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.

February 23 and before

Today was the Sabbath.  Larry and I slept in today again. We got up about 8:00 a.m.  We joke that we will die when we get to the mission.  We are still coughing and have a lot of congestion.  We went through our morning things and got ready for church.

Sacrament was several youth and two youth leaders talking about the Youth Theme this year which is "Come Unto Christ"  There were several good talks.  One talked about the ways we can come unto Christ.  He listed several things like prayer, go to the temple, seminary, church, and scriptures.  One girl told how she was influenced by the spirit by talking to her friends about the story of Joseph Smith and why it was so important to the church. She didn't have and answer but then and answer came to her. The leaders focused more on why we should come unto Christ.  The answer being that we can have the peace and serenity that we need in life if we include Christ in our life.

Sunday School we are in Marriage and Family Relations.  The lesson today was lesson 10 on the Role of Fathers.  It talked about the fact that Fathers and Mothers need to work together and help each other in their separate roles.  It also emphasized the importance of father's in a person's life.  They had an article from the Deseret News that told about several types of problems that are prevalent in persons who do not have a father or a good father image.

Relief Society talked about the importance of women.  I think it was hard for me to feel the spirit today because of my chest and cough.  Maybe I should have stayed home.

We came home and ate.  We had thawed some shrimp and had a salad made that we ate with yogurt and shrimp sauce it was a great meal.

Larry turned BYU TV on and I just lay on the couch for about two hours and watched a couple of BYU Devotionals.  Finally I felt like getting up and we went for a short walk.  It felt so good to be walking outside.  I prefer it over the gym.  It was a beautiful day today here.  Sunny and in the 50's

Friday we went to the gym and then I came home and started working.  I got some of the work done before 1:00 p.m. but we ended up tending Taylor in the afternoon while Kirsten and Jon went to counseling.  We had a good time with Taylor.  She is such a cute girl.  She drew us several pictures and we watched Disney Junior.  I finally brought my computer in and wrote some while we watched Disney Junior.  Kirsten got back about 4:30 p.m.

After eating we went to the gym again so I was able to get more points that day.  On the way home we were coughing so much we called and tried to get a substitute for the Family History Center.  But we could not find anyone home.

Saturday the supervisor at the Family History Center called about 7:45 and said they would go to the center for us.  We had set out alarm for 7:00 a.m. thinking that we would have to go.  We read for a while and took a shower and then got ready to go to mom's to help her.

Mom had us vacuum and dust and get gas in the car and we took her shopping.  Then we went and got something to eat.  She seems to like to do that when we go down.  We went to Arby's because she didn't think that she looked good enough to go to a restaurant.  Funny!  I was surprised that Mom ate a whole French Dip Sandwich.  She usually orders a kids meal.  She told us how much she and Dad loved to go to Arby's and get a plain sandwich.  No barbeque.  I didn't know they had liked it so much.  She said that once they had tried to take Annette's kids there when they were little and they stuck their nose up and would not eat anything there.

Tonight we are watching the Olympics and I am working on the computer.  Larry has been reading his email I think.

We just called our grandson Owen and wished him a happy birthday.  Misty said that they might come and visit us in Texas or just before we leave.  She said they had made marshmallow shooters and Owen and his friends and Matthew were shooting Marshmallows at each other.

February 20th

Today we slept in until 8:00 a.m.  Both Larry and I had spent the night coughing a lot.  Larry has had the stuff for three weeks.  I quit taking my antibiotic on Sunday and have gradually got the disease back.  Monday morning I had a slight tickle in my throat and now I have gunk and cough.  We got a doctors appointment for the afternoon and he gave us some antibiotic so hopefully we will get over it.

We made to the gym at about 10:00 a.m.  We worked out well and then we went to get gas and went home.  We found the check for the Malibu on the table where Dave said he had left it and Larry went to get that deposited with another check we got from Wells Fargo.

After eating lunch I started to work on the curriculum for a while.  I got quite a bit written and then Kirsten called to say she wanted to have a family party with just the kids that are in Utah on February 28th a week from today.  I talked to her for a while about some other things and then she had to go.  She is looking for a job.

