Hi Everybody,
Well.....the
fun and games are over and now it's back to work! We've sure had a
good time showing everybody where we've been for the last 16 months.
The common refrain was "it's so green," and I guess you know that we'll
miss the green when we come back to the desert. Speaking of coming
back, we got THE phone call from the mission office the other day saying
that our release date is officially September 18th. Oh my gosh, that
will be here before we know it. We don't know what to think to have an
official release date so we won't think--and we'll just work and work
and make these 8 weeks some of the best of our mission. Four of them
will be summer weeks where we're trying to get all the planning and
preparation done for the school year, and the next four weeks will be
complete craziness with Freshman Orientation and new people moving into
the branch and beginning our new course of study for Institute and all
the activities that we'll be helping with in connection with CURW and,
yes, the intensely stressful Friday Forum. So we'll mentally get
prepared for all that. We don't know what the status is of our
replacements.....our supervisor was hoping to have us a name soon so we
can start the orientation via email but haven't heard yet.
Enough
of all that! We'll back up to a last week of contrasts between playing
and working.....and both were great. We think that Annette and Barb
were probably glad to get home and sleep on something besides the futon
and the sofa. And we want everybody that took a shower in our bathroom
to know that now we have a new shower head! Sorry we didn't get it on
before you all came. So just so you know, you can now relax in the
shower rather than feeling like you've just been hit with a fire hose!
Want to come back for another go-around? We'll take you any day! The
other thing you should know is that you probably had the best weather
this part of the country has had for months. How lucky can you get!
For the next 6 days the temperatures are supposed to be in the high 80's
low 90's with 80-90 percent humidity. Does that not sound fun or
what! We're so glad you came to see us and you at home let us be part
of the newest missionary goings on. Wow does life change from one day
to the next!
We
took sort of a round-about way getting the girls to the airport. How
do you like us calling them girls? Dad felt like the big brother all
over again!! Nobody even questioned the fact that he was a Mormon man
with 3 women trailing along with him.....even at Niagara Falls.
Speaking of, the Falls were amazing! We saw them on our way here but
that was the end of March and they were still frozen. It was nice back
then though to only be wandering around with a handful of people as
compared to last Tuesday and Wednesday. That still even wasn't too bad
because of being weekdays. We spent all day on Tuesday taking at least a
million photographs and riding the Maid of the Mist which was an
adventure being surrounded by all that water and we looked pretty classy
in our blue rain ponchos. What was even as spectacular was our climb
up these sets of stairs (yellow rain ponchos) where we stood on the
"hurricane deck" next to of one of the sets of falls where the power of
the falls practically blew us off the landing (ie hurricane deck) and
there was absolutely no way to not get wet. At one point we were
actually standing in water rushing across the boardwalk and of course I
(being afraid of being carried off) went back down a couple of levels
and Dad and Annette and Barb went back up for a second time and I took
pictures from the safe section. Actually it was all safe. The rest of
the day was a picnic and then going to the aquarium where we saw a sea
lion show and the I-max production of Niagara Falls.
So.....a
perfect day. Right? It was which was great because 3 miles away from
our hotel at 8:30 at night, our car died on the freeway....even on the
freeway that was where one freeway merged into another one and there
were just hundreds of cars coming around us like crazy. Our car just
flat out died.....no nothing, no power steering, no brakes, no lights
including hazard lights (and it's getting dark) but luckily we coasted
to a shoulder spot where we had about 6 inches between our car and the
road. We called AAA and we called 911. Within minutes we had a
policeman with his flashing lights to keep us safe and 2 big tow trucks
(who were having their slowest night all summer) to haul us and our car
off to our hotel which amazingly enough was across the road from a car
rental place and just a couple of miles down the road from a Toyota
dealership. Long story short, the problem with the car was the
alternator and the battery (which 2 days earlier our mechanic had told
us were in great shape) which had to be replaced but they were able to
do it for us that very next morning. So....we rented a car and headed
back to the Canadian side of the Falls for another few hours viewing
while our car was being fixed. Annette and Barb made their flight at
the Rochester airport, we made it back for Institute in Owego....only a
few minutes late...and all's right with the world!!
It
was so good to be with our Owego people again! They are some of the
ones we will miss the most when we leave the mission. They are salt of
the earth, faithful, obedient people who have worn their lives out in
service to each other and anybody else who needs to know that they're
loved and that Heavenly Father knows who to send them to.
The
next day was being with our missionaries and our new mission president
and his wife who came to visit and interview and let us feel of their
love and support. It was just our district of 8 Elders and Sisters and
we were appreciative of the very personal attention they gave to all of
us. Remember to pray for the mission presidents and their wives when
you pray for the missionaries.....they need extra blessings with the
many, many things they have to do and deal with. Sister Rogers and I
shared how hard it is to be away from grandchildren all of whom live
within 15 minutes of our home-homes!
So
we hit the ground running after all our wonderful playing and haven't
taken a deep breath yet. The next day we took Valerie to the DMV to
start the process to get her driver's license re-instated. How hard it
is for people to climb back out of the pit when they've made years of
bad choices but how wonderful it is to see them take the first steps
back up. Got back from there in time to help Kristie, one of our former
YSA who now teaches in China, get her U-Haul, get it loaded at her
storage unit in Cortland, and get it back for transport back to Utah.
It was so good to see Kristie again....she was one of the absolute
stalwarts of the Branch and we miss her. By that night we were dead!
Yesterday was the Stake Big Event at Watkins Glen and those of you who
have been there know what fun is to be had there with hiking and
swimming and playing volleyball and flag football and a bounce house and
bar-b-que. We mostly worked helping with the food and other things as I
don't think we had another hike in the gorge at Watkins Glen in our
legs! That's also a time when the whole zone of missionaries can get
together to play and it was great to see some of "our" Elders and
Sisters who have been transferred to other places. We're glad that many
of them will be in Utah after their missions going to BYU or UVU or
anywhere else close by. We've already promised them the garage code and
told them you'll share the soda in the fridge.
This
Sunday is just about over. Just have a branch mission correlation
meeting left. Our "Sunday drive" today consisted of going up and down
the streets in downtown Ithaca looking for "for rent" signs on the
houses. We're getting our second set of Elders back on the next
transfer in August and we've been tasked with finding them an
apartment....for less than a thousand dollars a month....which is
impossible. We've forgotten in all these years how to find apartments
for rent! But today was just driving and looking as it is the Sabbath!
We have a great branch mission leader and his wife who are helping us.
They know how to work "Craig's List!" Housing is so incredibly
expensive here. We don't know how people can afford a 1 or 2 bedroom
apartment in an old run-down building for anwhere from $1000-$2000 a
month. Location, location, location.
Goodnight
all.....almost. Our upstairs neighbor, John, will be home tomorrow
after many weeks of hospital and rehab care. His brother has been here
trying to get the apartment ready for him to come home to and Dad's been
helping while I type this email. We've missed John. The brother has
taken both the dog and the cat so that job is done. We'll probably be a
little more diligent the next little while in making sure John has food
and any other needs that he might have. And we'll also tell him that
the best thing he can do while he continues to recover is to read the
Book of Mormon. He's active in his church but it seems that he's been
sort of out of sight out of mind in that regard.
We
love you all.....before you know it, summer will be over so make the
absolute best of it and don't forget to keep doing good things for other
people and sit outside in your lawn chairs once in a while! You all
are THE BEST!!!!!
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