March 21st and before

Elder Presser and Sister Presser in front of the world map at the MTC

Well we were supposed to leave this morning for San Antonio but we are waiting for our car because the part has not come in yet.  It is a little frustrating.  It did not come in this morning so if it does not come in this afternoon with the UPS shipment to the dealership we are stuck here for the rest of the weekend.  We also do not have a way to the family wedding that we planned on stopping at on the way out of Utah today.  We can stay tonight in the housing here at the MTC but after that we would have to move over to Mom's until we get the car.  We are hoping for today.

It has been an exciting and stress filled week here at the MTC.

Sunday was a welcome experience.  We chose to not go to the earliest church meeting and met at the MTC at 9:30 a.m. to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performance broadcast from Temple Square.  It was awesome to see it on the big screen they had in the auditorium.

At the conclusion Elder Thomas gathered up all the men and took them to priesthood meeting in another venue.  Larry has not shared much of what they talked about but he did show me a picture of some people being baptized somewhere in Russia in a lake where they had cut out a block of ice that was two feet thick so they could do the baptism.  Another picture they showed them was of a baptism in Africa where they were baptizing in the river and there were people along side the river with spears to kill the crocadilles that could be in the river.

Anyway immediately the auditorium turned into the venue for Relief Society for all the Sisters on campus.  Sister Carole M. Stephens of the General Relief Society Presidency was the speaker for the meeting.  She started out by asking, "What does the Lord think of as evidence we love him."  then she responded with "Feed my sheep".  Giving the example of the Savior with Peter where he asked him if he loved him and said "Feed my Sheep".

Then she showed us this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBUxy_z4YDg of Christ when he appeared after his resurrection to America and asked us to watch what the Savior did.  Being literal I watched him and wrote down what he did.  I saw him touch, bless, heal, teach, love and bless children.  Many others mentioned that he was ministering to the one.  Several people noticed these things about the video.  A daughter lead her mother to Christ; You don't heal them, I do, Bring them to me; both men and women have gifts that can help in the work; we are going to the spiritually blind; show people the power of god's love;  Go to people on an individual basis.

She talked about Mosiah 28:3 Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not ^abear that any human ^bsoul should ^cperish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure ^dendless torment did cause them to quake and ^etremble.

She talked about how Ammon was a successful missionary because he loved and served.

She gave an example of how her child was inspired on their mission by the song "I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

She promised us that everyone will be blessed by the love and service that we give on our mission.  We do what we do because we love the Lord.  She challenged us to set a goal of something we could do to be of love and service on our mission.  Then she quoted D&C 84:88 And whoso ^areceiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go ^bbefore your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my ^cSpirit shall be in your hearts, and mine ^dangels round about you, to bear you up.

After Relief Society they had a short meeting for the Sisters to orient us to the MTC and mission Standards.  The first thing they talked about was how to stress less.  They suggested that we exercise, breath deeply, rest, have good nutrition including balanced meals and plenty of water. They also talked about Spreading the Gospel not germs by Washing hands frequently; Carrying hand sanitizer;  Keeping up with our prescribed medications; Keeping our living quarters clean; and exercising.  They mentioned that we should not wear Spandex but have on loose fitting clothes that can breath.

Next they talked about the clothing that Sister missionaries can wear.  They stressed that we needed to go to missionaryclothing.lds.org and review the standards that are there.  They stressed that we should look modest and professional.  They also stressed that modest is fundamental to feeling the spirit and that obedience brings blessing.

We were able to go to lunch after that.  They did not have a Sunday School session but then we were able to go to Sacrament meeting in one of the Missionary wards there at the MTC.  A Sister Framption talked first and told how she had read the Book of Mormon in only 5 days the first time and that it had changed her life.  And she actually did it as a challenge with some other friends in high school and she was on vacation with her family at Spring Break.

Next an Elder talked.  I did not get his last name.  He based his talk on a Book by Tad Callister.  I thought I would remember the name of the Book but I cannot.  There are two listed on Deseret Book and Wikipedia that he has written, The Infinite Atonement And The Inevitable Apostasy and the Promised Restoration.  I would think it would be the latter as his talk was also on how he got his testimony of the Book of Mormon.

We sang the song "I know that my redeemer lives" for a rest hymn.

Then a Sister Melville spoke who was the wife of the President of the Stake or something at the MTC.  She talked on the Atonement.  She said that we often feel foolish or weak but we must remember that God has chosen us.  The Lord's promise to Enoch applies to us.  Moses 6:32
Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy ^amouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.

 33 Say unto this people: ^aChoose ye ^bthis day, to serve the Lord God who made you.

 34 Behold my ^aSpirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the ^bmountains shall flee before you, and the ^crivers shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore ^dwalk with me.

She also quoted Jacob 4:6-7  Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of ^aprophecy; and having all these ^bwitnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can ^ccommand in the ^dname of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

 7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our ^aweakness that we may know that it is by his ^bgrace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.

She suggested that Moroni and Ether gave examples of Prophets that had been supported even in great wickedness that was in their society.

She then gave the Bible Dictionary definition of Grace.  Grace is  God giving power and assistance to do more than what is within our power.  She said that Heavenly Father needs us and he will give us the strength and power to do what he would have us do.

