July 2, 2023

Well, it had to happen sometime!! We have been asked to speak in church in two weeks. We will speak with the High Councilman in the other ward in our building. We both only have to speak for 6 minutes each on the Holy Ghost so I think we can do it! The other couple we are with have had to speak twice already, once in each ward in our building so I guess we can't complain that it is our turn :).

Since we have been here we have started a new tradition of "Breaking the Fast." The Larson's have done this in their neighborhood at home for years and thought it would be nice to do here. So each Fast Sunday we take turns on hosting a pot luck dinner where we gather together and break our fast. Today is our turn. We have (4) Elders in our ward, (2) of which are the Assistants. The Assistants were out of town and the other set of missionaries did not have a dinner appointment so we invited them to join us. They are Elder Place and Elder Schwendiman. At the last minute we found out the Assistants were coming too so we said a quick prayer that we would be like the feeding of the 5,000 and the food would go far enough. The young Elders usually have pretty big appetites. The Lord blessed us and we even had leftovers! Not to say they didn't eat much because they did. Somehow it all just worked out!

The 2nd half of our 6 week rotation, Zone Conferences, happened this week. We traveled to Forest Grove, Salem, and out to Bend. They are such a sweet experience as we listen to the instruction of our Mission President and his wife, and then the comments of our Elders & Sisters. Our theme this conference was based around Elder Neil A Anderson's talk, "My Mind Caught Hold Upon this Thought of Jesus Christ." We also discussed this quote from 2017 by President Nelson, "There is nothing easy or automatic about becoming such powerful disciples. Our focus must be riveted on the Savior and His gospel. It is mentally rigorous to strive to look unto Him in every thought. But when we do, our doubts and fears flee."

I am learning more and more how hard it is to be a missionary if you do not follow this counsel. Our missionaries work hard, experience anxiety, homesickness, and discouragement. If they do not look unto the Savior in every thought they will fail. But it is mentally rigorous and takes great focus. They are my heroes! It is a good quote for me too. If I want to become a better disciple of Jesus Christ I need to put him first in my thoughts and actions. I need to replace judgmental, unkind thoughts with charity and love if I am going to become a better disciple.

As I have mentioned before, during zone conferences Elder Rowan needs to conduct car inspections. We all join in to help him to make the process go faster. Last time we checked every glove box for registration, insurance, and accident packets. We thought this time would be a piece of cake because we would not have to do that. But there were stickers on each front driver and passenger window that had to come off. The stickers were starting to peel and get sticky. This meant they were getting caught in the window mechanisms and causing them to break. It happened to (2) of our cars and Elder Rowan said enough is enough, they have to come off. At least we won't have to do that again. Here are a few pictures from car inspections. Note the mattresses in the back of the truck that the Housing Coordinator had to deliver to some missionaries and the bikes we took to others. We even had the missionaries check their own oil this time (just not add it). It was surprising how many have never done that before.

Earlier in the week we got to meet Tracey and her family for dinner because we have not seen our grandson Hayden since we got here. He has been away at college and was just home for the week. It was good to see him.

After zone conference in Bend, OR was over on Friday we started our "P Day" and went sight seeing. We visited the Newbery National Volcanic Monument. It is the largest volcano in the Cascade Mountain Range. The last eruption occurred just 1,300 years ago.