Have not had my camera out all week. After seeing so many of your cute pics, I have tried to think how I could be a little more creative in my picture taking, but have not had any ideas. I do wish I could take a pic of the heat though.

Last Wednesday we walked out of our apartment just before 6am and thought we had stepped into a steam bath. We walked for 45 minutes and came back dripping wet. I checked the temp on the computer and it was 80 degrees and 90% humidityat 6am. You desert rats cannot imagine how that feels! You cannot even imagine! You have to be in it to know. Your skin always feels damp and the sweat (perspiration!) is dripping off your head and down your back and your arms stick together when you bend them. It is like you are dripping wet and then you open the oven door and step in. You could actually almost take a warm shower just by walking out the door. We drive about a mile to work in the A/C car and when I step out of the car, my glasses are all steamed up! Go figure. Wednesday was the worst day, but all week has been nearly unbearable. They even advised people to stay inside if you did not have to be out in it.

Today I was going to take a couple of friends and drive to Leavenworth where there is a shop that just has Polish pottery and then a quilt shop next door. What more could you ask for! I saw their ad in the paper and wanted to go, but then decided I just wanted to stay at home. Dad left at 6:25 to play golf and I got busy and cleaned and watered plants and all that fun stuff. I just love staying home! Even when my home is a little apartment. It is just comfortable and cozy.

I guess we are resting up for a busy week. We have missionaries arriving this Wednesday. It is always a big day. And we are anticipating the arrival of Brian Wilder. He is in our ward, the Winder 10th, and we have watched him grow up. Known him since he was a toddler. It will be exciting to see him. And his Mom has given me permission to give him hugs! I don't know if that will work or not. And then transfers on Thursday. That is probably the biggest day of all. We have had kids ask us where they are going on Thursday. The anticipation of it all is quite amazing. Some kids are ready for a transfer and some don't want a transfer. But even though we are in the office and the transfer board is in the President's office, we don't know about it until a few hours before the kids get word of it. The transfer board is locked up!

Elder Thomas came over to look in Dad's file about someone being able to drive and just casually said there was a crisis about ready to happen. We have become accustomed to crisis and trauma and ET's but I still don't like hearing that. But then he smiled and pointed to the candy jar on my desk and said it was nearly empty! Yes, they are basically teens who love a little candy now and then. I told him we were headed to Costco that night. Oh, these young ones are great! Next time one of them goes home in your area, I am going to tell you about it and maybe you can go listen to one of our great missionaries speak in church.

We absolutely love looking at your blogs and seeing pics of everyone. I look at them over and over. It is almost like being there! Thank you for your pictures. Love and hugs coming your way.

Sunday night again. I have decided that the problem is that we are getting old. Not used to working so many hours in a day and dressing up to do it. Getting home after 5 and sometimes having missionaries come to dinner at 6. I don't know, what is a missionary to do?

We picked up two Elders on Tuesday, at 8 am and headed to Wichita. It is interesting to be alone in the car for 3 1/2 hours with just two Elders. Some of them talk and of coarse, I start asking all sorts of questions. I just like to know what is going on and how they are feeling. We had a very enjoyable ride with Elder Livingston and Elder Poulson. Elder Livingston is the kind of Elder who just accepts things as they are and does what he is asked to do. He does not ask why about anything. In the mission, we call this, strict obedience. He is very good at it. And Elder Poulson is the same way. I asked he what he said to the Pres. when he called and asked him to be the one to go into this situation. The Pres. had told us he said he would do whatever the Pres. asked him to do. We have some wonderful Elders and Sisters here.

We dropped Elder Poulson off and picked up Elder Roberts. We went to lunch and then headed back. Missionaries really don't say bad things about their companions, and Elder Roberts told us he had really prepared himself for a lot of situations, but having a companion so opposite of himself he didn't think about. He is a very sweet Elder. But our trip took the whole day. Got back about 4:30 and Dad was tired. He used to drive all day and love it. Now it tires him some.

Got to the office on Wednesday and heard that an Elder was being sent home. It is kind of a heart breaker. The AP's were bringing him up to the airport and he would be gone at noon. His problem was in not wanting to work. Just lazy and then became disrespectful. You just hope that he can get a good look at himself and begin to make good things happen in his life. It is so sad when it happens, but his behavior was affecting his companion, his ward, and the whole mission. You have to want to go on a mission for the right reasons or it often does not work out.

