Hi All! How are things?
How is the house coming?--heard the framing looks awesome, Brent & Judith, and Derek's middle school is awesome! Hooray for your family and BYU-I.!
How's West Jordan? Patrick made the musical "Once Upon a Mattress", Cameron is playing trumpet at school, Maylin takes piano, Sydney and Celeste and Mike are doing soccer, Christian and Jolynn are doing preschool and Darren and Joshua are doing soccer skills classes. Fantastic! How do 10 people manage so well!
How's good old Layton? Amy and Jake have been doing yard work and gardening, and keeping up with Grace. She can pull herself up, and scoots all around and gave up nursing, and is darling!
How's Sacramento? Andrea and Ross saw tons with their family at Mt. Lassen National park. Wonderful! I used their cave experience in a talk on prayer.
How's the new baby coming? Annette and Caleb and Hyrum are doing great at Sam's Club, beautiful cake planning, preschool, and playing cello in Sacrament Meeting. They are raising a boy so well!
How's the schooling going? Claire loves school, so do her parents! Kelland gets his masters in December! Ashley's will follow! She's got 3 more weeks of terrific dancing in Joseph and the Technicolor Coat!
Last Monday, Elder Chinchilla a little before the President's devotional asked me, mostly in Spanish if I would give the thought. Sure! Elder Scharman offered to get his English scriptures from downstairs. Wow, there wasn't time. And I couldn't do it in Spanish. Yikes, I decided to just go with the Book of Mormon. I'd given a talk on it in April in our branch. I grabbed an old Book of Mormon for the reference of Moroni 10:4-5 or one of my favorite parts, Alma 34:16-21. (When I was at Andrea's the night before I was to return to the DR, I was packed, missing you all and sometimes my parents and brothers and sisters too, sad to leave America, scared to travel alone, knowing I had to give a talk when I returned, etc.. I turned to my old friend the B of M for comfort, I just opened it at random and began reading--There it was, I was in Alma 34:16--one of my favorite parts, Amulek tells us to pray over everything, our laundry, our baking, kids, any and every little thing, and to have our hearts open in prayer always to our HF, etc. .)
Anyway, I began my talk turning to Elder Chinchilla who sat near the president, "Gracias por la opportunidad! Then I said, "Mi encanta el Libro de Mormon. (I love the Book of Mormon) Then in English with Elder Scharman translating after every few sentences. I said I loved the stories and told how we used to read them in our home, everyday for years. That we had begun when our boys were little and the baby was a little girl. That the boys sat on the edge of the bed with their eyes wide open when I told them that the Lord touched the stones of the brother of Jared. That Jared had great faith and was able to see Jesus Christ. That was the beginning of the love of the scriptures for our family! (Also told of all the blessings that President Ezra Taft Benson promised to families if they would read it.)
Dad and I worked on a talk for me on Prayer this last week, and practiced to accompany the choir singing, "High On a Mountain Top", but neither came to pass as we had branch conference. They posted the music numbers as the counselor to the district president began to announce the opening himno or hymn. Needless to say, the songs hadn't been practiced very well and I didn't play very well. The sister missionary over the choir decided we hadn't practiced enough so we didn't sing.
Dad was asked by the branch president to pick up an elderly man just before the meeting started and we took him home after. He was one of the first members of the church in the area. When he got out of the truck, he left an old worn 50 pesos bill on the seat and a few coins. (We took the money back to him later.) Then we went back to the chapel to take the 4 sister misioneras home, and to take big jars of peanut butter and grape jelly and a big bag of raisin bran cereal that were ordered to the elders from the Don Gregorio branch that meet in our building. (One is Elder Kylan Larsen from your stake in Arkansas, Shileys).
Yesterday was translados or transfers in the San Geronimo building. Dad instructed the misioneros to begin filling in forms and I took pictures for 34 missionaries. After the President interviewed (entrevistas) each missionary, each missionary was assigned a companion, we began the meeting. Elder Chinchilla conducts, President and Hermana Rodriguez are on the stand. Dad and I are first. He goes through each item in our packed in Spanish. I repeat in English. The Prayer (oracion) for the Dedication of the Land is first in English and Spanish depending on which each missionary speaks, then a message by Jeffrey R. Holland, A form for Temple Clothes Sizes, Rules of the Mission, A health form, then how to get money back for expenses of health, utilities or transportation (reembolsos.) Then how to address an envelope, stationary to write parents, and a map of the country where they circle their new assignment or asignado. Then the same lunch, candied banana, chicken, rice, cooked vegetables, and sort of an orange drink. We like it better all the time.
Then to the temple with the clothing sizes of the missionaries going home. We change into white, pull a pile of clothes for each missionary, put their names on top, pass them out when they come. When the president and his wife come, they try to tell me in Espanol, their sizes. This time I remembered and tried to have them ready for them too. Problem was a young sister was Hermana. Rodriguez, and the President's wife is Hermana Rodriguez, and the temple worker who insisted on handing them out, got them mixed up! EEK! Will things ever go smoothly! We went to the session altogether, we took their picture outside the temple with the president and drove 5 elders in our back seat back to the presidents house. (only 5 automobiles in the whole mission.) Then we got a call, go back to the office (about 10 pm now and get a pasaporte or passport for a sister going home. This was the 3rd time this week--this time we were still in our missionary clothes! Oh, before I left the temple, the Spirit pointed out I'd left some of my temple clothes there-- One piece I handmade early in our marriage. That was a blessing!
President Eyring said to watch for how the Lord is blessing us each day! How you coming?!!
Love you all so much!!
Mom & Dad--- Oh, Dad sliced the bottom of his foot through his sock on the edge of a cement wall of our apartment as he came down off a chair from changing a light bulb. Pray for him. Infection can set in when the water isn't very clean. LUV U!!
