October 29, 2023

My post today is just going to be full of random things. It has been quiet in the office this week. We had no meals to prepare, the President was gone to a Mission President Conference, and our printer still wasn't working. We have been without a printer in the office for about 4 weeks now. It was ordered by the FM Group and they told us it was going to be delivered on Oct. 20th. Well, Oct. 20th came and went and we still didn't get a printer. Turns out it is backordered but no one told us. I am okay because I have my own dedicated printer but the rest of the office is suffering. They print to my printer but it is only black and white and often they want color. We continue to pray over this problem and hopefully it will be resolved soon.

My granddaughter Alyssa loves mushrooms!! Not to eat but to study, find, and look at. When we walk through their forest she is always on the hunt for them. So it was exciting this week when Elder Larson brought this beauty in to show us. They know how to grow mushrooms in Oregon!! This one was just growing in the parking lot bushes at our Mission Office. I sent a text to Alyssa and she identifed it for us. It is an Amanitas and when I asked her if it was edible she said no, and whoever was holding it should wash their hands :).

Elder Riel is one of the Assistants in the office. His dad is a graphic designer of some sort and is always sending stickers to the mission. Everyone loves to get them. We were especially excited a few weeks ago when he gave us (2) ea of these personalized stickers. One went on my water bottle and I was just hanging on to the other one until I decided what to do with it. Due to a mixup in badge ordering we ended up with some extra badges and what to do with them was solved. We applied them over the bad badges!! They are so cool looking. The missionaries love them and want to know where they can get some. Both the Larsons and us have them. Wearing them in the office is fun but wearing them out in public is questionable with Big Foot on them :). But they will be prized momentos from our mission.

This week we found out that a new couple has received their call to serve in our mission. They will be replacing Sister Incze, our mission nurse when she goes home in March. They will arrive in February. He will be the Mission Medical and his wife will serve in the office and also assist him. We were curious about them so we got permission from President Phillips to do a zoom call with them. They are the Bready's (pronounced Brady) and are from Sandy, Utah!! They only live a few miles from us. It was fun to get acquainted with them.

We have had a terrible infestation of fruit flies in our apartment this week!!! It has been awful! Apparently we aren't the only ones because the Social Media Sisters who also live in our complex have had a problem and people were complaining about it on the Newberg Community Facebook page. I am serious when I say we have killed upward of 300 fruit flies. It started with some overripe bananas but even after we got rid of them and completely purged the apartment of any kind of produce sitting out we continued to have the problem. We read that if you put apple cider vinegar in a bowl, covered it with siranwrap and poked holes in it then they would go in the holes and not be able to get out. We tried that for a few days and it helped some but finally we have resorted to slapping them with a notebook or wet paper towel. Now we are only seeing 10-15 a day but for a while there I was walking around with my hoodie up over my head!

Other goings on in the mission included the night our apartment door got heart attacked by some of our local sister missionaries. They are so cute and we love them! Elder Rowan has continued to help Elder Larson with his efforts to bring the missionary apartments up to a "Celestial" standard. This includes removing all couches from missionary apartments. We are in awe of how obedient the missionaries are being. Our Social Media sisters needed new office chairs so we spent some time assisting them with putting them together. They are Sisters Wilson, Walker, & Jacobsen. President Phillips calls the Social Media Sisters his "Rockstars!" They are so good in what they do with creating Facebook ads, etc. that the church has asked them to work with missions throughout the US. Thursday we got to go out to lunch with our District to a cute Mexican restaurant after making an emergency run to the airport. We were scheduled to take one of our "reassigned" missionaries to the airport Thursday morning. He was headed to Peru. The Assistants begged to take him so we agreed. Then they got to the airport and he realized he forgot his Passport, travel itineraries, etc. at his apartment. There is a reason we try to get them there (3) hrs early! His companions made a fast 20 min dash to our office with the needed documents and we headed out to the airport afterall. It was a 45 minute drive but we still got there with 1 1/2 hrs to spare! Whew!! Friday we got brave and went and got (3) vaccinations all at the same time (Flu, Covid, & RSVP). Hopefully that means we will be in good health throughout the winter :).

One of the pre-reads for our upcoming Zone Conference is a talk by Elder Dale G. Renlund from the October 2019 conference, "Unwavering Commitment to Jesus Christ." In the talk Elder Renlund tells the story of the 1st (3) members of the church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly know as Zaire. In 1977, two of the people, the Banzas, were highly respected in their Protestant church community. Because of their talents, their church arranged for their young family to go to Switzerland to study and provided a university scholarship. In Geneva they learned of the church, made the decision to be baptized, and gave up everything to become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their sacrifice is unimaginable!! Elder Rowan and I were discussing this. Our sacrifice to serve a mission is nothing compared to what they gave up. Most days we can't even say we are sacrificing anything. We love our mission! We love what we are doing and most days we have lots of fun. How is that a sacrifice? Our hope is that our Savior will recognize the small effort we are making by being here and know that we love him and desire to serve him!

