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!

September 24, 2023

We have known since before we came on our mission that there would be one occassion that we would return to Utah for. That was for the temple trip and mission farewell of our grandson Parker James Rowan. This was the weekend and we are so grateful that we were able to go and be with him and his family. We had Zone Conferences last week so it worked out perfect that we could leave directly after car inspections at the Bend Zone Conference. That meant that we were already several hours closer to Utah and were able to arrive in Tremonton Friday night. Saturday we attended the Brigham City Temple with Parker and other family members and then went to Maddox for dinner after. Later we played games and prepared for his Open House the next day. We were blessed that Rachel & Chris were also able to come to Tremonton and do all these activities with us and then spend the night to be with us Sunday too. Sunday Parker gave a great talk. He was assigned to speak on a talk by Elder Lawrence Corbridge, "The Way." Amy and her brother Hank sang a beautiful version of "How Great Thou Art." It was a great meeting! Afterwards friends and family came back to the house for some yummy food and to spend time with Parker. It was a bonus for us that my sister Sharon and her husband Paul were traveling though Utah that day and were able to stop by and visit for a few hours. Monday morning we left early to return to our mission in Oregon.

My heart is so full of love and gratitude to be able to participate in these activities with Parker. We love him so much and know that he is going to make a great missionary! What a sweet and tender experience it was to be in the temple with him on Saturday. He is the 1st of the next generation on my side of the family to attend the temple and serve a mission. My experiences serving in the temple and now serving a mission make these moments even more tender because I know how much the temple can bless his life and how much his testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ will grow while serving a mission. For the scripture they are putting on his missionary plaque he chose 2 Nephi 2:8: "Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah." Serving a mission is hard for these young people. It is intense! I have so much love and admiration for our missionaries. Parker thinks he is going out to share the gospel with others, and he will do that, but he has no idea that the most important conversion will be of himself as he turns to his Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ to help him through the hard times. We are so excited to read his emails each week and hear what he is learning.

I have to post some pics of the yummy food Amy prepared for the Open House. It was fabulous and she did such a good job!

And look at this cute, cute cake! I thought it was a picture of a shirt and tie when I first saw it. But nope, it is a cake!

Before we went to Tremonton we had the opportunity to participate in Zone Conferences. These were my favorite so far! After lunch the Assistants and Social Media Sisters did break out rooms where the missionaries practiced how to find new people to teach. They had (4) different rooms and in each one they were to talk for 2-3 minutes to different people and try to get a return appointment. One was at the door, another was working with members for a referral, one was street contacting, and one was using social media. We were asked to be in the street contacting session and role play with the missionaries. Elder Rowan had a soccer ball and was playing in the park. I had a walker and was taking a walk down the street. It was so fun and enlightening too. They were supposed to try and "hook" us with the restoration. I told them I was sad and just out for a walk. I got invites to church and invites for return lessons. But my favorite was one set of Elders who told me that they were happy because in a week they were going to be able to hear from a prophet and did I know what a prophet was? And did I know that we have a living prophet here on the earth today? When I asked if Prophets could see the future they said that Prophets know what problems the world is facing and that last Conference the Prophet talked about Peacemakers Needed. Would I like to listen to Conference this time and hear what message the Prophet has for the world? I have to say that these missionaries made me, a long time member, very excited for upcoming conference!

Today we went on a teaching appointment with the Elders. The Mission has set a goal to try and get 300 people to listen to conference. So the Elders taught a lesson to their "friend" about listening to Conference. I loved this scripture that they shared.

Mosiah 2:9 "My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view."

We always like to take some little detour on our way out to Bend for Zone Conference to see parts of Oregon we might not otherwise get to. This time we stopped outside of Lebanon and went to McDowell Creek Falls County Park. There are some waterfalls there and some nice hikes. The water flow was not as much as we would have liked but we did find one set of falls that lived up to their name. They are called Majestic Falls. An elaborate stair/bridge/walkway has been built to view them and it was like a little slice of heaven.

September 17, 2023

This is what Senior Missionaries look like after Transfer Week! It was a busy week so we decided we needed some R&R on our "P" day. We headed out to Seaside for the Sandfest to view the sand sculptures and to just sit on the beach. We stopped in Forest Grove on the way and enjoyed their Sidewalk Chalk and Roasted Corn Festival. It was a beautiful fall day and so fun to enjoy these small community events. We love Oregon!!!

We were tired because it is a busy time in the office during transfers. We have to update housing in the computer, make sure all the apartments have enough beds, change the driving assignments, take missionaries to the airport, shop and prepare a dinner for all the new arriving missionaries and their trainers, and this time around make sure everyone had the right credit cards and knew what to expect with the new ones. It is a crazy busy time in the office with missionaries coming and going but we love it! Here is the departing group from this transfer and the ones who have become extra special to us.

Elder Slemboski

Elder Short

Elder Schwendiman

Since I post so many pictures of us having fun I just want to make sure everyone understands that we do work hard in the office every day. We are not always off playing :). Here is a picture of us talking with the trainers before they met the new missionaries.

And it was extra exciting this week making dinner when the smoke detector in the kitchen in the church went off. The new missionaries were sitting in the chapel with President & Sister Phillips and when the smoke detector went off it wasn't just in the kitchen. The fire alarms all over the church went off! It was pretty exciting! We determined something in the bottom of the oven was smoking and that is what set it off. The fire trucks and all came because apparently the church has an alarm system and they called the fire department. We learned there is a key that allows us to open a box to turn off the alarms, we assured the fire department it was just a smoky oven, and we carried on!