Next President Melville talked.  He emphasized three questions that we need to answer about the Atonement.

1. What is the atonement and Why is it important?  He suggested the Bible Dictionary for the answer.
2. What qualifications did Jesus have to qualify to perform the atonement?
3. What are the conditions of the atonement?

Then we had to go to a one time departure devotional.  Seems how we were only there for two weeks it came at the first and last Sunday we would be at the MTC.

President Nally the President of the MTC gave the following guidelines for when we are on our mission.

1. You are called from the Lord.  What else matters.
2.  Your mission president is your best ally.  Commit to be righteous.
3. Love all your companions (this should be easy for Senior Missionaries)Be the kind of missionary that can apologize.
4. Love the people.  They will know if you respect them.
5. Bear Testimony as often as you can.
6. Write in your journal daily.
7. Write Home weekly. (this and a weekly email will be our writing home)
8. Work Hard
9. Study the Scriptures especially 2 Nephi 31 and 3 Nephi 11.
10. Try to get a missionary referral before you reach your mission.

Sunday night  at 7:00 p.m.they always have a devotional with someone from the General Authorities of the Church.  As that includes the Seventies now it is a little broader in scope.

They sang the song "Carry On"  I love this song.  I can remember standing and singing this song in Mutual as a teenager and having the spirit testify to me that the gospel is true and that I need to carry on in the work of the Gospel for my family.

The speaker was a Mark Lusvardi who is director of Technology for the Missionary Department.
He stressed three things that we need to be aware of on our missions.

1. What is the spirit teaching me.
2. What is the spirit teaching me that is most important.
3. What do I need to do to be a better missionary.

He began his talk by showing us some pictures taken on a US aircraft Carrier that was coming home from Hawaii after a tour of duty near Afghanistan. He showed us a picture of the ship that came along side as they left Hawaii to put the fuel for the planes on board.  He talke about how it was important for us to refuel every morning by reading our scriptures individually and with our companion.

 He said that working together is what puts you safely on the bridge if you are in communication with Heavenly Father and your mission President.  He talked about how a small amount of being off course with a jet airplane can lead you way off if not corrected but that even the course correction can be costly if in just fuel alone.  He said.  "If you ever get a little off course, make your course correction immediately.  Check in with Heavenly Father and your Mission President.  Stay on course, corrections are costly.

He told how he met a lady named Julia who is Italian who was working at Olive Garden.  He had gone there even though he did not think they have good Italian food because his children wanted to go there and they were honoring the children.  He told how this waitress came out and brought them some bread sticks that were wrapped so that they would stay warm and she showed them how to get them out so that they did not unwrap the others.  Then she brought them some salad and said, "Isn't this a beautiful salad?"  and served it to them.  Then she brought them some more salad and said the same thing and served it to them.  To make a long story short his family fell in love with this lady who was quite elderly and began going to Olive Garden just to see her.  They became so friendly that she calls them often to remind them that she has not seen them at the restaurant.  The whole family love her and she loves them.  He asked, "How much more do you have to give than Julia/"  And then quoted Matthew 37-40  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt ^alove the Lord thy God with all thy ^bheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy ^cmind.

 38 This is the first and great ^acommandment.

 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt ^alove thy neighbour as thyself.

 40 On these two commandments hang all the ^alaw and the prophets.

He gave several other scriptures: Alma 17:2-3,11,22; Mosiah 28:3 and asked, "Do you love them enough to teach them.

He admonished us to stay in contact with our converts and showed us several pictures of a family that he was able to teach on his mission in Argentina that they met on a day when the streets were flooding and it was raining but they had the courage to go out and work in the hard conditions.  Now 40 years later they are still active and good friends and the second generation is going on missions.

I know this has been long but I took notes so I could try to convey some of the spirit of the MTC.  Usually I just try to remember what went on in church and then I have lost the words to describe it by the time I type.

Monday through Thursday we were at the MTC learning the general office procedures and programs that the church uses to run the mission offices.  But every session we started with a spiritual thought and song and prayer.  It really made it a spiritual experience!  I should have taken a picture but we were with two single sisters who were going to the San Jose mission named Sister Nedreberger and Sister Wilks.  One was from Ohio and one was from St. George.  We also were with a couple Elder and Sister Crisp that were going to Ghana.  It was a small group but we had a good time learning together.  Our trainers were Brother Hampson from Australia, Brother Chauncey, and Brother Free mostly in the morning and Brother Bennett, Sister Farnsworth and Brother Tyler in the afternoon.  It amazes me how organized the church is in teaching its curriculums.  They have training websites that are exactly like the ones we will use but with other information that we cannot foul up.

I learned the office procedures for several recording things and how to make newsletters in word.  Brother Presser learned the Financial Systems and the things to do with Housing and Vehicles for the missionaries. Elder Presser was in constant demand for help because he already knew how to use Excel.  Sister Kasper one of the missionaries that we will be replacing says we have even more to learn when we get to the mission.

Monday I had to deal with several issues trying to get Nathan a lawyer for his divorce.  Kirsten texted me that she had several job offers and Sara texted me about issues with Nathan's housing so it was a busy day in addition to the training.

