May 26, 2024

Happy, Happy Birthday to this handsome husband of mine!!! I love you so much and am so grateful for this journey through life we are taking.

Last night to celebrate Jack's birthday we met Tracey & Tom on the Vancouver Waterfront for dinner. Every morning on the Portland news channel they show a shot of Portland from this spot on the Vancouver Waterfront. It includes a picture of this walkway that juts out over the Columbia river. Jack has wanted to find that spot and last night we did!

When Jack described the place to Tracey she knew right where it was and said there was a restauant there that she liked so that is where they took us for dinner. It is called WildFin and we had a nice dinner visiting and then walking along the waterfront. Thank you Tracey & Tom!

Last week when we went to Coos Bay I forgot to tell what happened in the restaurant when we had dinner. I identified a few choices for dinner before we left on our trip. We were close to one of them at dinnertime so we went to check it out. We peeked in the door and looked at the menu outside with the Larson's. It was a Sports Bar and we were not completely comfortable with eating there but in the end we decided to stay. Our server was nice, took our orders, and brought us our meals. Towards the end of our meal she came to check on us and then leaned in closer to get a look at our missionary badges. Then she exclaimed, "Oh, you are Mormons!" Then she proceeded to tell us that she did a Service Corp opportunity in Fiji and was surprised that she ran into several small LDS chapels in the middle of the jungle. Then she told us she had seen the Book of Mormon play. We were not sure where the conversation was going when all of a sudden she said, "You wouldn't by any chance have a Book of Mormon with you?" This is where it paid off to be prepared. Because our District Leader had challenged us in the past to give out a Book of Mormon I did in fact have (2) in the car just for that purpose. She said she would really like to have one because she liked to read out of the "Good" books and this would be great to read too. We got one from the car and gave it to her. I was bold and asked her that if she read it would she pray about it. And if she felt something would she look for those young missionaries around town and have a discussion with them. She agreed and thanked us for the book! It was such an awesome experience!!! We love wearing our missionary badges! It is going to be so hard to take them off (:.

A new MLS couple, the Burgoyne's, arrived in the mission this week. They are from Bountiful. Monday all the office missionaries went out to the Burgoyne's new home in Mill City to help Elder Larson get it ready. We put the dishes away in the cupboards, hung shower curtains, put together furniture, and had a fun time getting out of the office. On the way home we stopped for dinner in Stayton. The Burgoyne's arrived on Tuesday and we enjoyed getting to know them over another dinner that the President took us all to. They are going to be a great assest to the Gates branch where they will be serving.

Last Sunday we had our last District Council with our District Leader, Elder Nielson. It was Transfers this week and Elder Nielson has been transferred. We knew it was going to happen because he has been here since the beginning of January. We love Elder Nielson and are going to miss him. He and I bonded over Caffeine Free Diet Coke. We will continue to see him at Zone Conferences because he still has a year left, but even better than that he is from Sandy so we will see him when he gets home. One of our Social Media Sisters, Sister Jacobsen, was also transferred. She has been here since October or November so we have had her for a long time. We love her too but are glad she is going to finish her mission out proselyting. She goes home the next transfer.

With Transfers also come Departures and New Arrivals. We only had (7) go home and (4) arrive. Our numbers in the mission are down right now but by August we will be back up to our full number of missionaries. The Sisters going home really have a piece of our hearts. We have loved serving with them and learning their stories. Sister Bingham is from Vernon, UT, Sister Winsor from Wisconsin, and Sister Hull from Utah. Sister Price is the only Sister missionary seen wearing false eyelashes and getting away with it. Sister Sponenberg and her companion Sister Simper had trench looking rain coats. Every time Elder Rowan saw them he called them the Secret Agent missionaries. We have Sister Simper for a while longer but Sister Sponenberg went home this transfer too.

After all the cooking for Zone Conference I in particular did not want to cook for the new arrivals. Since there were so few of them we opted to just do pizza and salad. There were only (4) new arrivals but then we have to count their trainers, all the office staff, the Assistants & Social Media missionaries, and then the local missionaries who always show up for a free dinner :). In the end there were 30 of us but we still opted for pizza and salad.

We have been gone the last (3) weekends in a row so we opted to stay home this weekend. Elder Rowan worked for a while in the office on Saturday and I went and got a pedicure. We had a discussion last month with the other Sr missionaries about luxuries. I asked them to name a luxury that they really enjoyed. Elder Bready told us about staying at the Ritz-Carlton with his family (ooh la la). The Larson's talked about all the cruising and traveling they have done. Jack could not come up with anything and I said that getting a pedicure was a luxury for me. For Mother's Day the kids gave me cash for a pedicure so I went and enjoyed that "luxury"! After I took this picture I wanted to ask who those old looking feet belonged to :).

