The past week was one of recuperating from our Montana trip. We took our granddaughter Collette to Montana on Thursday the 7th to meet Grandma Pat and spend a week in Billings. Ruth's sister Jennette rode with us and after meeting Pat in Dillon, we drove through the Big Hole Valley of Montana to Hamilton and stayed the night with Jennette's son Quinton and his family. The next morning we drove to Kalispell to stay with our daughter Korinne and her family. Our granddaughters Bailey and Breanna took us and their brother Brayden to lunch .Korinne and the girls had been out picking huckleberries prior to our visit and we had wonderful huckleberry muffins and nice meals along with a good visit with the family.  On Saturday our grandson Parker from North Carolina came to visit for a day. Ruth drove with Brayden to Libby and pick up Parker. Parker has just recently been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes so we were anxious to spend some time with him especially with the new change of life he has been experiencing. We stayed in Kalispell until Monday morning when we drove to Butte to visit our son Ken and his children Katlin and her new daughter Gemma. Ken's other daughter Kylie who was there as well along with both of their boy friends.
While in Kalispell we had a call telling us that Grandma Pat's husband Preston had died. He had open heart surgery a couple of weeks before and seemed to be progressing. We were happy that Collette was there to give comfort and be with her Grandma Pat.
Following our visit with Ken's family, Ruth and I drove home which was a long drive from Butte, over six hours, but we were happy to get home.
We didn't get a lot of missionary work done during the week but George had one missionary opportunity with a new neighbor. The neighbor had purchased some trees and had planted two. The largest tree however still needed to be planted. George noticed the neighbor and a young daughter trying to dig a hole big enough to plant the tree and because of rocks was not making much progress. George went over to help dig the hole, and even found a pick at a neighbor's to help in the process. Once the hole was dug and the tree ball rolled into the hole, and it fit, everyone was pleased.
We also met with a family that had gone to the temple the week before with their five children. They are excited to see if they can find some of their family members that need their temple work completed.
We have a couple of young men we are working with and met with them during the week as well, trying to help them feel comfortable making commitments to attend Church meetings and be active in the Gospel.
On Friday we drove to Rexburg, Idaho to pick up Collette and had enough time to attend an initiatory session at the Idaho Falls temple. It was a nice rest and a fun experience to go to a temple we used to attend often when we lived in Montana.
Sunday the 17th of August we attended our own ward and spoke to the Primary children in sharing time about our mission. That is a neat experience for sure.
We had been announcing a special Senior Couples Fireside for the 17th for some time. The mission president and two area authority Seventy were to speak. We hoped there would be a good turnout. Well, it really happened, we were told that about 850 people attended the fireside and it was a wonderful meeting telling us of the need for seniors to participate with missionaries in "Hastening the Work of Salvation."

Another week has gone by and we have had many more experiences. A few that will be remembered were;
One night we were looking for an address but we couldn't spot the house numbers. As we turned around and drove along the street slowly we saw a number of girls playing together in a front yard. Suddenly they recognized us and came toward the car. Ruth rolled down the window and one little girl said "You're our missionaries, we pray for you every day." What a sweet experience and memory for us in the midst of some challenging times.
On Wednesday we were asked to take our sisters to work a shift in the Ogden Temple Open House. We had several hours before we were to pick them up so we stopped at the Mission Office and then went to the Bountiful Temple for a session. Just as the session was going to the endowment room a couple from our ward in Hyrum walked in. After the session we had a nice visit with them and then proceeded back to Ogden to pick up the sisters. We saw several sisters we have worked with while waiting for our sisters to finish their shift.
We went to Blacksmith Fork canyon to see if we could visit with a couple who were working as camp hosts, only to find they had moved to California to host at a year round camp. She was not a member and we were hoping to be able to teach some lessons, hopefully they will attend church in California and enjoy the blessings of the Gospel there.
Saturday Aug. 2 was the first day of the Ogden Temple Open House for the public. We had made a reservation and made the trip to Ogden with our granddaughter Hallie and her husband Te Te. We were so excited to see Hallie talking to Te Te about things in the temple and enjoying the experience. As we returned home Hallie was talking about after Te Te is baptized they will wait a year and then go to Montana to be sealed in the Billings temple. That made the trip worth while.
The Church puts the best of everything into the temples. The stone and wood workings are so outstanding in the Ogden Temple that is is just mind boggling. It gives one a glimpse of what it may be like to live in the presence of Heavenly Father.
We are thankful for our experiences and hope we are helping those we meet with come closer to the Savior which is the goal of missionary work.