July 25 - August 7

 We've had a fun couple of weeks - as you can tell by my lack of posting.  Visit from Brooke, Brighton and Deacon, a family reunion, a visit from Tami, Autym, Haydn and Norrah, and also a visit from John and Rusty.  VERY fun to be able to have the extra bedroom where people can stay when they come.   OK - some have to sleep on the couch and the air mattress, but at least they are here, and that's what we like!

First a few pictures:

Gregg was so nice to take everyone to Ulberg's swimming.   They were at our cabin and we were in their swimming pool.  I think that's a fair trade!

Brooke, Brighton & Deacon were here on the 24th of July so we went to Heritage Park.  Because it was a holiday, they had TONS of things going on so it was really fun.  This is a picture of the kids on a little train ride.  We thought the first picture was cute because they didn't know we were looking and were holding on to each other.    I wonder if we will need to show them this picture when they're teenagers to prove to them that at one point in time, they really WERE good friends.   Probably not!  

I love all the cute bronze statues they have all over the park.  This little pioneer girl is one of them.  

What can be better than eating ice cream on a hot 24th of July!  I'm not sure which of these "kids" enjoyed it the most!  

Brooke still has that Cougar spirit - no matter where she is!




A Hale reunion had been planned at the cabin for the first weekend in August, but because we are here on a mission, they were very thoughtful and changed it to a day reunion at a park in Plain City.  Tami, Autym, Haydn & Norrah, along with Gregg came with us.  It was a fun afternoon and good to see everyone.  Hopefully one of the pictures of the 4 siblings will turn out and I'll post it.  

I love it when the boys and Kerry get together.  Jim was there for a while and did pretty well, but he's pretty confused so after a couple of hours Kerry took him home.   Look at these 4.  They do have fun together.

I thought this was cute.  Norrah really wanted to hold Michael, so we told her that she could if she was sitting down and used a pillow to help support him.  She was a cute and good little babysitter.  Michael was happy as a clam while he was being held, and she was happier than a clam while she was holding him!

It was so fun – Tami, Autym, Haydn and Norrah came to visit us this week.  They came specifically so they could come to the Hale Bar-b-que at Holly and Julene’s home.  AnnMarie and Natalie put it together as a lunch there because we (Terry and I) couldn’t go to the cabin for a reunion this year.  It was so fun to have them here, only problem was they couldn’t stay long enough!  OK, I must admit, long enough for me would be till we go home, but they couldn’t stay longer than the weekend.  I’m not going to complain though.  We have a lot of missionaries here who NEVER get to see their families because they are so far away from home. 

On Friday night, we went to the Concert in the Park with Tami and her children, and Heather, Haleigh & Cannon.  They had come just for the weekend.  It was a fun concert, and the kids had a great time.  The funnest part was watching Norrah and Cannon dance to the music.  It was a blue-grass band so most things were pretty up-beat.  They would dance with each other and alone to the music, spinning circles and bouncing up and down.  I think they were the secondary entertainment for everyone there.  After the concert, I had told Tami and Heather that we were going to take them somewhere that would bring back their BYU college days.  We took them to a little (and I do mean little) grocery store by the park that just happens to be under the Gateway Apartments.  There are several General Authorities who have homes there.  President Monson actually has an apartment there, but most of the time he prefers living in his home.  Anyway – we took them there to get a Thelma’s Lemonade.  The lemonade machine wasn’t working, but because we had to wait around so long for that, we had a really great experience that would have topped the lemonade.  As we were shopping and looking around, we were at the counter and a nice gentleman in a plaid shirt and a baseball cap started checking out.  When the clerk asked if he found everything he was looking for, he said, “No, actually, I wanted to find some Rice Krispie Treats.”  I looked down at the counter and there were some right in front of me.  I picked up a couple and said, “Is this what you’re looking for?”  He said yes, and took them from me.  It was Tami who said, “HEY – I’m pretty sure that’s Elder Oaks!”   We just made some small talk with him, and finally, Tami, being the brave one of us all, said to the kids, “Kids, do you know how blessed we are right now?  We’re here with an Apostle!  This is Elder Oaks!”  Of course, that got everyone’s attention!  (fortunately at that time, we were the only ones in the store, so it didn’t cause a big ruckus!)  He was so sweet and kind.  He took the time to shake each of their hands and told us that he actually had the next day off so he was going on a last minute fishing trip.  Apparently the General Authorities only get 1-2 Saturday’s off each year so they really can’t plan much ahead.  He was actually somewhat embarrassed that he wasn’t dressed as an Apostle, and that’s why he told us what he was doing!  (Like we don’t expect them to have any down time – but really – I don’t think they do!)  As he left, he said, “I hope to see you all again and next time I’ll be dressed a little nicer”.  Terry said, “Yes, we’ll see you again, and you’ll be dressed nicer, but you’ll be in a little electronic box.  This was better!”  He was very kind and very nice.  So that is the 2^nd time we’ve randomly run into a General Authority. 

