August 31, 2014

This week was a busy one for Gary.  He opened a new apartment for a new Senior Couple who arrived yesterday, so he spent 2 days getting the apartment ready to go with the furniture, kitchen things, etc. that goes into getting a new apartment ready. 

Saturday (yesterday), I went to a baby shower at noon for one of our Vietnamese families.  It was for Phuong, who is the one we went to their wedding last September shortly after we arrived here.  They are expecting a baby boy in about 3 weeks.

Gary was on standby Saturday,  waiting for the phone call from the new couple to say they had arrived in San Jose, so he could take them to their apartment.  When I got home from the shower, Gary said that they had called awhile before that saying they were still about 100 miles from Sacramento, so we went and did our grocery shopping.   So after shopping and putting things away, then we just puttered around waiting for the call.  It wasn’t long after that they called, saying they were just getting to 101, so we headed out.  Gary had brought the work truck home Friday night in case they arrived while I was at the shower, since I would have the car.  So, we got in the work truck, headed to the office where we were to meet them.  We showed them briefly around the office, then got back in the vehicles to lead them to their apartment, which was about 20-30 minutes drive from there, in Santa Clara.  After getting them settled, we left them to the unpacking and headed back home.  Gary dropped me off to get the car, and I followed him back to the office to leave the truck.  

We have tomorrow, Labor Day, off from the office…..there really is no sense in being there on a holiday.  There isn’t much going on with no mail and the Salt Lake offices are closed anyway so we can’t communicate with them unless it is an emergency, as they only have a skeleton staff on in most departments.  And, it is P-day for the missionaries, so they rarely call us on a Monday.  Also, they know how to reach us on the cell phones if it is an emergency with them.  However, I need to go in for a brief amount of time to get something I need to take tomorrow night to Senior Family Home Evening at the mission home.  Also, I will spend part of the day getting a food item ready to take for the potluck dinner.  Plus, I would like to get me a new pair of tennis shoes tomorrow.  We hope we can facetime with some of the kids tomorrow too if they don’t have other plans for the holiday.

All in all, it has been a pretty basic week.  Not too much exciting here!  Oh, wait!  We had the earthquake that hit the Napa area last Sunday….we didn’t feel anything here, but there were some missionaries that woke up feeling the shaking.  Our fellow seniors, the Michie’s, have a son that lives in Napa, and they said it was pretty bad there.  Roads really broken up, and their son said everything glass in the house broke, so there was glass everywhere, and his wife stepped on some getting up to check on things after it hit.  He said he learned that they need to keep their shoes and a flashlight near the bed for those types of emergencies.   The first I learned about the earthquake was messages from 2 of our kids asking if we were okay, and I didn’t know what the question was relating to!  I didn’t know at that point that there had been an earthquake.  I learned more about it at church that morning, so when we got home, we went to see if the Michie’s had heard from their son and how he was doing.  That was when we learned about everything broken in his house.

So, that is it from us for the week.  Let us know how things are with you….even if you think it is boring!  Thanks to Kori for starting an email update to let us know the things going on in her family.  They just started back to school…..and her oldest, Brendan, just started high school! And Christian just started junior high.  Can you believe it??? They just grow up way too fast!  

Oh, I guess I can put on here what grade everyone is in now:

Ashley is now graduated from college, as of last spring.

Brendan is in the 9th grade.

Jackson and Nathan are in the 8th grade.

Christian is in the 7th grade.

Kyler is in the 6th grade.

Colton, Tristan and Kaden are in the 4th grade.

Dylan is in the 3rd grade.

Hunter, Logan and Brooklyn are in the 2nd grade.

Sophie is in the 1st grade.

Ayla is in Kindergarten.

Natalie is in pre-school……and it is regular pre-school for the 1st time.  In the past she has been in schools that specialized in hearing impaired children.

And little Emilie gets to be home by herself with mommy playing each day!  She is almost 19 months old now.

Our grandkids are all growing up so fast!  We recently saw the back to school pictures of Jackson, Kaden and Brooklyn, and I couldn’t believe how old Jackson looks now.  It definitely shows up when you don’t see them very often.  

