Well, the day has arrived. We had made arrangements with the stake president to meet following the caucus meetings last night. Since we were in different precints, we were a little nervous that he may get out before we did. Well, that came true, apparently he was in his office over an hour before we arrived. He was fine with that, he said their meeting lasted about an hour.
  It was interesting that as we left the afternoon temple dedication meeting on Sunday that a member just around the corner from us approached Ruth and asked her if we could come over Monday night and show them around the Family Search site. Of course we could and we had a wonderful discussion with them. The father was so excited that he installed Family Search Tree on his phone and tablet. The mother and one daughter were especially excited with the lesson. As we introduced decendancy research the mother found three or four names that needed temple work and we didn't even go all the way through her four generation list to see what others might be there. That was a fun evening for the last lesson of our mission.
  Our meeting with the stake president was wonderful! He asked each of us to share a special experience from our mission that stood out in our minds. He was very complimentary with his remarks about how we had been faithful in our calling and how many lives we had impacted with our lessons and examples of service. He then asked if I would join him and give Ruth a blessing and a release. He was so warm and thoughtful as the spirit directed him to thank the Lord for her service and example to many in our stake. He then paused as he put his hands on my head and gave me a similar blessing. He asked the Lord to bless our family and asked Him to bless us as we continue in our service wherever we are called.
It was such a sweet blessing, afterwhich he presented us with our letter and certificates of release. What a wonderful ending to a great experience that will continue to bring sweet memories as we associate with the people of our stake.

  This has been one busy week but a great way to finish. We had as many lessons this week as we have had in any one week. We taught 17 lessons. We taught a young lady who is working her way back into the Church four lessons this week, at her request. She is studying the scriptures on a regular basis and has taught us some wonderful insights into what she has been studying.
  The other exciting lesson was one with the family we have been working with. The son has been meeting with the bishop and has determined a schedule for completing missionary papers. The father has made a definite commitment that he wants to receive the Melchizedek priesthood so he can have the blessings of the temple with his family. The family has made tremendous progress in the few weeks we have been meeting with them.
  One other exciting visit was to a less active member who is a returned missionary. We feel like his is creeping closer to activity but still has some family issues to resolve to make a meaningful commitment. When we saw him this past week, he asked us to let him know when we give our talks in our ward. He said he would like to attend the meeting when we speak.
  There are many feelings that arise when change is imminent. We feel good about our service and we will sorely miss the great people we have learned to love. We have tried to meet most of the people we have become closest to and one couple even took us out for lunch this week. We will miss our interactions with our  Senior Elders and Sisters as well as the young missionaries of our great mission. We treated our Elders to a meal at Olive Garden on Tuesday evening, we all enjoyed the meal as well as the time together. In our District Meeting this week we were given a Book of Mormon with some notes from other senior couples. Our senior leaders also presented us with embroeried towels from the mission. At the end of our meeting our young district leader asked us to bear our testimonies. Last night one of our senior couples came for a visit with a nice note and a loaf of homemade bread.
 Today we tried to see as many people from the stake as possible by attending all three sessions of the Provo City Center Temple dedication. We saw a goodly number of people and enjoyed each one of the dedication services. Each one was similar but each had different speakers and different experiences, each was wonderful. Elder Dallin H. Oaks conducted every session. The music was well done by small choirs in every session. How unbelievable it is to think when Pres. Monson was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, there were twelve temples operating in the Church. With the dedication today there are 150 operating temples. A majority of people in the Church live within two hours or less from a temple.
  As I was typing this blog, we received a call from our stake president. He will meet with us on Tuesday night to give us our official release.
 

  Been so busy I haven't gotten around to this yet. Today was supposed to be our preparation day but it was a full day of missionary work.
  In the past week our elders have needed some extra help with transportation because of exchanges.     Things seemed to go well and they were able to help other companionships increase their teaching pools.
   Thursday was our final zone conference. At the beginning of the day the AP conducting asked us to stand and acknowledged that this would be our final zone meeting and we would soon be released. We felt a little funny about the recognition because we don't remember that kind of announcement being made for any of the other couples. The zone meeting was talking about members and missionaries working together to build the kingdom. One example that was used in a talk by Elder Martino was with Alma and Amulek. How Amulek was visited by an angel when Alma returned to Ammoniaha. The people had rejected Alma and his message and Alma left but after receiving instruction from the Lord, returned another way to teach. Amulek became his valiant companion in teaching after Alma had taught the Gospel to Amulek and his family.
  The missionaries were asked to bring their items of distraction (games, music etc) and deposit them in a container provided for that purpose. In each zone there must have been a goodly number of items deposited which were donated to Deseret Industries.
  One exciting teaching appointment was when we met with a sister and gave her a lesson on the restoration. When we arrived a fellow was there hooking up cable tv. He listened from a distance and after he completed his business he had the mother sign an order and as he was leaving, he told the daughter we were teaching, "Listen to these people, they know the truth." This sister is making great progress in her gospel study and testimony.
  We have visited several families we have previously taught and visited to tell them our mission is coming to a close. We have had some wonderful visits and wonder how often we will see these people after our service is complete.
  We had a wonderful baptism on Saturday, our elders have had an average of one baptism for every week they have been in our area. They have worked hard and the Lord has blessed them with success.
  Sunday we attended the 16th ward council meeting. The bishop had asked the ward council to extend their meeting an extra ten minutes so we could make a short presentation. We talked briefly about the importance of the role of the ward council in missionary work and then introduced them to the MY FAMILY booklet.
We then attended two sacrament meetings, the second was actually a ward conference. We were so thrilled to attend the ward conference and see the family we have been meeting with for a few weeks all in attendance. It was wonderful to shake their hands and welcome them to the meeting. The bishop and the stake president both talked with great power and testimony. Our final meeting with that family last night was really a good meeting and we feel they will continue to make progress in becoming an eternal family with temple blessings.
 

