Greetings,

Just have to show you some pics of the mansion we visited the day after Christmas. This was a family who had a flour mill in Pennsylvania to begin with and one son came here and wrote home that they could become rich here. So they had a flour mill and since this was such a starting off point for the Oregon, California and some other trail, Santa Fe, I think, they became millionaires. It was purchased as a 6 room house in the beginning and then was added upon as the family became larger. I think there were 27 room altogether. That is counting small closets, etc. But it is gigantic. It would be so fun to live in. I have a bunch of pics but won't bore you with all of them.

This is a picture of the music box. You have never seen such a music box! It was acquired from one of the inheritors of the estate and then he sold it back to the mansion for $35,000, but it is worth much more than that. It is quite amazing. And the sounds that come out of it are amazing.

This is the inside of the music box. See the long gold metal roller in the middle with all the bumps on it! That is the music. If you know anything about music boxes, well, it is incredible. At the back are three little men and they hit their cymbals occasionally and there is a drum at the top in the back with about 6 drumsticks that play on cue. Plus they have several of those music rolls to play on it.

This is a pic mostly for Fred. He would really appreciate it like no other. This is the dining table in the all mahogany paneled dining room. It is breathtaking. The dining table must be more than 20 feet long. Dad says 30-35 feet! There were 10 chairs around it and you could have probably put 6 more. I lifted up the cloth at the end of the table to take this pic. There is a leg like this at the other end.

And then in the middle of this table is this leg. It is a support leg. But when the table is taken down to just a smallish round table, this leg is completely enclosed in the two legs at each end. You don't even see it! Oh, Fred, it is beautiful! And I know you could build something like this.

Here we are in the kitchen and looking in at the small door in the walk-in ice box. That is Carole, (Sister Stutz) wiping up the wooden kitchen floor! She really is from England and introduced herself as the cleaning lady. She is so funny. Her husband had come in from outside and with snowy feet, got the floor wet.

This is the whole pic of the frig. It is huge and hold 300 lbs. of ice delivered each day to keep things cold! Yea, no electricity when this home was built. They have added electricity to the house but kept all the original gas lights because they really didn't think that electricity would stay around very long. Were they up in the night or what!

The bedrooms are very large and I love this little rocking high chair that was in a child's room.

I just loved everything in the home. I am truly an old spirit in an old body now.

This is a car on the way to work. You might say that it is snowed in. It was along one of the streets that were plowed on Christmas day and then we got probably 6 more inches last night. I don't know when it will be claimed.

But people here do not know how to handle snow. The main streets were plowed, but not hardly any of the side streets. Our street is now just packed down snow that was slushy for a few days, but today was like an ice rink. Oh, and the best happened yesterday. All the zone leaders were in for meetings and came to the office afterward. Dad talked to bunches of them about cars, etc. Four of them left to go home and ten minutes later got a phone call. "Elder Linde, we have had an accident." Dad gets up and leaves. The accident is six blocks from the office, in view of our apartment. Right on the street we travel each day. The speed limit is 40, so I am sure they were going that. Out of one of the unplowed side streets comes an old man, you have to be careful saying that these days. But Dad thought he was way into his 70's. He came sliding out from his STOP sign onto Noland Road. Dad thinks he must have accelerated, because our Elders hit him with their front end and blew their tire and crunched their front end. No one was hurt. Dad called his tow truck and body man and off goes another car to the body shop. We just got one out of there last week!

This is Sister Linde just home from the office. Looks a little scary doesn't it. I have never worn so many scarves around my neck, but they do keep you warm. I wear them all day long too.

And this is Dad with his scarf. He always wear it with his coat, but now is even wearing just the scarf. Gosh, if your neck is warm, you are good to go!

It is consistently cold here, but a lot like home, so we are OK with it. We stay warm in our little place. Oh, I must tell you about last night. I went upstairs to invite the Waldrons down on New Years Eve. Before I knocked on the door I thought I heard a small child. Sure enough, their daughter and her husband and 21 month old child were there. Well,.......I burst into tears. I am such a baby. She came over and started handing me things. She was a little angel. I just thought of all our 'grand' kids. Gosh, makes me homesick.

