Oh, it has been awhile. I have decided that I get a little homesick whenever I post. I think that I realize that we are away and not coming home for awhile. Although we can now say that we will be home next year, it still is a long time away. The weeks seem to really go quickly and January is now over, but we have only passed our four months out mark. And it seems crazy that we will be here for another winter.

Anyway, must get off my pity pot. These are just some random pics that I pulled off the camera and I forgot to organize them, so here goes.

This is my pic of Miss Potter and the books I got at the library. I absolutely loved this movie. I watched it 6 times. (Usually between 10 and midnight after Dad had gone to bed.) Also read the books and one had a DVD to watch. It was fun. Took me back to childhood with you kids. Going to the library tomorrow to get The Lion King.

This is the first pic of our new walls. We finally have something on them. This is the plaque that Andrea made and sent us for Christmas. Guess she had seen my blog and saw what I said about the words on the door that I posted. Thank you Andrea. We love it.

As I pulled the curtains this AM, I saw this little squirrel right out in front trying to get in our car. He would stand on his hind legs and look up at the door. I asked Doug if we had anything to feed him.

This is our new treadmill. I love it! We have gone walking outside a few times lately, but when it is too cold, I just get up and walk alone. And I love that I have one of those huge scriptures and I can do my reading while I am walking. A little hard to do my marking though, so I haven't been real good with that. I am actually a little ahead in my schedule. You know me, I had to write out how much I needed to read each day to finish on time. I am such a scheduler and list person, it is pathetic!
This is the other wall in the living room. All those family pics framed in Salvation Army frames. Pretty good, huh! Amazing what I have found. Salvation Army, Savers, VFW store, Dollar Tree. That is where we hang out!

This is the silverware wind chime that I guess Eryn took off the apple tree, took it home with her and they fixed it up and sent it for Christmas. We don't get to hear it right now unless we manually move it, but we love it and it looks cute hanging between the living and dining area.

This is two of the sweet sisters that are at the VC. Sister Punivaha. Dad had a hard time saying her name, so they wrote out how to say it. POO-NIGH-VA-HA. He now does it perfectly and she give him a high five each time she comes in and he says it right. The other is Sister Lasalosi. You learn these Tongan and Samoan names by saying every vowel. Lasalosi is pretty easy.

That's all folks. Oh, we do have a new senior couple upstairs. Their name is Bouy. They are from Syracuse and she is the new nurse and he is working with the cell phoones and also housing and checking apartments. She worked at Primary Children's and knew Adrian and that was the first thing that she asked me, if I was Adrian's mother. Susan (Adrian and Erin's friend) knows her well and told her that we were here. It is amazing how everybody knows somebody that you know.

We have new missionaries coming on Wednesday, transfers on Thursday and missionaries leaving on Friday, and on Saturday we are having an all mission conference again. Elder David Bednar is coming to Lenexa for a stake conference, so he wanted to meet with the missionaries while he was here. It will be a big and hectic week with lots of kids hanging out at the office. We always try and have treats and goodies for them on these days. Of coarse, we always have stuff to eat at the office. Hot chocolate and Russian tea, if I get it made. Cookies and carrots, a big jar of candy on my desk, and the kids love the Tootsie Rolls that we buy at Costco. I have never bought so much candy and junk food to feed to kids. This week we will have some juice and veges and such. A little bit of good for you food. It is all beginning again in a few hours. See you later.

We just received a TXT from Janae that little (big) Maggie is here. It is a miracle. We are so thankful that she is healthy and we are anxious to see a pic of her. And Mom, of coarse.

Since I can't talk to Janae yet, I am trying to pass some time and tell you about the latest miracle in the mission field.

Remember me telling you about Elder Cox. The newest missionary that we picked up at the airport on Wednesday. And he is totally deaf. This is a pic of him.


and this is his companion, Elder Eckern.

