Hanging Out in Salt Lake

 We are making the most of our time as ‘Visa Waiters’ or as the Mission President here at the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission likes to call us, ‘Visa Workers’.

Enjoying the last snow we are likely to see for the next 18 months.

I love it!

Shopping by bus

I have to remind myself that I don’t need to buy the super jumbo packs to try and save money.

We have to carry it all back to the apartment and hopefully we won’t be here very long.

Honestly, it hasn’t been bad!

The Utah TRAX system is handy too.  We made a trip to Walmart on the train.

We discovered that a lot of people work late in the church office building.

It’s the tall building in the back.

Photo taken at 8:00 on a Friday night.

Here is my handsome companion by the Conference Center.

I am lucky to have the same companion for my whole mission.

No companion changes allowed!

We enjoyed a performance of ‘The Lamb of God’ which was performed by an interfaith choir and symphony.  Sixteen congregations from Baptist to Catholic had participants in the performance which told the story of the last days of the Savior’s life through beautiful music.

It was held in the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square.

Our hearts were touched and our faith in Jesus strengthened.

On Sunday morning we again went to the Tabernacle to hear a live broadcast of ‘Music and the Spoken Word’.  This weekly devotional program is one of the longest running radio programs in the world, having aired every week since July 15, 1929. 

Such beautiful, faith prompting music.

We loved it!

Last night I invited the other Visa Waiters to join us for dinner.  It wasn’t your normal dinner party.  Since each missionary apartment is furnished with just enough for 2 people, my invitation included the unusual request, ‘come for dinner and bring your own plate, bowl, chair and someone needs to bring their table.’  We all have basically the same supplies so everyone understood.

And since they are our neighbors in the same hallway it wasn’t too awkward.

By me is Elder Flowers and sitting in front of him, his wife, Sister Flowers. They are from Texas and are waiting for a visa to Peru just like us. Next Elder Coleman and his wife in the blue shirt in front of him. They are from Vermont and have been waiting for 2 months for a visa to go to Jamaica.  The last couple are Elder and Sister Jané, also from Texas and waiting to go to Spain to that most wonderful of cities BARCELONA!

Today the Flowers and the Janés were notified that their visas had arrived.

Happy Day for them!

We are still waiting!

And trying to do it patiently!

Junior Missionaries

Practically everyone in the world recognizes missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If you see  two young men in white shirts and ties walking together or two young ladies in their Sunday best also always together, you assume they are Mormon missionaries.  And many times you would be right. They are the junior missionaries and we old folks are the seniors!

One of the blessings of being a Senior Missionary at the MTC is you get to see those young people all day everyday.  We share the campus and the cafeteria with them and they are unfailingly polite, holding doors and helping in anyway they can.  I have dropped so many pieces of silverware on my way to have them washed and every single time a young Elder or Sister scoops them up for me and often takes my other dishes to the conveyer belt for me.  I just adore them.

I loved being at the MTC at the same time as a young woman from our Ward.  The 5th of 8 daughters, she is the 4th to go on a mission.  Her calling is to go to church history sites in Nauvoo, Illinois.  She will make a wonderful missionary as have her older sisters.

One morning, as we walked into breakfast, a young sister asked us if we had lived in Lake Oswego, Oregon.  She was in our ward when she was a little girl but the family had moved to Utah.  Her Mom and I were friends on Facebook and had shown her our photos and asked her to look for us, which she did.  

She said that she did remember us from the ward in Oregon. So great to give her a hug.  She is off to Germany in a few weeks.

On one of our first nights, I noticed these two sisters because one was in a wheelchair.  I struck up a conversation with them and learned that she had been injured in an accident playing volleyball at the MTC.  Her ACL was torn and she was going to have to go home for surgery.  You could see the disappointment in her eyes every time I saw her.  Her companion impressed me with how tenderly she helped her companion.  In case you didn’t know, each missionary, male or female is assigned a companion and they must be in sight of each other at all times. It is hard to navigate the busy TC Cafeteria in a wheel chair managing a plate and a drink but her companion was right there by her side. Such Christ-like love.  They had both been called to serve in Korea and had been learning Korean for several weeks.

When I saw them this week, I knew that something was different.  No longer did the sister look so sad and anxious.  I learned that she had met with the Presidency of the MTC and  together they decided that she would stay at the MTC and finish her language training and then go home, have the surgery and while she rehabbed would serve a local service mission near her parent’s home. BUT the great news that had her glowing was that as soon as her doctor gave her the go ahead, she could serve in Korea!