But another thing. I guess we are turning into party monsters and this is becoming "party central." Yep, they are coming here tomorrow night for New Years Eve. Eating Erin and Mike's famous tacos and playing games. I doubt that it will last until midnight, but it will be fun. So to all of you, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Loves and more loves and lots of hugs.

I believe my last time here was on Monday as I told you about our new missionary/airport experience.

Tuesday was transfer day. What a day that is! Whew! Missionaries begin arriving between 7 and 7:30am. These are the close ones. There is a big bus down at the stake center which is just down the hill from the office. So we go down. The bus is already loaded with all the new kids bedding, several bikes, luggage, etc. It goes on the bus the night before. As new arrivals come, their luggage is put on the bus if they are going somewhere new. A lot of members bring the missionaries in and load their luggage in their trucks, cars, etc.

This is Sister Hafen and Sister Maxfield. Maxfield is leaving so they are showing their sad faces. She is a sweetie. I don't know anyone who always has a smile or such a pleasant look on their face as she does. Gosh, it is awful saying goodbye to these kids.

This is Elder Gallegoes. He has been out in the field so we haven't had a chance to know him until today. He actually graduated from Alta High School in SLC. His parents moved to Boise his senior year, but allowed him to live with his uncle I believe, to finish school. He did not know that his dad was a member of the church until he joined at the age of 17. Had wonderful friends that brought him in and he is really converted. And I guess he left from Boise, because his friends were quite surprised to hear about him going on a mission. Now he is going home to Boise. He was asking us if his friends could come to the airport in SLC and just say hi during his 1 hour layover. We told it would be pretty hard to leave security and then get back in to catch his next plane. He felt bad.

Whoops! Two pics the same! Delete, how do you do it?

This is Elder Williams and Elder Ale. Williams is not going home, and even though he is not living real close, we have become a little better acquainted with him since he was in on chasing that Elder who lost it, and I tell you, he is one you would want on your team. He is big and strong. But we just seem to bump up against him now and then with things that have happened in the mission. He is a big guy, but so sweet. Sort of one that you would call a teddy bear. The kind I would like to hug!

Elder Ale is gone now. We are going to miss him. Back in Hawaii he is. I was glad he got out of here when he did. The kids all left on the 23rd and the snow came on the 24th. Ale has been a wonderful missionary and everyone loves him. All of these young elders are amazing boys/men. There is one elder here who we think is about 16 years old. It is amazing how young some of them look. But do they ever grow up on the mission. Boys to Men it is.

So the bus takes off about 8:30 with kids that are going out to different places and then those in the far out areas meet the bus on its rounds and either get on to come back here or meet their new companion. It makes a huge circle down south and west and gets back here at about 6pm. It is quite a process. I had to smile a while ago when Janae told me that her mission was 25 miles in area. I don't know what ours is, but it takes 3 1/2 hours for us to drive to Derby and there are towns even further out than that. Just out in the countryside of Kansas. It is a big mission area wise. I think I have heard it is one of the very largest. Almost 200 missionaries, 66 cars, and lots of wide open corn fields.

This is Sister Miller in the office. She lives across the hall from us and is in charge of finances for the mission. She posts all the missionaries $150 on their JPMorgan cards each month, so they don't forget her name. She also forwards all the mail to them each day. But she gets flustered very easily. We have just changed over to the new IMOS program with our computers and she has had a hard time learning it. And then when the mailman arrives, she sighs and says, oh no. What to do with all the mail. I love it when the mailman arrives. It is fun to get their mail sent out. And she gets it done every day, just likes to complain about it I guess. Notice some boxes sitting at the left side of her desk.

This is another area, where Sister Williams sits and it is full of boxes too.

And even more boxes!

