Our District

This is the group, (District) we met with in the break-out classes each day. Just the nicest people you could find; people you would readily share your home with if asked to. Starting next to Jean is Bryan & Melanie Elkins, Military in Virginia, Brat Sillitoe, (our great instructor and returned missionary from Denver and who has ambitions to be a full time Church Seminary instructor), Shauna & Ronny Hyde, MLS in Fresno, Ca., and Pamela & Larry Gay, CES in Russia. Because of these good people and their wide experience in the Church we enjoyed some wonderful classes and fellowshipping.

Lady in Waiting-----for the teacher

After an hour of opening exercises and discussion of what the day is going to be like we broke into our four couple 'Districts' to be taught by returned missionaries on the subjects found in the Preach My Gospel manual. Jean is applying either her hand sanitizer, which we seemed to use about every hour or her hand lotion as she 'gears up' for the next lesson. She was no doubt the prettiest lady in the class, in fact in the entire 30 couple group which started on the 04th of Oct. I heard many a comment about how stylish and classy she looked.

MTC--Day #1

After nearly 4 months of waiting we finally arrived on 04 Oct. at the Missionary Training Center in Provo Utah where we will be for the next two weeks. We will be instructed in preaching the Gospel, office administration and language training. There are some 35 senior couples here each Monday to begin this training and we look forward to our association with many of them as they prepare to depart for their missions throughout the continent. We are looking forward to our experience here and even more so to our assignment in Poland.

CONFERENCE WEEKEND WITH FRIENDS

Pictured with Jean and I are our long time (38 years) friends, David and Judith Nielson, (no relation to Stan & Judi) who were responsible for bringing us into the church in Cincinnati Ohio in 1974. They invited us to spend the weekend with them at their home on the avenues in Salt Lake the weekend before entering the MTC. We couldn't have chosen a better weekend to spend with our dear friends than to sit with them as the Church leaders counseled us. You know the kind of love and trust we have for them if we were willing to store our two motorcycles, truck and trailer on their property for 18 months. (Actually, we were the ones who initiated the storage request) Anyway, we thank them for doing this and want them to know we love them. It was a perfect send off. See you on SKYP!

SEE YA!

Early Thursday morning, the 30th, we said our goodbyes to our son and house sitter, Kent and to his two roommates who wondered why we were leaving with so much baggage, when before we had always travelled much lighter when on the motorcycle. They seemed to know! We will miss our family and friends, (not to mention the dogs) as well as the many comforts we seem to take for granted and which we have enjoyed for the past 10 years living in Las Vegas. In the same breath, it has been comforting for us during our months of preparation to know that what we are doing is right. It won't be necessarily easy, convenient or or anything less than a challenge, but for us, it is right! Take good care of each other.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

On Wednesday evening, the 29th of Sept., President Teshima, (the Lakes Stake President) laid his hands on our heads and set us apart to serve for a period of 18 months in the Warsaw Poland mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The blessings which accompanied the setting's apart were inspiring, beautiful and overwhelming for us both. President Teshima, who prior to our meeting reflected on how he had been thinking about our deceased son Colin and had felt his spirit as he prepared to bless us. We love President Teshima for his compassion, understanding and the warm love he displays for all of us.

Stop-over At Dixie

Jean and I and our oldest granddaughter, Aleck outside of her dorm at Dixie College in St.George Utah where she is a freshmen. We were on our way to Salt Lake where we were going to house our bikes/trailer with our riding companions, (the Nielsons) while are on our journey. The Harley is in the bed of the pickup, (notice the Polish decal on the windshield) and the Goldwing is in the Motorcycle trailer. Aleck is the daughter of our son Matt and we love her and are very proud of who she is. We look forward to hearing of her wonderful college experiences and accomplishments while we are away.