Dear Family,
Time seems to be racing by. As we travel we are noticing the leaves beginning to change colors. I keep thinking that it is way too early for that to be happening and then I realize that it is the end of September and it is, in fact, time for that to happen. Last year I was thrilled when the leaves turned colors (it was pretty) and fell off the trees because we could begin to see some land marks and begin to figure out where we were. When the trees are all filled with leaves, it is like driving in a green tunnel with all things appearing to be the same. This year I am a little sad to see the beautiful green trees lose their leaves and be left with just branches. It is a little stark.
Monday we were in the office bright and early and worked until noon then went home. Dad needed to make a few phone calls about WES and I brought home things I could do on my computer at home. We had hurried out this morning without making lunch, so we were able to grab a bite while we were at home. While we were here, the maintenance people came to upgrade our locks, thermostat and other things that are controlled with software—it is called Smart Rent. We are supposed to be able to control the door locks, heat, air conditioning from our phones if we wanted to. While the fellow was here he asked Dad if we wanted our combination for our door lock changed and Dad said we wanted the same one. Why have to learn a new combination to get into the house? We went back to the office and worked until it was time to go to the Mission Home for our senior missionary get together. This way the mission president doesn’t have to interview the senior missionaries so often. For some reason Dad and I were tired and not too excited about going, but it turned out to be an outstanding evening! We had our usual potluck dinner and a good visit as we ate dinner. The only bad thing is that there are two dining rooms so we are not all together. The rooms are just across the entry way from each other (kind of like having a dining room where our dining room is and another where our living room is) so we are not totally separated.
After dinner we had a meeting where the two new senior missionary couples were introduced and their areas of service were talked about. One of the senior couples had a wonderful conversion story and he shared that with us. Dad had told President Caplin that when he interviewed Elder Vennard he should have Elder Vennard share this conversion story. We had heard it at the meeting a couple of weeks ago and were so touched with it. President had Elder Vennard share this story and then had them share it with the group at our meeting. That really set the mood for the rest of the meeting. Sister Vennard loves to sing and sang a song for us which we enjoyed. Then President shared a little bit about each missionary there and what they were doing. It was very impressive that he was so aware of each missionary and their efforts to serve and the contributions they were making in the Washington DC South Mission. It was also nice to hear of all of the good things that everyone was doing. We really do work with good people that are so good to go above and beyond in their service.
We got home and were more than ready to go to bed. There was one problem, however, and that was the key pad had no reaction to our touch. We knew that it would no longer make any sound, but didn’t know that we would see no indication that we had touched it. Not only that, but the screen would turn on and off and roll from one screen to another. We realized that we were not getting into the apartment with things as they were. We remembered that we still had our house key from before the electronic key and went to the back (bedroom) door to see if we could get in that way. We discovered that there was no key hole for the deadbolt lock. Even getting the doorknob lock unlocked wouldn’t help without getting the deadbolt unlocked. We went to the office to see if there was a number on the door for emergency maintenance. Luckily, there was a number and we called and explained that the “smart” lock was not working and we were wondering if the lock had been changed when the “Rent Smart” people were here earlier in the day. Our maintenance said they would call maintenance and they would call us and let us know how long it would be. We waited 20+ minutes and were getting ready to call to see if they had gotten in touch with the maintenance people when a man showed up. He tried the lock, realized it did not work, and tried to use the new code (temporary) that they had given to maintenance. That didn’t work either. He asked about the back door and we told him there was no keyhole on the dead bolt. He just smiled and shook his head. He then called the Rent Smart people and they gave him another code and we were able to get the door open. We now have a new code to learn. The air conditioning in the apartment felt SO good. Even at 11:30 in the evening the temperature and humidity was high enough that we just stood around sweating while we waited. At home, even when we have really hot days, it cools down in the evenings. Not so here. We were grateful to finally be in our cool apartment and could now go to bed. Good day!
