A Fun Week

The missionaries are asked to write a weekly letter to the Mission President on how they are doing.  These letters are collected in a folder and at the end of their mission, the missionary gets the folder of letters he had written during the 2 years, to take home and keep.


We recently received word that we need to be careful in todays electronic media to not use names or other identifying terms to preserve privacy.  I guess there have been some cases where missionaries have written home details of the personal struggles their investigators might have had, and these details have made it to their blogs for all the world to see.  I certainly would not want my personal struggles broadcast all over the world.  In fact, some investigators had been contacted by the anti-mormon crowd to influence them to discontinue their lessons.

Yesterday we had the 4 missionaries that live in our apartment complex over for dinner, and we were joined later in the evening by 2 Sister Missionaries from our District.  Sister A=== is being released this coming Tuesday, and we decided to throw her a farewell party.  It is funny how the Spirit even directs you in these things.  The Lord wanted to acknowledge her for her good work and say "Thank You", and made Mom and I the conduit to convey that Thanks.  What a wonderful work!

We made the Elders "teach" us a lesson, and then we had chocolate cake and ice cream.  We also made her tell us of her most memorable mission experience.

Sister A==== will be going home to Kirtland, Ohio on Tuesday.

Our talks at Church last Sunday gave us a boost with the Ward members.  More members said "Hello" than ever before.  The Ward has a lot of single sisters and part member families.  The PH Quorums are overwhelmed.  The ratio of home teaching companionships to families is over 9 families to 1 home teaching pair.

Tomorrow, Monday, the Missionaries going home on Tuesday, will be coming to the Mission Office for their exit interview with the President.  That is when they will bring their luggage in to be weighed to make sure it is under 50 lbs, and will get their bikes shipped back home.  I don't know if I had mentioned it before, but we get a good deal from FedEx where we can get their bike shipped home anywhere in the US for about $20.00

And then comes Tuesday.  TRANSFER DAY !!!

We will have 10 missionaries coming in from the MTC.  It starts all over again.  I can't believe 6 weeks have already gone by.  But, we are ready!  It will be smooth like clockwork.  Can you imagine.  WE are now Veterans!  (Nothing like a little self assurance to keep you going).

Thanks for all your love and prayers,

Mom and Dad

(Glad Martin and Karen made it safely home from Peru.  What a sweet reunion that was for their family).

4th of July Celebration

We attended a baptism 2 weeks ago for a young man taught by Elders F=== and D===, the missionaries in our Antelope 1st Ward where we attend.  Elder D=== has been out 5 weeks and Elder F=== is his trainer.  Then last week we attended the baptism for a guy taught by the sister missionaries, Sisters C=== and W=== in the Dry Creek Ward.  There also was a baptism last week by the Spanish Elders from our district who attend the Spanish Sunrise Ward.  These guys did such a nice job at both of the baptisms we attended, and are so committed and confident, that when we see them in action, our eyes tear up and our hearts swell with pride knowing how pleased Heavenly Father is with their efforts.

We love our Elders and Sisters.  What a joy it is to be around them.


For the 4th of July we got the Zone together for a BBQ at Elder and Sister S=== home here in Antelope.  This is the home we will be moving to when the S=== are released August 22nd.


We bought a small grill for the occasion and some charcoal briquettes.  The grill will hold about 6 hamburger patties at a time, and so the plan was to eat in shifts.  My past experience with charcoal grills is to get the coals lighted early because it always seems that they are the hottest after you are all done with the grilling.

It all worked as planned, but . . .  (There always is a "but . . ."), as the frozen patties dripped their moisture onto the coals, the coals slowly got doused to the point that it would not even cook the second batch of hamburgers.  I had to put a second layer of briquettes down and light them to finish with the grilling.  Past experience again proved itself when one and a half hours after grilling, the coals were so nice and hot that we could not yet put the grill away.

It was 100 degrees outside.  Everybody stayed inside.

We had a great time with the Zone.

