The days just seem to get away from you around here. I guess it has been the Olympics (isn't it great to watch and feel the emotions and learn the little behind-the-scene facts about the athletes) Is it possible to enjoy it too much! But the down side is that Dad has not felt good. On Monday afternoon he started coughing and feeling weird. He went into the President's office and lay on a long bench and slept for a couple of hours. We came home and he was not good. Spent Tuesday at home trying to cough up his lungs. His sides just hurt. He has taken hot baths and lots of Vitamin C and water, water, water. Today, Wednesday, he actually came to work in the afternoon for about three hours, and tonight is not coughing a lot. I have taken to sleeping in the extra room. You know me though, I probably could have slept through the hacking! But I didn't want to breath his air. All those little germs flying around! I hope that he is able to spend the day at the office tomorrow. And thankfully, unlike the Elders and Sisters, I didn't have to stay with him all the time. The missionaries hate it when their companions are sick, because that keeps them in also. Hugs and loves.

Well, I just published my post and went back and read it and it took out all my pauses in the song. Oh, well, just read it slowly and be award of the words.

Sunday and it is cold outside. Just home from church and the Bouys drove up the same time we did. Unusual. They cancelled their church after Sacrament meeting and sent everyone home.

There is ice on Sea Ave. this morning. Can you see the little icicles hanging on the sign?


I did something wrong and my pics did not come up right. Darn, and I try so hard. Anyway, this is Elder Neilson and Elder Cox signing. Elder Neilson grew up with a deaf brother and sister and so has been signing all his life and it looks so beautiful. I love to watch him. I think I want to get into signing when I get home. It is now on my 'bucket list'. If you don't know, that is what I wanted to do in college, but didn't go long enough to get into it. And then I always thought that I was going to have a deaf child. Didn't happen. Wait a minute, I suppose my children had selective deafness and signing to them would not have worked either!

This is a pic of some turkeys right across the street from the President's home. We came out of there the other day and there they were. The home is is a very nice area. Actually in Kansas City and right close to the church we go to. But right across from the home is a huge open area with a lovely home at the bottom of this hill.

And you know, when I left I told Erin that she didn't need to take care of my plants if she didn't want to. But really now, can you imagine Erin neglecting my plants! But I can't get away from them. I just love plants and as I have done all my life, the first place I walk through at the grocery store is the plant and flower section. So this is my selection now. The one on the far right was here when we came, but I have cleaned it up a bit and it is doing better. And the asparagus fern is one that I cut completely back to where there were four inch sticks poking up. It is coming back pretty good. Crazy isn't it! Kind of hard to get away from what we are.

And since we have been here, we have been trying to find a good bakery close by. You know the kind where you can pick up some good bread to have with your soup. Haven't found any yet. I have tried three times to do Adrian's bread that you leave the dough in the frig. It just won't work unless I do half a batch and bake it on the weekends. Getting home from the office at 5:15 and being hungry does not give me enough time to get it ready.

So we heard of a bakery in Lawrence. We stopped there on Wednesday on the way home from zone conference. Sure enough it was what we were looking for. They have a huge round brick oven that is on the corner of the building and sticks out outside. And get this. We saw someone unloading wood out of the back of a truck. Yes, they cook with a wood fire. Amazing! So we had some lunch and bought a little bread to bring home. This was my favorite, looking at least. It is supposed to look like a stalk of wheat. Pretty good, huh!

I really didn't like it this much. There were other good breads.

It started snowing yesterday afternoon and was quite beautiful. Then it turned to rain in the night and this is a car window. Sister Miller chose to stay inside today and that was good.

All the trees are covered with little icicles. It looks very beautiful.

Icicles hanging everywhere.

As we got home, I started picking ice off the car. Because it had warmed up a bit inside, you could just pick it off the car. A piece on top of the car.

We had a great Sacrament meeting today. Two really good talks and a musical number that was amazing. I am going to try and recreate it for you. The person singing went up to the microphone and just stood there and looked out, sort of composing herself I guess. She was trying to still her soul. I mean it was several seconds before she began to sing. No piano, no organ, no guitar. She just sang. The song was Be Still, My Soul. Read it very slow and just think of a very lovely and quiet voice singing it. It was like she was giving a talk and she would pause a lot and then continue.

