Month14 Slippery September— where did it go?

Time is so relative— it can pass in a blink of an eye or go as slow as molasses in winter! The Lord is hastening the work— is He also speeding up time?

In D&C 34 we read “For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, the time is soon at hand that I shall come in a cloud with power and great glory.” President Nelson recently told us in conference that “Now is the time for you and for me to prepare for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.”

Soon? Now? Because of waiting on ‘time’ will we be found wanting for oil in our lamps when He arrives not too far in the future?

We have just a few months left to serve in this vineyard. One thing we have learned is that even though some days seem long, looking back, they have passed quickly.

Being among missionaries has blessed us tremendously— and we thought we came to bless them!

So here’s to the missionaries!

Week 1

Labor Day celebrations— with the Bennett Valley Ward and with the Sr Missionaries at the Quinn’s home.

Transfer day: Elders Harlan, Poulsen, Dixon; Elder Hobi; Sisters Baird & Hinton; Sister Quinn, Sisters Dangerfield & Freeman; Sister Hinton’s scriptures, Elder Wiley

New missionaries evening dinner, breakfast & training. Left- new missionaries, Sister Quinn, Elder Kennan. Right-Sister Schneider, the Nates & Wilsons helping prepare breakfast.

New missionary training day! The Wilsons, Nates, & Lemons— we all help with breakfast; the group photo of the new missionaries; President Quinn teaching, Elder Jensen; Elder Lee helping with the driver’s qualification.

This was such a busy week! To add to it, we drove to Fairfield to swap out a truck, & made deliveries in the area. On Saturday we enjoyed an evening with the Lunds.

Elders Bracken & Wright; Elders Fay & Griguhn; the view from Lunds, the truck we swapped out & another view from Lunds.

Week 2

Monday night I came down with a nasty flu bug— coughing and chills. Elder Kennan had it over the weekend and was kind enough to share it with me.

This was a week where time dragged along! He went to zone Conference (we had 2 combined instead of the regular 5.) The sweetest part of the week was this little gift from Sisters Sutton & Pletsch. It’s embroidered! The sweetest note ever is on the right.

Sisters Pletsch & Sutton

There were blessings even through illness:

Blessings: I was feeling well enough to attend the Stake Relief Society event; photos from back home (Austin’s birthday); 4 beloved RMs (former Elders Hong, Dixon, Scoresby & Caldwell); Hearing the Larsens over Zoom.

Week 3

MLC! Picking up a new truck! Just a busy week!

The Wilsons and Sister Nate preparing lunch; Sisters Clifton & Hinton, then Lee & MacKay; Elders Kennan & Lemmon with the new truck; Elder Wiley one of our amazing APs, Sisters Wilson, Lemon, Nate, & Kennan- we’ve become good friends while serving together.

MLC (Mission Leader Council) Outstanding young missionaries! These are just a few of the many I took.

The cherry on top of the week was a temple trip to the Sacramento Temple with the Lunds— they are so cute together! He recently developed shingles and with it came Bell’s Palsy. The miracle was that now (a few weeks later) he’s almost completely healed!

Week 4– a quieter week

We are in the Bennett Valley Ward. Members sign up to provide meals for the missionaries on the weekends. We appreciated Bishop and Sister Sullivan for inviting us, too!

Elders Bracken, Young, Jensen,& Wright; Bishop & Sister Sullivan; Sisters MacKay & Lee, friends of Sullivans, Elder & Sister Wilson; Kennans were taking the photo.

Back home Tella & Joe celebrated their anniversary— we love and miss them!; some of my hiking friends (they provided extra supplies for our mission go/bags.)

One of the surprises here are the number of turkeys we see!

When missionaries drop in at the office, I try to get a photo of them:

Hermanas Campbell & Willard, Elders RioFrio & Myers; Elder Davis. We have a tremendous amount of talent among these missionaries!

Left: because of injuries, weights heavier than 20 lb needed to be gathered from apartments- these were some of them; Elders Searls, Klopf & Bauers; Our awesome APs -Elders Wiley & Lee; Sisters MacKay, Smart, Lee & Chase in their p-day attire;

Right: Elders Wright, Jensen, Young & Bracken (p-day); Elder & Sister Nate, our amazing financial & office managers.

Spending time with all of these amazing missionaries— young and senior— is such a wonderful blessing to us. It’s really a once in a lifetime opportunity for us— I’m glad we chose to serve—18 months passes quickly!