Elder Presser started getting the cough on Monday and has been coughing more each day.  Last night he was exhausted so we went and got him some Mucinex.  I hope it will help him and that he does not get so sick he needs antibiotic. I told him this morning if we do not go today or tomorrow maybe it is because he needs to rest before we start to travel.

Tuesday we had a devotional with another General Authority from the Seventy.  I did not take notes for this one but it was wonderful also.  He and his wife both spoke and talked about how the Lords helps you if you turn to him.  The Elder also showed some videos from Public Television about Space and showed how they were proving the things in Moses that were shown to Moses about the universe are now being confirmed by science.  It was a wonderful talk but unfortunately I only have the spirit of the talk inside me because I did not take notes.

Wednesday was the first night we had time to breath but I was too tired to work on the blog.  We get up at 5:30 a.m. here so we have time to eat breakfast at 7:00-7:30 a.m. so we started going to bed by nine so we were not too tired.  However on Monday and Tuesday we slept in because I messed up on setting the alarm.  So anyway on Wednesday I did some emails and read Facebook and went to bed.

Yesterday we finished up at 2:45 p.m.  We went home and cleaned up some and did some things around the apartment and went to check on the car.  The part had not come in so we decided to go to Mom's and do our laundry and tell her about our misfortune as she was expecting us to come there and sleep for the night before we left.  As we had changed our clothes to casual we could not go to the MTC to eat so we went with Mom to Denny's for dinner.  I kind of lost it yesterday and ate several cookies and ice cream so I will probably gain weight this week.  Mom said that I acted like I couldn't get enough to eat.  She gave me a short lecture on how I had to watch what I ate.  We had a good visit with Mom.

So here we are.  We are just leaving to go to dinner and find out what will happen with the car tonight....

So we went to the dealership and our part did not come in.  So that means that we are stuck here for the weekend.  I am so glad that Mom is close by because we have to be out of the MTC housing by tomorrow.  I am sure they would find something for us if she was not here but it is good to have her close.

We went to the cafeteria tonight and they had already canceled our cards even though it had money on it still but they let us eat anyway, we just had to write down our names.

On Thursday I saw John and Brenda Robbins that we knew in Vernal in the 80's and talked to them.  They are going to Kirkland on a mission and came in this week for training.  I didn't think I would see them again but then they were in the cafeteria tonight to sympathize with us.

So we have texted the mission, Nathan and Sara, and Kirsten and told them that we are not leaving until Monday and we just have to pack up and go to Mom's tomorrow.  I guess the rest of the evening will be spent in prayer and meditation on what we need to do.

March 14th and 15th

Elder Carver, Brother Inoye, Brother Aaron, Elder Presser, Elder Adcock, Front:Sister Inoye, Sister Aaron, Sister Presser, Sister Adcock

Yesterday was our last day in the "Preach My Gospel" training at the MTC.  It was a bitter sweet day.  We had grown to love the people in our district after working with them for 5 days and we were all going different ways.

MTC District with Sister Bateman in center, our afternoon instructor

In the morning we all worked together with other groups to role play being missionaries and investigators and learning how to apply the principles in Preach My Gospel to be effective missionaries.  We took a picture with our trainer in the morning, Elder Carver with our District.
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First Group Picture of our MTC Missionaries Larry and I are to the left end

Second Group Picture  of MTC Missionaries

After lunch we took a group picture with all the Elders and Sisters that were in our MTC Group.  They had to take two pictures to get us all in the picture.  We also took another district picture with our afternoon trainer, Sister Bateman.  We had a big group evaluation and we were dismissed an hour earlier than the other days.

It was such a beautiful day I had to take a picture.  60 in the afternoon.

I was especially excited because after getting the antibiotic on Thursday, I was feeling much better and had a significant reduction in my coughing.  I really felt like having the doctor in our group was a tender mercy from the Lord because my doctor at home still did not think I needed an antibiotic when I called him and after listening to my cough all week, Dr. Inoye offered to call me in an antibiotic without me asking him.

Our Rental Car in front of our apartment

The Chrysler Dealership found a computer for our car so they could get it fixed but the person who owned it refused to ship it overnight so we had to extend our rental car until next Friday.  Hopefully it will come in Thursday and they will get the car finished by Friday when we had planned to start for San Antonio.

Friday evening after dinner we packed up our laundry and went to Mom's to do our laundry and visit with her.  She said that she was glad to see us as there was nothing on TV that she liked that evening.  We spent most of the time talking and visiting.  I was interested to find out that the reason Dad could not sleep for so many years was because he was taking prednisone for his allergies and for a long time they did not know that a side effect was that it interfered with your sleep.

Mom relaxing that night

We had fun talking about what we had done at the MTC this week and comparing it with Mom and Dad's experiences at the MTC about 20 years ago.  My dad was always one not to complain and Mom said that he got sick in the MTC also.  We also talked about the Phillipines and some of the things that they had experienced there.  Mom's housekeeper in the Phillipines, Terry, had commented on a picture that I shared of Mom at the shower so we were able to go in and see the pictures that she had posted on her wall on Facebook and Mom found out that they had a grandchild she did not know about.  I also showed her the pictures of my grandchildren that were on Facebook that day.  When Larry would get up to go check on the laundry she was always encouraging me to go take care of it so he didn't have to do it.  We had stopped at the BYU creamery and bought her a half gallon of Chocolate ice cream so we all shared that.  Because it took a while for us to do two batches of laundry it was about 10:30 p.m. when we got home.

