Slow Week Preparing for Transfers

I am finding that our lives revolve around transfers. Either preparing for them or making sure everyone's addresses, phone numbers and companionship's transferred properly in the new directories we publish and distribute after the transfers have been made.

We have 12 Elders going home on Tuesday, and 11 Elders and 2 Sisters arriving that same Tuesday. One of the Elders leaving is Elder Hansen from Shelley, ID that Louise knows, and another is Elder Ryan Wood from the Friendswood, TX 2nd Ward.  Maybe Jason and Jeni know his parents, Todd and Jolene Wood.

We have 2 Elders going home from our "District".  They live with their companions in an apartment here in our apartment complex.  We had them over to our apartment yesterday morning to feed them a GOOD breakfast, kind of as a "farewell" breakfast.  One set is Spanish speaking, and the other is English speaking.

These guys are smart and with-it.  Of the Spanish speaking set, one is going home to UT, and the remaining Elder is from Ecuador. He went to the MTC to learn English, and they joked that he now speaks Mexican Spanish.  The one going home, Elder Denning, spoke of their contact a Pentecostal Minister, and their progress.  They are concentrating on the Book of Mormon rather than countering scripture with scripture.  The minister is a Lamanite, and the book will touch his heart.  After leaving the BofM with some passages to read, the minister has decided that he must read the whole book.  The plain and precious doctrines are "calling" him.  It will be interesting to follow his progress.

Earlier this past week, on Memorial Day, we made another little trip.  We have a lot of rice fields here.

They start out with a flooded field, and use spray planes to seed the fields.

 Then as the rice plants matures, they get harvested.  Look forward to seeing that part of the process.

We found our way to another lake called Clear Lake.  It is not a reservoir like the earlier one was.

On Thursday we had a Mission Couples dinner at the Mission Home.  It was fun to see the other couples from the mission, including the local couples that had been released.  President and Sister Pendleton will be released at the end of this month, and this was kind of a farewell dinner that they put on for us.

One of the Couples serving a Leadership/Proselyting Mission in Paradise, CA, the Baxters, were neighbors of Lonny and Glenda Adams in Kaysville, UT. 

"Elder Adams" is the one that 49 years ago taught and baptized my family. All these years he has stayed close to Grandma and Grandpa.  He attended G-ma and G-pa mission farewell in 1988 when they served their 1st mission.  He would write or call G-ma every 2-3 months, and in his letters, would bear his testimony every time.  More recently, he attended G-pa's 90th birthday celebration.    He also had called me to congratulate Mom and I on our mission call.  He has got to be 70 years old now, and he has been a part of our lives all these years.  Now THAT is a missionary.

President and Sister Pendleton and us.

This Tuesday is TRANSFER DAY.  Last transfer was stressful because we were not sure what to do.  This time around we know what to do, but it is "Remembering how to do it" that is our cause for concern and stress.

Thanks for all your love and prayers.  We really are excited to be here, and feel we have been called with a purpose to fulfill.

Love you lots,

Dad