I have been doing the mail since Sister Miller left and it is fun to do. The only problem was that since Christmas we have not been able to forward it to our missionaries. We just put it in their area box and when someone was going there, we would send it out. I had wanted to go to another Post Office and talk to someone about out predicament. Elder Williams was in charge of the office and he was the one who tried to talk to the PO downtown. He didn't ever get any good results, so we just quit forwarding the mail. Well, I felt that I would be overstepping my bounds if I went and talked to someone, so I waited until they left and then I went to another PO and just walked up to the counter and asked if we could forward and he said, of coarse you can. I kept talking because I was surprised that it was so easy. But no, it is their job to get it there. So we are now forwarding mail to our missionaries. Some have called me because they received a letter and were so surprised. So it is all good. I am happy that it is now happening.

Friday Dad was out of the office all day. The President asked him a couple of weeks ago to go to a Youth Conference and talk to young people about preparing for a mission. So that is what he did. He had three of our missionaries join him and answer questions of the youth and said it was a good day. Taught the class three times and had lunch there. He thought he was back in school!

Saturday is always a welcome day as we can do what we want. Dad went golfing with Elder Stutz in the morning and I went with Sister Stutz to the Bingham-Wagoner mansion to a craft fair. It was mostly just antique stuff that every sells all around town, but we had fun wandering around looking at things.

Back to the office tomorrow and no idea what to expect. Always something different.

Finished my blog last night and posted it and then looked at it. Where did Sister Lee go? She was in there and then in the end she got lost or ran away or something. So here she is.

So today was Sister Lee's first day alone. She was happy. Got way too much info and she was on overload and tuning her teacher out. Told me a couple of days would have been fine and she has had a tutor for about 6 weeks. She has patience like I have never seen.

Well, the Pres was in today doing his usual Monday things. Came and asked if we would be around tomorrow. Guess what-----another emergency transfer. Sister Bouy had actually filled me in a little earlier. She had received a call at 12:30 last night. One of the Elders had a 5 stitch gash in his cheek and the Zone leaders were baby sitting them. Crazy, but these missionaries are losing it. They should have been in bed for 2 hours. Instead they are wrestling on the floor and one Elder hits a table and slashes his cheek! We don't know what happened and maybe never will, but you can come up with several different ends to this story. So of coarse they are about the furtherest away. Three and a half hours to their place. So we leave at 7:45 to pick up two Elders and then drive, drive, drive and drop one off and pick up another and bring them back to Independence. Like I said earlier. You never know what your day will bring.

Also found out in our office meeting today that the Church is making some big changes. No more Zone Conferences every six weeks. Now they will be every quarter. Wow, that makes a big difference in the mission. The big focus is on teaching missionaries how to implement Preach My Gospel. They will be trained and retrained, as 60 missionaries will be in for 4 days of training and then go out and work w/their districts and zones and also come back monthly for more training. The President is already excited about it. Said he thought he was going to coast for this last year of his mission, but now has to start a new program. Oh, he is a great man. There is nothing quite as constant as change around here.

Oh, the big news of the day......we just got a new bed! We went and tried the Williams bed and loved it. Trying means that we put our bodies on it for about a minute. But it is very firm. I have been sleeping on the other bed for about 10 days, but last Friday I slept in the king size and woke up with a bad back ache. So I knew I was through with the big bed. It was a king size pillow top that we had flipped over and were sleeping on the bottom of it. Crazy! So I am looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight. Only one problem, it is a queen size and we really like the bigger bed, but sacrifice is the big word here in the mission. So we will.

So ET tomorrow! (emergency transfer!) Had another huge rainstorm today and last night and Saturday. Oh, we get lots of rain. Later.

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.

OK, here goes. First of all, Adrian I love the new wallpaper. You are right, it is brighter and more colorful or something. Thank you. I have had people tell me that I have a good camera, they like the pics I have printed and given to them. So maybe this shows off the pics better.

