It never fails. I thought I would sail right through this tonight. You know, my third night in a row! As soon as I get a little confidence and feel like I know what I am doing, I get shot down. Can you believe I loaded the pics three times! I have no idea where the first two went. And the third I messed up on. Oh well.

Last week I got an invitation to a shower for Andrea. I was planning to make something for her but I thot I had till September. So you know me, I went to the store on Friday night and bought fabric, then I was talking to Linda and told her what I was doing and she said she had a new idea for a baby quilt. Anyway, from the description on the phone, this is how it turned out. I don't know if it is really what she was telling me but I think it turned out cute. I started it on Saturday afternoon, worked the rest of the night and then after church on Sunday, the rest of Sunday until 1am. But yes, I got it done and in the mail on Monday.

This is a close up of the stitching. I had a cheater tape to help me make straight rows and even stitches. It is called Tiger Tape. Great stuff! And I just ordered it out of a catalog a couple months ago and it was sitting in the drawer waiting to be used. Sometimes I am inspired

On our drive home from the airport where we picked up four people, two of whom were the Johnsons, who had our jobs just before us, we drove past the Kansas City Temple site. (what a sentence, did you run out of breath just reading it?!) Just lots of earth moving and a big hole in the ground at this point. But we will update it and you can see how it is going while we are here. There are several of us who are already planning a trip out here in a couple of years to see it when it is finished. You know, it kind of becomes 'your temple'.

This is the Sisters in the van on the way home from ZC after being treated to ice cream by Elder Linde. There are really eight girls in there. Don't know how we lost a couple of them.

Trying to build my confidence, so will try again tomorrow. Bye

How do you like this little rabbit? He was right outside the office door when I got this pic. These little rabbits are all over. In people's yards, in fields, yes, and splatted on the street.

Last Sunday we were just kind of bored in the afternoon. It is too hot to go outside and do anything, so we got in the car and went for a drive. I think I have told you how up and down this area is. Just lots of hills. Quite surprising. We got on Truman Road and headed into Kansas City. This is the KC skyline.

This is Elder Morgan from Morgan. Another one of those sweet, kind of quiet, Elders. Another one to bring home!

This is the sign that Andrea sent me quite some time ago. I have had it hanging inside and this summer I put it outside our door on my cute little table. I love it!

We went to get into the car the other day and this is what we saw on the front of the car. You cannot tell how big it is in this pic, so go to the next and maybe you can get an idea.

That is the front driver's side window and the hood of the car. Can you picture the size of this bug? He was huge. A katydid I believe.

Another new week. Who knows what is in store? But All is Well.

Oh, how the time is flying by! I mean it. It is going quickly, but only because we are so busy and don't really have time to think about it. Has it really be three weeks since I was last here? Amazing. Partly because I haven't had time to do anything because I am rather tired at the end of the day. Tired and kind of mentally exhausted. You know how your heart just winds itself around some people---well, that is how it is with these missionaries. There are a lot that you would just like to put in your suitcase to take home.

This pic is taken from the car. I was waiting at the light just coming out of the grocery store as the sun was going down. I just whipped my camera out and got this pic. I really love clouds and the clouds out here are very different that in the West. Must be because of no mountains? I don't really know. But with the sun on it, it looks lovely. Fun part was that I looked at the weather report that night and they showed this pic. You would have thought it was my pic. Someone else beat me to it!

This is Sister Sasaki. She is a sweetie. She is from Hawaii and a convert at age 14. She has a beautiful voice. Makes your Dad cry every time he hears her sing. We love her.

Here is Elder Wilder with Dad and I on transfer day. He arrived the day before and was assigned to Olathe. We knew he was coming and were so excited to see him at the mission home last night. I actually gave him a hug! Kind of hard not to hug a kid you have known since he was a toddler!

This is a pic of Elder LeSuma and Elder Childs. LeSuma is an outstanding missionary and Elder Childs now has the distinction of being the tallest missionary in our mission. He is 6'9" up there!

LeSuma and Clayton and Allred and a few others are way up in the 6's, so he doesn't look quite so big unless you are standing next to him. Puts a crink in my neck to look up at him! He is from SLC. Went to Skyline and lives somewhere East of us. Already has shown what a wonderful missionary is.

This is Elder Childs with the Van Komen's. Yes, he looks quite tall here.

This is Elder Wilde and Elder Wilder. The missionaries are always putting their names together and hoping to be companions. Elder Wilder was with Elder Childs in the MTC, so they were known as Wild Child! We have Sisters Power and Love who were companions. The Power of Love.

All missionaries were out in their areas on the 22nd and you just hope and hope some more that all will be OK with the new companions. But it is never all OK. There are usually emergency transfers, ET's. On Monday, the 26th, Sister Lee received a call from Kathy Wilder. She told me she was not sounding very happy. So I went outside and called her. She told me that Brian, Elder Wilder, has emailed her and the President and said he wanted to come home. I talked to her and she told me a little about what was going on and we should have recognized a red flag right off. Elder Wilder had lost 12 pounds while he was in the MTC and he did not like the food. Well, that is so unusual, because there is such a variety of food and you can eat all you want. Most of us gain weight at the MTC! So something was not right. All forces possible were marshalled to see what we could do to help out in this situation. Monday night he had a Priesthood blessing. He came in on Tuesday to see the nurse and see if there was something medically that was wrong and how could we help. He was also not sleeping at night. I had a good talk with him and he wanted to serve his mission, but he could not eat or sleep. The AP's went to his place in the evening and gave him another blessing and had a good talkwith him. He got a mild medication to help him sleep and did sleep slightly longer that night. On Wednesday, they came to see a counselor and afterward Dad and I took he and his companion to lunch. He then went back to his apartment. A couple of hours later the AP's came to my desk and said that he was going home on Thursday. Salt Lake had said to get him home. He had lost almost 20 pounds in 3 1/2 weeks. That is not good. So he was honorably released for medical reasons. At this time none of us know what is wrong but our prayers are with he and his family. Dad and I were at Zone Conference in Topeka on the 29th and so we left there and got to Olathe and then took Elder Wilder to the airport. It was hard. But one thing we have learned here is that we get our hearts broken quite regularly. But everyone will mend and the work goes on.

This is Elder Lamprecht. He is another one that is easy to love and wraps himself around your heart. He called us about 8:30 on Friday night and asked if we could take him to Wichita the next day. Of coarse. You don't say, well, that is my P day or do you know how far away that is! We got him at 7:20am and headed to Wichita. You know, Kansas is a pretty flat, green, spread out state. Not a lot between here and there. It was an enjoyable ride though. He is going home a couple of weeks early so that he can start at BYU. We will miss him.

It is late and my bed seems to be calling. Oh, Dad and I are doing some new back exercises. Janae had told us about a book on how to live pain free and we are giving it a try. Every two hours we lay on the floor and do our exercises. I can feel things in my back that I did not know were there. Also shows how stiff we are. We are hoping for PAIN FREE!

Loves to all.

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.