I just typed the words in and then tried to have the music in my head as I read the words. Just read it slowly and I bet you will never hear this song the same again.

Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side; With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain. Leave to thy God to order and provide; In ev'ry change he faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav'nly Friend Thru thorn-y ways leads to a joy - ful end.

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth un - der - take To guide the fu - ture as he has the past.

Thy hope, thy con - fi - dence let noth - ing shake; All now mys - te- rious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while he dwelt be - low.

Be still, my soul: The hour is has - t'ning on When we shall be for - ev - er with the Lord, When dis - ap - point - ment, grief, and fear are gone, Sorrow

for - got, love's pur - est joys re - stored. Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past, All safe and bless - ed we shall meet at last.


Well, it goes without saying that when she finished I had a tissue in my hand and was dabbing my eyes a lot. I know I can't give it to you like I received it, but it was one of those moments for me.

Hugs to all and we love you everyday.

Today is Saturday and I guess you would call it our P-day. However, Dad does continue to get phone calls most of the day.

Dad goes and plays racket ball at 9am every Saturday that he can. As for me, I managed to do three loads of wash and turn the extra bedroom into the drying room. Seems that I always have a rack full of clothes drying. Then it is clean the place up a bit. Kind of interesting how quickly you can clean up a little apartment that has a very small kitchen and bathroom. I have really learned to clean up as I go in the kitchen. Otherwise you run out of room and there is no place to put anything.

Went to see Sister Stutz last night. Took her some chichen noodle soup since she has been sick for about 10 days. As I was leaving she asked what I was doing today. Nothing, I said. So I picked her up at 1 and we went to Barnes and Noble and Dollar Tree. Afternoon out! Yipeee! It was fun. She has a terrible cough and has lost her voice. So she whispered to me and we had a few good laughs.

Now tonight we are watching the Olympics. Aren't they great! I love watching and holding my breath and screeching when someone goes down. I hate that. Hooray for all the athletes.

Later.

OK, I'm back!!

We have just returned today from our last two zone conferences. We had three last week. For the last couple of months conferences have been quite different because of weather cancellations and Christmas. This time it is each zone as it normally is and that means five separate days of meetings. The same speeches are basically given at each conference, including Dad's. We have to start picking up the Sisters about 6:15 so that we can be there at 7 for Dad to begin his inspections. Since we go to all five, we can kind of choose how long to stay for sometimes leave when Dad has given his speech. That was the case at Liberty. We left and headed for the van and Dad could not find his keys. Checked every pocket and bag and went to the van and saw the keys sitting on the seat. We had to call the office and ask Elder Williams to bring us some keys. It is about 30 minutes from Independence. Got the keys and went back to the office.

We left on Monday afternoon for Wichita and spent the night at a Best Western. I got up at 5 and walked two miles. At this conference, we stayed all day. It is good to stay all day because you get to know some of the Elders and Sisters a little better. Found out that there is an Elder Allred and a Sister Stanton in the mission. They are first cousins! Their moms are sisters. Someone was taking a pic of them and he wouldn't even put his hand around her shoulder, even tho the Pres. had told them they could give hugs. They sure enjoy talking with one another.

Elder Itzep, the second Pablo in our lives, is almost ready to go home and he is from Guatamela. He was abandoned by his mother when he was very small and I don't know who raised him, but he is going home to Houston, where he has a brother. He bore his testimony and said how much the mission had changed his life. Sister Van Komen said he has more love to share (and he does) than anyone in the mission. He said, 'don't waste your time,' 'be obedient, ' and he is, then, 'testify, testify, testify'. He is a wonderful Elder.

In this zone conference, the Pres. was trying to get the missionaries to distinguish between serving a mission or becoming a missionary. They came up with ideas about what made the difference and lots of great ideas about how they were trying to become a missionary. It is quite amazing how insightful these young kids are. They are just some of the best.