We determined that we needed to get up this morning at 5:30 a.m. just like during the week if we were going to get to the dentist in Kaysville by 9:00 a.m.  We got up and got ready.  Because it is our preparation day we dressed in casual clothes and put our badges on like instructed rather than the Sunday best we are required to wear most of the time.  We were planning to go to the cafeteria to get breakfast but then we realized that we could not eat there if we were not dressed up so we went to IHOP

IHOP was a big mistake because I came out of there with 18 of my 26 points for the day gone.  But it tasted good and we were able to just relax and talk.

We made it to Kaysville by 8:40 a.m.  No one was at our house even though Jenna was moving in and the pharmacy was closed so we went to the dentist office.  He was a little late getting there so we waited in the car.  When he finally came I went in and Larry went to the store looking for a tie chain.  It didn't take long for him to get my crown on.  Then we texted Kirsten about when she wanted to eat and then went to the Post Office to finally turn in our address forwarding card.  Then we went to the pharmacy to get a prescription for Protonix that was supposed to be called in but when they looked they did not have record of it.  So I bought some lotions that I needed.

After that we went to the house to see Jenna.  It was hard because she and her mom and dad had boxed up almost all of our things that we had left as she rented it as a furnished house and put them in the garage and a room in the basement and had changed everything so much.  But it is her house for the next 18 months and she had taken care to box and stack things correctly.  I was upset though because they were still using the antique bedset of my mother in law, Aleda Christiansen, and they asked if they could refinish the top and recover the stool for the dressing table.  I told them no that it had sentimental value.  The contract said that they could not paint anything or change it without permission so I was glad we had that in.  It kind of hurt my feelings that most of our stuff was not good enough to use except that and then they wanted to change it.  But they are very fussy people about how a house looks, more so than me.

Larry was upset because they wanted to put some things from the mantle in the office and when he went to put it in the keys for our offices were not there and he is sure that he put them on the key rack before we left and he had tried the keys before they left to make sure they were right.  He had also spent $175.00 to have the garage doors repaired and they were saying that it didn't work and he could not get it to work either.  So it was a frustrating experience.  We finally told them that they would have to have Steve Libby come and see if he could do something about the locks and I don't know what they decided on the garage door.

Kyle with his Prom invitation

We went to meet Kirsten after that.  We were late as we took too long talking at the house.  I had a good talk with her while Larry spent time calling to get another Comcast box for the downstairs at the house as they said they would pay for it.  Kirsten said that Kyle was asking a girl to prom and sent me a picture of his idea for asking.  We had a good visit with Kirsten and it was hard to say goodbye because we will not be back up that way for a while.

We went to Bountiful and I bought me some new walking shoes at Deboer's.  Then we headed down to Mom's and visited with her again for awhile before heading home.  We were both so tired that we took a nap when we got home at 4:00 p.m.  and we determined that we would not need to go to dinner because we ate so much during the day.

I have spent the evening working on some paper work and now the blog.  Larry is coughing tonight so maybe I was more contagious than I thought and all my district will be sick next week where ever they are.  I feel bad about that.  So Larry has continued to sleep and such except for when we had prayer and scripture.  One good thing about tomorrow is we can sleep until 7:00 a.m.

March 13th

Today was an interesting day.  We got up early at 5:30 a.m.  We got ready and went to get in the car and the alarm went off when Larry tried to open the door.  This has been happening a lot lately and usually if  we reopen the door with the key it will turn the alarm off.  Today that did not work.  Larry tried everything he knew and finally disconnected the battery as a final resort.  Usually that will reset everything and we can unlock the door and start the car but today that was not the case.  The security would turn on every time the battery was connected again and therefore we could not start the car.  We grabbed a ride with someone else that was going to the MTC and made it to things on time but slightly frustrated.

We went through the classes for the morning.  We had to do the investigator interviews again most of the morning.  One thing that I have learned the last few days is that it is important to determine if Joseph Smith is a Prophet and the Book of Mormon is true.  If that is true then many of the objections that people have to the restored gospel are not relevant.  It is so necessary to have the confirmation of the Holy Ghost in those matters.

After lunch we decided to go home to see if we could get the car to start.  The day before we had some problems but when it warmed up it seemed that the car was okay.  We rode the shuttle back to the apartment and Larry tried to start the car.  He tried everything again but it would not start. 

By this time we were supposed to be back to our classes.  We called the support missionaries over us and told them our problem.  Then Larry called AAA to see if they could tow the car to the Chrysler dealership.  It took a while to describe where we were because we could not find an address of where we lived.  But finally they came and towed us to the Larry Miller dealership in University Parkway.  The gave us a ride back to the MTC but we were two hours late for classes.

It was our afternoon instructor's birthday we found out yesterday so we had planned to give her cupcakes and a card.  Apparently they decided not to give her the cupcakes until we got back.  I thought that was nice of them to think of including us.

