October 5th through October 11th

October 5^th through October 11^th:  Monday we drove from
St. George to Provo with my brother, Tad and his wife, Tove.  Tove had an eye exam and after her appointment we went to dinner with our brother, Van.  We laughed and talked and it was great to be together.  Van drove down to Provo to go to dinner with us and then he drove us back to our car which had been left at the front runner station in Woods Cross.   Tuesday the movers came and packed up all the things we are sending to Guatemala.  We had much more than we originally thought, because we are shipping a lot of boxes full of baby bodysuits, blankets and caps for a humanitarian project being done by many of the senior sister missionaries in the Area Office.  Donations have been made from different parts of the United States, but it is always a challenge to ship things economically.  It was a tender mercy that we could help get these supplies to Guatemala. In the afternoon, mom went and had a physical so she could get her prescription filled.  

These are our boxes for Guatemala.

Wednesday mom went to breakfast with her friends Merritt and Amanda.  She dropped me off at the Salt Lake temple and I did initiatory for 2 hours and then met mom for a session.  It was so fun to be back in the Salt Lake temple.  We have so many memories of serving there.  In the afternoon mom went to physical therapy for her knee and I spent the afternoon working on genealogy.  Thursday we drove down to James’ home and helped them get ready for winter and the arrival of their new son.  I worked in the yard all day and Chris cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms.  

We trimmed all the bushes and weeded all the flower beds.

Everything needed a haircut.

Lunch with the James Normans.

On our way home we stopped by and visited Jeanne Bennett, a good friend, from our old ward on the avenues.  She had a gift for Chris and we so enjoyed visiting with her.  Thanks Jeanne for the books.  We then went to John’s home and tended.  Friday morning we had the honor of meeting with Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Richard G. Maynes of the Seventy.  We arrived a little early and were sitting in the lobby of the Administration Building and another couple arrived.  We could hear them talk to the security guard in Spanish, so we introduced ourselves.  They will be the new temple president and matron in the Montevideo temple.   They are from Montevideo and we asked if they knew a Silvia Conde, Mom’s missionary companion from 1972 in Ecuador.  We had lost contact with her.  They knew her well and will take a letter to her from mom.  It will be so fun to reconnect with her.  There are no coincidences in our lives.  We had a very special meeting with Elder Cook.  He spent some time getting to know us a little and then set us apart.  The blessings pronounced upon us are sacred and special and we will treasure them.  I got a hug from an Apostle of our Lord and felt our Saviors love and acceptance.  We feel honored to he asked to serve in this “high and holy calling”.  Those are his words.  We went outside and sat down and wrote down what we could remember he said to us.  We walked around on cloud nine the rest of the day.  

Mom doesn't think I take very good selfies.

After our setting apart.  L to R, Elder Richard J, Maynes, President and Matron of the Guatemala City temple, Elder Quentin L. Cook 

In the afternoon, we met Kate and her children at a ranch in North Salt Lake.  They have an autumn festival.  It was fun to walk around and see everything they have done to celebrate the fall harvest and Halloween.  We had a hay ride and the kids got to pick out a pumpkin.  

Cute couple.

Kimball and Stan lost in the maze

Still in love.

Abby and the boys planing in the corn pit.

A hay ride with straw instead of hay.

Our girl teenage hayride driver.

Abby found her pumpkin.

Stan and Kimball had a hard time deciding.  Too many choices.

In the late afternoon we went to the movies and saw The Martian.  When we got done we filled our popcorn bucket and gave it to Charlotte and Alex and we exchanged cars.  We drove their car with Tilly home and they will come home in our car.  Saturday I worked on Charlotte’s wall.  When she painted the wall that I had repaired, she found that the wall paper  she had pulled off had left a lot of paste on the wall and there was a pattern in the paste.  So I put a skim coat of sheet rock mud over the entire wall.   That should fix the problem.  We then went to Ellie’s baptism.  What a spiritual meeting.  It is so fun to see our grandchildren accepting the covenant of baptism.  We then went to John’s home for some lunch.  It was the best baptismal luncheon I have ever had the pleasure of eating.  

Ellie at her baptism with her parents, John and Jill, and her Nana and Poppa.

Jill with all the delicious food.

Mom spent the afternoon packing for our week at training.  We tended John’s kids until 8:00pm and then drove to the Raddison in Salt Lake and checked into our hotel.  Sunday morning we ate breakfast in the hotel and started meeting all the other temple presidents and matrons.  We went to church at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and sat by the new president and matron for the Cordoba temple. We then went back to the hotel and had dinner.  We sat with the Chipmans, the new president and matron of the Indianapolis temple.  He was mission president in Peru and we enjoyed sharing stories and lunch with them.  We had a nap and then went out to Kate’s home and spent the evening.  I took the opportunity to give her a father’s blessing.  It is hard for us and our kids to be gone for another 3 years.  We want them to know that we love them and that they will be blest while we are on the Lord’s errand.  What a great week and next week will be even better.