Oh, and I can’t remember if I told on here about the quarter saga with Sophie.  Well, one day she was carrying lots of things, and had a quarter also, so put it in her mouth as her hands were full.  Well, you guessed it….she swallowed it!  How it went down her throat is beyond me….I can’t even imagine swallowing something that size.  Anyway, it took several weeks for it to finally come out, but it did this past week and she was so excited!  We saw a picture of her holding it in a plastic bag.  The most exciting thing for her was that she could quit drinking that nasty stuff to help it move on out.  Plus, if it didn’t come soon, they might have had to do something more drastic to get it out.  So, it ended okay.  And, in the process of X-rays to check on the location of the quarter, they discovered that her spine is a bit curved.  After her discovery, they checked the other 2 kids too, and discovered that Dylan also has a curved spine….in fact, worse than Sophie’s. So both kids will be doing some things in the near future to help take care of that problem.  So it turns out it was a blessing that she swallowed the quarter to discover these other issues that need correcting.  

Well…..here I thought the entry for today was going to be so small!  

I will end with something that was said by a recent convert in our last Outgoing Devotional:

“The more you are willing to give to God, the closer you will get to God.  It will fill the holes in your life.”

Remember that the Gospel is about finding joy and happiness…..”Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy.”  2 Nephi 2:25

As one missionary stated in the last outgoing:  “the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of change—each of us has done things we are not proud of…we make mistakes.  Jesus Christ makes it possible to repent and change”.  

By getting rid of the bad in our lives and changing for the better, we can begin to feel a small portion of that joy in our lives.

Here is to a week of changing for the better!

Earthquake 8/24/14

For those who have been wondering, no we didn't feel the earthquake or see any evidence of it here, though some in our branch felt it, but they live farther north than we do.  Our Vietnamese Branch covers a large geographical area.  The center of the earthquake was near Napa, about 90 miles north of us.  But thanks to those who were concerned for our safety! It was your questions that alerted me to the fact that there HAD been an earthquake!

August 23, 2014

Well, it has been awhile since I have written.  I hope I can remember it all to tell here.  It has been a very busy last week, and an especially tiring one….maybe we are losing some of our extra energy level we had before, I don’t know.  I do know that I didn’t sleep well some of the nights, so that contributed to the tiredness.  Anyway, let me back up to my previous entry and see what I can remember.

Okay, the week of the 11th was a pretty normal week for me to start.  Gary got a new apartment for the Crockett’s, since management here doesn’t enforce the rules about the pool and quiet time and they couldn’t take the noise level any more.  Then he moved them in.  It is in a definitely quieter area of the complex.  There are two sections of this complex, divided by a street (Rosenbaum).  We are in the east section, and now the Crockett’s are in the west section.  Gary said while he has been in that west section, the whole place there seems like a different clientele.  We have the rowdy’s in our section, I guess.  He said that even looking at the parking lot and seeing the cars, you don’t see the outdated license plates like you do in our section.  

On Friday I started entering in the transfer information into the computer, and Gary helped me with that.  We got it done except for the double checking that I like to do to make sure it is all entered correctly.  

Then, on Saturday, we did something we have been wanting to do for awhile now.  We went whale watching in the Monterey Bay!  We had made our reservation to go out on a boat a couple of months ago.  We left from Moss Landing, which is about half way between Monterey and Santa Cruz, in the middle of the bottom of the U that the bay makes, and it is the area where you immediately get into the trench of deep water.  There is this trench in the bay that is like the grand canyon in the ocean, and it is appealing to whales because it is so deep.  We left here just before 8.  We were to meet at the pier at 9:30, and since we hadn’t been there before, we wanted to make sure we allowed time to find the location and get parked.  Plus, you never no how the traffic will be.  We got there okay, parked and got signed in.  Some others in our group were late because of traffic problems, but they arrived in time to depart at 10.  We had both reserved a wrist band that sends electronic pulses and is supposed to be great for sea sickness.  Gary didn’t think he needed one, but decided to get one just in case.  I knew I got sea sick (I had been salmon fishing off the coast of Astoria, Oregon before and got sea sick)….so I was glad to try this route, as the dramamine pills make me so drowsy.  And, it worked great!  Never once did I get nauseous, though others on the boat did.  We discovered later that Gary’s band wasn’t working well, but he really didn’t need it anyway, he was fine.  Well, in going into this day, I had hoped we could see at least 1 whale…..not knowing how many are actually out there!  We saw LOTS!  And, in the distance, you could always see whales spouting all over the place…..these puffs of white vapor rising from the ocean on the horizon.  And, we saw sea lions swimming along with the whales….these whales we saw were humpback whales, by the way.  The sea lions you could see easily because they grouped together in a tight group.  We learned that this is a way to protect themselves from the great white sharks in the area.  When they are alone, the sharks can sense them as a meal, I guess, but when they are huddled together in a big mass, it confuses the sharks and they can’t detect what it is.  The sea lions were following along with the whales, and they were both feeding on anchovies, which were extremely plentiful this year.  In fact, earlier in the month, the news from Santa Cruz was that there were too many anchovies and they were dying off because there were so many they were using up the oxygen in the water.  Then the concern was the dead anchovies floating in the water, and the smell.  

