I Love the Springtime

May 2016
It has been great weather this spring.  It has been cooler than usual, yet nice and we have had lots of rain.  We have had some great trainings with other missionaries.  We have had trainings from and apostle and some members of the seventy.  We are blessed to receive so much good training.  We are pleased to see our yard shaping up nicely.  Our garden is planted and their is fruit growing on  trees. We look forward to harvest time.  We hope to see a harvest of souls as we continue in the second half of our mission.
We have attended some special programs with our grandchildren this spring.  It has been nice to see them perform.

Early spring tulips, daffodils and apple blossoms.

It was fun to see Merynne's Prom dress.

The Hope of America.
Grant and Zariah performed.

My favorite part of the program was "We Can Be a Light"

It was fun to be with family.

We sat in the Military section in honor of Brent.
They paid a nice tribute to the military, as well as police and
firefighters.

May flowers are the best.

I love my flowers!

Early garden

Gymanastics fun

Gymnastics program

Our trip to Michigan

April 2016

We had the opportunity to visit our children in Michigan this month.  We had a nice visit with Emily and her family,  and Debbie and her children came from Indiana for a day.  It was good to see everyone and have some time to relax.  We miss these far-away families.  We visited a science museum and the Henry Ford Museum and we enjoyed going to Frankenmuth and having a chicken dinner at Zenders.  It is such a nice restuarant.  We also took some nice walks together.

Gwenda loved playing on my I-pad in Relief
Society.

Gwenda is such a little doll.

We like this car in the Ford Museum.  It was so
comfortable.

I'm sure Mary loved being at the wheel.

Craig liked the old cars.

Here we  are admiring the dinosaur outside
the Cranbrook Science Museum.

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Emily and the Girls at the Science Museum.

Grandpa loved the rock exhibits.

We had a lovely dinner at Zenders

Grandpa and Mary at Frankenmuth.

Cute girls at Frankenmuth.

The Blessings of Service

March 21, 2016
It has been over two weeks since I broke a rib.  The pain is getting much better than it was and I am so very grateful.  I have learned that when you have a broken rib it doesn't help to sit around and dwell on the pain.  One of the blessings of serving a mission has been to get out most days for a while and think about the needs of others.  The time has passed more productively than it would have otherwise.  Actually doing missionary work lends itself well to the healing of a broken rib because sitting still is the most comfortable.
We do a Chapel Tour of our church buildling each week as part of our missionary assignment.  It has caused me to relfect more deeply on all that we do in our Chapels.  One of the things we share about the church is that it has no paid ministry.  The Bishop of a Ward is called and he gives of his own time freely,  over and above the  time required to work and provide for his family.  Each member of the ward is given the opportunity to serve in some way.  We do this because we know we are called of God and each assignment will bless our lives and cause us to grow.  Recently, I watched in Sacrament Meeting as the young Deacons lined up to pass the Sacrament.  I though what a blessing it is to have the church organized in this way.  From a young age we are given opportunities to serve.  As we do so we grow in strength and confidence.  We learn that we can do things that seem beyond us because we know God will bless our efforts.  All have this opportunity,  and not just the minister of the congregation.  We visit people from time to time, who see the church as imposing on their time.  I wish I could help them to understand that when we turn our lives over to God he can make more of us than we would be otherwise.

Inside the conference center for the April 2016 Conference Sunday Session

We attended conference with another couple from our ward.
We enjoyed the day.