By Jared Jones
For missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christmas day is far from a traditional experience.
'Christmas was really different because it was warm,' said Nate Newton, an accounting major at BYU who served in Cochabamba Bolivia. 'My companion and I didn''t exchange any gifts and I didn''t have any presents from my family except for a package of goodies.'
Despite the lack of Christmas traditions, Newton said he enjoyed a unique type of Christmas while serving as a missionary.
'We woke up early in the morning and all the zones in the city of Cochabamba gathered at the stake center,' said Newton. 'We then played a four-hour soccer tournament between the zones.'
Newton said all the missionaries went to the mission home that evening to eat a Christmas dinner and have a special Christmas program. After the program, the missionaries returned to their apartments.
'Some missionaries called their parents,' said Newton. 'I didn''t. I didn''t think I had anything exciting to tell my family.'
Newton said he remembered one very unique Christmas tradition that was observed among the Bolivian people.
'On Christmas Eve people already had their nativity scenes out except for the baby Jesus,' said Newton. 'Then at midnight, people placed Jesus in the manger to the sound of bells, whistles and horns.'
Tim Rollins, a business management major at BYU who served in St. Petersburg Russia, said Christmas in Russia was different than what he was accustomed to because of the Russian Orthodox tradition.
Rollins said Russians celebrate on Jan. 7 more than on Dec. 25. He also said New Year''s Day was a bigger holiday than Christmas day.
Despite cultural differences and holiday traditions, Rollins said he tried to enjoy Christmas just like he did at home.
'We had a little tree with lights and we hung lights in the apartment,' said Rollins. 'We even had Tabernacle Choir music.'
Rollins said he and his companion woke up in the morning and opened gifts they had received from their families. The rest of the day was spent visiting less-active members of the Church and contacting.
'It was pretty much a normal day of work,' said Rollins. 'However, It was the weirdest Christmas ever.'
Rollins said he got homesick because he thought of his family a lot during that day. Because Russia is 10 hours ahead of Utah time, Rollins was not able to call his family until Dec. 26.
'After I hung up the phone I thought, ''Well, it''s back to work,''' said Rollins.
Kirk Godfrey, a psychology major at BYU from Sandy who served in Oslo Norway, said it was nice to call his family on Christmas morning because it shortened the distance between Norway and Utah.
'Christmas morning was difficult,' said Godfrey. 'I missed my family. It was rough.'
Godfrey said he felt comforted and ready to work again after he talked to his family on Christmas day.
Godfrey said Christmas is a four-day celebration in Norway that begins on Dec. 23.
'In Norway they give presents on Christmas Eve night,' said Godfrey. 'A family that my companion knew, who weren''t members of the Church, invited us over to their house on Christmas Eve. They had bought us gifts. They made us feel welcome.'
Godfrey said his mission president told the missionaries not to contact people during the holidays because holiday interruptions annoyed the people. Instead, Godfrey said they tried to visit families they already knew.
'Part of me felt like I was wasting the day,' said Godfrey. 'But we still got out quite a bit and the members really took care of us.'