And more boxes! They have been everywhere and this was after transfers and a lot were taken away. So this pm the Stutz's came over from the Employment Office to see if they could help. They actually loaded the dolly several times and put the boxes in their truck to take to the PO. When they got there the PO said they could not forward them for us. The post master said he didn't know how we had been doing it for this long, but they could no longer forward them after we had received them. Made sense to me, but other office workers were all upset. What to do. Why can't people send the packages directly to the missionaries? They will probably have to now. And then if they move, it will catch up to them somday. We even have four packages for Elder Garrett Hadley sitting in our living room. Too much to tell you how they got here. But Garrett Hadley really threw us the first time we saw that name in the file because it read:

HADLEY,

Garrett

Well, the whole package scene was overwhelming to some, but quite exciting for others. We as the seniors were going to deliver some packages to missionaries that lived close, but the storm really hit about 3pm and we decided against it, so some kids will get their packages in a week hopefully. Some of that should be blamed on families who sent them. How do you expect a missionary to receive his Christmas package if it arrives on the 24th!

So Christmas Eve was snowy and Dad and I were alone thinking of all of you! Kids and grandkids and parent and siblings, etc. Wondering what you all were doing. We watched a movie called, The Homecoming. It was an older movie about 4 kids whose mother left them and they were trying to find their grandmother who they did not know. It was sad and happy and good.

When we got up in the morning we discovered that it had snowed most of the night.

These are some of the cars as you looked out the front door. The plow had been through our parking lot. Our landlord really keeps it as clean as he can around here. Doesn't want us old folks slipping on the ice and snow.

At 7am we learned that our 8am Christmas breakfast at the VC was cancelled due to the snow. So guess what--one of the advantages of living in a complex where all are missionaries--we all went upstairs and ate the food that we had prepared to take to the VC. It turned out great. We had fruit bowls, an egg quiche, Russian Tea that I made and everyone loved, bacon, and Rhodes cinnamon rolls that I got up at 3am to bake since I had taken them out of the freezer and they were ready to bake. They are pretty good! I will buy them again.

That evening the Stutz came over and brought turkey and yummy roasted potatoes, and I did a vege, bread and a dessert. The couple just above us, the Waldrons, came down too. Their mission is to take care of the grounds at Far West, Adam-on-Di---, we call it AOA. We have a hard time saying it, let alone spelling it. They also prune trees, plant flowers, and move snow! So Christmas day they were moving a lot of snow from the parking lot at the office and at the stake center, etc. Anyway, they came down and the six of us ate and then played games. It was a fun evening.

So Christmas was very different for us this year, but it was good. We didn't to any shopping and that was very good. It is good to have a slightly different experience. We did receive some fun packages from you all and that made it very nice. I will take some pics and show you how our little place has become a lot more cozy. I love it. Thank you all.

On Saturday we were going to meet the Stutz's and tour a mansion that is here.

This is Dad out cleaning the car off. They were trying to get all the cars out so the plow could get all the snow off to the end of the lot. And do you know, I did not hear one word of complaint. He couldn't get in his door or the trunk. They were frozen solid. So he got in the passenger door and started the car, pulled the back seats down so a little warm air would hopefully go back to the trunk and thaw it out. Finally the doors opened.

We went on the tour and it was amazing. An old mansion that some wealthy people built. I loved it. How I would love to raise a family in that old home.

This is Independence Hall downtown and just a pic of the snow piled up. They really don't know how to handle all this snow. They usually don't get this much snow all at once. Only major streets get plowed and there were cars stuck in snowbanks all over. Cars sliding all around. On the TV it kept showing that most of the churches were cancelled on Sunday. Not the Mormons though!

So back to the office tomorrow and sorting through packages again to see who will be coming to the zone leaders meeting on Tuesday and what packages can they take back. We again will be prepared for whatever may happen. Like I have said before, something new every week. It is great to be working with these missionaries. They are so appreciative of everything that you do. They call for rides to church or I sew up a seam in their suits and they can't thank you enough. They are great.