Mom had bought a game and prizes for the winner.  It consisted of an air gun with nerf darts to shoot at a target.  Elder Stephens made the target by cutting a hole in a box, and we all had a try at getting the dart through the hole.  Only Elders B===, E===, and S=== made it, and then we had to have the "play-offs" to see who would win 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prize.  None of them seemed to be able to get it through the 2nd time except Elder B=== who took 1st prize. The other 2 ended up making the determination of their prize by doing rock, paper, scissor.

Elder E=== with the neighbor lady and Mom looking on.

Elder B=== concentrating.

We had tons of food. (Elder K=== and E===).

Sister C=== and W=== brought home-made ice cream and made root beer floats.

Sister P=== and her companion Sister A=== brought a dessert of crumbled Oreo cookies with whipped topping.  That was yummy!

Elders D=== and S===.  Too full to move.

Mom trying her skill as a marksman while Sister Stephens looks on.

It being the 4th of July, we also sang the National Anthem

We finished the afternoon by celebrating Elder F=== 20th birthday.  

For safety reasons all the missionaries had to be home by 600p.m.

The Elders are already asking when the next holiday is.  I told them it is Labor Day in September, but that there are 2 Transfer Days until then.  Who knows who will be in our Zone at that time.

We will save our air gun game.  We will have a new batch of missionaries then.

We love you and always pray for your health and welfare, and for special blessings from Heavenly Father for you.

Mom and Dad. 

( Check our blog at kolditzmission.blogspot.com )

New Mission President

After much work and anticipation, our new mission president and family arrived this week on Wednesday.  President Weston is an attorney in Salt Lake City and is a Partner with a fairly good sized firm.  He specializes in Business Law in Mergers and Acquisitions.  They gave him a "Leave of Absence" to serve a mission.  He is fairly young at 43.  We have grandchildren the age of his kids. Guess that part will only get more common.

His family includes twin 15 year old daughters, a 13 year old son, and an 8 year old daughter.  Oh, we can't leave out the dog.  The dog is also 8 years old, and interestingly, they bought him a one way ticket.  Guess they don't think he is going to survive the three years.

We had a "ceremony" to turn over the "keys of authority and power".  It was NOT the keys to the office.  It was NOT the keys to the confidential files. It was NOT the keys to the Mission home or the car.  IT WAS THE CELL PHONES ! ! !   Apparently the Mission President gets a fair number of calls from the missionaries with questions like:  "Our investigator is on Medical Marijuana, can he still be baptized?" or, "The Ward Mission Leader told our investigators that De-Caff Coffee was okay, is that true?"  

I guess it is a busy phone.  President Pendleton had no qualms giving up the phone.

And so, we have a new mission president, President and Sister Weston.  We have grown to love and appreciate President and Sister Pendleton and wish them well as they return home to Salt Lake where he will resume his career as a Home Remodeling Contractor. 

Behind them is the "Transfer Board" in the President's Office, and you can make out our picture with the blue background right in the middle.

After all the introductions and a tour of the office, it was time for lunch.  

In the office we are serving with two wonderful sisters who have served several times as Ward and Stake Relief Society Presidents.  They know how to add the finer touches to the luncheon and to make it all look nice.  

I think Mom and I are more "results oriented" people and just zero in on getting it done.  We are glad to have them in the office.  It rounds us out.

This has been a nervous and stressful time for everybody and we are glad that day has come and gone.  A couple days ago Sister Morgan was expressing her nervousness about how all this was going to work, to which I responded with "Look at it this way.  We have all been here 3 months, and we know how this works", referring to everything in the office and how it is done.

Wow!  We now HAVE been out 3 months.  We are confident in what we are doing.  We are having a wonderful time together, and love the missionaries and the Lord.  

On the 4th of July we are having a BBQ with the missionaries in our zone.   This will be like home.  We bring the meat and the buns.  They bring the chips, the vegetable tray, and the desserts.  This will be GREAT !!!

We love you all and are grateful for your love and prayers.  Have a wonderful week.

Mom and Dad

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