Besides the whales and the sea lions, we saw sea otters, dolphins, and porpoises.  And some birds, one type is called a shearwater.  They fly close to the water, hence how they got their name.  We learned that an incident that happened in the bay area with these birds was what inspired Alfred Hitchcock to do the movie “The Birds”.  Here is an excerpt I found about this in Wikipedia:

“On August 18, 1961, residents in the town of Capitola, California, awoke to find sooty shearwaters slamming into their rooftops, and their streets covered with dead birds. News reports suggested domoic acid poisoning (amnesic shellfish poisoning) as the cause. According to a local newspaper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Alfred Hitchcock requested news copy in 1961 to use as "research material for his latest thriller”.”

We enjoyed it so much, we plan on doing it again.  Different times of the year you see different whales out there.  We decided we need to get a better camera before we go again, though.  I will post some pictures we took, but we just can’t zoom in close enough to get a good picture, plus the time it takes from when you click the button till it actually takes the picture is slow (those who know photography I sure know a better word than that to describe it!).

We saw the flukes of the whales (tails) as they went down; we saw their backs above the surface of the water; we saw them blowing from their blowholes; we saw only one breach, but that was quite a distance away.

There were people who were in kayaks paddling along behind the sea lions and whales, following them to watch them.  When our boat got close to them, our captain just turned off the motor and we sat there awhile watching.  It was really a great experience!  Our time on the boat was from 10 to 2, and it went pretty fast, we were so busy watching all the time, since you never knew what you would see next.

Sunday, I taught Relief Society and Gary taught Priesthood.  That evening was the Outgoing Devotional.  It was a wonderful meeting!  I need to type up my notes (and finish typing up the notes from the one before!!).  I just want to share one thing that a recent convert said during the meeting:  “The more you are willing to give to God, the closer you will get to God.”  I thought that was quite a profound statement.

Okay, transfer week number 9 of 13 for us.  And, during the week we hit our 1 year mark as well!  Monday, I worked on the transfers on the computer again, doing my double checking.  I was so glad that Gary had helped me on Friday, because I had a difficult time being able to have it up on the computer…..missionaries kept coming into the office.  I think they were hoping to learn something, but every time they came in, I minimized the page and hid my transfer notes.  Some asked questions, and we just said, you will find out tomorrow!  But, the interruptions would have delayed me getting the information in the computer if I didn’t already have it done.  I got the double checking done and found a few errors.

Tuesday, the actual transfer day.  The 27 missionaries who were leaving this time were recognized.  Then the new companionships were announced, and we got a new AP….we now have Elder Rich and Elder Lundgreen.  We no longer have the traveling AP’s….apparently we aren’t supposed to have them, and President Mella is working to follow the handbook correctly and getting things going in the correct direction.  Yeah for him!  Elder Hullinger was moved back into the Vietnamese program.  He said he was glad to come back to it….being an AP is hard work!  We are glad to have him back, and the members of the branch will be so excited to see him Sunday!  After the meeting, I clicked submit on the transfer information, and waited for it to process, then printed out the temporary phone lists for the office.  Then I had my regular work to do, which is always busier on transfer day…..lots of missionaries in the office paying for things, so lots of money transactions to enter in the computer.  We had arrived to work at 8:40 because we knew it would get crazy fast, and we didn’t leave until 7, and I still had stuff I could have done, but we had to leave because Gary had home teaching with our branch president and was being picked up at 7:45.  We ran home, cooked frozen corn dogs, and then he left.  I had brought home a suit jacket from Elder Hullinger that he needed buttons sewn on, so I did that after Gary left.  We didn’t get to bed until about 10, very late for us.  

Wednesday, we had a pretty busy workday.  We worked from just before 9 till 6 or 6:30, so another long day.  This is the day that the new missionaries arrive, and are in the office from about noon till a few hours later.

