Dear Family,
We’ve had a busy week. Here’s a quick tally:
- Four
baptisms, including Joey’s in Indianapolis (another baptism was nearly
three hours away but heavy snowfall kept us in Grand Junction).
- Two
meetings with JustServe and Public Affairs Directors, one in Littleton and
one in Cherry Hills.
- One
stake mission council in Rifle (70 minutes).
- One
broadcast announcing the new First Presidency.
- One
missionary apartment inspection in Paonia (80 minutes).
- Four
lunches with missionaries, two in Fruita (about 20 minutes), one in
Cedaredge (60 minutes), and one in Montrose (90 minutes).
- Sixteen
people at the new member/investigator/new-to-the-ward social.
- Two
observations, one of weekly planning and one of companionship inventory.
- Five
pictures of grandchildren printed to update my wall of photos (trying not
to miss you all too much).
- Two
sacrament meetings.
- Five
inches of snow!
I’m getting to know more of the missionaries and learning the
wards in the five stakes (each stake is a zone), and the mission districts.
This week we have one zone conference for five days in a row, so we’ll spend
two nights in motels.
Another cute story about Lindsay: Last Sunday, when we were in
Indianapolis, she was counting the birthstone figures dangling from my
necklace. We named each one: Amy, Jessi, Rachel, Becca, Hiram, Haleigh. I told
her, “These are my babies.” Her question: “Where’s Grandpa?”
Attending baptisms is one of the great blessings of serving
here. Saturday morning as the sister walked to the font, her eyes glistened
with tears and she seemed so happy! More baptisms are scheduled for this
weekend.
Some quick family news: after being gone only a month, the well
at our home in Rexburg went out. Boo. Poor Francie. Last we talked the water
was working but the pressure was poor. Becca’s dancers had a big competition.
Jessi is Makai’s basketball coach. Addi sang with a special show choir, which
included all the grades in high school. High five to Addilyn! Haleigh is the
Ward Music Chair and subbed today for the choir director. With a new semester
the choir was small, so she invited the members to join the choir to sing
“We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.” The volunteer choir filled the stage and
sounded like they’d rehearsed for weeks. Miracles happen when you sing your
testimony!
Today at ward conference we sustained the church and ward
leaders. What a thrill to raise my arm to the square and sustain President
Nelson and the rest of the apostles. His message from October resonates with
even more power each time I read it: “I promise that as you prayerfully study
the Book of Mormon every day, that you will make better
decisions—every day. I promise that as you ponder what you study,
the windows of heaven will open, and you will receive answers to your own
questions and direction for your own life.”
You are in our prayers. Sure do love ya! Karen/MOM