October 22, 2023

I was really hoping to never miss a week in posting on the blog but with family coming for back to back weeks it just couldn't be avoided. So be prepared for this to be an extra long post. I will start with mission items and then move on to our visit with Matthew and his family. For the most part we were able to handle being away from the office for a few days for each families visit. The 1st week when Rachel & Chris were here was pretty crazy for Elder Rowan. We were out of the office Monday & Tuesday and during that time we had some Elders shatter their windshield while they were playing catch with a lacrosse ball, some Sisters locked their keys in their car (thank you to Elder Larson for going to their rescue), and sadly two Sisters were in a fairly serious car accident. The 1st serious one since we have been here. Luckily they only had concussions and whiplash but the car was damaged pretty badly and the Sisters were tramatized by the event. Elder Rowan took it all in stride and was able to handle it all while still managing to have a good time with Rachel & Chris. They were able to see in person what it is that we do every day. Our time with Matt & his family was much more uneventful!

As soon as Matt and his family left we were right back into the thick of things. This past week was Transfer week which is always a busy time. I started out with a Sister's Devotional on Wednesday night. We try to have these right before transfers. The sisters gather together and discuss a conference talk and what they have learned from it the past transfer or throughout their service as a missionary. The talk for this one was by Jeffrey R. Holland, "Be Ye Therefore Perfect--Eventually," from 2017. Perfectionism is such an issue for these young missionaries, they are so hard on themselves. It was a good discussion. I love the sisters pictured below and the sweet spirit they bring to the mission. Sister Hull has been serving with us in Newberg for several months and is now headed over the mountain. We will miss her!

While I was at the Sister's Devotional Elder Rowan was hard at work trying to get caught up in the office. Okay, hard at work is questionable :). Missionaries were coming and going in the office as the new Assistants and the departing missionaries arrived. The President bought pizza for everyone and it was more like a party going on. We are so sad to lose (2) of our Assistants that we spend so much time with, Elder Pierce & Elder Bush. Elder Pierce especially has been with us for almost 4 months and we have grown to love him and will really miss him. The Assistants are AMAZING! They know everything about who is where, who has what car, what is going on, etc. We all, President included, rely on them alot. Elder Rowan is especially happy with the new set of Assistants. I call them his "Dream Team!" Elder Reil will remain as an Assistant and he is joined by Elder Weaver & Elder Henrie. Elder Rowan has had a special connection with these missionaries and will love working with them.

Departing Assistants: Elder Pierce & Elder Bush

New Assistants: Elder Henrie, Elder Reil, Elder Weaver

Transfer week also brought all of the usual activities for that exciting time. Elder Rowan & Elder Larson drove over the mountain and to the airport to haul luggage, we hung out with the departing missionaries and with the new trainers as they eagerly awaited the arrival of the 21 new missionaries. This transfer was a little unusual in that we had many missionaries assigned to be trainers who have only been here 2 transfers themselves. With so many coming and going this is the way it had to be and we know these new trainers will do a great job. They were pretty nervous though! We prepared dinner for 60 and then wanted to collapse on Saturday!

Departing missionaries.

New trainers.

Dinner for new arrivals.

With transfer week also came a change in our District. Elder Place has been our District Leader for almost 4 months so we have gotten to know him well. At 6'11" he stands out and is hard to miss. We love him and will miss him as he is moving on to Lebanon. We missed our final District Council because family was visiting. The week before the missionaries set a goal to find so many new people to teach. If they achieved their goal the district got to throw a pie in the face of Elder Place. The pictures below tell the story. The Hermanas (Sister Finlayson & Sister Pace) were also in our district but will not be going forward. Elder Rowan loved talking Spanish to them and is going to miss our weekly meetings with them. They are still in our area though so we will see them in the office from time to time.

Elder Place

Pie in the face of Elder Place & Elder Pierce

Our District (we are missing because we were with family)

Our new District Leader is Elder Cordray. He is a great young missionary. He has only been out (2) transfers and is a trainer and District Leader this transfer. I don't envy him. He is being District Leader to the Assistants, the Social Media Sisters, the Office missionaries, a set of Sisters, and his trainee. I would find that very imtimidating! Last night he called an "emergency" District Council to get us going. There was a lot of silliness going on (it was late and we were all exhausted) but he was able to bring it in at the end and leave us with a great spiritual thought. He was talking about all the missionaries who went home and how great it will be to see them again someday. Then he likened it to Alma and the Sons of Mosiah. In Alma 17:2 it talks about Alma and the Sons of Mosiah seeing each other after not seeing each other for a long time. This is what it says, "Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth."

How great it is going to be when we get to see all these missionaries again after they have returned home and even better yet when we know they are "still our brethren in the Lord"!!!

October 22, 2023 (Part 2)

Now on to the fun part with Matthew and his family. We had a great time sharing the beautiful Pacific Northwest with them and showing them what our lives as missionaries looks like. They were only here for a little over 4 days but it is amazing what we were able to pack in on those 4 days. I think we did it all and left nothing out! We were sad to not have Isabel with us (who was busy with XCountry running) but glad we got the rest of the family.