Thursday is the day we do our office orientation with the new missionaries.  We start at 8 on that day, and we worked until about 5:30.  I still had lots to do, but too tired.  Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep well Thursday night, so Friday was a killer!  I had told Gary that my goal for that day (Friday) was to be done at 4:59, and that I was too tired to do our grocery shopping….we just would have to fight the crowds in the stores on Saturday!  Well, we weren’t done at 4:59…….Gary had been gone all day, and one of the things he had been working on was getting a new 2 bedroom apartment to put elders in instead of the two 1 bedrooms they were in.  This would also get rid of some of the worst apartment conditions that we had elders in.  The one was actually a garage that had been converted into an apartment, and was more a studio than a 1 bedroom.  It also didn’t have a regular kitchen.  It had a hotplate instead of a stove.  So these elders are going to be very happy!  Plus, the one set of elders was on bikes but the other set had to transport them places they needed a car for, and they weren’t near each other.  This move will save some mileage on the vehicle now.  Anyway, back to the day.  It was around 5 that he finished with the apartment stuff, and said he would need a holding deposit on Monday to take to the apartment managers, so I needed to get back on the computer to put it in, which also meant adding the apartment to the list first.  We were finishing up and about to leave, when the phone rang and Sister Wilks answered it (she was still working too, as was Sister Nedbreberg)….it was good we were still there, as it was the senior couple who are entering the MTC on Monday, and will be here the end of that week on Saturday.  They needed to check on some things with Gary, and Gary gave them his phone number for when they arrive on Saturday to give us a call and he will get them to their new apartment.

Friday night, I was in bed by 8:30, and out like a light!  I woke up at 7, decided to just lay there, and fell back asleep again, waking this time about 9.  Since then, we have showered, dressed, worked on laundry and cleaning (the usual Saturday things), and now I am catching up here.  We had decided to forego any plans for the day and have a quiet day to rest and relax as needed.  We still need to get out and grocery shop, which we will do later, but other than that, we will chill.  We were both so beat this last week.  It was a busy transfer…we sent home the 27 missionaries with all that that entails to us in the office, and we gained 24.  We will get 2 more in a couple of weeks that are in the Chinese language program, as it runs on a different time schedule.  

Okay, I will put in some pictures of the whale watching here on the blog:

humpback whale

whale spouting

The sea lions massed around the whale.

The fluke going down.

The boat we were on.  It was Santuary Cruises.

A selfy of us.

Picture of the road leaving....can you see how much traffic is on the other side?  That is what the roads are like all the time.   Our side was like that too, only I tried to keep a safe distance behind the car in front of me.

Remember we love you all!  Remember why we are here.....because we know the church is true!  Yes, we get tired, but we are glad we have the energy to help move the work forward in our little way.  We will catch up on our rest in 6 months.....haha!

Bye for this week!

August 18, 2014

Just a quick note.....we had a busy week last week, busy weekend, and an even busier week this week with transfers again.  This is a busy transfer.....27 leaving, and 25 I think it is coming in.  So a big group both ways.  It made the Outgoing Devotional run long last night, but well worth it.  More on that later!

We have been tired, but are doing well.  I will do a good post later when I get a chance, with some more pictures.

Tomorrow is our 1 year mark!  Can you believe it?!?!

