valuable resource for the elders who bring their investigators and recent converts as often as they can.
Elder and Sister Perry were here on assignment to help kick off Festival of Lights.
 |
| Elder Perry knows Elder Rozsa's father and grandfather. |
 |
| Sister Perez, Sister Allen, Sister Bleazard, Sister Avelar, Elder Perry, Sister Perry, Sister Moore and Sister Hazen. These sisters happen to be in the right place at the right time. |
 |
| Elder Stewart, who is Elder Rozsa's companion, also gets to meet Elder Perry. |
The sisters are given different jobs on opening night. Some oversee refreshments or guide people to their seats.
 |
| Sister Holt works with someone from public affairs to hand out name tags. |
 |
| Sister Wong also helps a public affairs worker find name tags for attendees. |
 |
| Sister Jones, Sister Lewis and Sister Joost have their pictures taken after the lights have been turned on. |
 |
| Sister Miller and Sister DeAgostini have a shift in the creche exhibit. |
Also serving in the visitors center are missionary couples. Their service is invaluable.
 |
| Sister Pack and Sister Crowly wish all a Merry Christmas. |
 |
| Sister and Elder Cardall stand behind the welcome counter. |
 |
| Sister and Elder Crowley |
 |
| Sister and Elder Pack |
 |
| Sister and Elder Cardall |
 |
| Sister and Elder Olsen |
 |
Brother Brewer has greeted attendees for the past 30 years.
|
An international creche exhibit is displayed for the public to view.
Trees throughout the visitors center are decorated by wards and stakes from the surrounding area.
 |
| Sister Wong stands in front of one of the trees during the day before the crowds arrive. |
 |
| Sister Bleazard and Sister Holt exhibit their ability to show off a Christmas tree. |
 |
| Sister Marcy and Sister Bleazard show off the tree decorated by the Washington DC stake. |
 |
| Sister Miller and Sister Liddiard |
The grounds are beautifully lit with more than a half million lights.
There are free performances each night throughout December. The shows vary from instrumental to vocal or even dance. Some are done by young children's groups. Others are professional performers who donate their time.
 |
| Sandra Turley leads children from the audience in a rendition of Feliz Navidad. |
 |
| Sandra Turley, Josh Turley and children sing a final Christmas wish. |
This year more than 90,000 people visited the Visitors Center during Festival. This is what 90,000 looks like.
 |
| The auditorium fills up for most performances. |
 |
| The foyer is crowded with people waiting to enter the show. Others stand in line to view the nativity exhibit. |
The elders play an important part of festival as well. Each night requires 20 people to park cars. Missionaries from our mission as well as the Washington DC South Mission and the Baltimore Mission take turns helping fill this assignment. The elders also bring their investigators to the shows and use this as a time to view the teaching exhibits as well.
 |
| Elder Greiner and Elder Pearson stop for a picture in between shifts of parking cars. |
 |
| Elder Rodriguez and Elder Pawlenchuk view a video at the Visitors Center with one of their investigators. |