ALL IS WELL and we love, love, love you all.

Hi, and it is only Monday! I just had to tell you the highlight of the day. I did take some pics of the office today, but will save them till later. No pics tonight.

Dad heads to the airport in a rented 12 passenger rented van to pick up new missionaries. Elder Williams heads out with a borrowed truck (the Stutz's) because it has a top on it to carry luggage in addition to the trailer another van was pulling. Just what do you call those things over the bed of the truck? The pres and his wife in their car and the AP's in the mission van pulling a trailer to carry luggage. All is going good and us three women are about ready to leave the office to meet them all at the mission home for our little meeting. At that point we get a phone call from two sister missionaries who are still at the airport and they cannot find anyone to ride with. Sister Williams started laughing. (And she is not one to laugh real easy.) She told the sisters that they probably just drove around because security is always after them to move on out! They will probably be back to pick you up. She called her husband and he was almost back at the mission home. I called Dad and he announced to all in the van that they left two sisters behind and you should have heard the laughter! Dad was following the other van and they were about 5 minutes from the mission home. So all arrive at the home and by then everyone has the message that two were still waiting. I answered and pres says that Elder Linde is on his way back to get them. Then Sis. Willimas says he can't go alone, he will have to come and get one of us. That would add another 30 minutes to the mix, so I said if the pres. says Elder Linde is on his way to get them, I figure it is OK. She is one to live by the letter of the law! Rules are rules after all. (I believe she needs to loosen up a bit.) Well, the three of us sisters head out to the mission home and begin the meeting and 50 minutes later, Elder Linde and Elder Williams (he went along with dad) arrive with one Samoan girl from Samoa and a Latino from Arizona I believe. Can you imagine two senior Elders picking up two young sister missionaries. I thought it was so funny. We were glad that they were together. They actually did receive their sack lunch and then went back into the airport to find a bathroom. The airport is probably 25 miles away so it is a bit of a drive. It did add a bit of humor to the day and all of them are safely and soundly sleeping, I am sure, at the president's home tonight.

Tomorrow is transfer day so anything could happen!

Love to all. Shauna, Mom

Well, we are back to Sunday night again. I don't know where the last 10 days have gone. They have just been busy. And we have been tired. I guess that is why people retire at 65--they can't stand sitting at the office from 8 to 5 everyday. But I guess we have come out of retirement because that is what we are doing.

Our Zone Conference on the 9th was cancelled because of weather. The president did not want us driving for 3 1/2 hours to get there on the bad roads. We were grateful that he cancelled it because all of the missionaries are really spread out in that area and thinking of all those young men and girls on the road at 6 am in the snow was scary. I worry about them the same as I did my own kids. I remember all the drives to Snow College and to USU in the snow and you would have to call me when you got there.

We did have conferences on the 10th and 11th. One drive is about 45 minutes away and the other about 20 minutes. Zone conference is always great. The kids coming together is always fun to see. The guys are giving hugs to the guys and the sisters just hug and hug each other. I think that is about the hardest thing for me. Not hugging those Elders. I can hug the sisters and I really would like to give some of those guys a hug, but rules say it is a no-no.

Conference was good too because we had a special Christmas program. One of the senior couples is from American Fork and interestingly enough he has a group that play at the MAC (Murray Arts Center) where we have gone dancing the last few years. Yes, we have even danced to his band! Well, he arranged the program and it was very nice.

This is a pic of Sister Maxfield. We were excited when we got here to meet her. Dad coached her older brother in tennis at Brighton. And another brother I believe. And we know her parents. She is Nanette and Vern's niece. It was fun to tell her that her uncle was my brother, Vern. She is going home in a couple of days. She is the most pleasant Sister around. She always has a smile on her face. She was in one of the quartets of sisters who sang a couple of songs. Beautiful. Dad is trying to put it on the blog. The song is Pie Jesu by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Each time Dad heard it he was in tears and asking me for a tissue! He has a hard time with beautiful songs.

