What a week it has been again.  We have had ups and downs.  The two sisters are learning their positions and I am still learning mine.  The Grahams come in tomorrow, and then leave Tuesday morning.  Then we are on our own. 

On Friday, about  10:00, President Brown called us all in to tell us that he had received a phone call about 11:30 the night before telling him that one of our missionaries family had been in a very bad wreck.  Mom, three daughters, and a son were on their way to Salt Lake City to pick up another daughter who was finishing her mission in Salt Lake.  The car in front of them had a tire that burst and mom swerved to avoid it and lost control of the car and I think the back of the car hit a pole.  One daughter died at the scene, another died at the hospital, and the third is in critical condition.  Father was in Pennsylvania with work.  So they lost two daughters and have another in critical condition on a day that was supposed to be a happy one welcoming a daughter home from her mission.  President then had to let their son who is serving his mission in Ireland know.  He and Sister Brown missed the party to go up and be with him and support him in the decision of whether to go home or stay here.  We have no update on the sister or his decision at this time.  This is when working in the office is not so fun.

Yesterday we had a farewell party for the Grahams.  We had a wonderful meal of lots of appetizers, while we mingled and waited for people to come.  The main course was grilled turkey like we do at home and have now introduced them to it.  We had funeral potatoes, spinach/strawberry salad, and vegies.  We served lemon water for the main drink.

For the program Elder Hambelton had taken some of Elder Graham’s emails and poetry and sent them in to a writer/poetry group and he received back a Certificate from them honoring Elder Graham as a writer and poet.  His emails are priceless and I will share one with you. 

 

Dear Everybody,

 

Cars, again . . . .

Over the last few weeks I have noticed that there have been a lot of tyres replaced on cars which had the same tyre swapped out just three or four months ago. This is a sign of bad driving, bad cornering and hitting the kerb, high speeds and heavy braking, and incorrect tyre pressures. New tyres should be good for at least fifteen thousand miles and, hopefully, a bit more.

 On the same subject, lots of the cars were inspected at the recent Zone Conferences and copies of the report were given to the drivers. Have all the items marked up as “Fix It” been taken care of yet?

 Most of the faults involved tyres being under the recommended pressure and one in particular being above 50 pounds pressure (the gauge went off the scale) when the tyre’s limit is 60 pounds. We had to spend a few minutes letting air out and getting it down to the proper level.   There were a few with low oil levels and low radiator coolant levels. Have they been checked and filled up yet ?  Please don’t let the next inspection show the same faults.

I’m attaching the already issued Weekly Car Check report.  Add it to your daily planner; it will take all of five minutes to do what it asks and may save you some grief.

Always remember :  If you get stopped by the police, or have to run through a census point, no water in the screen wash or worn tyres or bulbs burned out, can get you into trouble and in some cases fined.  And that is your problem, not the Mission’s.

 

You have been warned !   (Again. . . .)

I hope you appreciate his sense of humor, and the way they spell tyre (tire). 

Then Elder Hambelton took a poem from the poet they had compared him to and changed some of the words to fit Elder Graham.  This was followed by opening the gifts we gave them—the place mats.  We had all sent in our favorite picture and had them made into placemats of scenes and people from the mission. 

 I had also made them a scrapbook that looked like a kilt and some of the elders and sisters and couples had written a letter to the Grahams to go in the scrapbook.

 This was followed by a dessert bar and more visiting.  It was a fun day.

 On Sunday Elder Graham is going to baptize Ross the person that walked into the office about a couple of months ago wanting to speak to a priest or minister.  Elder Graham spoke with him at least a couple of hours that night and then he and the other Elders taught him another time before Elder Graham turned him over to the Elders to teach.  Ross has given up marijuana and smoking for the most part.  I think he is down to one a week.  His countenance has totally changed.  It has been fun to see the change that has come over him from that first visit.  We are going to leave from Falkirk immediately to make it back for the baptism.

 Well that is the highlights from this week.  Next week will be interesting as well as we say goodbye to the Grahams, try to run the office with four novices, go to one of Edinburghs’ big social events—the military Tattoo, and all the normal things that make up our week.

