Valentine's Day 2015!

Whiz!  The week is over so quickly.  Lots of great things going on!

Roger - ushering

We had a great week full of lots of wonderful things and it feels really good tonight to relax a bit!  We were able to usher with all of the good people we have met here in the usher program.  The play was "Murder for Two" and is a musical comedy and was very intertaining.  It actually only had two actors.  One was the detective trying to solve the murder and the other actor played all of the 11 suspects.  Very interesting and fun.  We think we might get to usher one more play before we return home.  This has a wonderful opportunity to see some great plays and to meet some good people we would not have met any other way.  We think that we won't tell them we are leaving and try to be able to come back and usher a bit while on vacation!

Wednesday was our Scripture Study Class. We had a great group again and it was nice to be in the home of Bart and Cheri - our newly activated couple.  Bart took charge just like a Priesthood holder should.  They both seemed to be pleased we were meeting in their home and there was a great feeling of love and a good spirit there.  So different from when we first knocked on their door over a year ago.  Bart told us that because of the love and concern shown by us and others in the ward he has come back.  That's what love and concern can do for people.  Really sometimes that is all that people need.  To know that they are loved and appreciated.  What a joy!  We have planned a "field trip" for next week.  We will get the mission van and take everyone to the Mormon Battalion.  We realized that many of our group have never been there!  That is a shame that we are going to correct next week.  

The temperature
most of the week!

The new cards
are here!

I had a couple of less active sisters ready to go with me to the Relief Society meeting on Thursday but only one of them actually came.  That's how things go a lot of the time.  But it was a great meeting and I was so glad I went.  There were many reasons why I should have cancelled and not gone but I kept feeling that it was more important to go.  Both the less active sister and I had a great experience. We had a lady come who is a therapist for LDS Social Services.  She taught us about being emotionally healthy.  What was interesting was I have had a problem that has caused me a lot of tears and pain.  I kept getting the answer that I should just lay it at the feet of the Savior and focus on serving hard on our mission.  So I was trying to do that.  But I really didn't now how laying my problem at his feet actually works.  How do I do this?  I have been studying that and got lots of answers at the RS meeting.  Her main focus was on just that - letting Christ carry our burden - do what I can but actually hand the burden to him and move on to do those things that I can do something about.  I won't go in to the details but it was wonderful and I am trying harder to get good at this.  I wish that I knew these things a lot earlier in my life!  

Count them - SEVEN!

The highlight of our week was next!  Thursday night we came home and went to bed, leaving our keys to our place out in our car for Stacia and girls to come in.  They arrived around 1:30 am and were so quiet we weren't sure they had actually arrived when we woke up.  We woke up to a room full of 7 darling girls laying all over our floors and couches!  We tip toed over them and tried to not wake them as we took off for work the next morning at 7:30 am.  I don't think that we were as sneaky as they were coming in.

We quickly got what was urgent at the office and then took off around 11am to come home and play with the kids.  Stacia, Chanel, Jeneca, Alyssa, Taylor, Halee and their friend Saylor (not sure how to spell it) came with us to LaJolla Shores Beach for the afternoon.  What a beautiful day!  Perfect weather and so much fun to be with these beautiful young ladies!  We miss you all and love you so much.  It is so fun to see you growing and becoming strong in the gospel.

We played games Friday night and it felt like a bit of home!  What fun - even if Chanel won almost everything we played.  We tiptoed out over all the sleeping bodies again Saturday morning to go and help with cleaning the church.

We got back in enough time to make Crepes - TRADITION! - for them all.  We were really proud of the huge amounts of crepes that they could put down.  Amazing.  They cleaned up and headed off for their dance competition and left us wishing for more hugs and time with them.  Thanks for coming guys!  It was sooooooo fun for us!

We then rushed over to La Jolla where Chris and Wayne King were staying.  They are our dear friends from Burbank and we talked for awhile and caught up on things.  We then took off to Caroline's - a wonderful little brunch place on the beach for lunch.  It was fun to catch up with them.  It really helped me appreciate our health.  Wayne has had back problems for years and then several years ago got in a car accident which again injured his back more!  He can barely stand to go from bed to wheel chair.  Chris is a great support and strength for him and basically has to do everything for him - and does! To think that Roger is actually a year older than Wayne was hard to believe.  It was so good to catch up!

That evening we were able to go to Rancho Bernardo - a beautiful upscale neighborhood here in San Diego.  Iva Lou used to live in our ward and served us dinner many times while here.  She then moved to Rancho Bernardo and wanted to have us to dinner one last time before we leave.  Iva Lou is the lady Roger is standing by in the picture and Siela is the lady who has given many baby gifts that we have shared with those of you who have had babies.  It was great to be with them and the missionaries of course.  Iva Lou is a great example of how to grow old gracefully and I love her dearly.  Oh we will miss so many wonderful people when we go home!

We are gearing up for going home.  We have started not buying the BIG Costco sized things so that we can make sure and eat things up.  We are trying to get those people we have worked so hard with to have others pick up and befriend them.  People are so busy and it is hard to get others to see the advantages to spending that time on someone they don't really know or love yet.  So many things to do and such little time.  We should be plenty busy trying to get all done that needs to be done before we leave.  We will be tired!

I was talking to "Salt Lake" earlier this week.  (Salt Lake is the term we use for talking to Church Headquarters.)  I was asking them about a senior couple we had received notification of coming to our mission but had not been sent all the information that we needed.  While talking to them I asked if it would be possible for the couple coming to the office to take our place could miss the MTC office training and come a little earlier so we will have time to train them.  They were supposed to show up on the 27th and we were set to leave on the 30th.  That just won't give us enough time to train them.  Which would man we would have to stay several weeks into April.  The man I was talking to said that he would have to check and he would let me know.  An hour later he called back and said that he had talked to the Stake President and he contacted the new couple and all is set!  That means that we will for sure be able to leave here the end of March or at least the first few days of April.  We are getting excited to be home and start this next chapter in our lives.

If there is one thing that we have learned on our mission is that it is important to do what is asked and do it well and when it is time to move on to the next thing - we should move on with a great attitude and see what else the Lord has for us to learn.  So we will move on and be excited for it.