 ~     ~     ~

As I've said before, we go to the concerts at Brigham Young Park on most Tuesdays and Fridays.  The people in charge were bragging about how they'd never been rained out, when sprinkles started coming down.  We didn't get rained out, but we were certainly glad we had the umbrella!  

OK - Now for Mission Things

Every Monday we have a 7:30 devotional at the Joseph Smith Building.  When new missionaries come in, they use the time for a "short" testimony meeting by the new missionaries.  It was our turn last Monday.  We had 3 minutes to tell about ourselves.  Our instructions said that we MUST write the talk on paper and turn it in before the meeting.  I think there are 2 reasons for that.  1 so you'll be aware of the 3 minute time limit and time your talk before you get there, and 2, so they can have a copy for the person who is signing for the deaf missionaries.  THEN - we are instructed to READ the talk!  OK - Can I just say that you really can't encapsulate a life in THREE minutes!  The hard part is that after 3 minutes, an appointed sister will wave a "stop" card for you to see.  If you don't stop, she continues holding it up, but begins waving it around to catch your attention.  Now mind you, we are looking down READING the talk, so looking up to see the waving card could be difficult!  Because of that problem, if the card has been raised, AND waved, and the speaker doesn't quit, there's a bell that begins ringing to let you know your time is up.  Now a card is bad enough, a waving card is really bad, but NO ONE wants to get a dinging bell at the end of their testimony!  Fortunately, I didn't get any of the above - I ended in time.  HOWEVER - - - - ELDER HALE - - - OK no - he didn't get the dinging bell, but he did get the "stop" card!  He was on the last sentence so all was well.  He did talk about how he loved singing and had been in several musicals, and during that time I was watching the "Elijah" choir members pointing and talking about him.  I knew he/we were in trouble when the meeting was over.  If I tell you there were 20 times since that meeting we've heard the phrase, "Why aren't you singing in the Elijah choir?", I would not be exaggerating!  I really don't think they appreciated our answer.  I've said this before, but they meet at 6:24 a.m.!  Ummmmm  I don't think so!   Do you know what their response to us was?  "Well, if that's too early, go to bed earlier!"  Is it OK that I don't want to go to bed at 9:00 p.m.?

We keep getting wonderful messages and thoughts - and I always think I'm going to save or remember them so I can post them, and I never do!  I'll be better about that!

We've been working really hard on our England/Wales Journeyman book, and I think we should be finished by the end of next week!  I feel like all I do is study/test - read/test - study/test.  I know I've said this before too, but honestly - it's like getting another college degree.  OK - maybe not THAT much - but it seems that way!  As soon as we finish our Journeyman manual we can start helping patrons and actually be doing something for someone else instead of just ourselves.  At that point, we will begin learning about Scotland, but it won't be full time.  We'll have time each day to study and complete that.  When we get our "British" flags, I'll post pictures.  Not that it will mean anything to anyone else, but still, we'll be proud - - - ahem - - - well pleased!  ;-D

Each week we have 4 hours that we can work on our own personal history.  It's really nice to be able to do that but right now I don't know how much we're really accomplishing.  We know enough to realize that there are things we must do, but not enough to really do them the right way.  That will come.

I assume it is just family (and unfortunately not all) that read this, so know that we love you all.  We miss our "real" life, but wouldn't give this up to go back.  This mission is a blessing in our lives and we hope that it is a blessing in your lives too.

We love you all
;-)