July 16, 2023

Have I mentioned how grateful I am for technology? I think I have but I have to say it again. It is so nice while we are here to be able to have Facetime/Messenger conversations with my kids and grandkids and get to see their cute faces while we are talking to them. I also miss my sisters so I am so happy when we can have a ZOOM conversation. We usually do (3) 40 minute sessions back to back and that still isn't enough!

When we have the missionaries over for dinner they always share a message with us. A few weeks ago they shared the new church video, "Love, Share, Invite." It is fantastic and makes sharing the gospel with friends and family look so easy. They asked us to commit to doing one thing so we said we did not know the neighbors in our stairwell. There are (4) of us and our paths just don't cross very often. We said we would make an effort to meet them so I made some cookies and we took them to each neighbor and introduced ourselves. I am telling you, it was hard! I was really scared to do it because I didn't know what kind of reception we would get and even wondered if they would open their doors since we were wearing our nametags. We said a prayer before we went to each door and everyone was really nice! Now we know our neighbors!! Who can say no to cookies, right?

Every Monday morning we have an Office Staff Meeting. We have a scripture, thought, and prayer and then discuss the things that are going on in each of our responsibilities. The scripture & thought are rotated each week. I can't tell you how scary it is to me to present a scripture and thought to our Mission President and his wife, the Assistants, and other couple in the office. They are spiritual giants and I am just not good at this! This week was my turn. We had to speak in church today about the Holy Ghost so I chose that topic for my thought too. In an address to Mission Presidents in 2013, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, "I have said so many times to my brethren that the Spirit is the most important single element in this work. With the Spirit and magnifying your calling, you can do miracles for the Lord in the mission field. Without the Spirit, you will never succeed, regardless of your talent and ability." We have heard so often from our missionaries just how true this is! The scripture to go along with this is from D&C11:13, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy."

We had lots of missionaries in and out of the office this week. Twice a year the missionaries get to attend the temple so all the districts had a chance to go the past two weeks. They come and go from our office. Elder Larson used to work with the Young Adults in their area at home and had this fun Spinning Wheel he brought out to the mission. He brought it to the office this week and let the missionaries give it a spin. They could win a candy bar or they had to share a scripture, share a miracle, sing a song,etc. Somehow they all thought they got a candy bar when they were done. Go figure!!

Sisters Roach, Lynam, Walker, & Wilson

For our "P" Day this week we decided to take the Larsons out to the coast. Elder Larson had never been there before. But we felt guilty just playing all day so we decided to stop and visit several apartments along our route. We have 61 apartments and it is Elder Larsons goal to visit all of them at least once. Yesterday we saw 5 so that was pretty good. I am happy to report that the missionaries all passed inspection! We got to visit with some of them along our way so that was fun too! Our visits included the Delimonts, the only non-office Sr Missionaries in the mission. We have visited them before and it is always fun to hear about the people they are working with.

Sisters Cannon, Sponenburgh, Simper, & Roach

Sister Colette Delimont

Visiting the coast would not be complete without a stop at Tillamook for ice cream. Who cares that it was still morning and we hadn't even had lunch yet!

Elder & Sister Larson

I think I have discovered my new favorite beach along the Oregon coast. It is called Short Sands Beach. You get to the beach by walking .5 mile through an "Old Growth" forest and then the beach is before you. It is a small cove with great waves since there are lots of surfers there. It has cliffs, trees down to the water, and a pretty beach. I could have stayed there all day!! I can't wait to go back again!

No trip to the coast would be complete without a stop at Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park. Two more places that I love. The temperature was in the high 60's with clear blue skies which is a bonus when visiting the coast. The tide was even out at Haystack Rock so we got a glimpse of some Starfish & Anemones.