Have a wonderful week.  We love you and pray for you several times a day.

Love,

Mom and Bill

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

Week ending July 8, 2012

What a different two weeks it has been. We have said goodbye to President and Sister Griffiths and welcomed President and Sister Brown. We had goodbye party for the Griffiths on Monday, June 25h. We had a very lovely dinner with all the trimmings. Then Sister Graham had put together a "This is your Life" program using pictures and letters from various missionaries that was wonderful. She had made a Memory book with the padded binder covered with their tartan and the mission logo to put in all the letters and pictures that have been sent in.

The next part of the program was put on by Brother Patterson who used to be the Counselor in the Stake Presidency. He entertains professionally with Scottish and Irish Folk songs. He had also brought his daughter Jennifer along to play the accordion. It was wonderful and the evening was a total success except for the President receiving two phone calls that kept him from seeing most of the program and putting off the beginning of the meal for a few minutes.

There is a lot of work with the changing of the guard we discovered. All their contacts at Costco, Makro, and Bookers where we buy bulk food and paper items had to be changed to us since the New President wasn't here to have it in their name with their picture yet. We had to update all the contact papers, and picture boards, etc.

Thursday, we had a luncheon to celebrate Sister Griffith's Birthday and say goodbye to our cleaning lady Francis since it was her last day. That was also a wonderful meal with Bill grilling the pork chops.

Friday we said goodbye to The Griffiths and hello to the Browns and had our picture taken with both couples and the Grahams.

Saturday the Grahams and us got on the road at 6:00 A.M. and headed the scenic route to the Isle of Bute where Elder Graham spent several summers working when his mom lived on the Island. It is beautiful and the estate there is something to behold. It has only been opened 15 years and is in a Family Trust.

The guide began her tour with "I always love it when we enter the home and the crowd says wow! to all the marble and beauty there . That is exactly what we did. There were nine or ten different kinds of marble there.

 The man designed it was born the richest baby in the UK and he wanted only the most beautiful for the home. Even the hinges of the door were carved on in the main floor. It had a chapel that was exquisite. The wee garden was only 5 acres which we didn't even get around to seeing after exploring all the gardens around the home. They had fruit gardens, vegetable gardens, ponds with a waterfall, etc.

Also the cemetery area had a statue of the Christis like the one in the Visitors Center in SLC.

We had about a three minute ferry ride going over and a 35 minute one going back. It reminded me of the ones in Washington and Alaska and made me homesick.

We got home about 7:30 after a wonderful day with the Grahams.

Sunday we went to our meetings. We started another Teacher Development class during Sunday School and then YM/YW. We hurried home with just enough time to check on how Grandpa Grettenberg was doing and the nurse and Tom said it was only a matter of a short time. Then we went to the mission home to prepare dinner for the President and Sister Brown in their own home which they found amusing. President Brown wanted to set a time for him to meet with each of us in the office and the AP's and so we suggested this way. Again Elder Rasmussen used his grilling skills to do Turkey Steaks. I had frozen roll dough from the Thursday meal and we took that out and had hot rolls, potatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, and Apple Crumble and ice cream, and fresh fruit which is served as a dessert. Then President visited with each one of us for about 15 minutes individually.

By the time we reached home, Grandpa Grettenberg had passed away. Bill had planned on going over when we learned he was slipping fast on Friday night. He was going to visit with President Brown on Sunday and planned on leaving Wednesday which was the soonest he felt he could leave the New President and his work since he is the one that arranges transportation for them. He was going for a little over a week and I was going to stay here. When we learned Sunday that he was already incoherant, Bill felt he wouldn't go since he could view the service over Skype and Tom said Donna was planning everything.

Monday was a training day--teaching the President all he needs to do here since his training had nothing to do with the day by day things to run the office. He also met with people and went shopping. Sister Brown is a bit overwhelmed but doing fantastic.

Tuesday was their first all-day meeting with the Zone leaders. Sister Graham and I took over the meal which consisted of Taco Soup and trimmings, carrot sticks, rolls that were prebaked only needed browning, making Costco Brownies, setting the table and serving it. As you can see, not hard at all for 24 people. We managed that with our usual work.

