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!!!

October 1, 2023

Is it okay for me to admit that I am tired? It has been a busy 3 weeks or so with transfers, zone conferences, new credit cards, and a quick trip to Utah. I was hoping for a quiet Conference weekend but so far Saturday was just as busy as the previous 3 weeks.

When we came back from Utah we decided to take a longer route home around Mt. Hood in the hopes of seeing some pretty fall colors. We did see some pretty colors but the highlight of the detour was a stop we made at Little Zig Zag Falls. It was the perfect stop! A short .6 mile hike to a beautiful waterfall in an absolutely gorgeous old growth forest. The pictures just don't do it justice!

And just to prove we really were there here is a picture with us actually in it :). The forest really was that lush and green with moss growing everywhere!

As we travel around Oregon we have discovered that they like to borrow names from other places. On this trip we had to get a picture of the sign for Sandy, Oregon, not to be confused with Sandy, Utah.

And then we had to make note that we were on the Road to Damascus......

This week we had the opportunity to sit in on (2) teaching lessons with the missionaries. What great experiences those are! One lesson was with a sister about 40 who has had a rough life. Multiple children by different fathers, drug use, and lonliness. The other was with a man about our age who is at odds with his family and has no one in his life. He said he had accumulated a certain amount of wealth and is looking for a church whom he trusts to do good things with his money. I have no idea if either one of these individuals will end up joining the church but as I sat in on those lessons I couldn't help thinking how the gospel of Jesus Christ would change and bless their lives. I also thought about charity, the true love of Christ. It would be easy to dismiss these individuals and think they were not ready for the gospel. But if we truly love as our Savior did we will see them as beloved sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and want the blessings of the gospel for them.

We also got to participate in District Council which we LOVE! We have grown to love these missionaries so much. Afterward we went to a local food truck for lunch, Hutch & Lucky's. It turns out that one of the local members is neighbors to the owner of the food truck and if the missionaries eat there the bill is put on tab and the neighbor pays it. No one knows who the neighbor is as it is kept very confidential. The generosity of people amaze me! We Sr missionaries paid for our own lunch though. We didn't want to take advantage :).

On Friday our Zone had the opportunity to volunteer at the Oregon Air Show in McMinnville featuring the Blue Angels. It was a fun time mingling with the crowd and seeing the air show ourselves was an added bonus. So fun! Pictures don't really do it justice but I will post a few anyway.

Saturday we had the chance to run over in the morning to watch Tracey's cross country team, with Danica, participate in the Nike Invitational in Oregon City. It was a huge event with over 100 teams participating. We are so grateful that we are close enough to Tracey to be able to do these from time to time. I caught some good pictures to share.

Finally, a word about General Conference. How grateful we are to be able to hear the words of our prophet and other church leaders. So much to digest in the days ahead! We are especially grateful that we were able to hear from President Nelson. "Think Celestial!" he said, "Spending more time in the temple builds faith. And your service and worship in the temple will help you to think celestial. The temple is a place of revelation. There you are shown how to progress toward a celestial life. There you are drawn closer to the Savior and given greater access to His power. There you are guided in solving the problems in your life, even your most perplexing problems." How can we not want that? What does it mean to "Think Celestial." In the days and weeks ahead I am sure we will hear more and be able to consider what it means to us personally. President Nelson also quoted the scripture from 2 Nephi 9:39, "Spiritually-minded is life eternal." Recently a friend of mind posted about this scripture and pointed out that the first letters of each word in this scripture spell out "SMILE." :) The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true way to happiness! I bear testimony of that. I know it to be true!