Oct. 4, 2015

October 4, 2015

Wow, I can’t believe its October already!  Happy Birthday Sara! Happy Birthday Cache!  Happy Birthday Nancy!  Happy Birthday Tessa!  Happy Birthday Willie & Sadie!  Happy Birthday Diane! I hope I haven’t missed any that are this week or last.

We have been happy and healthy.  We are getting 3 new missionaries this week.  It is always fun to get new missionaries, but we have to say good bye to 3 also.  One of the Elders that helped us adjust when we arrived in Batavia and  will be leaving on Wednesday.  He is such a great guy and good missionary.  We will miss Elder Blake Cashmore.  It’s  great to get  to know the missionaries and love them.  He has eyes that are similar to Tate’s.

We felt bad that Grandma and Becca had trouble getting home and having to sit in the plane at JFK.  That problem sounded so familiar after the trip we had from Idaho Falls to Buffalo.  They didn’t have to sit all night in the airport, but were delayed long enough that they didn’t make their connection in Idaho Falls.  It was nice that Delta got them a room at the Marriott.  Airlines are not like they used to be and flying isn’t near as fun!

We had beautiful weather when Grandma, Marilyn, Becca Hanna, and Charlie were here.  The morning we went to the airport it began to rain and then it rained and was cold all week.  (small miracle that the weather was so nice for our company) and the leaves started turning beautiful colors.  Today (Sunday) it is nice again outside and a little warmer.  I’m not ready for winter yet, so I hope it stays nice for a little longer.

Dennis is thrilled—3 car wrecks this week!  (no, he isn’t thrilled)  He’s wondering what will happen when the weather turns snowy and slick.  It’s like having 135 teenage drivers—TERROR!  We feel especially grateful that there haven’t been any injuries to go with the wrecks.  We are blessed!

We were able to go to the Temple on Friday night after work.  It was good to be there.  We had a pretty big session, 9 sisters and 11 brothers.  That sounds small, but it’s one of the big ones here.

We can pick up conference online, but we drove over to Batavia for the Saturday conference.  We had a nice meal between the sessions.  The sister that planned the meal was hoping for lots of people to come, but only 16 came.  (so the rest missed out)  We had turkey, mashed potatoes, etc.  It was really good.  That is more than what we had in April for conference.  Everyone counts here!

Conference was wonderful!  We loved it!  (I especially loved the Priesthood session—you can all watch it online at www.lds.org)  All the talks were so good and inspired.  I really liked the one about the little kids digging a hole and making a mud pool and the grandma wouldn’t let him inside.  Isn’t that just like Heaven—we need to be clean through Jesus Christ to enter into Heaven.  I have found that taking notes on the talks really helps me to understand better and retain much more.

We are excited about this coming week.  Chuck and Janet Summers are coming to stay a couple of days.  They have been to Florida with Blake and his family and they stopped in Syracuse to see Ed (Chuck’s snowmobiling friend) and then they are going to come over here and fly home on Friday on Friday. Brad and Sara and kids are coming Saturday night late for a week stay.  We are so happy to have them come to see us.  This should be a great week!  We have figured out how to do our work and enjoy our company too.  It really has been a blessing to have a Mission President that encourages our families to come and see the sites while we are here (only the senior couples—young missionaries are not included in this—so there are perks in being OLD).  That has really helped me to not get homesick.  (plus going home 2 times) 

We are so lucky to be living in this time when the gospel has been restored and the truths are abundant.  I don’t know why I have been so lucky to have such a great husband, family, and friends but everyone has made my life so joyful!  I am so grateful for you!  The church is true and Heavenly Father does love us all.  Jesus is our Savior and loves and pleads for us to come to Him.  How wonderful is this knowledge?