On Sunday, they went to church and the bishop there has each new missionary bear their testimony the first time they come into the ward. Since Elder Eckern does not know ASL well enough to interpret, Elder Cox wrote his testimony on paper and Elder Eckern was going to read it while Elder Cox signed it. The meeting was about to start when a lady walked in and sat at the back of the chapel. The bishop came off the stand and got the missionaries and told them to come with him and then he picked up the lady at the back of the chapel. He took the three of them out in the hall.

It just happened to be a lady who is a member and has been inactive for years and years, but about three weeks ago, came back to church. And she just happens to have a Masters or a Doctorate in ASL! Miracle! The bishop asked if she would interpret for Elder Cox. She said she would. So Elder Cox bore his testimony in sign language and she interpreted for him.

Elder Cox will probably be going to Olathe because there is a deaf school there, but for his first companion was put with Elder Eckern since Eckern had been with two other Elders since his companion went home a while ago. (I can't remember if I told you about the Elder who Dad took to the airport because he was harming himself. Another story about him later.) But mostly it is a miracle because our President lives and works with the Spirit. Miracle! He sent Elder Cox to this area and now this lady has asked Elder Cox to teach the gospel to her boyfriend. She was quite moved by the whole experience and I believe is back in the church. Miracles just keep happening all the time. We are so thrilled to hear about them when they happen.

Just had to tell you about our Zone Conference that just ended. When we got home on Friday, Dad said, "That is the best one we have been to." Gosh, they just keep getting better all the time. We heard a talk from a stake president that was off the charts. He is an institute teacher somewhere in Wichita and his talk was amazing.
It is so exciting when these missionaries come together. They are so excited to see one another. We usually have 5 different conferences on five days, but once again we had two cancellations because of the freezing weather, and so two of the groups were double in size, which I think the missionaries love because it brings more together at the same place and they get to see more of the kids they may have worked with.

A while ago I decided to make a missionary quilt and have a square for each missionary. So I went and bought some muslin and cut my squares out and got some painters tape and put the square onto a clip board and actually had a couple of missionaries sign them. Well, I got two signed and it was a lot of stress for me. I was lying in bed one night not able to sleep because I could not figure out what to do to remember these kids. It came to me. Just take a picture of each one and put it on a scrapbook page and write comments and interactions that we have had with them. Duh! How hard is that. I woke up so excited and discovered that it would be easy for me and all they have to do is smile! After all, they really don't want to sign an autograph quilt for some old people.

So here are some of my first pics. And Dad and I have different contacts with the kids, so we will both write things that happen to help us remember them. After all there are 184 young missionaries here. It is over 200 with all the seniors.

This is Sister Balois who is from New Jersey. We met her right at the beginning and she and her companion persuaded us to go to the ward that they were in. After all, they didn't have any seniors in their ward. So we went. She was transferred out at the last transfer and you have never seen a sadder face. She was nearly in tears. She said goodbye to us and got on the bus without even a smile. She is a very intense missionary and loves the work and it was so good to see her at ZC because she was smiling again. Her new companion is Sister Piris who is from Argentina. We don't know her well because she has been what they call 'full pros'. She is out in the field and not at the VC (Visitor's Center) where we get to know the Sisters. Both of these Sisters are going home in February and they came up to me on Friday and reluctantly asked a favor. Would we take them to Church's Chicken when they come in to go home on the 5th. We have never been to Church's Chicken. It is a fast food place and they love it. I said of coarse we will take you there. They were so excited. It doesn't take a lot to make a missionary happy!

This is Sister Bradley. She has been full pros too, but Dad knows her better over the phone because she had an accident. He talks to the kids several times when they are in an accident. She was sitting across the table from us at lunch and at the side of her bowl is a pile of tomatoes! Yes, she picked out every piece of tomato in her Taco Soup that she could find. We were laughing at her because it tasted so good to us. It was just like what we have at Christmas, but there was corn in it. Yummy! I also got another pic of her with a pleasant smile on her face.