We had to pick up Elders in two places who were on the program and take them with us and then take them back to their places. Arranging all these things and these trips is crazy!

After two conferences, Saturday was here. Yea! And I have a new friend. She is Sister Stutz and they are from Highland. She and her husband work in the employment office, so their mission is really different from others. I have decided that all seniors have completely different kinds of missions. More about them later. But every week in RS and Priesthood, one of the announcements is about employment. Does anyone need a job? and do you know of any jobs out there? And people report on what they know. So the jobs are fed into the LDS employment office and the Stutz and several others try and find jobs for people. They give training in writing resumes and how to apply, etc. Then when the missionaries are leaving they give them a short class is returning home and looking for jobs.

Anyway, Sister Stutz is filling a void in my life. I just love her. She is fun and we call each other by our real names. Anyway, we went shopping. I had never been to the Independence Mall, but it is huge. You walk in and in the center is a huge area that is open and you look down to the next level and see this........

Yes, a real live carousel. It is huge. And then big play areas with all sorts of animals to climb on and things to ride.

We couldn't find the store we were looking for so had to call them and ask where in the mall they were. Turned out you had to go out of the mall and they were outside the mall. It was Coldwater Creek and Carole had never been there. I had ordered a skirt out of a catalog before I left for the mission and when I got it, it was not really the color I had anticipated. So I was looking for something to go with it. Then it was back inside the mall and we saw Christopher and Banks, so we had to go in there. We both ended up buying two items in each store. But what a deal! I had a 30% coupon for CWC and C&B was 2 for the price of one! We made out like bandits. It was a fun little shopping experience. She hates to shop as much as I do so it did turn out to be fun! Just the company.

This next pic is just an idea for Primary workers. We were in one of the wards and out in the hall outside the Primary room were pics of all the kids. This one was pics of each class inside like a building and the doors opened up... Get it?



This was another pic of individual kids. I thought how fun for those kids to see their pic on the wall each week as they go to Primary.

This last week we had to take the long trip down south on Wednesday, so we left at 2pm on Tuesday and picked up one elder about 45 minutes away and he was so sweet. He was from Twin Falls and comes from a family of 12 kids. So good to talk to him. Elder Dodds was his name. Then about 75 miles from there we picked up two more Elders. These three were 3/4 of the male quartet. Lots of talent, these young kids. There was a piano solo, an organ solo, a piano duet with an elder and a sister. They were good. And others also. We got back on Wednesday at 6:30 pm, so no office duty that day!

This week was fun too because we received some packages. A delightful calendar that I believe Janae put together, but all of you contributed pics to. Thank you. It is so great! There are four pics on every page, so it is fun to see more pics of all of you. You just don't realize how much we miss seeing you and that calendar will take care of a little of our longings. Also, our little tree received some decorations from Eryn, Silver and Matt. Can you see the large star at the top? And the little gingerbread men and light ornaments? Even one with a pic of Silver on it. They must have used a can of cinnamon in them, because they sure smell good! Thank you. Our tree looks much better. And also another decoration that I will show you next time with a pic. Another package from Linde and Fred with turtles that we love only made with macademia nuts instead of pecans. Have to admit they are the best and much better than what we have loved for years. And a package from the Waltons. We have opened only two of six gifts. The first was a box of orange sticks. Gosh, why do we love those sweet things so much! And then two magnets for the frig with pictures of Izaak and the twins, Ben and Mason, on them. I guess the boys taped all the packages up and you have never seen so much tape on a little gift. We have to use a knife to get them opened. It is fun to open them and think of those little fingers taping them up so well. You are all adding things to our little place that make up happy and make things look so much better. Oh, and the art work on the wall is from Ben and Mason.