I worked for awhile and then we went to the doctor.  We came home and took our medicine and just hung out before the TV.  I got the information on the Mission insurance in the mail so I read that.

Then I started recording my Weight Watcher's points on the computer as my phone is not being cooperative.  About that time BJ called and told us about what it would take to switch our phones to AT&T and we talked for about a half hour.  We need to go in and look at the phones on the website.

While I was talking to BJ Larry fixed dinner.  It was yummy.  Pork Steak,Green Salad, Pineapple.

I decided that I needed to pace for an hour and so I paced back and forth while we watched the Olympics.  Then I decide that I needed to start cleaning out the vanity in my bathroom.  So Larry   found me a box and I would clean a few things out and then keep walking.  Maybe that is why I only got 1 point today.  We have so many things in the drawers that we never use so I guess it will be a good thing to have to clean out some of the drawers.

February 19th

Today had several eventful happenings.  It started off well.  We got up and did the rituals and then went to the gym.  I worked hard today and it paid off as I got 3 points on my active link. It was fairly warm when we went into the gym but when we came out it was really cold with a wind.  The 43 degrees that it was this morning was the highest it got all day.

On the way home we went to the grocery store to get some bananas and a prescription I ran out of this morning.  As we were paying for the food Larry suddenly remembered that he had left eggs boiling on the stove when we went to the gym.  We were kind of worried about what we would find.  Luckily he had put a lid on them like you are supposed to do and when the eggs exploded it did not go very far.  The pan was pretty black but I think it will clean up but it will probably have hot spots after this.  We were certainly blessed that it didn't do more damage.

Larry went to work cleaning up the mess and I went to work writing curriculum supposedly but we received a letter from the Mission President in San Antonio today telling us about the housing situation.  It wasn't clear to me whether we had to find our own housing from the letter so I called the number and asked them.  The Sister that answered the phone said that we would be taking over for a Brother and Sister Kasper and we would be living in their apartment, so she asked me if I wanted to talk to her.  I decided to talk to her and she told us about the apartment and the address.  Then she told me that she knew our Bishop Marshall McKinnon because her first husband had been a doctor at Tanner Clinic where he is the CEO.  I was surprised and asked her what her first husbands name was and it was a Dr. Hicken.  He died of cancer in 2004 and she has only been married to the Kasper for about 4 years.  It turns out that she was a person that helped us a lot with our sewing projects when I taught at North Layton Jr. High.  I haven't seen her for a long time but I know who she is.  Like everyone says it is a small world especially in the Mormon Church!!

The people at the mission said that I would be the media secretary and that Elder Presser would be the vehicle coordinator so we know more about what we will be doing.  Our apartment is at 13000 Vista del Norte, San Antonio, Texas 78216.  We went online and found out that is is about 7 miles from Nathan's rehabilitation center and about 4 miles from the Mission Home.  It is about 14 miles from Sara and the kids.  So I am excited about that.

After that call I started working on learning more about the selling process.  I think I can start writing tomorrow.

Sammy with his first lost tooth

While I was working Sara texted me a picture of Sammy with his first lost tooth.  She said that it had been lose for a few weeks and she had tried to help him pull it last night but he finally pulled it himself during school today.

Nathan texted me to say Hi but didn't respond when I replied.  Kirsten also texted me today.
 
Most of the afternoon it snowed and it even started hailing very hard about 3:00 p.m.  The snow did not amount to anything much on the ground but it was really coming down.

I quit reading about 4:00 p.m. because my body could not work anymore on the curriculum.  I found the taco soup recipe I had been wanting to make for dinner to use up some of the liquid from my fresh salsa and started to make that.  I needed two things so Larry volunteered to go to the store for me.

While he was gone I watched the evening news and set up an automatic payment for our new 15 year mortgage.

I made the taco soup and we ate and then we settled down to watch American Idol and I worked on several things on the computer and paced back and forth for an hour to make sure I had some points today.

Larry went to bed but I am finishing this and then I will joint him.  He is getting pretty congested and I am congested again after finishing my antibiotic on Sunday.  So life is rough.