Elder Rowan has had a good birthday today. It was Sunday so we had church and then a baptism to attend. He was able to talk to all the children and heard from many missionaries. They called and sang to him, sent him texts and birthday GIFs, played tricks on him just to get him on the phone, and just generally made him feel loved. Tomorrow is Memorial Day and the President is taking us all out to brunch to celebrate the holiday and Elder Rowan's birthday. What more can you ask for?

May 19, 2024

What an incredible week we have had!!! This week has been Mission Tour which means that we had a visiting General Authority come and tour the mission and give instruction to the missionaries. Our visiting General Authority was Elder Gary Sabin from the Seventy and his wife Valerie. He is also a counselor in the North America West area presidency. He was fantastic! We had another Mission Tour about 4 weeks after we arrived last year but we were so new that we didn't appreciate it nearly as much as we did this time. Elder Sabin gave so much instruction it would be impossible for me to write it all here. I especially enjoyed the stories he used to demonstrate what he was talking about. He talked about personal revelation, following the prophet, and trusting God. He told us a story about being on assignment with Elder Neil L. Andersen. They were instructing missionaries and he gave his talk and sat down. Then he remembered there was one more important thing he wanted to say. But he didn't feel he could interrupt an Apostle so he said a silent prayer asking that if what he had to say was important to the missionaries that Elder Andersen would somehow give him that opportunity. He had no sooner said the prayer when PING, Elder Andersen paused, looked at Elder Sabin, and said, "Is there something else you wanted to add, Elder Sabin?"

We also had the opportunity to have dinner with Elder & Sister Sabin, President & Sister Phillips, and the (3) other senior missionary couples. It was a small, intimate dinner at the President's home. After we ate, Elder Sabin asked if there were any questions we wanted to ask him. It is not every day you can ask a General Authority anything you want. I was not prepared with any questions but now of course I can think of some I would have liked to ask. Elder Sabin and his wife had (6) children, (3) of whom have Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease and after their 1st child had it they knew the other children stood a 50/50 chance of having it. Two of their children have died, one at birth and another of CF when they were 19. Two of the (4) living have CF, one whom has had a double lung transplant and another who is not quite so bad due to some modern advances in medicine. The Sabins are an amazing example of faith and trusting in our Heavenly Father. Elder Sabin talked to us freely about the health of President Nelson and Elder Holland and told us wonderful stories of their faith and dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He talked about President Nelson's question, "Is it doctrine or is it tradition" when considering changes to make. It was a wonderful evening none of us wanted to end.

During this busy week of Mission Tour we were responsible for feeding the large groups of missionaries that gathered to hear Elder Sabin. We started our cooking on Tuesday with Spanish Zone Conference before Elder Sabin arrived. They are always a fun group! We made it easy on ourselves and had a sandwich bar, chips and fruit cups. Drumstick ice cream cones were for dessert.

Then we went home and between myself, Sister Larson, & Sister Bready we cooked 75lbs of pork for pulled pork sandwiches and also baked a total of 7 cakes. The next day we were very blessed to have the help of Sister Weed & Sister Stock to make 10 batches of mac-n-cheese to feed our crowd of 105. The menu was pulled pork sandwiches, mac-n-cheese, salad, and Butterfinger Poke Cake. It was the largest crowd we have ever fed but it worked out great. It turned out we didn't need 75 lbs of pork, 50 lbs would have been perfect but now we have 25 lbs of pork already cooked and in the freezer ready to use for Cafe Rio for the next MLC. :)

Mission Tour Group Day 1

The next day we only had to feed 90 and we made it easy on ourselves by ordering fried chicken from a local grocery store deli and then having baked potatoes, green beans, rolls, and Better Than cake.

Mission Tour Group Day 2

That meal was a success too but by now we were getting tired so we enlisted the help of Sister Weed and Sister Stock again for the next day. We only had to feed 45 for a special MLC meeting so we decided on chicken salad on croissants, chips, watermelon, and Haagen-Dazs ice cream bars. Sister Weed & Sister Stock made the chicken salad and stuffed the croissants! We could not have done it without them! They are our heroes!! We had a glitch Friday morning when we showed up at the church only to find out one of the Bishops had promised the building for use for a different activity that would last all day and involved 150 middle school choir students!! Oh no!!!! President Phillips remained calm and instructed us to be the "peacemakers" so with some quick thinking on our part we were able to make it all work out. MLC was held in a distant Primary room and the weather cooperated enough for us to have our lunch outside on the lawn! And the middle school students sang on without ever realizing the moments of panic we experienced.