This was Saturday, yesterday at home. Thank you Erin for your suggestion to Mod Podge my leaves. You can see my leaves still hanging from the chandalier and it was time to put them away. But I couldn't bear to throw them out. So I got some MP and put it on each side and they are preserved! They are almost bendable. I think it is great. I am also hoping to make a quilt.

That muslin with blue painters tape around it on the clip board is the beginning. I am going to have kids sign it when they leave and then when I get home I will put it all together and call it our missionary quilt. I was on the phone about 3 or 4 times with Linda to find out how to do it. Thanks. I think it is going to work. Now it will be collecting the names of kids.

Oh, I forgot I had another pic here of the tree. This is the one showing the cinnamon decorations. You can see them better in this pic. It smells good in here!

Last night we went to dinner with the Stutz's and then over to their apartment to play Mormon Bridge and Mexican Train. We had an enjoyable evening. Dad has been playing racquet ball with him each Saturday for the last three weeks. They play pretty hard. But both seem to enjoy it.

Had a wonderful musical program at church today. Gosh, there is a lot of beautiful Christmas music. Tomorrow is a new week and a big one already. We have 20 missionaries arriving tomorrow at 1:30, transfers on Tuesday, and 18 missionaries leaving on Wednesday. They will be happy and sad days, lots of interruptions and not getting a lot of our work done, but just more days in the life of the mission.

ALL IS WELL Mom and Dad, Doug and Shauna, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister (I guess that is all we are!) Loves and hugs and kisses.

Hello, it is not Sunday night and I am back!

It was snowing last night as we went to bed with an inch or two of snow already on the ground. So this AM as the alarm went off, I turned it off and snuggled back down. Next time I looked at the clock it was 6:25 and I was still not able to push the warm comforter back. I then went back to sleep and awoke again at 6:45 having had a dream. I want to call it a revelation! I knew I had to find a treadmill. There is a bike outside our door and I have brought it into the living room for three mornings, but it is very boring and not quite like walking. Well, yesterday we actually got up and got ready to walk and stepped outside our door and the pavement was so slick, we could not walk on it. We got to the sidewalk and it too was very slick. So back into the apartment we went. (It is so wierd to think that we are living in an apartment). But I cannot do that bike. So my dream was the answer. Dad has been looking around for a used one at a sale or something. I suggested going to Wal Mart and buying one. We will see.

On the way to work we passed this flag that was attached to the pole. Gosh, it is cold! Our car said 11* and I know we should not complain because a lot of you are living in colder places, but it is COLD! With the wind chill it was -4* today. We had a few inches of snow, but I guess Utah got a lot of snow. We were talking to SL and my helper was working from home in South Jordan because the roads were parking lots.

The rain here freezes in drops because it freezes so quickly. We went to Salvation Army and bought our car a blanket. Partly to keep it warm, but mostly to make the ice scraping easier.

Zone Conference was cancelled today since a lot of us had to drive so far and the storm was just coming. So tomorrow we leave a 6am for our next conference. Only 45 minutes away.

We are warm and cozy in our little place. Next week I will give you a tour of the office and the other people we work with. I will just tell you that I nearly fell off my chair today as we were reading the Book of Mormon. We go around the group with everyone reading a column. Well, Sister Miller has a hard time with reading. We haven't figured out if she just does not know how to read or what, but phonics she does not understand. Sometimes someone will help her with a word and she still can't read it. Today it was iniquity and integrity. And then she will put in a word that is not there at all. But today she was reading and finished her column and then Sister Williams made the same reading errors that she did. Sister Willimas substitutes words also. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing and I found my eyes actually looking at Sister Williams scriptures to see if her words were different than mine. But we finished the Book of Mormon today along with a few tears of joy and hopefully some new understanding. We are now going to begin the Pearl of Great Price. It is good to read with a group because we often stop and discuss things and it is good.

Oh, it is good to be here. I talk with several of the missionaries each day to work out little problems and they are so sweet. The Sisters always say how much they love you and the Elders are always so grateful. Good kids.