Tuesday was our “rogue” district meeting. When the President found out that we meet as senior missionaries once a week to coordinate our schedules and talk about things we are doing to help “find” friends for the younger missionaries to teach, he said: “I didn’t know we had a rogue district.” Now that is what we call ourselves. We need to coordinate how to get the mail delivered and apartments inspected, and Dad tries to update everyone on what is going on with meetings in the mission that we should be to or should be supporting.
Wednesday Dad spent some time at home trying to get some things finalized for the sale of WES. We will be so grateful to have that behind us so that we don’t get distracted. There is too much good stuff that we want to do.
Thursday was Jessica’s birthday and we thought how grateful to have her as part of our family. We are so grateful for our family and thank Heavenly Father every day and often multiple times a day for the family we have been given. Dad and I both feel so blessed for being born on goodly parents and growing up in good homes as well and for the blessings of wonderful children (both by birth and by marriage.)
We had a good day at the office and finally got final arrangements made for meeting Lisa and Christy at their hotel room. Christy came back to the NIH to consult with a doctor who is doing a study on brain tumors that keep recurring. Lisa came back with her to be a support traveling and an extra set of ears as the doctor explained things. It finally dawned on me that Lisa had served her mission in the Washington DC South Mission. The boundaries have changed some, but she served in some of the same areas that are still in the mission. We meet them at their hotel and had dinner with them and had a wonderful time catching up with them and their families. Family really is what it is all about.
Friday was a hectic day at the office. We had interviews and that is always fun to get to visit with those missionaries going home, but it is a little distracting too. With lots of things that need to be done before transfers, we need to try to stay focused a little. At 2:30 we went to read the Book of Mormon with Nancy which is nice, but today it was a little rushed because we had a 3:00 meeting concerning transfers. Dad had to go to that so he would know how to handle the phones and the housing and vehicle secretaries go so that they can have housing and transportation ready. I usually don’t go, but today President asked me to come. We finished up about 5:30. I took some things home to do, but haven’t been really good about getting them done this weekend. Both Dad and I were ready to just sit and relax.
Saturday we got up and got ready to go to a baptism out in Gainesville. It is far enough out to the west of the mission that not as many of the senior missionaries go. We thought we would go there instead of one that would have lots of other senior couples there. The ride was beautiful and the service was good. The ward has been so supportive of the young man getting baptized and that has made such a big difference. These new converts often have to give up former friends when they join the church and so it is so important that the members reach out and become their new friends.
We did our grocery shopping on the way home and then came home to do our chores. I loved being at home to catch up on a few things like laundry and getting addresses for Kent. I noticed that as I went through the ward lists of both the Lawrence Station Ward and the Santa Clara Ward I knew very few people. We know more people in this ward than we do back in Santa Clara. When we return home it may be like coming home to a brand new ward. Doing my chores would have been a lot more fun if BYU would have won. While I got a few things done, Dad worked on getting things done for WES hoping to get everything taken care of by the 1st. I’m not sure that it will be able to get finished that quickly.
Today was a good day at church. It was good to be back to our ward after being gone the last two weeks. We had Fast and Testimony Meeting today in preparation for General Conference next week and then went into the introduction of the new youth program. Boy, does this place the responsibility for doing anything on the youth and their parents. I am hoping that there will be a little more structure and direction introduced in the November meeting because if I were a youth it would be too easy to be overwhelmed with the largeness and vagueness of it all. I also work much better with deadlines. It is too easy for me to put things off when there isn’t a time to be finished. Maybe that is what they are trying to teach the youth—don’t put things off.
This afternoon Dad and I did the apple crisp that we needed to do for the Train the Trainer meeting on Tuesday. We made enough to FILL a 13 x 18 pan and I had to have Dad put it into the oven. Hopefully it won’t spill over in the oven. Then this evening we will go to the Come Unto Christ Fireside where 3-4 of the new converts share their testimonies and conversion stories. It is amazing how different they all are and yet how they all say how much peace, joy, and meaning has been brought into their lives. Then we will go home, try to get to bed early so we can be ready for transfers that begin on Monday. Twenty-Seven new missionaries are arriving!!