Elder Zipf, who we got to know a while ago, talked about serving and said that he thought in pre earth life that he checked the box that said he would serve a mission. Then he said that when he came on the mission he found that there were a lot of little boxes to check off to become a missionary. Said that he was still trying. As I believe they all are. They learned some wonderful things from Elder Bednar about becoming a missionary and you can see how they are really trying to learn how to implement those things. The Pres. told him he was a good missionary and he and Sister Van Komen would never forget him. Elder Zipf also had a little time on the phone with Dad as he called to report an accident. They were on their way home, it was dark, on a lonely country road, and a deer jumped out on the road and they hit it. It happened so fast he said and he closed his eyes when he could see what was happening. (He was not the driver!) The deer hit the left front of the car and then the drivers side door. Thankfully they were not hurt, just shaken up a little. It must be hard to call and report an accident. Dad is good with the kids. Not like he was with his own kids! Know what I mean. I think he is so concerned about the kids and realizes that the cars can be fixed and of coarse, he doesn't have to pay for it!

Well, must go. I need some pics. As we left one conf, there was a beautiful, red cardinal sitting on a bush. If I had had my camera in my hand I would have had a pic. So beautiful! I carry my camera with me all the time, but was not quick enough that time.

Love you all every day.

Monday night at a Best Western in Wichita.

I have been frustrated because I have not been blogging and have wanted to write a lot of things down. But I get to a point that I am so far behind that I get discouraged. In trying to decide what to do, Adrian called last night and she was not real happy with my lack of blogging and so we kind of talked through it and what to do. I remember how Andrea blogged something every day last year. That is a real committment, but what fun memories she has. I don't know that I can commit to every day, but I am going to try every other day. If I do a little, more often, I won't get bogged down.

OK, the last entry was about transfer day. Wednesday and Thursday are big for us, but then Friday the departing missionaries have stayed at the mission home overnight and leave early for a trip to Far West and Adam-ondi-ahman and on the way home are dropped off at the airport.
One of our sisters was going to New Jersey and we found out early in the day that La Guardia was closed because of a storm. So Sister Balois came back and stayed with the senior Sister Miller across the hall from us for the night

At the airport, the missionaries were able to shake hands with Elder Bednar who had just come from Salt Lake to reorganize a stake in Lenexa. The missionaries were thrilled because they had to leave on Friday and Elder Bednar had called an all mission conference for the Missouri Independence Mission. (MIM is what it is called in the short form).

Yes, so early on Saturday morning we began picking up Sisters to go to Lenexa for the conference. It was a 45 minute drive and we had a full page of instructions about how to get ready for the conference. We had two talks that Elder Bednar had given that we had to study, shine our shoes, press your suits, I mean they get down to the nitty gritty with these teen age kids! We were to be in our seats at 8:30 reading the scriptures. And we were! The missionaries filled the chapel and about three rows in the overflow, where drivers were asked to move back so the missionaries could sit there. The sisters always sit in the first three or four rows and the seniors are on the side and all the Elders everywhere else. It is quite a sight seeing a sea of young men and lovely young girls dressed in their best, white shirts and ties and suits, short hair and scriptures in hard. There was not a peep you could hear.

I had wondered how we could sit for three hours and take it all in. Just before 9, everyone stood as Elder Bednar and others walked in and took their places on the stand. Our President Van Komen conducted the meeting and he is such a sweet, soft spoken, humble man.

Elder Bednar did not give a talk like you would hear at conference. He just said a few words and started teaching about how to be a better missionary. He started asking questions. Kids would respond and then he would ask their permission to ask them a question. It was powerful. I will just give you bits and pieces of some of his words.

"Get out of the way" It is not about you and me. Prayer is a form of work. When you say 'amen', go to work. Prayer is a form of work. Act and the power comes.

Peter did not know he could walk on the water until he took the step out of the boat.

Faith is a gift. You never receive a spiritual gift because you want it, you receive a gift to bless someone else.

If you haven't been rebuked in your prayers, you are not praying very well. Rebuking is correcting.

When we fail to be bold, we fail because we are focused on ourselves.

