January 18, 2014

Happy Anniversary to us!  It is our 15 year anniversary today.  I feel so blessed to have him in my life.  Here's to another 15!

Time just flies by!  We are already half way through January!  They say time flies when you are having fun so that must be it.

We are all moved in to our new place and I hate to admit it but I am so much happier here.  There are many reasons why but the biggest reason is that it is so much easier to get to ward members and ward activities.  We are really glad to be here.  I wasn't sure it would be worth it to move but it really was.  We are on the third floor again.  We have a nice corner apartment so we don't have anyone on one side of us and at this point no one lives on the other side - but will soon.  It is quiet.  We can actually talk to each other in the bedroom and hear each other.  We have had several dinner appointment this week.  What a sweet experience it is to be in the home of these sweet ward members and feel their desire to help missionaries.  It is humbling and a sacred experience.  We feel blessed.  Our complex has several pools, a hot tub, an exercise room, a club house and pool table.  I am hoping that I am disciplined enough to get going on an exercise program here where it will be  so much easier.  I enjoy being able to see green and sky here.  The other place was a bit claustrophobic.

This week has been busy and next should be a bit crazier!  Then we don't know what our future will be after that.  We get a new director for the Mormon Battalion on Monday and we have been working the director's schedule for our old director.  We aren't sure if the new one will want to be doing all of the extra things our old director did or if he will want to start with the basics and know what is going on at the Battalion by being in the trenches.  We are still working with Mormon Channel to get something on there that tells the story and things are starting to happen there.  I was wondering how I would going to learn how to produce an advertisement that is professional!  Amazing what they think us old people can figure out.  But the Lord provides.  Then one of our ward members came in to the Battalion one night as we were working.  We were talking as they were waiting to leave and I asked him what he did for a living.  He teaches Broadcasting at a local university!  He used to be a broadcast reporter ---------- hmmm.  I told him what we were trying to do and he said that he would love to help me -for free - and we got brainstorming on what we wanted the ad to look like.  Then he said that we needed to pray for someone with the equipment because he doesn't have access to it at the university.  So two days later a man came in to the Battalion to take some picture of the Seegmillers before they leave.  He is actually in our stake and I started asking him what he does for a living.  He is a professional photographer and has all of the stuff we need.  Amazing!  We are off and running and I am excited how the Lord is in the details of this work.  We found out the other day that there were over 130,000 visitors last year at the Mormon Battalion!  We love the sisters there and feel so blessed to have them love us and teach us.  They are amazing women.

We were able to finally get all of our information together for the Ward Rescue effort.  We were able to get all of the names of those on our ward list who no one knows and map them out on our huge ward map.  We then added the Ward Council members so we know who lives by our less active members.  Sunday we gave them all two names of people who live in their neighborhood to go visit and find out if they still live there and if they want any involvement in the church.  It is fun to hear their ideas of how to approach the members and we will have them report on what happened next week in Ward Council. This week is Stake Conference.  We will then give them more names.  We are excited.  This frees up our missionaries who have been trying to get around to all 150 plus people to actually concentrate on those who actually have interest.  Our missionaries have a new spark and are excited to be able to teach more.  Our Stake President challenged eight families in our ward to invite someone to be taught by the missionaries in their home.  And then he had them report on that effort tonight at conference.  It was really an inspiring meeting and then he challenged the whole stake to do the same thing.  They showed many small videos from the Hastening the Work section of LDS.org and everyone was saying that they are excited.  We have over 270 missionaries in our mission now and we need everyone to help more to keep them all busy.  It is an exciting time to be a missionary!

We still have several wonderful people who we are becoming great friends with and hope to keep them as forever friends.  One of the lady's sons in now taking lessons from the missionaries!  We have several people who have become active lately that we are working with.  They need constant love and nurturing it seems and then at other times they soar on their own.  An interesting and fun process.

We had a wonderful surprise when the Elms - Roger's best friend since elementary school and his wife-- came by!  What fun!  We were able to go to lunch with them and enjoy their company.  What a great example of a couple who love and support each other through thick and thin!  We are so blessed to have good people around us to show us the way.

Roger was able to teach our study class again this week.  Each week it seems to get better.  The class is starting to feel comfortable with each other and are willing to talk and ask questions.  We enjoy doing this and are excited about the influence it is having on so many.  It is a nice casual atmosphere and a wonderful ward member's home and all seems to enjoy it.  We have people bring relatives and friends.  There are a couple of women who work in the Primary so they are excited to come and get some gospel interaction.  There are new members who need to know more and then others who just come.  It feels good.

We were planning what we might do today.  The only thing on our schedule was the adult conference meeting tonight.  Then we got a call from the director at the MB and he said that they needed someone to handle the temple visitor's center for the day.  We we hurried and got dressed and then drove up to the temple (now only 5 minutes away from us!)  We were able to spend a lovely day at that beautiful temple visiting with people - members and non-members.  We were able to get several referrals and to talk about the gospel.  It was nice.  At the Battalion we have to be careful to not preach too much.  We are an Historic Site not a Visitor's Center and need to not turn people away with preaching.  But when we go to the temple we can teach and be bold.  It was really fun.  We have a folder with pictures of the inside of the temple and most are really excited to see it.  One girl asked me how much it cost to be married in the temple because she wanted to book it!  Don't blame her - it is gorgeous.  It was a perfect day weather wise too!  About 75 degrees with a mild breeze.  What a fun day!

We have been here now for over five months.  I was thinking that I should be able to discern what I have learned in this five months.  I think that some things that I have learned won't become apparent to me for awhile others are obvious.  I have learned the tour and better ways to say it and be more effective in bringing others to feel the message rather than just enjoy it.  I have learned how to run the desk at the MB and know where each sister is and how to keep them involved and productive.  I have learned how to love with a greater capacity than I ever thought possible.  I am learning how to love strangers too and to try to discover what the Lord sees in them.  I have learned that the Lord is in the details.  I knew that before but I know it better now because I have seen His hand in our missionary efforts in so many different ways!  I have learned to be more grateful for parents that raised me with gospel teachings.  I always have been but I see more vividly how important that is.  I have a greater knowledge of God's plan and how I fit in it and I want to be able to report to Him one day how well I did and feel good about that.  I have learned that I love our sweet family so much.  We miss them all and pray constantly for them and their challenges.  It is nice to be able to pray knowing that we are trying really hard to do His will and that He just might listen better because of that.  I have learned better ways to search out and find those who are lost.  I have learned to be bold and to say what come in to my heart and to go and do those things that come into my mind.  I have learned that the Lord will go before me if I include Him in my plans.  I could go on and on.

Be grateful for the blessings in your life.  And look forward to better things in the future.  We can learn from the past but don't dwell on it.  Look forward.  The best is yet to come!