ALL IS WELL

Can't believe that it has been a week again since I sat here and put something in.
It seems that the time is going 'quickly slow'. Don't ask me what that means, except that when Monday gets here it feels like oh, no, another new week. But then the days pass quickly and it is the weekend again and we try and get a lot done on the weekend.

This is a pic of the sun going down at 5pm in the west as we left the office one day last week. We don't have real spectacular sunrises or sunsets. Appreciate and enjoy what you have.



Then surprise! As we looked to the east there was the moon already up. We have had a lot of overcast days lately. Just low clouds that never leave.

Dad got a call from one of the sisters last week saying that she had passed all the requirements and was now at 5 and that means she was ready to drive. OK. We need drivers. So the next step is to give her papers to the President to sign and Dad signs them and she can now drive. Well, he looked in the file for her papers and could not find them. He looked in a couple other places and no luck. So I went over and we looked through the whole drawer for her name. We cleaned out a lot of kids that had gone home, but never did find hers. Still lost.

But the interesting one that we came upon is shown below.

I read HADLEY Garrett and looked at Dad. It was just so surprising. So we have Hadley Garrett or is that Garrett Hadley in our mission! It will be hard to call him the right name. Guess it is good that all missionaries have the same first name, ELDER! We won't be confused.

On Saturday night about 9:45pm, Dad had a call from Elder Ale (pronounced ALL-E). He quite apologetically asked if we could take him to a baptism on Sunday. It was about an hour away and he really wanted to go, but had no way to get there. Dad said sure, when do we leave. We all attend the same ward, so we just went to church and left at 2:45 to go to Paola for the baptism. Elder Ale is one that I would like to put in my suitcase and bring home. We just love him. He is Samoan and lives in Hawaii. Born there and when he was in jr. high, the family moved to West Valley, then went back to Hawaii for a funeral, but then moved back to West Valley, went back for another funeral and stayed in Hawaii. At that point, Dad left the family and doesn't have a lot to do with them. Five kids and the oldest boy kind of took over as the dad and worked to help his mom take care of the kids. Kids were all a year apart and finally when the fifth was nearly out of high school, decided he could now go on a mission. So he and Ale left at the same time. He to New Zealand and Ale to Independence. They were due to arrive home the same week, but New Zealand's visa expired so he went home last week. Our Ale leaves on the 23rd.

Anyway, we heard a lot about him and then he told us that where we were going, he had served for 7 months. The person being baptized was in her 30ties and had been married in the temple and had three boys and her husband left her. Then she was excommunicated. She married again a little over a year ago and now had a little girl and her new husband is investigating the church. He had worked with this person a lot and really identified with her because I guess a lot of the same kind of things happened to him as a child.

As we got closer, he said, Sister Linde, I am so happy and excited that I am shaking. He thanked us over and over for taking him. We got there and the family was there. The three little boys sort of hung on him. Next thing I notice is that the middle child has Ale's overcoat on. And Ale never takes it off. He is always cold and has not really become accustomed to the cold around here.

He kept the coat on all evening. At one point he started to take it off and Ale said to him, No, that is your coat now. You can have it for your mission. I was sitting next to him and he told me he was seven, but on August 24th he would be 8 and would be baptized. Oh, it was sweet.

On the way home, Ale said many times to us, that this was the happiest day of his mission. And he really meant it. He said, she is the reason I came to this mission. He just could not get over the joy he felt and the wonderful feelings he had seeing this lady come back into the church. Gosh, and to think that we were able to share in that day with him. It was such a special experience for us.

And now look at us. 42 years later. We left work and went to Olive Garden to have dinner. I told Dad that I had never seen him dressed for dinner like he was tonight. And his hair! Can you see that he is wearing it a little longer? I told him he looks quite distinguished. And when he puts that long, black, overcoat on, well, it is amazing! He looks quite important, or famous, or something more than I have ever known.

We have now lived 2/3rds of our lives together. Sounds crazy, I know, but it is true. He asked me today if I wanted to try for another 42!