Early in the week we were busy too catching up on some personal items and seeing family. One of the things we were worried about when we came on our mission was seeing the dentist. We are used to having our teeth cleaned every 4 months and we were not looking forward to finding a new dentist. Lucky for us our son-in-law Tom is a dentist and he said we could come to his office! I told Tom having him look in my mouth was a little like me looking at his financials but we didn't need to worry. We had a great visit and his staff treated us like royalty. I think we are going to come out ahead on this deal! Here is Tom's dental office and him working on a patient.

On Tuesday we headed back up to Washougal after we were done in the office and were able to catch a two for one. Tracey & Danica participated in a high school XCounty Meet and then Alyssa had a volleyball game. I failed to get any pictures at the XCountry Meet but I did catch this cute photo of Tracey & Alyssa.

Today at church one of our speakers spoke about the Prophet Moroni from the Book of Mormon. This Thursday, September 21st, will mark the 200 year anniversary of when the Angel Moroni first appeared to the boy Joseph Smith on September 21, 1823 and told him he had been chosen to restore God's church on earth. I would like to bear testimony that I know of the truthful of this event. I know that Joseph Smith was a prohet and that Moroni appeared to him and that eventually he was able to receive the gold plates from Moroni and translate the Book of Mormon. I had the opportunity in 2002 to travel to some of the church history sites with our family and extended family. I visited the restored home of the Smith family and was able to stand in a replica of the room where Moroni 1st appeared. As we stood in the room (2) sister missionaries relayed the events of that night and bore their testimonies of the truthfulness of it. The spirit bore witness to me that it was true too. The spirit I felt that day was strong. I testify that if you will read the Book of Mormon you will know the truth of it too!

September 10, 2023

Another great week in the Oregon Salem Mission! Fall is coming and we just passed our 6 month mark on our mission. The time is going so fast! Last Sunday we had a Sister's Devotional at a member's house. Normally they are right before transfers but this time we had it early before Sister Schellenberg left for Bolivia. She is one of our reassigned missionaries and was here for over 7 months before her Visa finally came through. When we told her it was finally time to go to Bolivia she exclaimed, "I don't want to go!" She had come to love our mission and we will miss her. Sister's Devotional had a theme about "hands" and how we are all the Savior's hands for the work that needs to be done and the people we serve. We each got our nails painted and then shared experiences on how we have been the Savior's hands this transfer.

In the office we were the recipients of the President's generosity as he took us all out to lunch not once, but twice this week. The first time was Labor Day and he always takes us out for holidays. The 2nd time was because he and Sister Phillips attended our District Council and then took us all out again! They are so kind and complimentary of the work that we do. There is always a little fun in the office and this week the Elders had some weird glasses they brought in. Never one to be left out Elder Rowan had to join in and let the Sisters take this picture of him. They posted it on the Zone Chat and said, "Caption this......"

It was MLC this week so that meant we prepared dinner for about 50. We decided to do Cafe Rio again since we had so many leftovers from the week before and it was a different group of missionaries. We made a new dessert, Oreo Poke Cake, that was super yummy! We also appreciated the help of Elders Rowan & Larson in serving and cleaning up. Elder Jacobsen let up know how excited he was for the meal and these other missionaries showed off their creations for us!

Jack's knee is doing a little better so we have been able to get out and do some walking the past few weeks. One day this week we actually even walked around the golf course trail again. It is so beautiful I had to take another picture of the trail we walk on.

We also got to attend the temple this week. My shirt matched the color of the flowers so I had to take a picture. The Portland Temple is actually in the city of Lake Oswego which is also the name of a real lake we have always wanted to check out. Turns out it is a private lake with houses on every inch of the shoreline. These houses are beautiful, expensive homes with private docks and boats sitting right outside. We stopped and googled a few of them and were shocked at the $5-9 million dollar sales tags. Guess we won't be moving there!

I have saved the best news for last! Yesterday we had our 1st convert baptism in the ward we attend!!! The missionaries met Andy about two months ago and have been teaching him ever since. He is such a great guy, so kind and humble. He loves the gospel of Jesus Christ and was so excited to enter the waters of baptism and receive the Holy Ghost! We have been sitting by him at church and he and Elder Rowan have become good friends. He asked Elder Rowan to give the talk on baptism at the Baptismal service and he did such a good job. It was a perfect talk, simple yet instructive, and the spirit was strong. Elder Rowan says that he knows he had help from Heavenly Father in preparing and giving the talk. I have not talked much about the baptism rate in our mission. I am learning that about 15-20 people are baptized each month in the mission. That is great but lower than I thought it would be so it was a really big deal for us yesterday. It was only the 2nd baptism in Newberg since we have been here. The 1st was in the Spanish Branch and now Andy. But the missionaries have lots of "friends" they are teaching now so we are hoping for more.

Andy's baptism reminded us of this scripture from Mosiah 18:8-11 that Elder Rowan shared in his talk. It reminds us of the covenants we make when we are baptized and the promise our Heavenly Father makes to us. Andy was just like these people, clapping his hands for joy, and exclaiming, "This is the desire of our hearts!"

"8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of cmfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life--

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?

11 And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed; This is the desire of our hearts."