As our mission winds down we are working hard to accomplish the things on our bucket list to see. One of the items on our calendar for a while now was the Rhododendron Festival in Florence, Oregon. It is an annual event where rhododendrons are featured in the Event Center and they have a carnival, parade, and other activities in town. Florence is out of our mission but down towards Coos Bay, which we have wanted to explore, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. So even though we were tired from all the activities of the week before we left Saturday morning to explore the Oregon Coast between Newport & Coos Bay with the Larsons. It was a fabulous trip and we got to see and experience so many beautiful places.

First we explored the tide pools at Yachats State Recreation Area.

Then we visitied Cape Perpetua and Thor's Well. Cape Perpetua has the highest viewpoint on the Oregon Coast we are told. It was spectacular and we really loved it. It was a perfect spot for our picnic lunch.

Then we headed into Florence for the Rhododendron Festival and enjoyed walking around the beautiful flower exhibits. I think from now on I will always be able to identify a Rhododendron!

Our final destination was just past Coos Bay to the Shore Acres State Park and Cape Arago. There has a beautiful Botanical Garden and sweeping views of the ocean from the Observation Tower.

Thank you Oregon for being so beautiful!!!

May 12, 2024

Happy Mother's Day to all the women out there who love and nurture those around them. I have been blessed today to be able to spend Mother's Day with (2) of my children. Rachel & Chris have been here visiting so we were able to hang out at Tracey's house and spend the day together. I am truly spoiled to be able to do that while on our mission. We had a yummy dinner of marinated chicken and salmon with blackberry cheesecake for dessert! We played Bucket Golf & Bank and enjoyed a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest!

This memory popped up on my Facebook feed today. It is from Mother's Day five years ago. It was the last Mother's Day I spent with my mother because she passed away a little over a month later. I loved my mother very much! She was not perfect but I always knew she loved me and was there for me. I miss being able to share our mission experience with her but I am sure she knows all about it and is watching over me.

This week we had the best news ever!! We have been very worried about my brother-in-law Cary for almost (2) months now. The doctors detected some masses in his lungs during a rountine xray. They sent him for a catscan and to see a lung specialist. After the catscan the lung specialist said he more than likely had lung cancer but they needed to do a biopsy to find out for sure and what kind of cancer it was. It took over 4 weeks to get the biopsy scheduled! In that time all we could do was worry and to be honest, we pretty much had him dead and buried. But, he finally had the biopsy this week and it is NOT cancer!!! Hooray, hooray, hooray! He does have sacrodosis but it is treatable and we are so grateful to get this miracle! This is Diana & Cary below and we are so excited to be able to plan future adventures with them!!

Other happenings this week were that it was Sister Bready's birthday on Monday and the President took us all to Black Bear Diner for brunch. And when I mean all, there were 22 of us! The Larson's daughter & family were in town visiting and he even included them. He is so generous!!!

On Tuesday we had MLC so it was meal prep time again. This time we made French Dip Sliders and I thought they were really good. We only had a few left over so I guess the missionaries enjoyed them too.

On Wednesday night Rachel & Chris came to visit!! We are so blessed that we have been able to see Rachel (3) times now on our mission. Their visit gave us an excuse to get out of the office and go do some site-seeing. This time we headed north up to Astoria, Oregon and then on to Long Beach, Washington. We have not been that far north on the Oregon coastline so it was definitely on our bucket list. We have been having a heatwave the last 4 or 5 days so we had beautiful weather for traveling and even managed to get sunburns (we forgot the sunscreen because we were so caught off guard with the hot weather). We visited Ecola State Park, Indian Beach, Fort Stevens State Park, the Astoria Column, and even got a ride on the Astoria trolley!

Then we headed to Long Beach where we walked on the World's Longest Beach (not really because we looked it up), visited some lighthouses at Disappointment State Park where Rachel was excited to go to the top of one of them, and even gave away a Book of Mormon to Bigfoot! Oh yea, and I can't forget Youngs River Falls because no trip of mine would be complete without a visit to a waterfall! It was so fun to spend time with Rachel & Chris and we are grateful that they came all this way to see us :).