WHAT A WEEK!

 We had the confirmations of two new members in Church last week that was awesome.  What we didn't mention was that Elder Hinton tutors the new members on "How to give a talk in Church?"  He teaches them what to include and how to begin and end.  They send him a rough draft and then they get together and talk about it.  It's been fun for his interaction with the new converts.  

Megan was the champion

I'll have to summarize all that's been going on for the past few weeks.  I keep trying to finish this and something takes precedence.  We've had some great activities with our branch during Family Home Evenings and game nights.  We had fencing lessons after FHE and used pool noodles to practice.  It was hilarious and the members really got into it.  Our teacher stepped on another person's foot and tore his ACL.  He was such a good sport and finished the competition.   

 We found it great to be invited to our district's activities.  The "Sistrict" due to 3 sets of sisters and only one set of Elders for P-day went and got pedicures.  Our new Elder just recently transferred here just couldn't do it. We went and cheered them on while they were there.

The rest waiting for their turns

P-day Pedicures for Most of them

Our zone is allowed two activities each transfer. We hit amazon and ordered some nerf guns and bullets to help with the activity.  They used the cultural hall of the church and hallways and had district contests and then a main champion.  It was a fun way to get their energy out.  They love to win.  

Our transport to our apartment

Our funny bunnies we love hanging out with. 
Elder Hinton in the back!

Every six weeks we have transfers and that means we get to inspect the apartments of the missionaries.  We were very LUCKY to get all Elders.  The first inspection was rough - they had some cleaning up to do...particularly the STOVES AND BATHTUBS.  This inspection was great.  We had all best and l better rated apartments.  No good or EVIL ratings.  

Rick (Elder Hinton) is keeping a great journal.  We don't tell names on some of our experiences on our blog, but we love the working with the missionaries.  They have their ups and downs and discouraging times when proselyting.  We love to do things for them to encourage them while they are serving the Lord.  We have a single sister whose companion went home early and so we have invited Sister Carol Solomon to eat with us, ride to joint events and even took her to the emergency room.  We had lots of time to talk and get acquainted.  She is in a different district but enjoy activities with her and our mission.  

We organized a trip to Annapolis where the Glad's (senior missionaries) were to give us a tour of the campus.  There were 10 of us that saw a short film on the academy and then toured several buildings that were open to the public.  We particularly liked the portion on Bancroft Hall that we saw the cadet's living quarters, the campus chapel and the museum.  Before leaving Annapolis, we walked with the Glad's and the Wheatley's into old town Annapolis to get something to eat.  It was rustic.  We enjoyed the food and friends.  It was a portion of the city which we otherwise would not have seen. 

Annapolis behind us

Monument to those lost at sea

          

This houses the students

Going to eat lunch

Their living quarters

Rick and I went finding one afternoon in Laurel.  We hit 5-6 doors of addresses to find out if the people really live there.  We had one success of finding someone at the address.  The rest of the doors let us know that they haven't lived there for some time.  

We love our Addiction Recovery (Hope in Christ) people.  We meet 3 times virtually and once in person a month.  We have faith in this program and how it can help people come closer to Christ.  Rick spends a fair amount of time texting them and then we send out the link for our weekly meeting.  

We're on the top left behind the tall person

Another highlight of our last few weeks was a Missionary Zone Fireside.  Normally on Saturday afternoon on the 3rd week of the month we are with the Stake Single Adults in the Temple.  We were invited here instead.  We knew Elder Renlund was coming to talk.  Everyone was at the Visitor's Center early in the auditorium.  It holds about 500 people.  To everyone's surprise but the Mission President along with him came Elder Holland.  It was amazing to see him accompany Elder Renlund.  He was very fragile and had a great Tongan security on his side with a cane.  He had come in a wheelchair, and it was left off stage.  We got a mission photo with them.  He was the first speaker, and they had a chair he could use at the pulpit.  He mentioned the church assigned him this big guy to take care of him. He talked to the missionaries about they have both the power and authority to preach the gospel and we need to astonish others with our teaching.  He taught that the authority came when we were set apart as missionaries and the power comes through study and obedience. He was not on the schedule to come but another 70 had an emergency and so he stepped in.  He is still battling health issues, but his spirit was as strong as ever.  We then heard from Sister and Elder Renlund.  They had previously asked the missionaries to submit questions.  They primarily answered those questions raised.   They did express that they weren't able to answer all the questions.  We knew it was because Elder Holland shared the time with them.  Elder Holland left after speaking but Elder Renlund and his wife stayed and let all the missionaries come down on the stage and shake their hands.  There was such a wonderful spirit throughout the whole meeting.  

18 months will fly by, but we are focusing on
finding joy in this missionary journey

We are settling into our home away from home.  I had a little dizzy incident, so we checked it out.  We now have all kinds of doctors noted, hopefully we won't need them.  We got new missionaries to work with after transfers.  I thought I couldn't love them like the last ones.  We had such a fun bond, but we see that we can expand our love circle with these new ones.  They are such strong missionaries we know that were saved for these last days.  Sitting in on lessons with them and the words that flow freely from their hearts can bring the spirit to the meetings.  Rick is stuck with his companion but I'm so lucky to keep him around.  We love the Lord and see His hand in all areas.  We make mistakes and He so freely gives us direction to help us improve each day.  Keep on the covenant path.  We definitely believe that's where we want to be.  #loveourmission