We love you so much and grateful you are ours,
Mom
Time seems to be racing by. As we travel we are noticing the leaves beginning to change colors. I keep thinking that it is way too early for that to be happening and then I realize that it is the end of September and it is, in fact, time for that to happen. Last year I was thrilled when the leaves turned colors (it was pretty) and fell off the trees because we could begin to see some land marks and begin to figure out where we were. When the trees are all filled with leaves, it is like driving in a green tunnel with all things appearing to be the same. This year I am a little sad to see the beautiful green trees lose their leaves and be left with just branches. It is a little stark.
Monday we were in the office bright and early and worked until noon then went home. Dad needed to make a few phone calls about WES and I brought home things I could do on my computer at home. We had hurried out this morning without making lunch, so we were able to grab a bite while we were at home. While we were here, the maintenance people came to upgrade our locks, thermostat and other things that are controlled with software—it is called Smart Rent. We are supposed to be able to control the door locks, heat, air conditioning from our phones if we wanted to. While the fellow was here he asked Dad if we wanted our combination for our door lock changed and Dad said we wanted the same one. Why have to learn a new combination to get into the house? We went back to the office and worked until it was time to go to the Mission Home for our senior missionary get together. This way the mission president doesn’t have to interview the senior missionaries so often. For some reason Dad and I were tired and not too excited about going, but it turned out to be an outstanding evening! We had our usual potluck dinner and a good visit as we ate dinner. The only bad thing is that there are two dining rooms so we are not all together. The rooms are just across the entry way from each other (kind of like having a dining room where our dining room is and another where our living room is) so we are not totally separated.
After dinner we had a meeting where the two new senior missionary couples were introduced and their areas of service were talked about. One of the senior couples had a wonderful conversion story and he shared that with us. Dad had told President Caplin that when he interviewed Elder Vennard he should have Elder Vennard share this conversion story. We had heard it at the meeting a couple of weeks ago and were so touched with it. President had Elder Vennard share this story and then had them share it with the group at our meeting. That really set the mood for the rest of the meeting. Sister Vennard loves to sing and sang a song for us which we enjoyed. Then President shared a little bit about each missionary there and what they were doing. It was very impressive that he was so aware of each missionary and their efforts to serve and the contributions they were making in the Washington DC South Mission. It was also nice to hear of all of the good things that everyone was doing. We really do work with good people that are so good to go above and beyond in their service.
We got home and were more than ready to go to bed. There was one problem, however, and that was the key pad had no reaction to our touch. We knew that it would no longer make any sound, but didn’t know that we would see no indication that we had touched it. Not only that, but the screen would turn on and off and roll from one screen to another. We realized that we were not getting into the apartment with things as they were. We remembered that we still had our house key from before the electronic key and went to the back (bedroom) door to see if we could get in that way. We discovered that there was no key hole for the deadbolt lock. Even getting the doorknob lock unlocked wouldn’t help without getting the deadbolt unlocked. We went to the office to see if there was a number on the door for emergency maintenance. Luckily, there was a number and we called and explained that the “smart” lock was not working and we were wondering if the lock had been changed when the “Rent Smart” people were here earlier in the day. Our maintenance said they would call maintenance and they would call us and let us know how long it would be. We waited 20+ minutes and were getting ready to call to see if they had gotten in touch with the maintenance people when a man showed up. He tried the lock, realized it did not work, and tried to use the new code (temporary) that they had given to maintenance. That didn’t work either. He asked about the back door and we told him there was no keyhole on the dead bolt. He just smiled and shook his head. He then called the Rent Smart people and they gave him another code and we were able to get the door open. We now have a new code to learn. The air conditioning in the apartment felt SO good. Even at 11:30 in the evening the temperature and humidity was high enough that we just stood around sweating while we waited. At home, even when we have really hot days, it cools down in the evenings. Not so here. We were grateful to finally be in our cool apartment and could now go to bed. Good day!
