Wow! Time is flying by so quickly!
I didn't get to tell you that we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The best part of it was that we were able to see most of the kids and grandkids - via FaceTime! Yeah! It was hard to see them all enjoying being together without us but it was so good to be able to see their faces and talk to some of them! We had our meal at the Mormon Battalion. We had about 40 people there, Mormon Battalion sister missionaries, senior couple missionaries, several families of the couples who were visiting for the holiday, a new military convert and his family and some of his friends, a tour guide and her son who we invited as our "family" etc. We had tons of great food and enjoyed the afternoon.
The day before Thanksgiving my son Adam and his wife had a new little boy - born early and only 4 lbs. 12 oz. That caused me a bit of concern but everyone around us here has been praying for little Covey and he now home and doing well. He spent a little over a week in the NICU at Utah Valley.
We have been busy with the Mormon Battalion more than usual because one of the senior couple's mom died and they went home to Utah for four days for the Funeral. Amazing what dedication they have. They left on Thanksgiving, drove home that night and the next day, got home in time to dress her mom Friday, went to the funeral Saturday, spent time with family on Sunday and were home here by Monday afternoon. We handled their shifts and ours during that time which has left us without much down time. It has been good and we have enjoyed it though - just need some time now to wash clothes and clean a bit!
Our ward has been getting busier and we are excited about that too. We have been trying to start a rescue and focus program in the ward. It is coming along well and we are realizing that we will be spending lots more time finding people who we have names, birthrates, etc for but who no one knows or has seen in the ward. We will also be trying to visit inactive families and invite them to come back to church. The ward council is excited about this too. We will be moving into our ward boundaries on January 12th! That will make things so much easier to be involved there and helpful. We had our third Study Class on Wednesday night. We are studying Preach My Gospel and everyone there seems to really enjoy the interaction and learning. We meet in a lovely home of one of the members and it is sooooo nice to be in there warm, pleasant surroundings.
We have been making friends with so many good people - people who aren't members, who are and many who are somewhere in-between. There are some who are coming back to the gospel and others who are new to it and need guidance and love. We also had 6 sister missionaries go home last week and we have received 5 new wonderful sisters. They have been so great to just step in and learn. I am so amazed at the strength and quality of young women we have here. I learn so much from all of these people and really am enjoying being able to be a part of their lives. What fun a mission is!
We have had our hours at the Mormon Battalion cut. We are getting a new director for the Battalion next month and the previous director is trying to get things into shape to receive them. We are part time helpers there and the other couples are called there as their primary responsibility. They need more hours so we get less. We love it there so much so it was a bit sad but it comes at a good time with the things we want to do in the ward. We still are involved up to our eyeballs with the social media and tourism stuff we do for the Battalion. In fact our evening tonight should be interesting. One of the tour guides in our group is going to host one of the PBS pledge nights tonight at KPBS here in San Diego and we are going to be answering phones there for the pledges. We will be on TV hanging out with the other tour guides in our association. We should get to meet lots of interesting people tonight.
I was thinking how cold it was here yesterday and then I looked on Facebook and saw the crazy temperatures in Utah! Oh my. Sorry. It has been highs in the low 60's and high 50's and we are freezing. I won't complain. We love the weather here - lots of sunshine. Part of why I am cold is I have to wear dresses. How do you keep warm with a dress on? The sisters have taught me that I should wear leggings under my skirts so I am a bit warmer these days.
The gospel is true. I see the light of it in the eyes of so many here and I also see the challenges that come when it isn't there. I feel so lucky to be here to be a part of this great work. Thanks for so many prayers offered for us. We actually feel your prayers and they help us when things get hard.
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