Well, it is Sunday night and we are a couple of miles from home at the Best Western. I woke up this AM at 4:30 quite warm and felt like I had a sore throat. I got up and gargled and just lay on the couch. Dad came out in a few minutes and asked it I was hot. YES! He turned the A/C down and nothing happened. This is 5AM. We tried everything we knew and nothing would happen. He brought the fan into the LR and lay on the other couch and we both tried to sleep. Finally about 7 he called Keven and reported our problem. Kevin came over and could not figure anything out and told us that with it being Sunday and Father's Day he could not do much and told us to go to a motel for the night. So we went to church, came home and packed up and here we are. I brought the computer, but forgot the mouse, so I have been using the little pad in front. Not used to it, so I quit reading your blogs because I double posted on Adrians, so erase one of those. So I decided to tell you about a very great baptism that we had instead of putting a bunch of pics in.

This story was written by Elder Whitworth, the Elder on the left who taught and baptized.

Lance Corporal Emanuel S. Sanchez, USMC, was coming home to Kansas City for a 30-day leave from active duty at Camp Pendleton, California. He had not informed his parents because he wanted to surprise them. Surprises are not uncommon in his life.

Lance Corporal Sanchez recently completed his second deployment in Iraq and was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. He'd seen his share of death, destruction, and sorrow in his three years as a Marine. As a 50 mm Humvee gunner he watched the lead Humvee two vehicles ahead of him blow up when running over a roadside bomb. His cousin perished in the explosion. Later, Sanchez received shrapnel wounds and was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries received in the line of combat.

When Sanchez arrived in Kansas City and tried to contact his parents he learned they had just departed for a weeks-long vacation to Mexico and would not return before his leave ended. And he had left his house keys in his locker back in Camp Pendleton. The surprise was on him. Sanchez contacted a friend from several years ago and explained his circumstance. His friend invited him to stay with him in his rental home.

With no family around, no vehicle, no parties or picnics or reunions to attend, Sanchez thought he had thirty days to kill. To alleviate his boredom, he fired up his laptop computer and began to surf the internet. It was going to be a very long thirty days.

An internet ad popped up mentioning something about a book called "The Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ." Sanchez killed the ad. It popped up again. He glanced at it, and then killed it again. It popped up again. He killed it one more time. It popped up a fourth time.

This time Sanchez thought to himself, if this thing keeps popping up, maybe it's important enough to look at. So he clicked on the ad. He began to read a brief summary of the Book of Mormon and noticed a link allowing him to order a free copy. Not a bad idea, he thought, with thirty days to kill. He entered his information.

Less than 24 hours later, on a Saturday, Elder Whitworth and Elder Lynch, missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints received a text message informing them of someone interested in receiving a copy of The Book of Mormon. They had been trained to follow up quickly on these requests, so they drove to the address in the text message, rang the doorbell and asked for Emanuel Sanchez. When Sanchez came to the door and was greeted by Elder Whitworth and Elder Lynch, he was pleasantly surprised to meet the two cleanly-scrubbed eager-faced white-shirted men just a few years younger than he. He was also surprised to receive so quickly his copy of The Book of Mormon.

The missionaries asked if they could sit down with Sanchez and tell him more about it and the message from God they would like to share. Sanchez invited them in. During their visit the missionaries were able to teach Sanchez the First Lesson. He received it hungrily and wanted more. The missionaries were eager to provide.

The connection between Emanuel Sanchez and the missionaries was immediate. The Holy Spirit bore its witness and Emanuel felt it. He accepted the invitation to attend church the next day.

Sunday morning, Sanchez arose at his normal 6AM and eagerly prepared for church. He carefully groomed his Marine Corps haircut, shaved his very dark heavy beard, cleaned and shined his patent leather dress uniform shoes, carefully pressed and donned his Class A Dress Blue uniform, ate some breakfast and sat down to wait for his ride to church. He thumbed through his Book of Mormon, reading parts the missionaries suggested, marveling at how the words resonated with him. He was excited to to go church.

April 18, 2010, Chapel Hill Ward was crowded and noisy as usual. The people were happy, friendly and warmly welcomed the handsome stranger in the Marine Corps uniform. Although Emanual Sanchez wasn't more than 5'6" tall, he stood out in the crowd. It was obvoius to all at church that he was a proud American serviceman. Many people shook his hand, asked his name, admired how sharp he looked, and thanked him for his service to our country. Sanchez appreciated the friendliness.

But he appreciated much more the words he heard, the music, and how he felt. Gospel Principles Sunday School class impressed him with the simpleness and clarity of doctrine. The teacher's sincere testimony touched his heart. Sanchez liked these feelings.

