July 4, 2010

And it has been two weeks since we were sitting in the Best Western and I last made an entry. I really don't know what happens or where the time goes. I guess we are just too old to keep up with ourselves.

We came back to our apartment on Monday at noon and found a new thermostat on the wall. It is very nice because it actually shows the temp. The old one was one of those old fashioned that just had 65 70 75. So now we know the temp exactly. It pretty much stays at 74-75 day and night. Yes, all night. On rare occasions we are able to open a window and get some cool air, but it is generally so humid that it is not cool. And it usually cools down into the 80's at night. Not fun or good.

But on Monday at noon we headed to Wichita for a Zone Conference. Came back on Tuesday and then had another conference on Thursday and one on Friday. We were quite exhasted by the end of the week and then Friday two sisters came in for an interview and the President asked us to do an emergency transfer on Saturday. So we drove to Liberty to pick up one sister, drove her to La Cygne and brought another sister back to Liberty. We left at 7:30 and got back about 1pm. You just never know what you are going to be doing on any given day in the mission.

At one of the ZC, I talked to Elder Whitworth about Emanuel Chancez, who I wrote about in my last entry. He received the Priesthood and was able to pass and then bless the Sacrament and he was so thrilled. He actually went back to South Carolina and reported for duty when they found out in doing some medical tests that he has juvenile diabetes and so will be discharged in November from the Marines. He is quite thrilled because now he can go on a mission next year. His parents now want to hear from the missionaries. It is all quite exciting.

Last Sunday Dad and I talked in church. It was quite interesting because on Saturday night Randy called and said he was talking in church on Sunday also. He talked with Dad about some of the history around here because he was speaking about the Prophet Joseph, who had been martyred on that very day and Randy was exactly the same age as the Prophet when he was killed. It kind of gave a new picture of the Prophet to think that he was the age of Randy when he died. Not very old.

This is a pic of Elder Clayson. I think I have told you that he reminds us of our boys. He is holding a x-stitch pic of the St. Louis Temple that his mother made for a couple that he had baptized last year and they just went to the temple to be sealed. Quite a happy day in Elder Clayson's life and how kind for his Mom to make that. It came in the mail to the office so he showed it to us.

This is Elder Vogel from Price and Elder Struthers from Tucson. Wonderful Elders.

On the way home from the office we pass this sign each day. The first day I saw it I burst into laughter. And I just read it. It was the next day that I saw the naked, hairy body in the car. Anyway, it is good for some laughs.

This is Sister Witkamp. One of the sweet sisters in our ward for now and lives just across the street and down from us and also works at the VC. We get to see her more often than some of the others.

This is Sister Love. Another beautiful Sister. These two are companions for now. I had signed up for them to come to dinner last Wednesday and found out that Dad was going golfing with Elder Stutz and Williams, so I called Sister Stutz and she came and we went and bought a roasted chicken and made a salad and cut up some fruit and we four sisters had dinner together. It turned out to be a very nice evening. I had Sister Stutz to thank for that because I was quite stressed since we had left at 8am to drive to Manhattan to deliver a new car to two other sisters. Didn't get home that day until 2pm and then had not even thought about dinner, so on the way to the office I called Sister Stutz to see if she could come over. She calmed me down and suggested what we could do. I love her. She has become a blessing in my life in this mission. I did not ever think about the senior couples that we would meet and work with out here. That is one big bonus I tell you.

Must back track and tell you about the car delivery. We met the girls and gave them a brand new car and then had mail for the Manhattan district. So we called Elder Bergeson and he said they were headed to a District meeting and we could come to the church and leave the mail with them. We were out in the middle of nowhere and finally got to the church. Walked in and in the RS room were two Sisters and 10 Elders sitting in a circle. All were dressed appropriately and discussing their investigators. I got a little emotional as I witnessed this because these missionaries are quite a ways away with no one to check on them. They could be doing whatever they wanted, but they were conducting the business of the day and then going out and knocking on doors. It was wonderful to shake each of their hands and just tell them how great they were.

Now we are back at the office. This is Sister Lee. She is from Eagle, Idaho and is the new mission secretary. She has been in training far too long and is excited to be able to do her thing.

This is Elder Hart. We knew him before he came to the office because he is a local and we attend his ward. He is the new finance secretary and comes by it quite naturally since he has been an accountant in real life. He is also from Holland as is our President and they happened to serve missions in Holland at the same time.

This is a pic of Elder Linde and Sister Linde and their close proximity at the office. That is a big color copier in the foreground in front of my desk. But as you can see, as companions, we are never out of sight of one another!

Yesterday was a picnic for all the seniors at the FM place. This is a pic of the Stutz's and that is their son standing on the right. He and his wife and three kids were here for the holiday.

This is Elder Bouy with his son-in-law at his side and daughter across the table and their daughter and her friend. They also were here for the holiday. We had a great picnic with everyone bringing salads and desserts and whatever meat you wanted.

And then it was the President's birthday on the 4th, so someone brought a big cake for him. He even managed to blow out all the candles at once. I don't know if there were 66 or not!

Then it was fireworks. The church has always allowed the city to do their fireworks in this big open field where we were but they had to do them on Saturday night instead of on Sunday. It was kind of interesting because as we left the VC on Sunday night they were people setting up their lawn chairs and blankets to watch the fireworks. They must not have received the memo! It was quite a display of fireworks and our necks were sore from having to lean back to far. We loved it!

This is Sister Williams and Elder Williams. They will be heading out tomorrow for Logan, Utah. Back home to a new life and probably trying to not go back into the real world. They have been wonderful, dedicated missionaries. They were actually called as proselyting missionaries and were in the field for the first six months of their missions and the the President asked them to come into the office to work. It will be different around the office, because they are always there! I mean, the first ones there each day and usually the last to leave at night and if we have ever had to go to the office on Saturday, we would find them there. They are good workers who truly love the Lord.

So tomorrow we go back to the office and how different it will be without the Williams. Also Elder Hart only works half days and so he doesn't come in until about 1. Always changes on the mission.

All is Well.