The big Christmas social finally arrived and everyone from the Masai Branch gathered together to get on one of two buses rented by Pres. John, the branch president.  When we got there at 6:30 am, everyone was dressed in purple.  We were told that purple is the color of Christmas here in Malaysia.  We had over 100 members come out and piled into the two buses to take the 2 hour trip to the beach.  This is December 21st, 2013 and we are having our Christmas party at the beach, with temperatures around 85 degrees.

 We arrived at the Desaru Resort, on the very east side of the state of Johor.  Behind the sign is the South China Sea and it was quite fun to wade into the ocean water.  It was a very windy day on the beach and you can see a large freighter way out on the horizon of the water.  We got there after our bus broke down.  The suspension went bad and we had to wait about 30 minutes to have the first bus drop everyone off and then return to get us.  We arrived around 9 am and began to have fun on the beach.

 It was quite an overcast day and we are right in the middle of the monsoon season, with daily rain storms that flood most of the streets.   All the way to the resort it rained pretty hard, but when we finally arrived, the rain had stopped and it was only very cloudy and super windy.  I didn't bother to put on any sunscreen, since there was no sun and I didn't plan on too much activity on the beach or in the water.

 The sisters all gathered around and cut up the chicken while the men gathered around the fire pit and tried to start a fire.  It took some time, but they eventually had success and began cooking the chicken.  The sisters then began to put together sandwiches.  One set of sandwiches were made of sardines and other fish inners, all mixed together and spread on the bread.  The second set of sandwiches were some kind of butter mixture with cucumbers mashed in.  Those were not that bad, but I didn't particularly enjoy the sardine sandwich.  The best part is that these sandwiches just sit in the sun all day.

 When we got off the bus, some sweet sisters handed Linda their jacket to wrap around her waist.  She apparently sat on something dark brown on one of the two buses.  It was a very large stain and the members thought that either Linda was experiencing that time of the month or that she couldn't get to a restroom fast enough and messed her pants.  I have never laughed so hard.  She was horrified.  So we walked her over to the local restrooms.  Here is the sign.  We only had to pay .50 RM to let her in the bathroom and try to wash off her shorts.  The only clean water was in the back of the toilet and it worked a bit.

 Here is one of our elders, Elder Coleman, from California, allowing the kids to bury him in the sand.  We made a sand castle a little later and then all the YSA kids buried Hairy, Brother Gema's son.  We put so much sand on top of him that he couldn't get out.  Then I found a little stick and kept tickling his nose and face.  We really had a great time on the beach and then got called in to have some lunch around 11:30 in the morning.

 Of course, it wouldn't be a beach party (or any party in Malaysia for that fact) without the traditional chicken feet and chicken heads.  We watched one of the brethren eat a chicken foot.  He begins by pulling off the toe nails and chews on the juice that comes out, then you throw the nail on the ground.  Next, you pull off one of the digits and chew on that for a few seconds and spit out any bone.  He finally spent some time on the chicken ankle.  I still can't see why you would waste your time on such little meat.  This time, I skipped any chicken heads.  The word for chicken feet is "kaki ayam", which also means

 "barefoot".  Everyone walked around with bare feet and the beach was a darker red/brown sand.  When you got out of the water and allowed the sand to stick to your feet and legs, it made us look darker skinned.  We kept telling out members that we were now "saya melayu" or a Malaysian with darker skin.  While on the beach, two different huge kites were being flown.  This one has the head of an octopus or squid, with really long tentacles.  Notice the red flag in the forefront.  That meant "no swimming", which everyone ignored.

 I was having fun on the beach and enjoying myself, when Sister Suki comes up and pleaded for me to play Santa for the kids.  Everyone else refused and I was sure the costume wouldn't fit me.  We didn't even have to pay to change in the restroom and, unfortunately, it fit.  When you walk out in 85 degree temperatures, with a Santa costume on, you sweat up a storm.  I'm holding the black plastic bag, which was just full of little gifts for the kids.  If the little package had a "p" on it, it was for a "perempuan" (girl).  If it had a "l" on it, it was for a "lelaki" (boy).  After all the presented were given out, it was time for lots of

 pictures.  All the different families had to take a picture with Santa, then all the kids needed pictures and finally, all the other people on the beach that were not a part of our group.  All sorts of Chinese people starting holding on to my waist and pulling me in for a picture.  The only safe group, on the beach, was the Muslims, since they do not celebrate Christmas.  I sure got lots of strange stares from them.  It was fun and I had many comments from our members that I was too skinny for playing Santa.  I was glad to hear it.  This is another picture of the entrance to the Desaru Resort, as we were getting ready to leave.

 You can again see that interesting kite that looks like a giant octopus.  We played from 9 am until about 3:30 pm on the beach.  Linda stayed under one of the canopies for most of the time.  Here we are getting ready to get on our bus, when it arrives.  Because the first bus broke down, they had to call for another bus and we had another 30 minute wait.  Everyone kept walking by me, saying something about being embarrassed and being "merah" (red).  I asked Linda if I got a sunburn and she said I'll have to see for myself when I get home and look in the mirror.  This final picture is me, Sunday morning, getting ready for church.  I looked like a huge, egg shaped, red beet.  My face hurt so bad.  Except for the hefty sunburn, it was a very unique Christmas social and we had a great time.  It doesn't feel much like Christmas here and you don't see much in the way of decorations.  We did find a large ham that cost us about $65 (192 RM) so we could still have ham, funeral potatoes and green beans for a Christmas dinner with our 10 elders.   We are grateful to serve here in this beautiful country of Malaysia and have our first Christmas here.