August 10, 2014

Aug. 9

Well, we had another “just when we thought we had seen it all” experience in driving this last week on the way to work.  I wish I could draw a diagram to explain it….I hope my description is understandable!  Anyway, here goes!  When there are 2 left turn lanes, the left one can turn left or do a u-turn and the right one is obviously just a left turn.  This one morning, we were in the left one, waiting to do a u-turn to head on our way to work after leaving our apartment.  There were about 3 cars ahead of me, and a car pulled up behind me, then changed their mind and pulled into the right lane, which was empty at this point.  The turn signal changed and as we start moving forward and turning, we see the front one in our lane having to stop because the front one in the right lane is doing a u-turn!!  We finally get to make our u-turn, and then we are in the right turn lane to head onto Capitol Expressway and we are now behind that same car.  It stops at the corner instead of turning into the merge lane.  At this point, Gary and I both say, it must be an Asian (and sorry, we are not being judgmental or bigoted…..we love our Asians we go to church with, it is just so many of the drivers who don’t know the traffic laws are Asian!)…..anyway, they finally turn, we get in the merge lane and proceed, and eventually get beside that car……yes, they are Asian!  I really wonder how they pass the driver’s test….or maybe they are unlicensed, I don’t know.  There are so many who don’t seem to know the traffic laws, who drive VERY hesitatingly slow on roads (like 20 mph slower on the freeways) that they are a hazard to the rest of the drivers.  That is why I decided that the style of driving here is defensive/aggressive….you have to drive defensively to be wary of these drivers that you have no idea what they are going to do next, and you have to be aggressive enough to pull into lanes because no one is going to let you in.  Besides, driving hesitatingly on roads gets you honked at!  Oh, and I have honked at a few.  The other day, on a left turn (single lane left turn), the light changed and they didn’t move!  It is a quick left turn light too.  So I honked to get their attention so we could get through that light!  Stop lights are long here, and I swear that the people waiting must get on their phones and text while they are waiting so long, and they are not watching the lights to see when they change to green.  It happens a LOT!Today, we are getting ready to go to the temple with our branch for our regular temple day. Afterwards, we are heading north to Martinez to go see Mt. Wanda!  I have been wanting to do that for sometime.  It had been on my “bucket list” since I first read about the place….way before we ever came here on a mission.  So, since we are near it, we will go and see it.  It is a place that John Muir, the naturalist, named.  It was an area he took walks with his daughters, near his home.  I guess he owned this whole area, not sure on that though.  Two mountains there  he named for his daughters, Wanda and Helen.  I have my doubts that they are mountains like we are used to.  Maybe hills.  We shall see today, though!

Aug. 10

Yesterday, we did go to the temple.  It was packed!  The temple has been closed for awhile this summer for cleaning and apparently some remodeling projects.  We noticed the restrooms in the dressing rooms had been enlarged.  Anyway, the temple was very full!  We had to park in the overflow parking area.  After that, we headed out to Martinez, CA to Mt. Wanda  It was less than a half hour drive from the temple.  It was only about a mile hike, all uphill, and we are out of shape and had to stop and rest a lot.  There wasn’t much to see.  It was very dry.  Apparently, spring is the best time to hike it and see the flowers and trees at their best.  But, we did it.  Our muscles are sore today.  After we finished, we got a bite to eat, then headed home.  Got some groceries, put things away, then went to a coin operated car wash and got the car cleaned.  

Today, the usual Sunday things.  Gary got up early for his 7:30 meeting; I left just before 9 and picked up the Vietnamese lady I take to church each week.  She gave me a bag today and said it was for us.  It had a 2 pound container of strawberries and a large box, like from Costco, of Ritz crackers.  I’m sure she just wants to do something to thank us for taking her to church each week.  We shared with the Michie’s and Crockett’s today.  There is no way we can eat that many strawberries before they go bad.  And, crackers start going soft around here if they sit too long because of the humidity in the air.  

We chatted with Shelley today.  We had wanted to talk to Hunter and Ayla to see how school went this week…..they start early in Indiana!  Ayla started Kindergarten, so it was exciting for her to tell us about school……taking a lunch box, eating lunch at school, recess, gym, singing…..just so many fun things!  And Emilie enjoys her quiet time at home while the big kids are gone to school (so does Shelley!).  

After talking to them, I was getting so tired that I needed to lay down for  quick nap.  When I woke up, the Michie’s came over to chat and we had a nice little visit.  That was when we shared the strawberries and crackers with them.  After they left, I went to see if the Crockett’s were home, and shared with them.  The Crockett’s were saying they needed to talk to Gary….they don’t think they can live in that apartment any longer.  The noise from the pool makes it unbearable for them.  They don’t feel they can come home to their apartment when they are tired sometimes because it is too noisy here (their apartment faces the pool), so they stay away till late sometimes on the weekends.  And, they will be here through next summer, so they know they can’t face another summer.  Gary will have to talk to management I guess to see what he can do.

Oh, today coming home from church, we had another weird driver incident.  We were driving through a residential area, so the speed is slower there.  A car was tailgating me.  I was approaching a 4 way stop sign, and as I slowed to a stop, the tailgater just pulled out around me on the left side, and without even stopping, turned left at the corner!  All this before I even came to a full stop!  I said, every time I think I have seen everything, another weird thing happens!  Oh, and the Michie’s told of seeing the same thing we saw before on the Seven Trees intersection…..where the light is red on Capitol, and a driver makes a quick right turn, and then makes an immediate u-turn, and then turns right back on Capitol so he never has to stop at the light!