Tuesday evening it was off to Falkirk for a baptism interview for Bill and then Mutual in which Sister Meads had called and said none of the YW would be there while Bill was in interviewing. So when we got there we only had two boys there. It worked out great because the Branch President was able to interview them for Temple trip and then we took them home and picked up their two sisters whom I had been wanting to have time with and we took them and their brothers out to eat. All four were from one family and we have had problems with the Young Women and another Young Woman. It was a miracle the way things worked out.

Wednesday the President and Sister Brown were off to Ireland for the rest of the week. It was the 4th of July and we were cleaning carpets in a flat here that the new office sister will live in that are arriving the 14th of July. It is the same one we painted a couple of weeks ago. See what a variety of experiences you get on a mission.

For lunch that day Sister and Elder Connelly came over and fixed us lunch that they had left over from FHE on Monday. So we had a wonderful 4th of July with good ole hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad, baked beans, apple pie and ice cream and root beer which you can't find here but Hambeltons got from the Army Base in England from friends.

Thursday continued our different week with starting the morning after devotional with our regular work and then going through the odds and ends that you never have time to do in getting ready to teach someone else to take over your job. Today is the day I came up with an idea for the Grahams farewell party. I am going to make them a scrapbook with the cover to resemble a kilt. We will have all the missionaries send in their memories of the Grahams to put in it. Then we will make placemats from our favorite picture of Scotland/Ireland and have ASDA (our name for Walmart over here) make the placemats. Then we will have a meal and an informal evening sharing our memories. It will be easy and informal which is what they want.

Thursday evening we were able to be a part of the memorial service for Grandpa Grettenberg through Skype. Julie and Jace were the first two we saw when they were setting it up before the service.

Laura and Enock did the service and they did a wonderful job. It was nice they could do it. Bill and our family did Grandma Grettenberg's funeral and Laura and Enock Grandpa's so that was great. We are so appreciative of Skype in being able to be part of these important events taking place at home.

We are grateful for the sacrifice of you pooling miles and letting Julie go to represent the family. Thanks Scott and Craig for your willingness to have gone also. It means a lot to Bill. Missions are hard in that respect also. Who would have guessed he would be gone by the time we got home when we left. Glad we were able to have gone to see him with John Paul just before we left to come and for the calls we were able to make while over here. It won't be the same without him when we return. Who knows what will happen to the home and land.

Friday was “finish our regular work” and then clean the garage, with a run to the recycling center to get rid of a few things. Then we did our cleaning of the office that we have now inherited since Frances was released from that job with the change of a new Presidency and their desires.

We have had rain and cloudy days all week. We saw more sun in the winter than we are seeing now. It has been in the high fifties and low sixties temperature wise for daytime temperatures. You have a tendency to be depressed if you do not keep busy and do things. At least we are not experiencing the severe flooding that England is experiencing. We wonder how it is going for the Fannings and Kara. Pocatello we would be having fires and smoky conditions as we have learned about 70 homes and many other buildings have burned. Rain and clouds are not so bad.

Saturday Bill worked on his preparation for the written driving test on Tuesday. Then we went shopping for the things I needed to make the scrapbook which I found at a Charity Shop in Dumfirmline. Yes Adell, it is a good place to find things isn't it. We then went to Falkirk to attend the baptism of Craig. It was a wonderful experience and the spirit was strong.

July 8th Mom and Dad's Anniversary. This would have been their 65th Year together here on earth. It is long for here, but short in the realm of Eternity.

We love the work, the experiences we are having, and the beauty of the land and people. This is the place for us to be now at this time. We love you all and miss you so much. Thanks for the pictures, emails, and Skype.   We are anxious to hear about your week. We tried calling many times on your Saturday afternoon but the first time all we could hear were children's voices and couldn't get anyone to talk to us. After that we couldn't get through. It was either busy or no one answered. We imagined you out having the parade and hope you took some pictures to share. Be safe going home and we will speak to you later.