February 18

Today was a busy day but my active link didn't think so.  We arose early and went to the Salt Lake Temple by 10:00 a.m.  The session was a good one.  We were on our way home by 12:45 p.m.  At that time it was 52 degrees and very sunny.  It seemed that spring was on its way.

Ellie, Max, Gauge, Brinlie walking on the beach

Maren called when we were on our way down and I got to talk to her.  Her day was going much better because the kids were feeling better today.   When we got to the temple I told her I would call her back later.

I ate lunch and I started working on the Curriculum.  I am writing a chapter on selling this time.  I spent most of the afternoon learning what selling is.  Larry spent time working on laundry and putting stuff away in the house so the renters can come.

Maren and her kids on the beach

When I got bored and started falling asleep I called Maren again and she was at the beach with her kids looking for sharks teeth.  Apparently it was a pretty good day there finally.  She was busy so she said that she would call me back.

I read some more on selling and then Larry and I began to prepare a lesson for a Family Home Evening with Kirsten, even though it is Tuesday night.  We have to give a lesson to someone on the different lessons in Chapter 3 of preach my gospel to prepare for our mission.  Kirsten called and ask if we wanted to do FHE with them for the next three weeks since she didn't have to work on Monday nights now.  But because yesterday was a holiday we decided to meet on Tuesday this week.  She said that she would fix dinner if we would give the lesson.

On our way to Kirsten's house Maren called me back and we talked for a little more.

Sharks teeth that they found

The lesson went very well.  Kyle seemed to be really listening and Kirsten was good to make comments that added to the lesson.  The dinner was really good.  She had tried some new recipes where she cooked chicken in Balsamic Vinegar and she also had Sweet Potatoes that she had covered with olive oil and then added the Chicken and some balsamic vinegar.  It all looked burnt but it was the most moist chicken I have had and the chicken and potatoes tasted good.  The balsamic vinegar just made it look burnt.  But it also gave it a good flavor.

After the lesson we watched Taylor play on some of her games that she likes on Kirsten's Kindle.  She has several dress up games and a magic school bus game that she showed us tonight.

We came home and ate fruit and watched NCIS on demand and now we are preparing for bed.

Lexie ready for the school play

Lexie with friends in the school play

Myles playing with a truck.

Posting some pictures of other grandchildren that were on Facebook.

February 17th

We decided that now we are feeling better that we better start getting up earlier so we got up at 7:00 a.m.  We read, prayed, ate, and exercised all before we had to go to Weight Watchers at 9:30 a.m.  It felt good to have so many things done earlier.  Even though I did not lose or gain today it felt good to be up and going.

After Weight Watcher's we took the truck down to Autobahn Motors like the Malibu and we are planning to sell it at auction also.  Hopefully it will sell because it is a 1988.  When we got home we went to see our car insurance agent and canceled the policies on the Malibu and the Truck.  It really cut down our insurance payment.

Then we went to get some more fruit and yogurt and soda at Bowman's and ended up buying a little more because we were hungry.

We went home and ate and then Larry started carrying things up and down the stairs to put things away and I started working on the bills and making phone calls.  It took me most of the afternoon to balance the checkbook and get the bills organized into a new budget because we changed a few things.  Mostly new health, dental, vision and car insurance.  We have been able to drop our insurance from $825 to $384 so that helped a lot tonight.  Larry getting on at the VA really has helped a lot in that area.

Larry fixed a yummy dinner while I continued to do bills.

Maren posted on Facebook that her girls were throwing up and I commented on it and I got different messages all afternoon on my phone from people sympathizing with her.  I hope the girls get feeling better.

Tonight I worked on Weight Watcher's tracking and we watched a couple of Castle reruns which was not the best thing to do but I was feeling tired and I guess Larry was too. 

Larry got 4 activity points tonight and I received 0 so I guess I need to move more when I do bills.  It is frustrating to me that I can go workout for an hour in the morning and my active link still says that I have not been active enough!!!

February 16th and before

Well, February 16th is our grandson Isaac's birthday.  He turns 9 today.  They grow up so fast.  We are excited because soon we will be close to him and his brothers and sisters in San Antonio so we will see them more often.

