June 2, 2024

The birthday celebration continued on Memorial Day when the President took us all out to brunch at Black Bear Diner. The office staff decorated the office and Elder Rowan had a great day!

During brunch the young missionaries showed us a game they like to play at a restaurant. You take a pack of jam and slide it across the table trying to get it so it is hanging off the edge but doesn't go off. You take turns sliding it back and forth and if you get it hanging off the edge the person you slide the jam to has to eat it. Pretty much all of us had the "opportunity" to eat the jam but it made for fun and laughter. We love these young missionaries and spending time with them!

We have to remember that they are "young" missionaries and find all sorts of creative ways to have fun without getting into trouble. Here is one picture that our Assistants posted this week.

They also love taking "Point Five" pictures with their phones. Our phones are not current enough to have that ability but the ones the Church gives to the young missionaries can and they love it. Here are several pics they took of us this week. Some Elders gave Elder Rowan some Star Wars figures for his birthday because they share that common bond and then Sister Bodily snapped this ".5" picture too.

Here is another picture that I love of the Elders out in Burns, Oregon . Elder Wilde & Elder Jacobsen have both served in Newberg and are now loving it out in Burns. They both have "cowboy" backgrounds which is perfect for Burns and the members out there love them. We had Elder Wilde as a brand new missionary who was reluctant to open his mouth at lessons. We have seen such growth in him! At Zone Conference this week he raised his hand and shared his insights as if he had no fear. On Come Follow Up this morning they shared this scripture about returned missionaries and it is so true. They grow and develop their testimonies so much on their missions and it is miraculous to watch.

Mosiah 27:31 - Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God."

Zone Conferences were fantastic this week. We love the opportunity we have to visit with all the missionaries and be spiritually nourished at the same time. Our discussions this time were on obedience and consecration. We discussed Elder Bednar's talk "The Blessed and Happy State," and Elder Christofferson's talk, "Reflections on a Consecrated Life." I especially loved Elder Bednar's talk where we learned the difference between transactional obedience and transformational obedience. Sometimes "we mistakenly may believe that our own actions substantially determine the blessings granted to us and how they will come into our lives." But we need to remember the role of God's will and His timing in the relationship between keeping commandments and receiving blessings. A higher and holier purpose for obeying God's commandments is spiritual transformation, becoming converted unto the Lord.

We were in Bend for our last day of Zone Conference and we decided to spend an extra night out there to cross some items off our bucket list. We visited a covered bridge, went to Tumalo (Tum-a-lo) Falls, drove out to Sparks Lake to see the mountain ranges, and rented e-bikes to ride with the Larson's along the river. We had a great "P" day!!! I think Tumalo Falls was my last waterfall on my "Must" see list before we leave Oregon and it did not disappoint. It is a beautiful waterfall with only a short 1/4 mile hike to the viewing area. We didn't get the complete view we wanted at Sparks Lake because the area was still snow packed but it was still beautiful. Bike riding was fun until I took a tumble on the bike and banged myself up pretty good. We were going down a dirt hill and I lost control and went over. Thank heavens I was not seriously injured but I have a few bruises to document the event.

We discovered the appeal of Bend and think it would be a really fun place for a family to visit. On our bike ride we even discovered that there is surfing on the river! And finally, we had to stop in Sisters on our way home for some of the world famous ice cream at Snow Cap! The bucket list is getting smaller!!!

Our week ended with our "Break the Fast" at our house with the Sr missionaries. This was the Larson's tradition in their neighborhood and we have adopted it here for the Sr missionaries. It has been fun to get together once a month for good food and conversation. The host provides the main dish (usually) and everyone else brings something to contribute. We love it!