2018 Christmas Party

On a rainy December evening, the Kentlands Chapel was beginning to fill for the Montgomery Chinese Branch Christmas Party. In the service project orientation, President Huang welcomed everyone and announced the opening hymn, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," directed by Brad Johnson and accompanied by Isaiah Shen. After an invocation by Betty Azucena, Eric Nelson, one of the event's organizers, introduced the purposed of the service project and the theme of the evening, "Angels Among Us." Da Zhao showed us a Light the World video, subscripted with Chinese. Then the Appalachian Christmas Medley was performed by Corinne Nelson on the piano, Megan Tsai on the harp, Melinda Urbina on the flute, and Eric Nelson hitting the chimes on the organ. The video and the medley really brought the message home and filled us with the spirit of giving. Immediately, everyone was directed to go downstairs, when they received a Harris Teeter bag from Lauren Ning. In the Primary room, each person took their bag to fill up with ten items from ten manned stations. 60 kits were assembled in total and will be given to A Wider Circle. Everyone then walked back up to the chapel for the dinner social at 6pm. Then the program began at 7pm. Cary Ning was the emcee for the program. The branch choir kicked off the program with the rousing Searching for the Plum in the Snow song, which resembled the American Jingle Bells in a Chinese way. Next, Richard Huang and Isaiah Shen performed a piano duet entitled, "Deck the Halls Duet." Following them, Brennan Zhao set a nice tone with a saxophone solo, playing Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire with such an amazing jazz flavor. Afterwards, the Montgomery Branch Primary children dressed up as Mary and Joseph and shepherds and angels stood in the front, while Michelle Zheng and Tiffany sang "Picture a Christmas." Aaron Fugal sang a solo, "Happy Birthday, Jesus." Cary then called all those with a December up to the stand and gave them bells. We all sang "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," with Brad Johnson as music director and Richard Huang as accompanist. Adam Fugal pronounced the benediction. The crowd was small, and the evening was rainy. But the memory of this evening has been indelibly inscribed into our hearts and minds. We felt the closeness and unity in the branch and the spirit of Christmas and giving through the service project and special music. Thanks, Eric and Corinne, for organizing such as special memory.

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Announcement for Christmas Party

親愛的蒙哥馬利華語分會的弟兄、姐妹及朋友們:

我們誠摯地邀請您參加我們在12/15 星期六晚間5-8點的聖誕晚會。敬請您帶上一份您最喜愛的餐點與大家分享。今年的聖誕晚會包含了一個有意義的服務項目。我們分會與A Wider Circle合作，準備提供60個裝有生活用品的袋子給有需要的蒙哥馬利郡居民。當天5點我們會開始準備包裝袋子，若您願意慷慨捐獻我們需要物品，請參考以下列表:

每個袋子中需要的物品

·         1瓶全尺寸的洗衣精

·         1瓶全尺寸的洗碗精

·         1瓶全尺寸的多功能清潔劑

·         1大條牙膏

·         1瓶全尺寸的乳液 – 最好是保濕用

·         1瓶全尺寸洗髮水 – 最好是適合堅硬髮質的洗髮水

·         1瓶全尺寸的護髮乳– 最好是適合堅硬髮質的護髮乳

·         1瓶全尺寸的沐浴露或4塊肥皂（最好是Dove或高保濕肥皂）

·         1份4包衛生紙

·         1個體香劑 – 兩性都使用的品牌，最好是無味的

這個活動的地點在我們的教堂，地址如下，16 Kent Gardens Cir., Gaithersburg, MD 20878

更多詳細資訊請參閱我們附上的傳單。

我們期待您的參與。

-分會會長團

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Dear Brothers, Sisters, and Friends of the Montgomery Branch:

You're invited to our annual Christmas party on Saturday, December 15th from 5pm to 8pm. Please bring your favorite dish to share. This year, our Christmas party includes a meaningful service project in partnership with A Wider Circle. We are planning to prepare 60 bags of household items. At the beginning of the party, we will be packing donations into the bags. If you are interested in donating for this service project, please see the following list of needed items:

Needed Items

•       1 Full-Sized Bottle of Laundry Detergent

•       1 Full-Sized Bottle of Dish Soap

•       1 Full-Sized Bottle of All-Purpose Cleaner

•       1 Large Tube of Toothpaste

•       1 Full-Sized Bottle of Lotion - extra moisturizing always preferred

•       1 Full-Sized Bottle of Shampoo - one for textured hair highly preferred

•       1 Full-Sized Bottle of Conditioner - one for textured hair highly preferred

•       1 Full-Sized Bottle of Bodywash OR 4 Bars of Soap (Dove or a high moisturizing soap preferred)

•       1 4-pack of Toilet Paper

•       1 Deodorant per person - gender neutral brand with minimal scent preferred

The location will be at 16 Kent Gardens Cir., Gaithersburg, 20878.