Isaac eating his birthday dinner, ramen noodles and hot dogs

Today is Sunday so, of course, we went to church.  It was a great Sacrament meeting.  It was on the 2nd Article of Faith:"We believe that men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression."  It was interesting to see the different ways that the topic was treated by the 4 speakers.  The youth speakers tended to talk about why we believe that and how that is different from most of the Christian world.  We had a missionary reporting his mission and he stressed how important it is for youth and adults to chose to be a follower of Christ and make good choices like Adam did.  He talked about the importance of choosing to do the things that we know are right even though the world may give us a bad time.   The High Council speaker talked about the concept of punishment.  He stressed that God will only punish us by the consequences of our sins and transgressions and that he loves us and is a kind an loving father who is trying to help us find happiness in this life and the next.

Sunday School is the Marriage and Family Relations Class.  Today we started the first lesson in the 8 about how to raise our children.  It was called Children are and heritage from the Lord.   I found that there was a lot that I could relate to in the first lesson as my children are all adults. Everytime I go through a lesson like this I hope to find that there was something that I did right as a Mother.  It is such a tremendous job to be a Mother.  One thing I tried to do that the lesson talked about was to listen to my children.  Although they would say that maybe not enough.  I remember many times turning off something that I was interested in on the Radio or TV so that I could listen to what a child was saying.  Sometimes not very happily too.

Relief Society talked about the Plan of Salvation.  It focused on what we need to do to be happy.  The 5 things are:

1. Have Faith in Jesus Christ
2. Repent of any wrongdoings
3. Be Baptized by someone with the proper authority
4. Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
5. Endure to the End

Larry and I have been reading the Book of Mormon for our Mission and I have been reading the Old Testament because that is the course of study for this year and it seems that those 5 things are the basics of the Gospel everywhere.  That is the importance of what we need to do.  In Relief Society they emphasized that Jesus died for each of us individually and that he is just waiting for us to return to him so that he can relieve us of our pain and suffering.  I know that in my life when I have turned to the Savior and asked him for his help that I have found the peace and joy I was looking for.

This afternoon we have been doing family history stuff.  Larry found the sign that was on his baby bed in the hospital that said that is name was Laurence David Presser so apparently between then and the birth certificate they changed their minds to Laurence Edward Presser.

We had a chance to talk to Isaac and to Maggie and Sara this evening for a few minutes.  Isaac was excited about what he got for his birthday.

I have not written since Wednesday because I was too tired most nights so I will try to give you the highlights.

Wednesday we got some papers from a support couple that has been assigned to us telling us about the different jobs in the mission office that we could do.  They all seemed a bit overwhelming but "whom the Lord calls he qualifies".  We talked to them and found out that we will be in the MTC for about 2 weeks.  We will be finished on the 21st so we could start out that day or after the weekend but as we will have no where to stay we thought that we would start that day and go to Centerfield, Utah for a niece's son's wedding luncheon and then go on from there.

I worked most of the day on Wednesday on the Curriculum except for when we went to the gym.  Larry started getting the house in order for when we rent it.

On Monday we had taken the Malibu down to have a member of our ward sell it at the auto auction. We thought we would hear on whether it had sold or not but we did not hear.  They said it could sell anywhere from 1800 to 3000 so we were hopeful it would sell in the higher end.  Thursday Dave called and said that it had sold but it was in arbitration.  He said that was good because it sold for 3100 so when it is over 3000. they have to go into arbitration for some reason.  We were excited because we need about 3000 to take with us for the first month.

Thursday was about the same as Wednesday.  I worked until about 6:30 p.m. but I was excited because I finished the chapter I was working on so I only have one more chapter.  When I finished I was going to start making something for dinner because Larry had not made anything but then he said that he wanted to go to Golden Corral because he had been watching an ad all day on television about their Lobster deal.  So we went to Golden Corral and had lobster and steak and tried to be good Weight Watchers people.

Friday we went to the gym and I was finally able to do all the things that I was doing before I got sick at Maren's.  Then we went to get our second hepatitis A and B immunization.  We got home about 12:30 p.m.  Just in time to tend Taylor for Kirsten and Jon while they went to counseling.