Talk about a change of countenance! 

She is allowed to walk a little bit.  Now we are all Facebook friends so I can follow these two on their further adventures.  New friends!

Tonight I met a sister heading to Lubbock, Texas .  She told me that her parents had moved recently back to her mother’s home town of Monticello, Utah.  That’s where my cousins live.  So I took a photo of her, sent it to my cousin and he will share the photo with them and pass along the report that their daughter is glowingly happy, surrounded by good people and anxious to go and serve in Lubbock, Texas.

The sister with the Monticello connection is in the dark shirt with no vest.  Isn’t she glowing?

I feel sad when I think of leaving here but also know that these next 18 months will be filled with opportunities to interact with more of these young, enthusiastic servants of the Lord.  I will learn a lot from them and hope I can be a surrogate grandma to some!

Mission Phase 1 - Completed

 As my Kenyan friend likes to say when something is finished, “Mission phase 1 is done and dusted”.  Our two weeks at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah have been memorable - a time of  spiritual growth, testimony building, and making friends, young and not so young.

Surrounded by about 1000 others who are also leaving the comforts of home to go and serve missions all over the world has been inspiring.

 Using fantastic, interactive teaching methods, our young trainers have taught us how to share our love of Jesus in simple ways that won’t be hard to do. 

Our district - Elder Pass from Washington State, heading to Montevideo, Uruguay; Elder and Sister Flower from Texas also going to Peru and our two adorable trainers - Sister Barker, who served her Misison in California, Spanish Speaking and Sister Bennett who served in France and Switzerland.  They were our 8-12 in the morning teachers.  And they made learning so fun.

In the afternoons from 1 - 4:30 Brother Kidd, who served in Oregon, and Sister Gee, who served in Brazil managed to keep us awake even during the sleepy afternoon nap time slump.

That’s what the first week was all about, then the 2nd week was specifically geared to those of us who will be working in mission offices.  There was a lot of information and I am sure I have forgotten most of it but we have been assured that there will be a lot of help available, both from Salt Lake and Lima and most importantly through the Spirit’s guidance.

Since we will have different responsibilities on the mission we were in different classes. George will be the Financial Secretary and he and I will share responsibilities as Housing Coordinators.

Here is George with his trainers and all the others who will be handling the finances in their missions.

Trainors Brother Barney and Sister Lau, Elder Pearson heading to the Philippines; Sister Dietz to Tampa, Florida, and Sister McCann to Albuquerque.

And here I am with my fellow ‘Housing Coordinators’.

Our trainer, Brother Henry, Elder Dietz going to Tampa, Sister Oakason who will live at home and serve in the Salt Lake City East Mission; Brother Stephenson who is going to Yakama, Washington; Sister Babbel going to Frankfurt, Germany; the Flowers who will be going to Lima, Peru; our trainers Brother Bish and Brother Draper, one of the mentors the church provides to help train senior missionaries.

The days were very busy and on several nights we had devotionals.  Yes, we were tired but those devotionals were highlights for me. 

I will never forget the feeling of singing “Called to Serve” with that huge group of missionaries.  I had been really looking forward to this and I got to experience it twice.  I was so tempted to record it with my phone but I resisted the urge. At the beginning of the song in the hymn book, the directions are ‘with conviction’ and boy do these mighty young people sing with conviction.

Called to serve Him, heav’nly King of glory,

Chosen e’er to witness for his name,

Far and wide we tell the Father’s story,

Far and wide his love proclaim.

 2. Called to know the richness of his blessing—

Sons and daughters, children of a King—

Glad of heart, his holy name confessing,

Praises unto him we bring.

 [Chorus]

Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;

Onward, ever onward, as we glory in his name;

Forward, pressing forward, as a triumph song we sing.

God our strength will be; press forward ever,

Called to serve our King

Tomorrow we leave this sacred place to start Phase 2 of our mission.

Since our visas haven’t arrived yet, we have been reassigned to the Salt Lake Headquarters Mission while we wait.  We’ll be in an apartment in downtown Salt Lake doing something around Temple Square.

They provide an overview training on everything from family history to church security.  

It will be interesting to see where we will serve…..and interesting to see how long we wait for the Visas.