Please see attached flyers for more information.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our event!

-Branch Presidency

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Relief Society Activity

十一月三日慈助會安排了參觀國會大廈與國會圖書館的活動. 沒有了前一天的大雨, 當天早上天氣晴朗, 涼風送爽, 薛姊妹先生 Guillermo Azucena 開車載了另一位弟兄與六位姊妹來到了國會大廈. 由於需要拿到票劵才能進入參觀, 因此我們下車後的第一站便是通過安檢進到國會大堂去排隊拿票. 原本以為票上會有參觀的時間限制, 不料實際情況卻是拿到票後即刻觀看了影片簡介, 緊接著就分發耳機並分組由專人導覽參觀整個國會大廈. 美國國會大廈有200多年的歷史, 是美國制定國家法律會議所在地, 也是總統就職和發表國情咨文演講的處所. 大廈裡有許多給參眾議員的辦公室, 有許多具歷史意義的圖像及代表各州人物與事件的雕塑與畫作, 整個導覽大概是45 分鐘. 之後我們便與史福中弟兄, 李永芳姊妹在餐廳會合, 共用了午餐後便經由館內的直接通道來到了國會圖書館. 美國國會圖書館是全世界最大的圖書館, 內有一億六千七百多萬個藏品,  包括 470種不同語文, 三千八百萬冊書, 印刷品, 一千四百萬張照片, 五千五百萬張地圖等等. 國會圖書館內也有導覽, 而那天的導覽美麗大方, 不但帶領我們觀看了館內的藏書, 布置, 壁畫, 也非常詳細地講解其所代表的象徵與意義. 活動的最後是來到辦理圖書館證的辦公室, 當天, 所有去參觀的弟兄姊妹們都辦了一張印有自己照片的國會圖書館的借書證, 以後憑這證, 我們便可以觀看裡面所有的藏書了.

沈周美麗姊妹

On November 3, the Relief Society arranged a visit to the Capitol and the Library of Congress. With the heavy rain of the previous day past, the weather was fine in the morning, the breeze was cool. Sister Hsueh's husband, Guillermo Azucena, drove one car load with other brother and six sisters to the Capitol. Because a ticket was necessary to enter the tour, so the first stop after we parked was to go to the Capitol lobby through the security check to line up for the ticket. Originally we thought there would be a time limit for the visit, but unexpectedly we were able to watch a short video immediately after receiving the tickets. Then headphones were distributed, and we were assigned to a group by a special tour guide to visit the entire Capitol. The US Capitol has a history of more than 200 years. It is the seat of the law making body of the United States. It is also the place where the President of the United States takes office and where he delivers the State of the Union address. In the Capitol, there are many offices for the Senators, and there are many historical images, sculptures, and paintings representing characters and events from the 50 states. The whole tour was about 45 minutes. After the tour, we met with Drew and Jenny Smith at a restaurant for lunch. Then we walked through the Capitol through a direct passage to the Library of Congress. The United States Library of Congress is the world's largest library with more than 176 million collections, including 470 different languages, 38 million books and prints, 14 million photos, 55 million maps, etc. The Library of Congress also had a tour guide, and our guide that day was beautiful and generous. Our guide not only led us to see the collections, layouts, and murals in the library, but also explained to us in great detail the symbols and meanings and what they represented. The last stop of the tour was the library card office. All of the brothers and sisters who visited the library received a library card with a photo of the Library of Congress on it. With this card, we come see all of the books in the library.

Sister Meili Chou Shen

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Elders Quorum Barbecue

The Elder’s Quorum had a BBQ on October 20th it was scheduled for 1:00, but not many people arrived before 1:30 because of a funeral and also a bad traffic situation. Approximately 30 people (including the children) came out and had a good time. President Huang, Sister Huang, John, and myself took turns grilling hamburgers and hot dogs. President Huang had an especially good technique that produced perfect hot dogs.  We ended up eating about 30 hot dogs and 42 hamburgers. Various side dishes, both American and Chinese dishes were brought and shared. After the grilling was done, a few people enjoyed raising marshmallows and making s’mores. Wayne brought corn hole and many people enjoyed playing it. There was Frisbee and even a soccer game.

Drew Smith

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