I have been coughing up a storm.  I swear no one will remember anything about me except that I was the lady coughing all the time.  There is a doctor in our group and he has been very concerned for me.  Today he asked if I had been coughing up anything and I told him yes.  They gave us a ride to the dealership when we got out of our classes and he offered to call in a prescription for antibiotic for me tonight because he felt like I needed it.  I thought that was very thoughtful of him.

When we got to the dealership they were having a hard time figuring out how to diagnose the cars problems because the car is so old they no longer have the same computer program to talk to the car.  They still did not know what to do so we walked across the street to eat as Larry had been too worried to eat at the cafeteria before we left.

About 5:30 p.m. they called and said that they would not be able to fix it tonight and that if they could fix it it could be several days because they needed to replace the computer system in the car.  Apparently there is no way to disarm the security system.  They said that they could call the rental car company but they did not know if they would still be open.  Fortunately they were and to make a long story short after about 20 phone calls and the driver who was sent to get us getting lost we had a rental car.  It is great to have transportation for the weekend!!!

March 12th and before

Our Granddaughter Hailee

My brother Craig with his sons, Cameron and Landon

Claire Jenkins, Markell and Josh Hadlock and Brinlie Lamb

Larry and Leslie Jenkins

Adrienne Walker with her daughter Brinlie

My brothers Larry and Craig being a ham

My sister-in-law Leslie Jenkins with Kevin and Jayann Mansfield

Well we are at the Missionary Training Center (MTC).  We have been here for three days and this is the first day that I have had time to write anything.  They have kept us pretty busy all week as we are learning everyday from 8:00 a.m until 4:30 p.m.  They are helping us to learn to use Preach my Gospel as missionaries.  It has been very interesting.  Today we had to conduct a discussion with a "investigator" of the church.  They are really members that volunteer their time to come in and help us learn how to be better presenters.

We live off of the MTC campus on what they call west campus.  It is in the Wycliff Park Married Student housing.  We have decided that we were assigned here because we have a car so we can drive to the location as it is a couple of miles from the MTC.  The younger missionaries that stay here have a bus to ride.

Today we finished up at 4:30 and went to the cafeteria to eat before we came home.  It is open from 4:30-6:00 each night.  Because Larry has diabetes and we are doing Weight Watchers we were able to get a special diet for each meal which has been helpful.  The dietician that they have hired has gone out of her way to make sure we have had what we need.  I have really been impressed at how thorough and efficient she has been.

My high school friend Marsha Hazelbaker talking to Larry

Tonight I came home and took a nap when we finished.  I have still not been able to get rid of my cough and it is taking it's toll although today it was a little better.  Larry went to D.I to look for another suit and picked up some points free foods that we like to have at night at the grocery store.

Sammy with his angry bird food!

Tonight we called our grandson Sammy for his birthday and got to talk to him and Maggie.  He had a fun party today and got to go to the bounce park and got several presents.  He is particulary fond of Angry Birds!

Sammy with his scooter for his birthday

Monday was mostly orientation to where we would be.  We actually are taking classes in a church that is next to the MTC this week.  It is still a functioning ward house but during the week it is set up as the offices for the Senior Missionaries and we have taken all our classes there.  We have been organized into districts with 4 couples to a district and we take our classes together.  We have a Brother and Sister Inoye from Gunnison, Utah; Brother and Sister Adcock from Salem, Utah and a Brother and Sister Aaron from Northern California.  They are all great people and fun to work with.

We had a wedding invitation waiting for us in our mail from Kathy and Kelly Frandsen for their son Cutler and his bride so that was a highlight of the day.   I also saw one of my students William Willes at the Front door when we entered the MTC so that was fun to see him after several years.

While we were eating dinner the couple that we will be serving with found us in the cafeteria.  They have been there for a week longer in the training and so are not in our group.  They are actually from San Antonio and are in Nathan and Sara's Stake.  They said that they had heard about Nathan's stroke from some friends in the stake.They are Brother and Sister Williams.  We ended up talking to them for most of an hour so it was fun to get to know them but we got home late that night.  I had not taken my after noon pills and so by the time we got home I was exhausted and went right to bed.  Larry stayed up for a while and figured out how to get the internet on his computer.

Josh Hadlock, Brinlie Lamb, Chris Jenkins, Adrienne Walker and  Keith Jenkins

Tuesday was the beginning of our training.  It went pretty much the same as today but on Tuesday evenings they have a devotional with one of the general authorities.  You don't know who it will be until you get there.  Last night it was Don Clarke from the seventies.  He gave a really inspiring talk on the effects of missionary work on the people involved.  His wife Mary Ann also spoke.  Because of the Devotional it was after 8:00 p.m. when we got home and I was too tired to do anything but go to bed.  Larry went to get some food last night while I got ready for bed.  Despite what it sound like I am really enjoying this but I just would like to get rid of this cough.

Erick and Heather with Jaron and Taylor in background playing

Sunday was an exciting day as we had our talks in church.  I felt like the Lord really helped me to have the spirit when I talked and Larry gave a great talk also.  We talked with another young missionary from our ward that is going to Houston, Texas.  His name is Daniel Edwards.  We had a lot of friends and family come and we had prepared to feed them after church.  It was so fun to see all our friends and family before we left and we had some food to give away to our kids so everyone got to eat.

