What a crazy week we had!
We expected 13 new missionaries to arrive in our mission on Monday
evening. We had made a great meal of
ham, potatoes, salad, and dessert. The Spencer’s
and Merrill’s were ready and waiting at the mission home with the food prepared
and President Francis called and said they would be a little later. Well, this call became 3 calls and then he
and his wife came back with 1 missionary that had arrived from Mexico
City. We had a nice supper and he
expected the other 12 around 11:00 p.m.
We cleaned up and went home.
President asked that we have a lunch at the office on Tuesday for the
new missionaries. Well, he called later
and said that they wouldn’t be here until Wednesday at noon. There were 7 sisters and 5 elders sitting at
the Detroit airport, wondering what to do.
The church found them all hotel rooms and they were able to stay there
for 2 nights. The Detroit mission
president had some of his missionaries go and get them the next day and they got
to do work with them. I felt so bad for
these kids—they had their MSF (missionary support funds) cards but not their
pin numbers so they couldn't use them.
However, all of them had some type of credit card from home. They finally arrived before noon on
Wednesday. They were so happy to be
where they belonged. We had a nice lunch
(taco soup with chips (because we had so much Mexican food left from the
Christmas party) and cookies. We had our
meeting after/during lunch and they were on their way to the Sacred Grove
around 4:00. They met their new
companions at the Hill Cumorah and had another meeting and were then on their
way to their areas. I hope they are
doing alright. We saw one of the new missionaries
yesterday at Costco (they can eat cheap there and they don’t have to have a membership
to go in to eat) He is from California
and said he was freezing. I hope that
REAL cold weather doesn’t do him in.
They gave me their luggage fees after our meeting at our
office. I couldn’t believe that Delta
had charged them twice to get here. They
had taken their bags in Detroit to the hotel.
So they had paid $60 in Salt Lake City and $60 in Detroit. I pay them back for this charge, but didn’t
like paying it twice. President Francis
asked me to call Salt Lake Travel and I did.
They didn’t want to bother with it at all. The lady told me that it would be up to the
individual missionaries to call for their own baggage fee. I told her, “they don’t have time to do that”. Anyway—I called for all of them. I told the lady that we had expected them on
Monday and they hadn’t arrived until Wednesday at noon, and we understood that
the weather couldn’t be helped. We also
had to pay for 2 nights hotel for at 6 rooms, and we understood that also, BUT, I couldn’t understand why they had charged us twice for baggage. She didn’t
even complain or anything—she just asked me for their receipt numbers and she
began refunding the 2nd charge to their credit cards. It was so great!
We attended the Temple Wednesday night and it was a nice
evening. It was the first time that I
had seen the women’s side of the session full.
That is good!
Elder Merrill kept busy all week with moving cars around and
taking parts to places that needed parts.
On New Year’s Eve we went to Applebee’s with Spencer’s and enjoyed a
meal. Our Stake (Rochester Stake) was
having a dance that night and we debated about going—but seeing how much Elder
Merrill loves to dance we went home after supper. The Spencer’s went to the dance and said that
it was quite fun. We are just party
poopers, I guess!
On New Year’s Day we had a brunch here of baked eggs and
sausage waffles. It was really good and
the Spencer’s and the AP’s came. (Assistants
to the President) We ate, visited, and
played a couple of games. I had bought
left, right, center and then I asked the 2 young Elders how they felt about gambling. I wish I had of videotaped their faces. They stuttered and stammered—they were really
speechless. Then I told them that we
were going to play the game and pretend that someone would win the money. We had $30 in $1 bills and played it—Elder Merrill
won. (1st time—no money
changed hands) they wanted to play again
and we used the same money—Sister Merrill won (1st time—no money
changed hands) We had a great day of
visiting and playing other games.
Yesterday we got busy and took down our Christmas decorations. (it took about 12 minutes or less) We cleaned and then we went with the Spencer’s
to Costco and then over to Ontario Beach and then to Mexican food like we are
used to in Idaho and Arizona. They like
it and we had a good meal. We were able
to study when we got home and afterward Dennis colored my hair. Hair—it just doesn’t stay like you want it
to; it gets gray or too long—just can’t stay how you like it.
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| Elder Spencer and Elder Merrill on the shore |
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| Elder Spencer caught a fish (dead for quite some time) |
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| Selfie--not a great look! |
We went to church today and it was very good. The branch members have great
testimonies. One sister told of her
children (non-members or inactive) that have asked her recently to pray for
them. She told them, “I have never quit
praying for you, but will pray more.” Isn’t
that the truth? We never quit praying
for our families and loving them. We
love our family members so much and want only good for everyone. (a mother’s worry is never done—it’s our
jobs!)
Congratulations to Eliza Merrill and her wedding to Mr.
Lucero on Saturday, Jan. 2! Happy
Birthday to Rob Jagielski, Jan. 6 and Max Harris Jan. 9!
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| Neat thing! Some people put lights in every window for friendship |
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