And, talking of drivers…..Gary was talking to some of the members at church today, and learned that there ARE some Vietnamese (and probably the other Asians too) who drive without a license.  They don’t speak English enough to take and pass a drivers test, so they just drive!  So we were right in our guess about this!  That is why so many of the really bad drivers we see are Asian.  They drive slow, don’t know the laws, and just try to do the best they can do, apparently.  CRAZY!

Oh, this last week was Senior Family Home Evening at the Mella’s again.  We are going to continue with the potluck dinners.  The Mella’s provide the meat, and the rest of us bring things.  It works out great.  The sisters who work at the employment center did the activity (Sister Hammer and Sister Robinson).  Sister Hammer did it…..it was a trivia quiz on temples.  We had a good evening together. It was a smaller group….I think about 18 is all….because some of the others had other commitments or were out of town.  But those of us there had a good evening together.  We really enjoy the company of the Mella’s!  President Mella really cares about everyone, and makes an effort to find out about how things are going and how he can help to improve the situation……..and then he does it!  So refreshing!  

Well, we are approaching another transfer.  Next Sunday will be the Outgoing Devotional again, and I haven’t even typed up my notes from the last one yet!  Transfer planning is this week and next week will be transfers…..our 9th of 13.  It always is sad to send another group of these young people home….we will miss them!

We are hoping soon to see some friends of ours from the MTC….the Harris’s.  They served in Seattle, and were on a 12 month mission, so it will be finished in just days.  And, they live in Santa Rosa, which is just north of San Francisco/Oakland, so we ought to be able to see them. When they left, they told us they would come look us up when they got home.  If they don’t, we will look them up!

I had an email from Colton this last week…..I enjoy hearing from the grandkids, so that was a treat!  When we first left, we got notes and pictures that they drew in the mail, but it has been a long while since we have had any new pictures or notes from any of them, so the email was much appreciated!

Thank you to all we hear from!  We love hearing what is going on in your lives….even if you think it is boring.  We are so out of touch with those at home…..when I read every once in awhile on Facebook about something at home, I sure wish I knew more that just a brief mention of things, but I guess that will have to suffice until we get home to learn more.  A big thank you to my sister, Susie, for filling me in on things.

That is it for this week’s report!  

Here are some pictures:

Oakland Temple

Me before the hike.

This is Mt. Wanda

View from the top looking out over the river that runs past Concord (don't know the name of it)

Gary at the end of the hike.

We tried to get a good shot showing the traffic on the other side of the freeway.

The San Jose City limits sign.

This is where we always buy gas.

Happened to see a homeless person walking down the street with their stolen shopping cart full of stuff.

Pics from baseball game June 13, 2014

Since I finally downloaded the picture I took at the baseball game we went to in June, I thought I better get them put on here!!      Some are kind of blurry, but this is all I have.       

The blurry ones were the ones I tried to zoom in on, and zoomed too far, apparently.

There were fireworks after the game.

Mission Office pics

Since I am not so good at remembering to take pictures, I took the camera to work the other day and took pics of the office to post here.

This is on the way to work.  People just leave furniture by the side of the road hoping someone will take it.

Abandoned car in the church parking lot.  It is supposed to be getting towed away.

Storage bin in the church parking lot that holds bikes.

Dumpster in church parking lot.

Empty lot.......remember when it was full of President Watkins' cars??

Mission pickup

Front door of office

Looking down the hallway from the front door

Gary's desks

Vehicle coordinator's desk

Cupboards where pamphlet's etc. (missionary literature) is kept.

Mission Secretary's office

Me in my office

Gary at his desk

Pointing on map to where we live

Map of all the housing in the mission

Mission boundaries

my desk

my office

back of my office--all the zone tubs

Zone tubs; also boxes on floor with service t-shirts (my storage space is very limited!)

Our wonderful AP's in their office.  Elder Oxley and Elder Rich.

Elder Oxley and Elder Rich

Sister Nancy Wilks

The picture board of all the new missionaries and their companions.

Map with push pins showing were missionaries are from

Transfer board in President's office

The second transfer board

another mission map

Mission map showing area covered

Our board tag on the transfer board

Sister Marguerite Nedreberg (caught her on the phone)

Pictures in the hallway of all past mission presidents.