Week ending 22 July 2012

What a week it has been it sounds like for all of us. We sent one missionary home to Farmington, Utah whose cancer has returned.  He had been cancer free for five years and had a clean bill of health to go on a mission.  Then he was given the news Friday night that it had returned. What a sad experience.  His mother had called on Monday afternoon after reading his email suspecting that he was sicker than he was letting anyone know.  By Friday it was confirmed.

The rest of Monday was just getting ready for transfers, missionaries going home, and new ones coming in plus starting training for the new office sisters.  We are busy, but not slammed with work.  We ended up taking Sisters Price and Vance to Costco to continue setting up their flat and so we didn’t get home until about 7:00 that night. 

Tuesday the departing missionaries were all there.  Lunch plans went from a jacket (baked) potato and toppings lunch to a sack lunch last minute when a couple of the sisters wanted to visit another church and then go shopping and all the rest decided on that also.  We took the potatoes out of the oven that we had not yet turned on and saved them for lunch on Thursday.  It ended up being quieter than we usually have it with them all gone.  That evening we only had one set of parents come to pick up their daughter so the dinner was for 22 people and we were out of there by 7:30 approximately.

Then Wednesday hit.  We had departing missionaries there still first thing in the morning, trainers for the new missionaries arriving in different groups, parents coming for Sister Beck, and breakfast for all of them that Sister Brown handled.  It was raining some for all of this.  About 10:00 the coach from the Preston MTC arrived with all the new missionaries and it was raining a little harder.  Their luggage was unloaded and they headed up Pratt’s hill to set their goals for their mission.  Now it was really raining.

We were in the kitchen fixing lunch for all 48 of us when we received a call from Elder Blanding saying they were at the bottom of the hill and coming back and to get all of the towels we could locate ready for some drowned people.

We taped down slit plastic bags from the door down the hall and piled up all of the towels we could find.  The missionaries didn’t have on any clothes with a dry spot on them.  They were sent to change and then Elder Rasmussen’s scouting days came in handy as he began washing clothes and drying others for all these missionaries. 

We served them a hot lunch and then the agenda went forward for the afternoon.  By the end of the day  we had served them a hot meal, trained them, President had interviewed them to get inspiration on companions, we had taken three+ pictures of them, had them back in dry Missionary attire, gave them a sack lunch and had those who were going back to their flats on their way.  The rest spent the night there and some went home early the next morning while others who were new district leaders and their companions stayed over again.

Thursday, we were down to 16 for our jacket potato lunch.  We were never home  from work all week until after 7:00 and a couple of nights it was closer to 8:30.  It reminds me of the first and last weeks of school.

The Sisters have endured it well.  What a week to start their mission.

Saturday we were off to collect the Sisters by 8:45 to go to Costco to meet President Brown so we could get him set up on the account.  Then off to the library with completed papers to sign up for the bus passes and library cards. 

From there we all headed out with the Grahams for a day touring Culross village and Abbey.  We had been there during the winter and only toured the church.  Today we enjoyed a walk in the gardens, a tour of the palace, and a walking tour of the village.  It was all very wonderful.

Office Sisters, July 2012
Sister Rasmussen, Sister Vance, Sister Price, Sister Graham

Culross Palace

Gardens behind Palace

I'll add one "fact" we learned from our guided tour.  You may notice that some cobble stone streets have various size stones.  In this town the large stones in the center of the street were for the wealthy citizens and anyone not of their stature found on the stones could be thrown in prison.  Those stones were always in the center of the street with the theory that the waste product thrown in the street each morning would run down the side, thus the center should be cleaner.

Today we are enjoying our meetings, catching up on writing, reading, resting and getting ready for another week.

We love all of you so much.  I know Heavenly Father and Jesus loves all of you very much and is proud of the choices you are making in your lives just like grandma and grandpa are.

We can’t wait to see you.

Love,

Grandpa and Grandma