November 5, 2023

I did not take this picture but it is a picture of Werth Rd which is less than 1/2 mile from our apartment. It is a good representation of what the fall colors have looked like the last few weeks. Usually in Utah by now the colors are gone but they have just gotten at their best here in Newberg these last few weeks of October and the first week of November. I love how this picture shows all the trees and hills here in Newberg. It is just so beautiful! I want to engrave this image on my mind forever!

This past week was Zone Conference which we love. It was the 1st time since Larson's got here in April that we have had to do car inspections in the rain. Can I say that I am not a fan? Our 1st problem was how to haul our luggage and all our car inspection material back and forth to ZC without it getting wet in the back of the truck. In the end we decided we had no choice but to pull the trailer with everything in it to keep it all dry. Often we have to take bikes, lamps, rugs, etc. to the missionaries at zone conference. We lucked out with no rain on Wednesday & Friday but it rained heavily on Thursday. It was no fun to walk around with a hood up over our heads and carrying an umbrella. My feet stayed dry in my boots but the bottom of my dress got soaked. Guess I will have to look into a long dress coat :).

The rest of Zone Conference was great though! This time we talked about Conversion, Commitments, & Integrity. President Phillips reminded the missionaries what it means to be a "Successful Missionary." It does not say a "Successful Missionary," is one who has a lot of baptisms. Instead, in Preach My Gospel it says, "Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment to find, teach, baptize, and confirm people and to help them become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost." We can't control how many people get baptized but we can control how committed we are. They invited each of us to ask ourselves, "how committed are you to your (missionary) purpose/covenants?" Then Sister Phillips issued an invitation to each of us to find a standard we may not understand or embrace and work hard to improve in it. This idea and invitation may have been extended to our missionaries but I find many life applications to it as well. As members of the church how committed are we? What can we work on to improve?

A trip over the mountain for Zone Conference would not be complete without stopping to do a little site-seeing. We made a quick stop at Zig Zag Falls with Elder & Sister Larson. We have been there before but they have not been. Pulling the trailer may have been a solution for the rain this ZC but we won't want to pull the trailer through the mountains on a regular basis so we are searching for a different solution.

Halloween was this week and we did not know what to expect. We ended up having no trick-or-treaters at our apartment but that was okay because we still had a great time. The missionaries were told to be in their apartments by 6:00 PM unless they had a member's house to hang out at and pass out candy or something. We had signed up to feed the Elders in our area since we figured no one would want to feed them on Halloween. In the end we expanded our dinner invitation to everyone in our District and area and had 17 of us crowded into our small apartment. But we had such a good time!! Some of the missionaries decided to dress up after President Phillips told us all the story of dressing up like a thermometer. Some of the Sisters dressed up like the Assistants. And then Elder Rowan, well he had to get into it somehow!! The highlight of the evening was an impromptu dance off we had. I wish I could share the video on this blog but that doesn't work. You will just have to imagine 17 missionaries all doing a 15 second dance move to Rootbeer Rag!!

The following is a post from Elder Rowan:

An epistle to the gentiles. HAHA . From Elder Rowan

And it came to pass, that in the beginning (of our mission), here in the land of Bountiful, the heavens were opened and it did rain. For a month or so we did get wet. Then the rains stopped and for six months we were dry. But alas, the heavenly floods will again be upon us. And the earth will return to its naturally green color. There is a reason the University of Oregon’s Mascot is a DUCK. It is raining right now and my phone shows it raining nine of the next ten days. At least unlike the missionaries, we do not have to work in the precipitation. ..

Sister Rowan is the writer for all our other blogs. So I will add in my two cents. I have been challenged by one of our children to add something every week. Boooring. Zzzzzzz. But I will try. Yoda says “Do or do not, there is no try”. I loved the MTC. It was fun learning from young returned missionaries (Elders and Sisters). The food was good and the Spirit was so strong in the meetings. But now we are here. This is what I do on an average Monday. I begin the morning by reading my emails that notify me which missionaries had a hard time driving safely last week. We have a Big Brother device on the cars that keeps track of everything the car does. Including not logging in with the card before driving, driving too fast, aggressively, no seat belt, hard stops, etc. I actually get notices every day. I then have to talk to the missionaries and warn them of consequences (loss of driving privileges). And encourage them to drive better. I then check to see if all the missionaries have entered their mileage from the day before and then remind them if they forgot. I check on cars needing oil changes and let the missionaries know to get it done. Then see if they sent me a copy of the invoice. Day and night I answer the missionaries on the phone asking questions about their cars, their bikes, (I am also in charge of bikes) their Big Brother card, and much more. I enjoy doing this for the missionaries. I really love when the missionaries come in the office. Their spirit lights up the room. We go to District Council meeting with the young Elders and Sisters every Thursday. It is great talking with them about the work they are doing each week. We meet with President and Sister Phillips and the Assistants and other Office staff every Monday morning. Great spiritual meetings discussing the needs of the missionaries. Sorry this is so boring, Sister Rowan has covered all this in our Blogs.

When we get home I will recommend to all those Seniors I talk to, to go on a mission away from home. The spirit is so strong that many times I am reminded of my Mission to Mexico. By the way I love talking to the Spanish Missionaries every time I see them. My Spanish has improved so much since coming here. I also go with Elder Larson (Housing Coordinator) to move missionaries out from one apartment to a new one. Pick up couches and big chair from the apartments and take them to the dump. We also take the missionaries luggage to the airport when they leave the mission and pick up the new missionaries luggage and take it to the office. I am leaving out so much that we do. We really get to the office before 8:30 and leave around 5 or 6 most days. Except on our P-day which is Saturday. We still go in many Saturdays for a few hours to catch up on things. My phone usually starts ringing Sunday night with requests for the missionaries who have their P-day on Mondays. Anyway, I testify that we are doing the Lord’s work. I feel his directing influence every day in the office when I am serving the missionaries. I could not fulfill my calling without God’s help (and Sister Rowan’s help of course). Next week I will add my testimony. I will end using an old phrase we used on my mission in Mexico. Keep On Truckin’