Life always gives us surprises.

The Hour of Your Mission Has Arrived - Almost!

 We received our mission call in November and knew we would be leaving in early March . That seemed like a LONG time away but now it is here.  We fly to Utah tomorrow, spend the weekend with George's sister Tammy and go to the Missionary Training Center on Monday!

On Sunday we spoke in church.  All last year I taught Primary, which is like children's Sunday School.  I love these kids so much.  I asked if they could sing my favorite song and they did.  I am glad they sang after my talk and not before.  Their sweet voices singing about The Tree Of Life definitely made me tear up.

Our dear friends Rinda and Brent drove up from Salt Lake City to be with us. 

Last night we were 'set apart' by our Stake President.  He gave us a special blessing invoking God's richest blessing on us.  So many of my fears were alleviated and much comfort as well as admonitions given.  I will forever remember how I felt when hands were laid on my head.  The spirit was strong. I definitely felt blessed!

Next we put a pin in the map to show where we were going. 

Took us awhile to figure out exactly where Piura, Peru was!

But we did!

Today we said goodbye to first Matt

And then to John

Isabella and Monica didn't want to come over to say goodbye.  I think that they thought it would be too hard.  

Tomorrow it will be telephone goodbyes to Mary and Scott.

This IS going to be hard!

So thankful for Zoom and FaceTime and WhatsApp.

Our loved ones won't seem so far away thanks to technology.

Grandma and Isabella Get Creative

 Before we leave for our mission I wanted to take Isabella on a fun outing.  First lunch at Chick-fil-A , which was was her choice!

Then painting pottery at 'A Way With Clay' in Meridian.  You pick out a piece, paint and decorate it and they fire it for you.  The hardest part is waiting a week to pick up the finished piece.

Isabella decided on a cute bear 

And worked very hard on her painting.

It took a lot of patience to let it dry between coats.  

Luckily they gave us some fans to help with the process

Next Isabella added details.

I stuck with a simple geometric vase in one color.

Isabella wasn't too impressed but I like it.

When we were done with our pottery, Isabella asked, 'What are we doing now?"  I thought we were going home but when she asked for a treat I did what any Grandma would do.....we went to Crumbl!

Isabella was a bit impatient waiting to see her creation but she was very happy with what she had created.  I love it too.

I will miss spending time with this cutie....

I am leaving when she is in 3rd grade. I'll be gone for her whole 4th grade year and will be back just about the time she starts 5th grade.

I fully expect her to be taller than I am by then.

I couldn't 't possibly love her any more than I do!

.

A Caribbean Safari????

 We love animals!  Our safaris in Africa have been some of our best experiences while traveling.  Who would have thought that the highlights of a Caribbean Cruise would also be seeing wildlife!

Alligators right by our walking path in the Everglades!

Manatees circling our ship as we were pulling away from the dock

A fish feeding frenzy in the Bahamas!

Sloths in Roatan, Honduras.

The guide assured us that they were every bit as lazy as we had been led to believe.

But could anything be any cuter? 

The workers lift them up by their arms and sort of hang them on you.

Also McCaws

And spider monkeys

They are the opposite of the sloths - perpetual motion machines who look in pockets and will take glasses and anything not attached firmly.

The guide put food on our heads which the monkeys loved!

These animals were all rescued from illegal sales and have found sanctuary in this wonderfully run place.

Schools of fish off the coast of Roatan

Colorful starfish in 'Star Fish Alley'.

Dolphins welcoming our snorkel group to Belize

A cooperative Moray Eel

Pelicans

A family favorite thanks to Grandpa Lewis's Pelican poem!

The fishermen were cleaning fish and the pelicans were looking for any scraps that might be thrown their way.

Standing in shallow water with stingrays and nurse sharks!

The sharks have rough sandpaper like skin

The rays feel like squishy mushrooms.

Seeing a Seahorse in the ocean

They hide among the roots near the shore because according to our guide, everything likes to eat them.

Feeding Tarpons

They are aggressive, stealth hunters.

And yes holding that little fish out there was a bit scary!

Of course iguanas in Mexico.

And finally in Key West, Hemingway's cats - well actually the descendants of his polydactyl cats or cats with extra toes.

They live at the house where he lived during his time in Key West.

And have free rein of the house and gardens.

The cruise was one memory making day after another.