During the next week the missionaries contacted Sanchez every day and continued to teach him at every opportunity. They felt prompted to invite Sanchez to receive baptism once he came to know the truth of what they were teaching. He immediately accepted even though he had been baptized previously as a youth.

The ward missionaries and ward mission leader took Sanchez to the Independence Visitors' Center, and once again, Sanchez felt the impressions of the Holy Spirit. It all made sense to him. He understood the Book of Mormon. He understood about God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. He understood about Christ's church and about the apostasy and restoration. He was anxious to be baptized.

He went to church the next week and appreciated the same things he did the previous week. The missionaries continued to teach and fellowship as did members of the ward.

Saturday, May 1, 2010, Emanual Silva Sanchez was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder DJ Whitworth. He was confirmed in Fast and Testimony Meeting on Sunday, May 2, 2010, by David M. Hepworth. During the meeting, he bore his testimony, which was attended by a sincere, peachful spirit. On Saturday, Brother Sanchez had expressed a desire to bear his testimony as he'd heard other people do. Sunday morning was his first chace. the missionaries also arranged for him to attend the Mission President's Fireside at the Independence Visitor's Center Sunday evening and bear his testimony.

Near the close of the day on Saturday, Brother Sanchez told the missionaries his birthday was that day. Elder Whitworth thought for a moment and questioned what he meant, knowing that his birthday was really in November. Brother Sanchez laughed and said, "It's my spiritual birthday!"

During Fast and Testimony meeting, just moments after being confirmed, Brother Sanchez's cell phone rang. He had to carry it with him at all times because he is on active dury - although on leave. He stepped into the foyer to speak with his commanding officer. There was good news and other news. Sanchez was promoted that day to Corporal and was to be deployed to Afghanistan sooner than originally scheduled. After leave, he was to report to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, instead of Camp Pendleton, Claifornia, to prepare for deployment.

Brother Sanchez was invited to meet with Bishop Norm Messner, who discussed the Aaronic Priesthood with him. Bishop Messner determined that Brother Sanchez should receive the Priesthood and be ordained to the office of Priest the next Sunday. Bishop Messner also invited Brother Sanchez to personally attend the groundbreaking ceremonies for the Kansas City Missouri Temple on Saturday, May 8, 2010. Brother Sanchez was thrilled with these opportunities. He expressed a desire to go the temple before his deployment to Afghanistan and officiate in proxy baptisms for deceased members of his family, particularily for his cousin who had been killed in the Humvee in front of him.

Missionaries daily pray to be lead to those people who are prepared to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are always prepared for the opportunity, but when it comes quickly, they are amazed at the tender mercies of the Lord to them and to the people they teach. It makes them literally jump in the air and exclaim, "Oh, how I love missionary work!"

This was written by Elder Whitworth.

This story has affected the mission in very positive ways. It has been very exciting for me because I always text the referrals within 24 hours to the missionaries and tell them to contact immediately. This time they did it. I did get a call from a missionary who found a text message on the phone when he came into the new area, that was about 4 months old. That person was no longer interested. Everyone did what they were supposed to do in this case.

We have heard more about Elder Sanchez. He did bless the sacrament the next week in church and he loved doing that. He went to North Carolina and then was able to come back for the Memorial Day weekend to see his family. He went there and told his parents that he had joined the church and they would not let him in the house. So he went to Brother Hepworth's home and stayed with he and his family for the weekend. I have heard that his parents did finally ask him to dinner and he went, but I have no idea what happened there. I will let you know of further news. I did learn that he came back again and seemed to have some health problem and that might put him out of the Marine Corps, which he would be so happy about, because he wants to go on a mission in a year. Whenever he was in town, he went out with the missionaries every single day that he could. He is so excited about the Gospel and loves working with the missionaries.

It has been a wonderful story. We were at the VC fireside when he bore his testimony that Sunday night. He had been confirmed that day in Fast meeting. Here is one who was truly prepared and ready to receive the Gospel in his life.

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Another new day. This was a Saturday a week ago. Went with Sister Stutz and Sister Bouy to a craft show at the Vaille Mansion. There were over 100 craft booths and they had a little of everything. Then we went to a quilt show. Some beautiful quilts.

This is a quilt made of old T-shirts. Cute huh! I love it. So save your t-shirts and we can make a quilt out of them.

This is a wall hanging made of old hankies and doilies and one even had the bottom of a pillowcase in it. I have been wondering what to do with some of my Grandma Garrett's hankies. I may have found the answer.