Taylor is easy to tend.  She likes to watch Disney Junior and we worked on making some valentines for my grandchildren together.  I gave her extra envelopes to write on so she could help me.  We had a good afternoon but I could not get any other work done.  Kirsten and Jon came back about 4:00 P.M.

We had planned to go to Rootstech with Kyle and then we got sick last week so we told him that we would do something that he wanted to do this weekend.   When I realized that it was Valentine's Day I told him we could wait but he said that he would like to go out on Valentine's.  After much thought he decided that he wanted to go to a show.  So we picked him up about 4:30 p.m. to go to dinner at Applebee's.  The theory being that if we went early it would not be crowded.  We were wrong!!! Everyone must have had the same idea so we had to wait for about 20 minutes for dinner. 
I was so proud of myself because it was the first time I went to dinner and stayed within my Weight Watcher's points!!! Applebee's have some Weight Watchers entrees that are about 12 points so that was good.

After dinner we went to AMC to see the Lego movie in 3-D.  It was a cute movie.  It was awesome in 3-D.  All in all we had a good time and had a chance to spend some one on one time with Kyle our oldest grandchild.

Saturday we got up and went to the Family Search Center as we had promised we would work for two more weeks.  There were a lot of people working there so it didn't seem they needed us but I did get to help a lady figure out where she needed to look for some help with a German ancestor.  I showed her the wiki and then we looked at the German records on FamilySearch.org.

While we were there Erick called and said that they were planning to come down and get some of his stuff out of the house so we can rent it.  They got there about 12:30 p.m.  We had fun talking to them while they ate and then they decided to pack the fish tank and his drums.  Apparently his in-laws agreed to take it in there basement.  I told him he should take the drums home and put them in Ryker's room! Lol

About 2:00 p.m. we left to go to Mom's to help her.  She had me vacuum the kitchen and bathroom and the back stairs then we went to Provo Town Center to trade in some nylons she had got from JC Penney's.  Then we went to University Mall to take back some pajamas that she had bought that did not fit.  Then we went to Lehi and ate at Culver's and went to Lowe's to get furnace filters and light bulbs.  By the time we got back to Mom's it was 7:30 p.m. just in time for her to watch Lawrence Welk.

Keith called and I talked to him a few minutes.  He was just checking on Mom also.  Annette was there too but she was off doing something with her children and grandchildren.  We then drove home and went promptly to bed after prayer and scripture.

February 12th

We slept in again today but we also stayed up too late last night.  It was almost 10:00 a.m. when I got up this morning but I think it helped because I am starting to feel normal tonight and not like I am fighting a disease.

We got ready to go to the gym but then we got a phone call that our taxes were done so Larry stopped there to sign some things so it could be electronically filed.  We didn't have our checkbook so rather than go home he went to the bank and got the number they needed.  While we were there he told them that we wanted to get an account for our renter to pay the rent into and they said well why don't you do it today.  So we did.

We finally got to the gym and worked for a little over a half hour.  I am really having to work up to where I was again.  But I am getting a lot read in David Ridges book "The Old Testament made Easy' vol. 1 while I walk.  It is really interesting.

While I was there Kirsten called and said that the doctor had given her another antibiotic to take and that if she doesn't get better by Monday she is supposed to get a chest x-ray.  She was kind of discouraged, with reason.

We went to Bowman's to get some things and then Larry took me home and he went to get copies of our will made in Layton so we could give them to the people that we have chosen for Executor and such.  I ate lunch and then started to work on the curriculum.

I was not happy with the things I wrote yesterday so I spent the afternoon revising and trying to make it more understandable. I worked until about 5:30 p.m., then we at dinner.

Just as I finished writing the Bishop called and said that they wanted us to talk on the 9th of March if we could but we had other options if that would not work.  I told him I needed to talk to Larry and to the renters that were coming to look at the house tonight because I didn't know when they wanted to move in.

Nancy and Myron Barlow came to see the house with their daughter Jenna Avery and her daughter Kennedy.  We showed them the house and talked about the details for about an hour.  Jenna is not moving in until after we leave on the 10th so it worked out that we could talk on the 9th.

We have watched the Olympics tonight and worked on the computer.  I sent out a invite on Facebook for the Farewell and I have worked on Weight Watcher's and this blog.  Life is good.