April 7, 2024

Last week I finished my blog right before we left to go to District Council. I mentioned that it was hard to go out on Sunday nights to these meetings but that they are usually special and we are glad we made the effort. Last Sunday was no exception. For District Council we usually have an agenda that we follow. One of the items always on the agenda is "Real Plays". These are role plays that the missionaries do to practice teaching lessons in a faster, better way or to practice answering questions they may get. Elder Larson had been at a lesson recently where the question was asked, "What does your church have that other churches don't have?" Sister Larson was in charge of the "Real Play" so they had us do an activity where each companionship had to come up with (3) items different than anyone else of things our church had that other churches don't have. They expected that by the time we came to items 15-18 it might be hard to come up with something. Elder Rowan & I were the last to go so we had to come up with items 15-18. It was a testimony builder to me that we had no problem coming up with things and could have gone on listing items for a long time. Items on the list included a prophet, the Book of Mormon, the Priesthood, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, baptism by immersion, modern day revelation, Word of Wisdom, the Godhead, the Degrees of Glory, Temples and temple ordinances, the Family Proclamation, and so on. Here is a picture of our cute District and the list we made :).

Last January Elder Rowan slipped on the ice while getting out of the truck. His feet went out from under him and he jammed his elbow on the vehicle on the way down. He hurt his shoulder but just thought it would be sore for a few days. Unfortunately it hasn't gotten better and the pain while sleeping has increased. He decided he needed to have it checked so we were able to go see an orthopedic surgeon this week. It appears he has a tear in the same rotor cuff that he had surgery on back in 2015. We are waiting for an MRI to decide what to do. In 2015 he went to TOSH in Utah for his surgery. Here in Oregon we went to the ROC!

On Tuesday we got the sad news that our friend Dodd Greer had passed away. I mentioned him in a Blog a few weeks ago. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family as they journey through this difficult time. We are so glad we got to see him before we left and are so grateful for the knowledge we have of the Plan of Salvation. What a glorious reunion he must be having with his loved ones and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

On Tuesday we had MLC and it is always nice to have a chance to visit with the missionaries that attend. There are officially only 32 that attend MLC but we always plan dinner for about 45 so that our local missionaries can join us too. We are so grateful to President Phillips for his generous and inclusive approach to all our meals. This week we prepared Chicken broccoli alfredo. It is the 1st time we have attempted that meal but it turned out spectacular! Elder Malinka and Elder McKee had an eating contest to see who could outeat the other. They each put away about (3) plates this size. I don't know where they put it!

We are getting another Sr missionary couple in May who will be serving an MLS mission. The President has decided to assign them to the branch in Gates. Gates is a small community located in the canyon headed over to Bend. The branch is small and they will offer support to the members of the branch and any new members. It will be beautiful where they are living minus all the fire damage from 2022. We had a Zoom call with the Burgoynes on Wednesday and they are super excited to serve. They are from Bountiful. They listened to the Area Fireside for Seniors last year and felt inspired to put in their papers a few months later. We are excited to have them.

We are starting to get new cars in now and on Thursday we went to McMinnville to pick up (5) new Nissan Rogues. Some of the Office missionaries and the (2) Assistants went with us to pick them up. We need that many because everyone has to drive a car back. We always start our trip with a prayer and this week Elder Rowan asked Elder Jacobsen to pray. It was so sweet and tender to hear him thank Heavenly Father for the dedicated members who pay their tithing which allows us to have these cars in our mission. We love these missionaries!

On Friday we were invited to dinner at Hermana Larsen & Price's apartment. They were proud of how clean and uncluttered their apartment was and wanted to show it off to the Sr missionaries. It was a bonus for us to be able to visit with them and have dinner. They live in Woodburn about 20 minutes away. We decided to be efficient and take one of the new cars that was going that direction and trade it out. It was a long night but good to get done.

Of course the highlight of the week has been General Conference! At our last Zone Conference we talked alot about preparing for conference and it was been wonderful to watch our young missionaries get excited and work hard to be prepared. We try to support our local missionaries as much as we can and if they have no place to go we invite them over to watch with us. On Saturday we had (4) Sisters over for cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs. Then that evening we had the (5) Elders for the late session and dinner. I got pictures with the Sisters but forgot to take one with the Elders. That is too bad because I made them a fantastic dinner! Our takeaway from Conference is that it was about temples, covenants, and being still. I had the opportunity to bear my testimony to the Sisters about temples after Elder Eyrings talk. I told them how much I love the temple, how I know it is a place to feel peace and comfort, and that we can receive answers to the problems we are having in life.