Another quilt that I loved. I kind of go for the simple when I thing of making it, but I sure love the beautiful ones too.

Another hankie wall hanging.

This is a tree around the corner from us. We have watched these blossoms come and go. They are white and big and beautiful.

Here is the blossom opened up. It was hard to get on top of it since it is 8 feet up in the tree.

This is Sister Lee. She will be the new secretary in the mission. Elder and Sister Williams leave on the 5th of July. The other cheesy person is Sister Stutz. Get this! She walked into the office with a big shirt box, sat it on the desk and opened it. We laughed. The box is full of pens and maybe ten pencils. Some lady had brought them into the Employment Office where the Stutz work. She asked if anyone wanted them. She had picked them all up in her house and was cleaning it out to move or maybe just cleaning it out! I mean the box was full. Everyone had a chance to look through and pick out what they wanted. It was so funny. Some wanted fine point or medium point, blue ink or black ink or red ink, thin or fat. We had lots of laughs.

I guess the craziest thing was in wondering if I could find that many pens in my house! Collecting them all in one box was very interesting and then taking them somewhere so someone could use them. All kinds of people in the world!

Those pens are sitting on my desk and that is Dad sitting at his computer on the right top corner. He got his share of pens and went back to work.

TRANSFER DAY is here again! Only every six weeks, but it comes around often.

This is Elder Cisternas. We love him.

Elder Mapa and Elder Ti'i. (say it like T) Two great Elders. We love them too.

Transfer day and I don't know how Elder Eckern got in the middle of all these Sister's. He was enjoying himself. Guess he did it because he was going home the next day. His parents moved from California to Daybreak while he was gone. So he went home to a strange place. I told him he would love it! and enjoy all the green space, the walkways, the playgrounds, the skateboard park, since Mike Wonenberg had designed them! Yahoo.

Kids went home last Friday, but the rest of the mission just goes on. It is crazy how people leave so quietly and they are just gone. New ones come in and take their place and the work just goes on smoothly.

The Gospel is true and we are grateful to be working with these wonderful missionaries.

Loves and hugs to all.

Life does go on! We have been to a museum with Elder and Sister Stutz. We expected to see an Egyptian artifacts display. We were quite surprised to find a huge museum in Kansas City that is full of things from all over the world. We wandered around for about three hours until we could not wander any more. We are getting old!

This is one of the stained glass windows on display. Reminded us of a church we had seen in Paris that has the complete Bible in stained glass up and down all the walls. Quite amazing.

This looks like it is made of diamonds.

Here was the mummy. Preserved perfectly.

The beautifully painted box that the mummy would go into.

An absolutely beautifully carved wooden, I don't even know what it is called. But beautiful.

Full armor for man an horse! All silver.

Sister Stutz and I dressing like twins! It is not hard out here. Missionaries wardrobes are always quite similar. Only so many ways you can present black and white. It has become a little better with the summer where we have lightened up a bit. A touch of color in your shirt. So often you will see a companionship with black or yellow or pink. Everyone gets a little tired of their clothes.

This is Elder Espinoza. His brother drove him up from Little Rock, Arkansas. They were born in Honduras. Mom and Dad are still there. Big bro has served a mission and younger bro has been living with bro and wife. He wanted to serve a mission, but cannot fly, so did not go to the MTC. Just came here and did a couple weeks training with his companion and MTC videos. Can barely speak English. But what a sweet spirit.

This is Brother Jeffrey. There should be a video showing him. We alsolutely love him. He is so exciting to be around. He talks so loud and smiles so big and is so animated when he talks to us and excited about everything. He is so grateful for everything. He works mostly at night so we see him in the morning. He comes in and spreads cheer all around. This pic does not show his personality. His wife is in the stake Relief Society presidency. He is a wonderful. He came in last Friday to tell us he was flying to Las Vegas to pick up his father-in-law and drive back with him. He will stay with the family for awhile and then will drive back to Vegas. Loves Vegas for some reason.

This is Elder Hedger from Henderson, Nevada. One of the AP's and he went home on Friday. What a great young man. He has been a great missionary and will continue to be one.

Elder Glenn from Pleasant Grove, Utah, the other AP who also went home on Friday. We are going to miss these two. Wonderful and inspiring leader.

Loves, hugs and kisses.