August 29, 2022- Time is Short

Hi to All,

We have recently been together so I think the need for an update has been done in person - but for the journaling aspect, I guess it's time....

It was great to be able to be there for Ethan and Maddy's sealing and the great dance party afterwards! We are looking forward to the opportunity to spend some more get to know you time with them once we get home.

Thanks to each of you for making the effort to spend the day at grandma's 90th birthday celebration. It meant a lot to her to have the chance to visit with each of you, if only for a few minutes.

The end of July, we had the opportunity to go to Burlington VT and have lunch with our good friends, Ben and Chantale Hagar. They were in Plattsburgh NY for their annual summer visit and rode the ferry over for lunch and a short, nice, much needed visit. They live in Florida now and so our opportunities for in person visits are few and far between.

We also thoroughly enjoyed being able to have Sarah come visit for a few busy days! They were short, busy days but we were able to visit several different areas in the mission and check off most of the things she had heard about and wanted to see. It was even warm enough on our beach day that Sarah can say that she has swum in the Atlantic Ocean. We visited the library at Dartmouth College where they have a first edition of the Book of Mormon that they actually let you touch and take pictures of! We were able to do a session in the Boston Temple together (which was great because we haven't been to the temple since COVID) and she got to participate with us in a couple of zone conferences! A little taste of mission life - all in 4 short days before we put her back on the plane home. Soon she will be starting MTC for her mission. She is well prepared and will be an A-mazing missionary. Will miss her while she is serving but will definitely look forward to her weekly emails. And though 18 months sounds long, is long, it goes by quickly.

As far as mission life goes, we keep busy and time is getting short! We are at the point where we are actually doing things for the last time! Bittersweet moments. We love the young missionaries we have had the chance to serve with and get to know - they will always be a part of our lives, but it is time.... So we are packing in as many trips to the beach, the lighthouses and as many lobster rolls, or lobster in some form, really just seafood in general - as we can between now and when we depart. Once Labor Day has come and gone hopefully the beaches won't be quite as crowded.

We are enjoying getting to know the new mission president and his companion - The Haydens. We have had the opportunity to observe some of their teaching styles and they are very interactive which I like. I did not like my Friday evening call from the Pres asking if I had made plans for food yet for Tuesday's MLC - because he had eaten at a Mexican restaurant and met the owner who was willing to provide our meal (at a cost of course) and could I please meet with him on Saturday afternoon! Of course I had the menu set and some of the food purchased for this - why on earth would I wait to make plans to feed 50 people until the day before!!! But he had already made a commitment to this man, so Dad and I went to the restaurant, met with the Haydens and the owner and ordered the meal for Tuesday. I then had to call and cancel other food order and will have to decide how to use items already purchased. We enjoyed lunch together while there and hopefully the food for Tuesday will be just as good, but definitely not the way I like to do things. Have never had the Pres worrying about the meals before. Things to be learned on both sides.

So after September transfers we will be having a mission tour with a visiting General Authority - so plenty of meal planning ahead for that. I promise the meals will be planned and approved well before 72 hours before the event!!

Our next update will include info on how that all goes. This will be our first and last in person mission tour. The one last year was soon after we arrived and was held virtually on zoom. So this should be a great experience for everyone in the mission.

I think that is enough said on my end. Love you all and look forward to and enjoy hearing from you. Like to stay up to date with the happenings in your lives.

Love You,

Mom

Some final thoughts from Dad.

When we were home in Utah and Idaho, I was asked two different questions--Is it hard to come home a bit early, and will it be hard going back? The answers are yes, and no. We have been preparing for the Idaho Birthday party for over 18 months, and the addition of the wedding made it all the sweeter. We were more than excited to take the time to come spend those two weeks catching up, seeing how everyone had grown, sharing how much we have loved about our service, and how tough it will be to wrap it all up in just a few weeks. But I shared that our duty and obligations were not complete, and Zone Conferences are key times for the office staff--our place was back in New England. To have Sarah with us made it even better--it gave her a glimpse of what lies ahead, and we heard snippets of what she was exposed to in her farewell talk. It was gravy on the steak!! Those three weeks were the most intense we've been through in years--something every day, in 6 different states, crossing the country 4 times, traveling to Boston's Logan airport 3 times. And it all came together. Marvelous memories made with people we really love and are proud and blessed to share family ties with.

Ben and Chantale have been friends since our assignment to Fort McClellan, AL in 1987. Thats a lot of years--we crossed paths there, in Washington and the Pentagon, and later were next door neighbors at Pine Bluff Arsenal. Ben is one smart guy--he mentored me when we were instructors together in the Radiological Division at the Chemical School, he was a company commander when I was the battalion Executive Officer in the 84th Chemical Battalion, and we stood side by side during the dark and uncertain days post 9-11 at the Arsenal. Couldn't ask for a better wing man (or flight lead), and as we sat on the shore of Lake Champlain and caught up, you wouldn't know we hadn't talked for years. But it was the ladies who kept the friendship firm--that's just what they do better than the guys. And we have a date to swim in their beautiful pool down in Florida some cold day in a coming winter month. More catching up to do!

Yes, our time here is drawing down. Soon our last Transfer, our last Zone Conference, our last Follow-up trip to the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial will be behind us. But with the passing of those sweet events, there won't be another TIWI to install/remove, car to clean out, missionary that didn't call in at the end of the day, flat tire to help get fixed, monthly mileage report to wrap up 10 days late, or call from Church Fleet Operations that we have (pick one) too many cars, driven too many miles or had too many accidents. But what we do administratively only helps those that are called to Minister and serve more effectively as Representatives of the Savior. It's behind the scenes, it's not glamorous, but it moves the work of the Lord forward. And we are proud and honored to have been called to serve side by side with an amazing cohort of the finest members of the Lord's Youth Battalion. They are phenomenal, and we treasure their friendship and faith. We are in awe of their persistence and resilience in an era of pandemic and uncertainty. We will sing their praises till we grow hoarse!

Enough reflection. We will be back in your neighborhood in just a short while. I like Red Velvet Cake, sardines, and Diet Coke. And for you, Mel, Miracle Whip.

Love, Dad