All our children and grandchildren that live in Utah with us after the setting apart.

Later at 6:00 p.m our children and grandchildren that live in Utah went with us to the stake center and the Stake President set us apart as missionaries.  It was a very humbling time.  Both the Bishop and the Stake President counseled us in things we needed to remember.  The Bishop told us that we were very important to the ward and that only being in for a short time he was aware that we did many things behind the scenes to help people in the ward.  He said that we have always been willing to serve in the ward which he appreciated.  He promised us that we would be an influence for good to our children and grandchildren. 

Ryker, Kallies, Jaron, and Taylor playing

We went home and said goodbye to the kids and grandkids and then finished packing up the car to drive to mom's house that night.  We figured that we could sleep an hour longer if we did that.  It was fun to spend some time with Mom before we left.  Keith had taken my computer home to fix because it had some spyware on it that was causing pop-ups and he came over that night with it already fixed.

Kirsten, it was a beautiful day

The next morning on Monday we went to Weight Watchers to weigh in.  Larry had lost 2 lbs. with his shoes on.  I had gained 4.2 lbs. so I was really bummed.  I think it is because we spent less time exercizing last week.

Here are some highlights of the week before.

Monday March 3, I went to the dermatologist and had some spots burned on my nose and face so I had some fun scabs on my face.  I spent the afternoon paying bills.  Larry was spending his time worrying about the car and getting that fixed.

Sara and Norm Potter

Tuesday March 4, I worked on curriculum most of the day.  We went to the temple with Kirsten that evening.  It was a good experience for all of us and helped us to feel closer to each other. Kirsten had been having some challenges that she felt like she needed help with from the spirit.

Wednesday March 5, I was finally able to get the complete curriculum in to Dana at Northridge Learning Center.  It was such a burden to have lifted.

My cousin Kimo with his wife Doris

Thursday March 6, I spent the morning cleaning out my bathroom drawers and cleaning the bathroom in the morning.  In the afternoon Larry had a dentist appointment.  When we went to eat lunch a tooth that had been giving me problems ever since my dental check-up off and on was really hurting so I called and asked if I could come with Larry.  Dr. Richardson looked at it and thought it needed a root canal.  He called and got me into an endontist the next day.

Michelle and Daniel

Jaron playing ball

Friday March 7th I had to be at the endontist at 8:00 a.m.  He looked at it and said that the tooth was cracked and that if I let it go I would loose the tooth so I agreed to a root canal.  That took about 2 hours.  Dr. Richardson got me in that day and made the temporary crown but I had to go back in in the evening because it was making me bite my inside of my mouth.  He was able to grind it down to feel more comfortable.  I started using cough drops that day and that helped also.

Kelly Jenkins came over to help me and we finished my bathroom cleaning and cleaned out a dresser drawer and my nightstand in my bedroom.  I was also packing my clothes.  Larry had already done his earlier in the week while I was writing.  Larry spent a lot of the day going through the house making sure that things were acceptable for when the leasee moved in.  Several neighbors came and gave us cards and money that day.  In the afternoon about 4:00 p.m. Carol Harris another good friend came and helped me sweep and scrub the kitchen floor and the entryway tiles.

Kallise after a kick

That night I worked on getting a lease agreement written up by modifying an agreement that my brother has for his house in Provo.  Larry (my brother) looked at it as he is a lawyer and said it looked okay and explained some things to me.  Nancy Barlow and her daughter Jenna Avery who is the one leasing the house called and wanted to measure some things so we told them to come on Saturday so we were able to get the lease signed.  We tried to get everything in our car for the trip because we had so much to do on Saturday and Sunday.

Working on the quilt we always make.  My sister Annette is on the right.

Saturday March 8,  We got up early and went to Sam's club to buy the food for Sunday as I didn't want to mess up the house too much. It was really funny trying to get all the food we bought in an already packed car.

Misha's mom, Corrine talking to her finances Mother and Sister

About 10:30 a.m. I left for a bridal shower that our family was giving for my niece Misha Jenkins who is getting married in April.  The Shower was in Lehi and I had to stop on the way to get a gift and some food for the shower.  It started at 1:00 p.m.  For once I was on time. My sister Kathy always works so hard at making sure everyone has a shower.  It was a lot of fun but when I looked at the pictures I got I did not have a picture of Misha!

Larry worked on the house and the garage while I was gone. Later that day Nancy and Jenna came and signed the lease and measured something.  Later in the evening Larry and I celebrated that we were finally finished and went to a movie and to dinner!

My mom, Zina Jenkins and Megan Sorenson

Chris Jenkins and Adrienne Walker

Jenny Oliver with her daughters

Kallise

Taylor

Michelle with Larry

March 2nd and before

Today is my son Erick's birthday.  I think that he is 31 years old today.  Time certainly flies.  It seems like yesterday he was just little, like his son Ryker.

Today is fast Sunday, which means that we fast for two meals or 24 hours.  As I ate an ice cream bar at 7:00 p.m. last night I guess that means I have a lot of time to work on the blog before it is time to break my fast.