Elder Bsaid he seldom has time to play golf, but last summer he found a couple of hours to go with a friend. Behind them was a man playing alone. As you golfers know, he would always be done faster than they were and waiting to move on, so they invited him to join their twosome. Introductions began and the newcomer asked Elder B. what he did. He casually said he worked for his church. The guy got a little more pointed and asked exactly what he did. He told him he was one of the twelve apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The guy smiled and said, I thought I recognized you. He was from Florida and had been in SLC for three weeks working. His wife was a member (inactive) and my mother-in-law works in the temple and he had seen Elder B's picture in a magazine. At the end of the game, Elder B. asked him to give a message to his wife. It was time for her to come back to the church and for him to also come to the church. Then he said, "Do you think that it was a coincidence that I was out playing golf and saw this man? NO, the Lord will send his chosen to the other side of the world to find the one."

As he got on the airplane to come here, another man saw him get on and asked if he could talk to him. Again he said, the keys never go anywhere by coincidence. The Lord would send one with the keys around the world to find one.

I guess the most exciting thing was to see the missionaries ask Elder B questions. He would ask a question and several hands would go up. He would point to someone and a microphone was put in their hands and they would ask an apostle of the Lord their question. It was very humbling. But I had many tears as the missionaries would ask him their question.

Elder Brodowski was one who was called on. We got to know him at Christmas time mostly because he was singing in a quartet and we picked him up and transported him. He had a very deep, low voice. He always wore a beret. I think that is what it is called. And he walked very fast and proud and like people couldn't wait until he got there! He was just very proud and arrogant, I thought. He asked a question that blew everyone out of the water. I really can't even remember what it was, but even Elder B. said to him, 'you are not smart enough to have said that'. Meaning it was very insightful and intuitive. Everyone laughed a little. But I saw a new Brodowski.

Elder B had empowered these kids with new ways to teach and work with their investigators. He had made them believe in themselves. He had just given them strength.

Another was Elder Gustafson who I told you about earlier. Just two days earlier he broke down at transfers and cried uncontrolably. He stood up and asked Elder B how he could not be so scared and afraid of things. He is a young elder and looks young too. There was also a Seventy with Elder B, Elder Milken, I believe. He said to Gustafson, the day you were born, what a transfer! But then, fear will probably never be overcome, but it will be filled with new opportunities. You ended up on this mission not by happenstance. Many lessons in the missionfield are preparation for your later life. The Atonement is to cleanse us and strengthen us to do things that are hard. He told him to read the Book of Mormon and underline every passage where the Lord strengthens His people. Or in the strength of the Lord, or people receive strength from the Lord. Write them down and compare them. Well, I was in tears as I listened to this exchange. I mean, the courage it took for that young man to ask such a question of an apostle of the Lord. He was so humble and wanting to get rid of his fear and Elder B was teaching them how to have faith and then act. Oh, it was a beautiful experience.

Elder B said , you return to your family after the mission, but don't you ever leave the missionfield. You will always feel wierd.

One of the Sisters asked what he had learned from the Prophet. Elder Bednar said that Thomas S. Monson ministers to the one. No one ministers to the one more than he. He will go to a church employees child's funeral, not even knowing them. He just shows up.

He said, when you receive impressions, act upon them.

He was the President of Ricks College when he got a phone call from the Prophet. Can you be in my office tomorrow at 3pm? Sure, I'll be there. He figured he was going to be released from his position as pres of Ricks. He was 'stunned' when the Prophet told him the Lord had called him.
He said that when he was into the room with the First Presidency and the other apostles, they treated him as if he had always been there. He told how he had admired and listened to Elder Packer for 35 years and loved his words. In a short time, Elder Packer came to him and handed him a talk he had prepared and asked Elder B to review it and critique it and give it back to him.

He told the missionaries that the best compliment they could receive would be for their investigators to say to them, I don't need you any more!

One of the great things I saw was our Elder Cox who is deaf, stand and with an Elder in front of him, ask Elder B a couple of questions. Elder Neilson was in between and he signs so beautifully. He has a deaf sister and brother and so has been doing it his whole life. It was a beautiful picture as the three of them exchanged ideas and answers came. Elder Cox asked how he could do it. Elder B told him to be like Nephi. Do your best Do what is right. Act and the power will follow. Step out of the boat.