This is Elder Zipf. I talked to him on the phone the other day and he told me his story. Said he would come and introduce himself at ZC and he did. Anyway this is why. A while ago I got a call from Linda and she asked me if was OK for a mother in Logan or Garden City, (I don't really know where,) to read this blog. Turns out her son was in this mission and it sounds like he was like a lot of missionaries and didn't write those detailed letters home. I have heard that Mom learned quite a bit about the mission from reading the Linde Line. And welcome to you, Sister Zipf. Glad to have you aboard. If I can make any mom feel better about her son on a mission, I am up for that. These kids do end up feeling like your own. You just love them immediately and you want to take care of them.

This is Elder Clayton. He is from Provo. He is very tall and so friendly and has an English accent. It is just fun to hear him talk. He is very friendly and sort of like a big teddy bear. We love him.

This is Elder Patterson. He has been a member of the Church for 5 years. We don't know him except.........

that he is a companion to Elder Cuello. Two excited missionaries. Elder Cuello received his mission call on the first anniversary of his baptism into the Church. No one in his family is in the Church. The Prez said that together, these two have 6 years experience in the Gospel. Oh, there are dedicated missionaries out here.

Just a few of the great kids that we are able to work with. It is quite an experience. Just the fact that they get up each day and put on white shirts and ties and suits and pantyhose and skirts and jackets is amazing to me. Then they begin their day with study and prayer and some breakfast and have appointments (20 a week) and they get together on Monday morning and play volleyball at the stake center or go for a run or something. I am still in awe.

We just got back to our little apartment. Left for Zone Conference in Wichita yesterday, and if it is possible, experienced the best one yet!
But I have just been reading blogs and trying to get caught up on all of you. It is so great to read about what is happening and to see pics of kids and things. Thanks.
And if any of you have not read NieNie Dialogues, you should. I cannot believe the attitude and spirit of NieNie. Read her and you will never have a moment for self pity.
I will get my pics together and talk to you later.

31 December 2009
Can you believe that the year is now over! It always seems to fly by. This is a pic of our New Year's Eve dinner with the Stutz's. We had the yummy shredded chicken tacos and fresh pineapple and they also brought sparkling cider. And you know me, I always forget about the dessert. I am just not a dessert person. But I did make brownies. It was a good dinner and then we played a new card game with the ROOK cards. It was called Canadian Salad. Sister Stutz said the best part was that tomorrow, January 1st, we could finally say that we were going home next year! It is true. And at the beginning of the year. March 21st is our release date.

Guess what this is? Dad driving another new car off the lot. Yes, we just got three new cars. But the bad news is that means that we will have 3 more cars for sale. They just are not selling. Isn't there someone who wants a gently used car? Maybe when the snow is gone and spring is around the corner, they will sell.

Here we are looking at the parking lot at the office. Yes, just beyond the snowbank you can see the nose of our little white car. It would be buried if that snow were on top of it. And look at the snow behind the cars. And that is after they hauled trailers full of snow away.

This is the entrance to the Employment Office. That is where the Stutz's are every day. Keep going down the path to the end of the building and turn left and you are headed for our office.

Today the sun was actually shining. It was 5' on the way to church this AM and 22' when we came out. We need some warm sun to melt a little of this snow.

This pic was taken on Friday. It was a zone conference and I was alone in the office for quite awhile as all other office people went to the meeting. I will get my meeting on Wednesday when we take the van and drive a bunch of the Sisters to the meeting about an hour away. Anyway, I am sitting at my desk and I heard this little tap, tap like a branch hitting a window. Our office used to be the mission home and then it was remodeled for the about three or four other purposes. So the tapping was in some very high windows that are just under the eves. I went over and saw a bluebird sitting on the window sill and he was baffled by the glass. Could not figure it out. So back to desk and I hear another little scritch, scratch. I fortunately have the only real window in the office by my desk. I am so thankful. I really look out of the window a lot. Well, this little scratch was a squirrel. The window goes almost to the floor. The squirrel was standing on his hind legs and scratching at the window and the sill. I grabbed my camera and he just stood there and let me take his picture. Look at the ice on the inside of the window. Poor little thing out in that cold. I put the blind up and just watched him for awhile. Then another squirrel appeared and they were running around in the snow. I love those little creatures.

That's all for today folks. Erin is calling on Skype.