Matt's family arrived Saturday morning and we met up with them and Tracey's family at the Japenese Gardens. Saturday was our Portland day so we did everything in the city. We have wanted to go to the Japenese Gardens since we got to Oregon so we are glad we finally got the chance. We were hoping for more fall colors but it was still beautiful!

We had lunch at PDX Sliders, a trendy Portland restaurant, voted best burgers in Portland, before saying goodbye to Tracey and her family.

Then we were off to the Oregon Musuem of Science & Industry followed by a trip to Salt & Straw, a trendy Portland ice cream shop. Wow, we will be making a trip to there again! Yummy, yummy ice cream! I had The Great Candycopia and Jack had Peanut Butter Brittle Caramel Fudge. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Sunday we attended church and showed the family our mission office and introduced them to our local missionaries. Matt & Elliot said Elder Place (at 6'11") is the tallest person they have ever met in person. Then we met up with Tracey's family again for a walk through Silver Falls State Park, one of our favorite places.

Monday, after office staff meeting we headed out to the coast for two days. It poured rain up until about 3:00 and then cleared and was beautiful all day Tuesday. With so much coast to choose from it was hard to decide where to concentrate our efforts but we finally decided on Newport, the same place we went with Rachel & Chris. We stopped at scenic overlooks on our way to our hotel where we got soaking wet and were glad the hotel let us have early check in so we could dry off and change clothes. Then we headed into Newport to see the Sea Lions, stroll the boardwalk, and have some yummy dinner at the Chowder Bowl. Then it was a jump in the ocean and swimming for Matt's family.

View from our hotel room

Tuesday started out with playing on the beach for a while and we were grateful for such a beautiful day!

Then we headed to the Oregon Coast Aquarium which is mostly outdoors so again we were grateful for good weather.

That was followed by another trip to see the Sea Lions, Ripley's Believe It or Not, the Wax Museum, and finally Yaquina Head Lighthouse. These kids know how to keep busy!!

The Lighthouse is not pictured but this is a gorgeous photo of the coast next to the lighthouse.

We had such a good time with these kids and were so glad they made the trip out to see us. It is hard to imagine it will be another 11 months before we see them again but we are so grateful for modern technology and that we can keep up with them through Zoom, Messenger, etc. We love you Matt, Chelsea, Isabel, Elliot, Oliver, & Avery!!!!

October 8, 2023

Sorry this blog is a little late in posting. We have been off having fun and had no time to create a post. Okay, if I was being truthful I would just tell you that with company and extra beds in our apartment I could not get to my computer because there was a bed blocking it. :)

The week started out with MLC where we made dinner for 45. This month's menu included BQ chicken tenders, Mac-n-Cheese, salad, rolls, and special cookies from Julie Schupe. Here is a quick shot highlighting Elder Reil as he made his way down the line.

For the rest of the week I took off my missionary hat and put on my family hat. We have been so blessed to have Rachel & Chris here visiting us the past few days. We are grateful they made the trek up to the great Pacific Northwest!!! And grateful we could break away from our office duties to spend time with them. Before I start on our visit with them I just want to mention a few other family members and what has been going on with them. This is not everyone but just a sample of a few of them and what has been going on in their lives.

It was Elliot's birthday this week and at 14 he is almost 6 ft tall. Don't ask me what is going on with his hair!

Isabel is 16 and went to Prom. This photo of her is so beautiful I just had to post it.

Parker started Home MTC and we have been super excited to get reports from his mom on how he is doing. Going great so far!

It is Rachel & Chris' 10th wedding anniversary. Wow, has the time flown by! Congrats to the two of them!!

The Seniors at Washougal High School that play sports are honored with these banners hung in their honor. Way to go Danica!!

Rachel and Chris arrived on Friday and we got started right away doing all the things she loves since it was her birthday week. Friday was bowling. Good thing you can't see the scores in this picture because they were pretty pathetic!

Saturday was a session at the Portland Temple, then Olive Garden for their Never Ending Pasta Bowl, topped off with a visit to the International Rose Gardens, and finally Voodoo Donuts! Whew, it was a full day!

Sunday we attended church and then celebrated Rachel's birthday at Tracey's. Rachel was spoiled by her sister who made all of her favorite foods and then even sang a special rendition of Happy Birthday to her!

Monday we headed out to the coast for an overnight stay near Newport and Depot Bay. The weather didn't always cooperate but we had a great time anyway. On our way to the coast we explored this old covered bridge. Covered Bridge Tours are a "thing" here, who knew?

We hammed it up for the camera in front of the surf, drove on our favorite "drive on the beach" beach, walked over to Whale's Cove for a "photo op" moment, and checked into our hotel with this beautiful view from our balcony.

But the real highlight of the trip for me was watching Rachel at Sea Lion Dock in Newport. Oh my goodness! She loved it so much! She laughed, she giggled, and she talked to the animals. It was pure joy watching her delight. We even made a special trip back the next day because she loved it so much!!

We saw lighthouses and bridges and really just had a great time. We visited Mo's for dinner and then headed back to the hotel so Rachel could swim, another of her birthday loves!

On our way home we saw this spectacular double rainbow! What a way to end our trip. Thank you for coming Rachel and Chris!!!