Happy Golden Anniversary!

 50 years ago today!

Happy Golden Anniversary!

October 29, 1975 - October 29, 2025

What better way to celebrate that serving a mission during our 

Golden Years!

First in Salt Lake City

Then in Piura, Peru

With an eternal companion!

Eating Well

 The cafeteria at the MTC!  A place to make new friends who are also trying their best to serve our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ.  

We talked with missionaries going to places as diverse as Lubbock, Texas and Busan, Korea.  

From Australia to Norway to Ethiopia to the Philippines to Belgium.

I loved every minute.

Of the 1000 missionaries who were in the MtC with us, about 120 or so were ‘senior couples’ like us.  The rest were young 18, 19, and 20 year olds.  What would you do if you had to feed that many young people, the majority of whom are young men?

Load ‘em up with carbs!  Right?

True but they also had salad bars and rice bowels and fresh fruit and lots of healthy food to assure that nutritional choices were available.  

The choices were nutritious enough to keep us all healthy and sweet enough to keep us happy. I ate more doughnuts and desserts than I’ve eaten in the last year.  

Nothing beats a BYU mint brownie!

George and I enjoyed a Diet Coke, caffeine free almost every day. 

All this yummy food was very economical as well.. 

And it was a treat NOT  to have to cook or do dishes.  

Happy, well fed missionaries!

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!

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.

Aruba! Jamaica! Ooh I Want to Take Ya

 For years I have wanted to go to Jamaica.  George went there with his family after his graduation from high school in 1968.  For part of the time they stayed on Negril Beach which was then '7 miles of white sand beach with one small hotel and two bungalows.' Now that white sand beach is lined with hotels.

I guess that is progress!

Our son-in-law Mark served his mission in Jamaica. 

I was so excited that our cruise ship would be stopping there.

We docked at Falmouth and enjoyed a rafting  excursion on the Martha Brae River.  

The rafts are 30 feet long and are exactly the same as those once used to transport goods from the plantations to the port.

The scenery is a lush tropical paradise.

Our 'dispatcher' was over 60 years old and had been on the river for more than 30 years.

Most of the young guys quickly passed us by but he didn't mind.  He just chuckled and said that they were all hoping to get another guide job on the river today but they couldn't go back to the starting spot until he arrived anyway!

The very relaxed trip didn't bother us at all.

Why rush when you are on vacation.

Slow down and enjoy the beauty.

Enterprising locals had set up small 'stores' along the bank just in case you wanted to stop and shop.

I didn't buy anything until we got to the end.  Wahoo!   They had Dr. Pepper and I quickly got one before I asked how much they were.  $5 for the can.  Oh well, it did taste great!

George enjoyed some $11 ice cream at a place ranked by National Geographic as the 4th Best Ice Cream in the world.  We could both hear Grandpa Lewis saying, "You should be able to buy 3 gallons for that price."

In case you are wondering how the river got its name well....there is a legend of an old Arawak 

 witch (Arawak are indigenous Caribbeans - they are the ones that first encountered Christopher Columbus) who lived on the banks of the river Matibereon.   Having heard tales of Arawak gold, Spanish treasure hunters captured the witch and tortured her to lead them to the treasure.  Pretending to comply, she led them to a cave, then suddenly disappeared.  Frightened, the Spaniards ran out of the cave only to be engulfed by the river.  The witch then changed the course of the river forever.  Supposedly the gold is still hidden somewhere near the river.  I'm still fuzzy on how the Matibereon River became the Martha Brae!

Such a fun day in Jamaica!

Cruises

 For most of my life, I thought that I could never go on a cruise.  I was sure that my motion sickness would keep me safely on solid ground.  But when John and Katherine said they wanted to go on a cruise to Antarctica, my competitive spirit took over and I knew I had to go.  Armed with scopolamine patches and plenty of dramamine, I got on the ship and I survived.  In fact I loved it.  Although we haven't been on too many ocean cruises, I can say that I love it now.  Months before the mission call came, we booked a  Caribbean Cruise and it was wonderful.  

Fort Lauderdale - Bahamas -Jamaica -Roatan, Honduras - Belize - Cozumel - Key West

10 Fantastic days on Holland America's Eurodam.

Maximum Capacity 2104 passengers

Small compared to the giant Royal Caribbean - Icon of the Seas

Maximum Capacity 7600 passengers and 2350 crew.

I am not sure that I would enjoy that as much. 

I'll stick with the smaller HAL ships.

A few things I loved

The steel drum band

Trinidad and Tobago's national instrument

They performed classical music as well as show tunes.

Amazing talent! None of them read music.  They learn new songs just by listening and copying.

Yummy food from pizzas to fancy meals to lobster rolls.

No reason to ever be hungry on a cruise.

Beautiful sunsets!

Love shipmates with a sense of humor!

And yes, it is easy to get turned around and lost on a cruise ship.

Sometimes strange things happen - like George getting a pedicure!

What a wonderful way to relax and enjoy spending time together before we head off to Peru for 18 months!