Dear Family,
Happy Birthday to Chelsea. June 2nd is a popular date for birthdays because Michael Otteson and Don Chase are also celebrating birthdays today.
This has been one busy week! As I look back on the events of the week, the things we did at the beginning of the week seem as if they happened two or three weeks ago. But even with all the activities we made it through still standing.
Monday was not a holiday for us. In fact it was the arrival of our new missionaries. That also means that we have all of the departing missionaries come into the office for their exit interviews, so we get to see and say our good-byes to them. It is getting harder and harder to see the missionaries go home the longer we are here.
One of our new missionaries is from New Jersey and his parents drove him down. He didn’t go through the MTC, but did it on line. He arrived at the mission office around 3 pm and Dad took him under his wing and had him help a little until it was time to go and pick up the incoming new missionaries. We have two 12-passenger vans right now, so we used them instead of renting vans. One of the vans doesn’t have a tiwi so the missionaries can’t drive it. Dad, therefore, drove the van with one of the AP’s riding with him. The other van had the other two AP’s. The office elders drove a uhaul van to carry all of the luggage. I drove over to the mission home from the office to be there when the food (from Café Rio) arrived. I help the wives of the counselors in the mission presidency get the food all set out, water in the glasses and the table set. That way the dinner is ready for the missionaries when they arrive. After dinner we help get the pictures taken and texts sent to the parents. Because Dad drove a passenger van, he had to finish his job and drive a van load of missionaries to the hotel. While he did that I drove a couple of missionaries back to the mission office so they could get their car and then I waited for Dad to drive back to the office from the hotel to drop off the van. We got home around 11:30 that evening.
Tuesday is the day the new missionaries go through some training and then they go into a meeting where they are assigned their new companions. That is such a fun meeting to hear the stories about how President was inspired to make the assignments and how some of the trainers knew before it was announced who their trainee would be. The Lord’s hand is truly in this work. We have seen the miracles of the assignments. We left that meeting after the assignments were made so we could go and finish getting the lunch ready. Then after feeding the missionaries, we got cleaned up and packed up and went back to the office to see what we could get done and then went on home around 5:30.
This is the night when the “going home” missionaries meet at the mission home after their afternoon excursion for dinner and a testimony meeting. Because elders and sisters can’t stay at the mission home together, we were going to take the two elders to an empty apartment that is set up for overnight stays for departing missionaries. We went to the mission home about 9:30 to pick up the two elders, but it took us longer to get away. The missionaries were having a good time having their last visit with their mission president and his wife. We finally got them delivered and settled in and got back home around 12:00. These late nights and early mornings are harder than when we were younger.
Wednesday morning was a little early because we needed to get the elders in time to get some breakfast for them—there was nothing to eat in the apartment and they were going to be traveling all day. Both of the elders expressed having little twinges in their stomachs as we started our final car ride in the mission field. I think that “going home” was finally becoming a reality for them. When the sisters and the luggage van arrived, we were able to get all of them checked into the 4 different airlines they were flying and then we had time to take a few pictures. These were all good missionaries, so it was fun to celebrate with them the completion of an honorable mission. We will, however, miss them.
Then back to the office and reality. Dad wanted to work at home so he could do some projects that president asked him to do, but needs some uninterrupted concentration, so he stopped by the apartment the elders used and got the sheets off the bed so we could wash them and get them ready for another use. That evening I went shopping to see if I could get some birthday things taken care of for grandchildren while Dad stayed at the apartment working with the AP’s on getting the zoom ready for the all mission conference tomorrow morning.
Thursday we went to a luncheon put on by the people who handle our investments. Only investors will be there and no one from the company to try to sell or anything. Dad thought it would be a good opportunity to mingle with non-members and maybe find someone for the missionaries to teach. It was interesting to hear of their lives, but we were glad that we still had things to do each day besides watch the news or play golf all day.
Back in the office I am trying to get onto the website of all of our apartments so that I can determine if our checks are getting to them. The problem is that some of the websites we thought we had gotten onto just bring up another apartment managed by the same software group. We have a stake specialist that is supposed to be able to help us get this all straightened out. Here’s hoping.
Friday was finally here and I was ready for it. There was nothing huge or earth shaking that needed to be done, but I was busy all day long and even had stuff to take home to work on. I was certainly ready for the week end today. We came home and discussed whether or not to sign the papers to buy out Sudhir. We had about decided earlier in the week to do so, then Dad talked with Carlos and found that one of our largest customers was putting a hold on their orders for 4 months because their forecast had been wrong. Life never ceases to be interesting.
Saturday we slept in until 7:20—that felt so good! We read our Come Follow Me and then got up and going. I had to get birthday presents into the mail so they would arrive on time. Dad was working on projects while I did a little of our own bills. I looked down at my watch and noticed that it was 12:40 and the only baptism this week was at 1:00 in a place that was 40 minutes away. We missed that one, so I took a nap and woke up feeling a little more rested.
We had a little shopping to do and ran to the WalMart right by our house to get a few things, then came home and did dinner. Although the day was a little laid back, it was very enjoyable for me. I was able to get a few chores at the apartment like laundry, bills, and cleaning that we don’t always have a chance to get done. Then in the evening, I reconciled the 5 credit cards that we have at the office. I like to do it at home because there is a kitchen table to spread out on and there aren’t the interruptions that I get at the office.
It is Sunday and we got to talk with all of you. Now that is what makes a day good! Church was good. We really have come to love the talented and good people of this ward.
Know that we love you lots and Happy Birthday to Chelsea today. Happy Birthday to Olivia and Malia on Wednesday.