We had fast and testimony meeting today and as I will be speaking in church next Sunday before we leave on our mission I did not bear my testimony publicly.  There were a lot of good testimonies today.  We had twin missionaries come home this week and they bore testimony and their Mother also.  There were a lot of children that bore testimony.  Not the standard child's tesimony of I love my family and I know the church was true but sincere testimonies telling how they came to learn of the truthfulness of a principle by something that happened to them.  But I was particularly appreciative of one testimony that bore witness of something that I already knew but needed to be reminded of.  Sometimes we go through hard times so we can help others who will go through the same thing later on.  I had asked Heavenly Father in prayer this morning if I was just not a good mother or if my children where going through some of the things that they are for another reason.  I felt like he said that I need to have these experiences so I can help other Mother's who have the same problems.

I know the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.  I know that Joseph Smith knew Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as well as other prophets of the Bible and that he translated the Book of Mormon under the power and authority of God.  I have seen the Gospel turn people's lives around for the better and I know that it is the power of the Holy Ghost that gives them the power to change.  God is there for you and he has provided a way for us to overcome our sins and weaknesses and trials through the atonement of Jesus Christ.  His plan works and provides the happiness that people seek through following the commandments of God.  There is not anything that is too hard for the Lord.

In Sunday School we talked about what it means that Women have the power to nurture their children.  We agreed that women have a special ability to do for their children things that cannot be done by even the most loving of Father's and that if women are blessed to be home full time the can provide a stabilizing influence in their children's lives.  He quoted from a talk by Elder Holland about how we need to become worthy to teach our children so that they can be taught by Heavenly Father without us interfering.

In Relief Society we talked about all the things that we should be grateful for and what it means to be contented.  There were a lot of things that were brought up like having a body that functions, being able to be with family, having enough and to spare, having spouses that are loving and comforting etc.  I know that I am so contented right now but my heart is drawn out to my children with all of their problems.

Kirsten called when we got home and said that Jon's dad had to have surgery last night when he went to the hospital to get checked for the pain he was having.  He is battling some kind of cancer.  I hope he can get feeling better but we all need to pray for him.

I haven't written since last Sunday so I will try to update a few things that happened this week.

The first thing that we did Monday was to go and see if the Layton AT&T had the kind of phones that we had decided we wanted.  BJ had talked us into switching with he and Holly to AT&T 4 for 160 plan.  They didn't have them in but they said that they might get them in.

We went to Weight Watchers and I was able to lose 1.4 lbs so I am only a lb away from the goal I have of getting to an ideal weight which is 174-139 for me.  I know it helped to be exercising more to lose the weight but I didn't want to exercise on Monday.

At eleven I went to Hairplay and had Laurie give me a body perm so that my hair would look better curly.  Because we had sold the mailbu Larry dropped me off and then went to see if their could fix the alarm on the Chrysler that had been giving him problems.  When I got finished he was not finished so I walked home.  It was only a mile.

I was supposed to go to the doctor at Utah Digestive Health to go over some tests I had at 2:00 p.m. but I had to reschedule because Larry could not get back in time.

Larry got home about 2:30 and said that AT&T had called and that they had our phones.  We went to the Layton Store and waited for a while but then we started working with BJ and the people in the Hawaii store and it seemed like it took forever.  I think it was because both people we were working with wanted the commission on our phones. Our person told us that it could have been done so much faster if it had been done her way and the sales person in Hawaii told BJ the same thing.  But when it was all said and done we got it done and because we chose to get new higher priced phones we are paying the same amount but BJ and Holly are saving money.

Then we got ready in our missionary clothes and went to Morgan to have Amanda take our pictures so we would have one for the missionary board at church. We were a little late but Amanda was nice and offered to feed us dinner but we had planned on eating with Kirsten so we declined.  If you want to see the pictures you can go to this link http://riversedgephoto.smugmug.com/View-your-Pictures/Pressers/i-rwHb9fc

When we finished up with the pictures we went to Kirsten's and had Fajitas with them and then we had another Family Home Evening where we taught the principles of the gospel from "Preach My Gospel"  We had a good time but I wish that Jon did not have to work so he could be there.

When we got home we got ready for bed and read our scriptures and said our prayers but I could not go to sleep for a long time as I was coughing so much.  That night and when I got up the next day it felt like the cough was moving into my chest.  I decided that I needed to sleep the next morning and I slept until noon.  I felt much better when I got up but I was still coughing.

I spent the afternoon writing curriculum and Larry went to the dentist to get his teeth worked on again.

That evening our home teacher, Winston Freeze and Brian Sullenger came to visit and to give us both blessings so that we could get over the cough.  We were both promised that we would get well and have a wonderful mission.  Larry is pretty much better but I still have a deep cough that seems to be improving gradually.  I decide to not work out this week to see if that would help but then later read that exercising can help you overcome a cold.

Wednesday Larry went to get some things done on the car again.  He also bought himself a new wedding ring because he lost the one he had.