Well, I could go on, but must end. The closing hymn was How Firm a Foundation. Look at verses 1 and 4 and 7.

OK, I think I am convinced. I will be back tomorrow night.
Love you all every day.

What a day! Today was transfer day. It is one of the biggest days of the month. We were up at 6, at the office at 7:10, set up a snack table in the office, down to the stake center at 7:30 and hang out for an hour talking to missionaries, hugging, and quite a bit of crying. There was a very young looking Elder who was down on one leg and crying his eyes out. I felt so bad for him. He really does look very young and other Elders were trying to talk him out of his very sad state. Even the President said to us he had never seen this happen before. The Pres. did say that he had a hard time leaving his folks and had a hard time at the beginning of his mission, but he really broke down at this transfer. He has a hard time with change someone said. But Elder Itzep, who was abandoned as a child in Mexico and raised by, I don't know who, well, he does have a brother who he has lived with, and he could almost pass for Pablo, you know, small stature, Spanish, great smile, really tried to cheer him up and sort of put him on the bus. The bus pulls out at 8:30. Back to the office
and then an office full of kids most of the day. More hugging, snacking, singing the last song on her mission, (and Dad not able to look at her because he had such big tears in his eyes.)
taking pics, getting a little bit of work done for Dad. Me, none. But I did get a new computer today. Took most of the day for Elder Fackrell to install it. He is a great kid who comes into the office on Tuesday and Thursday and just does whatever he is asked to do. He is a real computer geek. He is also rolling his eyes a lot at us seniors. I have seen him do it! You know, these youngens just get tired of our 'senior' questions about computers. Oh, and he installed a new printer for Dad. Dad thinks he has died and gone to printing heaven! He printed out his forms in a few seconds that up until now have taken minutes to do and even then they haven't turned out quite right. Then he printed out a new page of his cars FOR SALE in color. Thot he was pretty smart. Gosh, the equipment makes a lot of difference.

This is Elder Dodds from Twin Falls, Idaho. We got to know him at Christmas time when we picked him up and drove for hours with him to a Zone Conference where he was part of the program. He told us all about his family. A great kid who loved his family and everyone else.

At 2 pm a bunch of us went to the Community of Christ temple to listen to Elder Hurst play the organ. This is Elder Hurst and he is from Blackfoot. He sat at this huge organ and played some LDS hymns. It was beautiful. The lady in their church who plays the organ is kind of known around the world among organ players and she also played for us. We were browsing through their hymn book and found several hymns the same as ours and Dad sort of out loud said, I wonder if she would play, The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning. The Pres got up and went to the front and she played it for us. It was beautiful. The Pres has gotten to know her and while he has been here and told us that she once played the organ in the Tabernacle. She is good.

One of our missionaries, Sister Fife also sang a song for us. She has a lovely voice and Dad cries every time she sings. (He cries whenever any of these kids sing!)

It was after four and two more Sisters arrived who were going home and asked if we would take them to the Mission Home. That is where they spend the night. They had a mission car so they followed us out there and we unloaded their luggage and Dad brought the car back and met the missionaries in the parking lot who were getting their car. The bus had arrived back in town and there were Elders all over again. We finally left the office at 5:50, dropped the mail off and were home at 6 pm. Oh no, it was later than that. We stopped at Taco Bell and picked up food and then came home. What a day! It was exciting, sad, uplifting, fun, just so many emotions. Cried lots of tears, gave lots of hugs and oh, I didn't even tell you about Elder White. This is sad. He is a great missionary and he left today on medical leave.

Elder White had surgery just two months before he came on his mission. He has some crazy cyst around his tail bone. The surgeon sewed him up and now he is in trouble again and has to go home and have the surgery again and this time they will leave it open so that it can heal from the inside out. So his recovery will take awhile, but he is determined to come back and finish his mission. I just got teary as I told him goodbye.

It was a long day and hard on the heart strings. But we love these kids. Gosh, they are great and dedicated and just so good that it is hard to believe.

The Gospel is true and really affects lives. All is Well