Love,
Mom
Happy Birthday to Chelsea. June 2nd is a popular date for birthdays because Michael Otteson and Don Chase are also celebrating birthdays today.
This has been one busy week! As I look back on the events of the week, the things we did at the beginning of the week seem as if they happened two or three weeks ago. But even with all the activities we made it through still standing.
Monday was not a holiday for us. In fact it was the arrival of our new missionaries. That also means that we have all of the departing missionaries come into the office for their exit interviews, so we get to see and say our good-byes to them. It is getting harder and harder to see the missionaries go home the longer we are here.
One of our new missionaries is from New Jersey and his parents drove him down. He didn’t go through the MTC, but did it on line. He arrived at the mission office around 3 pm and Dad took him under his wing and had him help a little until it was time to go and pick up the incoming new missionaries. We have two 12-passenger vans right now, so we used them instead of renting vans. One of the vans doesn’t have a tiwi so the missionaries can’t drive it. Dad, therefore, drove the van with one of the AP’s riding with him. The other van had the other two AP’s. The office elders drove a uhaul van to carry all of the luggage. I drove over to the mission home from the office to be there when the food (from Café Rio) arrived. I help the wives of the counselors in the mission presidency get the food all set out, water in the glasses and the table set. That way the dinner is ready for the missionaries when they arrive. After dinner we help get the pictures taken and texts sent to the parents. Because Dad drove a passenger van, he had to finish his job and drive a van load of missionaries to the hotel. While he did that I drove a couple of missionaries back to the mission office so they could get their car and then I waited for Dad to drive back to the office from the hotel to drop off the van. We got home around 11:30 that evening.
Tuesday is the day the new missionaries go through some training and then they go into a meeting where they are assigned their new companions. That is such a fun meeting to hear the stories about how President was inspired to make the assignments and how some of the trainers knew before it was announced who their trainee would be. The Lord’s hand is truly in this work. We have seen the miracles of the assignments. We left that meeting after the assignments were made so we could go and finish getting the lunch ready. Then after feeding the missionaries, we got cleaned up and packed up and went back to the office to see what we could get done and then went on home around 5:30.
This is the night when the “going home” missionaries meet at the mission home after their afternoon excursion for dinner and a testimony meeting. Because elders and sisters can’t stay at the mission home together, we were going to take the two elders to an empty apartment that is set up for overnight stays for departing missionaries. We went to the mission home about 9:30 to pick up the two elders, but it took us longer to get away. The missionaries were having a good time having their last visit with their mission president and his wife. We finally got them delivered and settled in and got back home around 12:00. These late nights and early mornings are harder than when we were younger.
Wednesday morning was a little early because we needed to get the elders in time to get some breakfast for them—there was nothing to eat in the apartment and they were going to be traveling all day. Both of the elders expressed having little twinges in their stomachs as we started our final car ride in the mission field. I think that “going home” was finally becoming a reality for them. When the sisters and the luggage van arrived, we were able to get all of them checked into the 4 different airlines they were flying and then we had time to take a few pictures. These were all good missionaries, so it was fun to celebrate with them the completion of an honorable mission. We will, however, miss them.
Then back to the office and reality. Dad wanted to work at home so he could do some projects that president asked him to do, but needs some uninterrupted concentration, so he stopped by the apartment the elders used and got the sheets off the bed so we could wash them and get them ready for another use. That evening I went shopping to see if I could get some birthday things taken care of for grandchildren while Dad stayed at the apartment working with the AP’s on getting the zoom ready for the all mission conference tomorrow morning.
Thursday we went to a luncheon put on by the people who handle our investments. Only investors will be there and no one from the company to try to sell or anything. Dad thought it would be a good opportunity to mingle with non-members and maybe find someone for the missionaries to teach. It was interesting to hear of their lives, but we were glad that we still had things to do each day besides watch the news or play golf all day.
Back in the office I am trying to get onto the website of all of our apartments so that I can determine if our checks are getting to them. The problem is that some of the websites we thought we had gotten onto just bring up another apartment managed by the same software group. We have a stake specialist that is supposed to be able to help us get this all straightened out. Here’s hoping.
Friday was finally here and I was ready for it. There was nothing huge or earth shaking that needed to be done, but I was busy all day long and even had stuff to take home to work on. I was certainly ready for the week end today. We came home and discussed whether or not to sign the papers to buy out Sudhir. We had about decided earlier in the week to do so, then Dad talked with Carlos and found that one of our largest customers was putting a hold on their orders for 4 months because their forecast had been wrong. Life never ceases to be interesting.
Saturday we slept in until 7:20—that felt so good! We read our Come Follow Me and then got up and going. I had to get birthday presents into the mail so they would arrive on time. Dad was working on projects while I did a little of our own bills. I looked down at my watch and noticed that it was 12:40 and the only baptism this week was at 1:00 in a place that was 40 minutes away. We missed that one, so I took a nap and woke up feeling a little more rested.
We had a little shopping to do and ran to the WalMart right by our house to get a few things, then came home and did dinner. Although the day was a little laid back, it was very enjoyable for me. I was able to get a few chores at the apartment like laundry, bills, and cleaning that we don’t always have a chance to get done. Then in the evening, I reconciled the 5 credit cards that we have at the office. I like to do it at home because there is a kitchen table to spread out on and there aren’t the interruptions that I get at the office.
It is Sunday and we got to talk with all of you. Now that is what makes a day good! Church was good. We really have come to love the talented and good people of this ward.
Know that we love you lots and Happy Birthday to Chelsea today. Happy Birthday to Olivia and Malia on Wednesday.
Love,
Mom
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