 I stayed home to work on curriculum.  I also had to work on the bills because Monday I had not been able to finish.  After 11:00 a.m. I called an old high school friend Marsha Hazelbaker and talked to her for about an hour and a half.  She had called when we got our mission call and I couldn't talk so I had promised her that I would call her back when I could talk.  We had a good talk.  She is one of those friends that you don't talk to for a while and then you just pick up where you left off.  We have both had similar things happen to our children.

I worked late on curriculum that day to make up for the time in the morning.  Larry fixed a yummy dinner with steak and salad.  The steak was so tender.  I was able to finish up the writing and have Larry proofread it that night.

Thursday I went to Utah Digestive Health in the morning and everything was great with the tests.  I have felt good also since I started eating yogurt everyday.  The doctor and I started talking about our mothers and I mentioned that my mom was so lonely.  She said that assisted living had cured that for her mother.  I told her I had been against assisted living because Mom was in such good health.  She told me that is what assisted living is for.  It is not for the very sick.  It is for people that just need a little help.  It is like living in a good hotel she said.  So I guess I have to change my opinion on whether mom should go.  Apparently it helps those who are so lonely after the death of a spouse.

That afternoon I worked on curriculum for about 4 hours.  I was putting in the questions and quizzes for the chapter I just finished.  But Larry came in about 4:30 and said that we were going to go to the show and dinner.  He had found some tickets and a gift card to Applebee's that Maren and Landon had given us.  He wanted to go to a movie called "The Nut Job"  I wasn't sure what that meant but I finished up and agreed to go.  It was a cute animated movie about how we all need each other to help us.  It had some cute animals in it.  It was a South Korean movie it said at the end.

We went to dinner at Applebee's and ordered the Weight Watcher's dinner on the 2/20 menu.  It was twelve points just by itself but then I ordered the Caeser side salad with dressing that was 8 points for appetizer and thought I was getting such a deal.  Then I realized that was 20 pts.  Fortunately I was not hungry for dessert and so I actually turned out okay on the day with the 7 extra points that you have if you need them.

Friday we went to get our third hepatitis immunization in the morning and then we went to the gym for a while.  I had read that I needed to exercise by then.

In the afternoon I worked on curriculum but also worked on getting a family history gift ready for my grandchildren that evening.  I got the new "My family "books from the distribution center and then I went in and got the pictures of my ancestors and John's ancestors for our grandchildren and I got Larry's ancestors for Larry's children.  I had been working on it before but I finally decided that we were not going to find a picture of Edward Eli Presser for Larry's side and that Michelle would not have time to put up Diane's ancestors before I needed it so I just printed the out and got Michelle's children's ready for that night.  I had already given Erick and Kirsten theirs for their children.  Today I got the rest ready to mail on Monday to the other grandchildren.

Larry called and got someone to come and fix our garage door that afternoon so now you can open the left one more smoothly.  They wanted $300.00 to fix the right one so for now it is the same.  If it is plugged in it will open with the other one.

Kirsten had organized a family party for our kids and their families that live in Utah on Friday night.  She had everyone bring the things for the sweet pork tacos like Cafe Rio makes and then we had a cake and brownies for the March Birthdays and February birthdays.  Of those that live here  that was Erick and Heather and Kyle.  We had the party at our house.  We had a lot of fun but I forgot to take pictures so I have nothing to show for it.  I showed Jon Hayford the book that I had got for Kennedy and Brooke and tried to explain what they needed for pictures of their ancestors on his side.  He seemed to like the idea and said he would have to talk to his mom to help them.

Landon called when we were dishing out cake and I talked to him for a while.  He is in Europe with the ship it was 3:00 a.m. there so we did not talk long.

Kirsten had promised Nathan that we would Skype with him and he was still up but it took us more than an hour to find him and get to talk to him.  Kirsten and I talked to him for a few minutes but he was so tired that we got Erick to talk to him before he was too tired.  Erick spent the most time talking to him because he was so tired.

Saturday we slept in because we do not need to go to the Family Search Center.  We showered and got dressed and got ready to go to Mom's even though she had told us not to come.  When we got there she had already planned to do some things with Keith so we talked for a while and then we decided to go look for some clothes for me for the mission.

My skirts

I told Larry that I wanted to go to Dillard's because when we were searching for a suit for BJ's wedding I had seen some that I liked but could not afford that were really well made at Dillard's.  We stopped at Dillard's and started looking at clothes but they did not have the nice suits like I remembered.  They did have a few but nothing that would work.  Most of the suits for women are now pants suits and I cannot wear pants suits on the mission.  We started looking at skirts and I found a black skirt like I needed to go with the things I already had.  Then we found a couple of black and white skirts that were fun and frilly so I got those.  I think I should be okay now until we get to San Antonio and I may need to buy something not so hot.

We came home and Kirsten came over for a while and I talked to her.  I showed her the skirts and she liked them.  I sent pictures to Maren because I knew she would like them because black and white are her favorite colors.

Larry went to get something for a while and I started watching "Bones" on TV and trying to make a chart for the curriculum that I needed.  I got it all done and it looked good but it would not insert in the curriculum where I wanted it without being lopsided so I finally deleted it and decided that I will have to do it another way.  So except for seeing a couple of TV shows I liked I basically spent 3 hours on nothing.