Joan and James Holiday

 On Sunday December 30th we began our missionary experience by speaking in our Sacrament Meeting in Rock Canyon Ward. We were touched by the outpouring of love from friends and family. The choir sang my favorite hymn, "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands" by John V. Pearson. It was beautiful!

Steve, Maria, David, Kenna Smith

After the meeting family and friends met at our home for a light lunch. Later that evening our stake President, President Robert Jackson,  arrived and set us apart as full time missionaries in the New York Utica Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. President Jackson advised us to write in our journal. This blog will help me do that.

Williams Family

 The following morning Tisha, Matt, Ben and Isaac Williams saw us off at the MTC. It was a cold, frigged morning. We will miss our family but are grateful for the opportunity to serve our Heavenly Father. We have been so blessed.

Entering the MTC

After saying our "good byes" we walked through the gates into a new life as missionaries. We were met by President Gordon Brown, President of the MTC, a neighbor. The staff of missionaries made us feel loved and welcomed. The following day we discovered that we were in the middle of an epidemic of flu. In all, 250 missionaries became ill. Joel and I managed to avoid the plague for which we were very grateful.

Our MTC District

We were divided into Districts and assigned to wonderful young returned missionaries to be taught. The first week we were instructed from "Preach My Gospel". We were given opportunities to conduct missionary discussions to "investigators" on the restoration of the gospel and the plan of salvation.  It was scary at first but ended up being a wonderful experience.  The second week we were moved to another building and received training from other young returned missionaries on the different programs and responsibilities of the Mission Office.  They taught us with love and patience.  We enjoyed eating in the cafeteria with hundreds of senior and younger missionaries. They came from all over the world and were going to far off places to serve. I will never forget how I felt while at the MTC. It truly was some of the best days of our lives.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

John, Jeff and Kim at Children's Museum

MERRY CHRISTMAS

It is time to up-date this blog.  I don't have Chad here to hold my hand so I will need to figure this out on my own. Christmas is fast approaching and so is our mission. We haven't had much time to think about Christmas but I guess it will happen without us.

Lacey's creek

On our way home from Oregon we stopped off in Montana and had a nice visit with Linda and Rick.  We enjoyed nice walks along their lane, good food and conversation.  I don't think anyone ever had a better sister than I have (Rick's not bad either).

Tyson and teacher

Thanksgiving was spent with our Colorado family. We attended Grandparents Day at Liberty Commons School where we won the prize for having the most grandchildren at the school (9). We blew the competition out of the water. Our Grandchildren have wonderful teachers and it was nice to meet them.

The cook is tired out

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Kim's house. Lamar, once again, out did himself with the turkey which he soaked in a cranberry brine and then BBQ on the grill. It only caught on fire once.  He also made home made rolls which were amazing.  The rest of us added the sides and of course an assortment of pies. So yummy!

Sam enjoying the Turkey leg

Gover Family

The following week, John and Wendy went on an Anniversary (20 yrs)/Birthday (Wendy's 40 yrs) trip to London, Paris and New York.  Dad and I had the privilege of staying with Tara and Amanda. They did a good job of taking care of Grandma and Grandpa. 
        
We are back home now. We have moved down stairs. I think everyone needs to move every 18 years or so. We literally moved everything from up stairs to down stairs and got rid of a lot of things. We are feeling settled now for a minute.

McKinnon Family

Last week we had the opportunity to attend the office classes at the MTC. Actually I called the MTC and begged them to let us come and get a jump start on all that we need to learn. They were so kind to let us sit in on the classes. So much to learn but the spirit was strong and the young instructors were so kind and patient with the Senior Missionaries.  

Yesterday Drew and Sara joined us in the Temple where we completed 80+ family file sealings.  We nearly completed all the names on my temple list. It was a good feeling to see them completed.

Seth at his Winter Program

Two more weeks until we enter the MTC for real.  Their is still much to do to be prepared. We are grateful for this time of year and for the birth of our Savior. We realize how very blessed we are to have the gospel in our lives and in the lives of our precious children and grandchildren.  We love you all and hope you will have the happiest of Christmas's with your families.     Love, Mom

Trip to Oregon

10-27-12

Dear Family,

Chad was good to help me set up a blog. This is one of the ways we plan on keeping our family connected while we are on our mission. We hope in return we will hear from you. Keeping up with our family members is important to us. We will miss you all but we are grateful for ways like this that we are able to stay in touch.

In stead of having a large family gathering before we leave, we thought it wise for Dad and I to visit with each of the families individually. Last Monday we left for Oregon and Montana. We stayed the first night in Burn's Oregon. We stayed at the Silver Spur, yes, it conjures up all kinds of images, all true. Old, western motif, squeaky beds, paper thin walls and very little sleep.

Our first stop was a visit with Dave and Connie. We had a great time visiting with them. They are wonderful hosts providing us with a luscious steak dinner with stuffed potatoes and a comfortable bed.  We of course laughed well into the night as we shared funny stories and memories. Thank you Dave and Connie for your love and hospitality. Dad even taught Connie how to make his pancakes for breakfast.

Next stop along our way was with Chad and Kim and family. They have kept us busy with soccer games, ice skating lessons, Kim's birthday party, Ward Halloween parties and a pre-school event. We even took a beautiful walk in the forest, discovered an abandoned castle and ate at a cool hamburger diner. We love being with our family.

We will remain here until Monday morning when we take off for the last leg of this trip which will take us to Montana and a visit with Linda and Rick. We will remain until December 1 when we arrive back home.

Time seems to be speeding up and their is still much to do before we will be ready for our mission. Our next trip will be to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We are hoping to bring Jacob with us from BYU. He has worked hard and had a lot of late nights with his studies (right?). It wouldn't surprise me if he sleeps the entire time he is at home.

Well, that is about it for now. Time to fix dinner.  Love you all.

Love, Mom