Tuesday was our “rogue” district meeting. When the President found out that we meet as senior missionaries once a week to coordinate our schedules and talk about things we are doing to help “find” friends for the younger missionaries to teach, he said: “I didn’t know we had a rogue district.” Now that is what we call ourselves. We need to coordinate how to get the mail delivered and apartments inspected, and Dad tries to update everyone on what is going on with meetings in the mission that we should be to or should be supporting.
Wednesday Dad spent some time at home trying to get some things finalized for the sale of WES. We will be so grateful to have that behind us so that we don’t get distracted. There is too much good stuff that we want to do.
Thursday was Jessica’s birthday and we thought how grateful to have her as part of our family. We are so grateful for our family and thank Heavenly Father every day and often multiple times a day for the family we have been given. Dad and I both feel so blessed for being born on goodly parents and growing up in good homes as well and for the blessings of wonderful children (both by birth and by marriage.)
We had a good day at the office and finally got final arrangements made for meeting Lisa and Christy at their hotel room. Christy came back to the NIH to consult with a doctor who is doing a study on brain tumors that keep recurring. Lisa came back with her to be a support traveling and an extra set of ears as the doctor explained things. It finally dawned on me that Lisa had served her mission in the Washington DC South Mission. The boundaries have changed some, but she served in some of the same areas that are still in the mission. We meet them at their hotel and had dinner with them and had a wonderful time catching up with them and their families. Family really is what it is all about.
Friday was a hectic day at the office. We had interviews and that is always fun to get to visit with those missionaries going home, but it is a little distracting too. With lots of things that need to be done before transfers, we need to try to stay focused a little. At 2:30 we went to read the Book of Mormon with Nancy which is nice, but today it was a little rushed because we had a 3:00 meeting concerning transfers. Dad had to go to that so he would know how to handle the phones and the housing and vehicle secretaries go so that they can have housing and transportation ready. I usually don’t go, but today President asked me to come. We finished up about 5:30. I took some things home to do, but haven’t been really good about getting them done this weekend. Both Dad and I were ready to just sit and relax.
Saturday we got up and got ready to go to a baptism out in Gainesville. It is far enough out to the west of the mission that not as many of the senior missionaries go. We thought we would go there instead of one that would have lots of other senior couples there. The ride was beautiful and the service was good. The ward has been so supportive of the young man getting baptized and that has made such a big difference. These new converts often have to give up former friends when they join the church and so it is so important that the members reach out and become their new friends.
We did our grocery shopping on the way home and then came home to do our chores. I loved being at home to catch up on a few things like laundry and getting addresses for Kent. I noticed that as I went through the ward lists of both the Lawrence Station Ward and the Santa Clara Ward I knew very few people. We know more people in this ward than we do back in Santa Clara. When we return home it may be like coming home to a brand new ward. Doing my chores would have been a lot more fun if BYU would have won. While I got a few things done, Dad worked on getting things done for WES hoping to get everything taken care of by the 1st. I’m not sure that it will be able to get finished that quickly.
Today was a good day at church. It was good to be back to our ward after being gone the last two weeks. We had Fast and Testimony Meeting today in preparation for General Conference next week and then went into the introduction of the new youth program. Boy, does this place the responsibility for doing anything on the youth and their parents. I am hoping that there will be a little more structure and direction introduced in the November meeting because if I were a youth it would be too easy to be overwhelmed with the largeness and vagueness of it all. I also work much better with deadlines. It is too easy for me to put things off when there isn’t a time to be finished. Maybe that is what they are trying to teach the youth—don’t put things off.
This afternoon Dad and I did the apple crisp that we needed to do for the Train the Trainer meeting on Tuesday. We made enough to FILL a 13 x 18 pan and I had to have Dad put it into the oven. Hopefully it won’t spill over in the oven. Then this evening we will go to the Come Unto Christ Fireside where 3-4 of the new converts share their testimonies and conversion stories. It is amazing how different they all are and yet how they all say how much peace, joy, and meaning has been brought into their lives. Then we will go home, try to get to bed early so we can be ready for transfers that begin on Monday. Twenty-Seven new missionaries are arriving!!
We love you so much and grateful you are ours,
Mom
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