 
 

We had a good week, time just marches on. We had a goodly number of teaching appointments in spite of aome other things like doctor appointments to keep us busy. As we talk about who we should see each day, we realize how many people we have come to know and love during this two year time span. When we realize that in two weeks we will be released, we realize we probably will not get to see everyone we want to visit.
  Thursday was a day of surgery and recovery. Ruth had her other cataract surgery. Things went much better than the first one. Because the doctor was going out of town on Friday, she had a post op on Thursday afternoon, only a few hours after getting home from the hospital. Already her vision was 20/30 and the eye was still dialated. They didn't seem to put as much medicine in the eye this time and her dialation didn't last nearly as long as the first one. One comforting thing was that our home teacher asked if he could come and visit on Wednesday night. He and I gave Ruth a blessing. Even though she had a blessing before the first surgery, things are just better this time.
  We did get in some good lessons and visits. Our Monday evening lesson with the returning family was just great. They really enjoy having us come and asked us to come as long as we can. We had another lesson scheduled with a young lady who is returning as well, but her mother's car broke down and she was gone to pick up her mother from work. Later in the week we saw them coming home, had a good visit and set up another teaching appointment for this week.
On Friday we met with our young man who was recently baptized. He and the family were excited with My Family booklets and our discussion about filling out the information and learning more about their family.
 Saturday we went to several child of record baptisms and then we drove to Eagle Mountain to celebrate Keith's birthday. Ruth had crocheted an afgan for him and wanted to deliver it and celebrate. While there we were able to go to a vocal presentation where Jessie performed a number which she did very well.
Sunday was a busy day. We attended three sacrament meetings, our mission coorelation meeting and then had dinner with our Stake President. We discussed and demonstrated how to fill our My Family booklets on line. We really enjoyed our evening with their family. The President said they were struggling a bit to find a couple to take our place. We gave him the names of two couples he could consider. He was happy for that information.

  Well, we are in the last three weeks of our two year calling. Our ward mission leader said in our correlation meeting yesterday that there are rumors floating around that we may be called as ward missionaries. Time will tell.
  We had a wonderful week. We gave 16 lessons last week. Our elders said this morning that they had six discussions plus their dinner appointments.. We had a lot of good things going on and caught most people home that we had planned to visit.
  One family we have been meeting with provided one of our most spiritual evenings. Each one of the family participated willingly in the discussion and had some good observations on the principles we were teaching. It was a very good evening.
  On Thursday night we held our second Stake missionary training meeting or zone conference. We were asked to present the new information given during the Family Discovery Days conference in connection with the Roots Tech Conference. There are two pamphlets that will soon be available for the missionaries to use in teaching how to find family names to take to the temple. There have been some studies made as they have focused on family history with new converts. Typically the retention rate has gone from around 20% to over 80% when people take family names to the temple during the first few months following baptism. Our stake president made an observation in his talk on how his father has passed away but because of temple sealing the father is still interested and bound to his family. He is anxious to help those here on earth to find names of ancestors and have their ordinances completed.
  Our high councilor did a great job in asking some "questions of the soul" that many people have as the missionaries contact them. He wrote down some scriptures on the board and then had several groups discuss these scriptures. Then he asked one in each group to come to the front and set the stage for answering the question the scriptures answered. He had them role play the part of the investigator or less active member and the ward missionary. It was very well done.
  Saturday Ruth and a couple of ladies from our ward attended a Stake Relief Society conference. The wives of our stake presidency were the main speakers. They also held some very thought provoking workshops to help the women in attendance realize how important they are in the work of the Lord, and how they need to be prepared to present the Church in a favorable manner to those who are seeking answers for their families.
  We attended stake council meeting and then a ward conference in the Third ward. We stayed for all the block and it was nice to get to sit in a Sunday School class as well as a Priesthood and Relief Society class discussion.

  This has been a different week but we have been fairly busy under the circumstances. We were able to teach some lessons in addition to spending time at the doctor's office.Following our missionary correlation meeting we went to the Humanitarian Center for service, Late that evening we met with a young couple who have been meeting with missionaries off and on. They are a neat young couple. With a few changes in their lives they could be a valuable family in their ward. We also had a wonderful opportunity in the same ward to teach a family. The family has been somewhat active but their oldest son has decided to serve a mission. The family asked us to come and teach them a missionary discussion. We taught them the Restoration lesson and had a good discussion. When we finished we asked if they would like us to come back for another discussion, The father was the one who spoke up and asked us if we would come again next week.
  Tues. evening we had another new member discussion with CJ. What a great experience! He is so anxious to learn and he kept his commitment to pray when we finished the lesson. We celebrated by going to Cold Stone for ice cream afterwards.
   Wednesday we made a couple of visits and Ruth went visiting teaching. Thursday was surgery day. Ruth had cataract surgery on her left eye. Everything went very well but she was instructed to stay calm and rested most of the day following surgery. She was a little concerned about a spot in her eye. When she went for a post op appointment the doctor said that was a bubble but by the time of the appointment it was pretty much gone. He said the surgery went perfectly and she was seeing 20/20 without glasses. They gave her some reading glasses and by today when we talked in one of the wards, she was able to give her talk and read without glasses.
  Friday night was a memorable night. Our elders had five baptisms. It was a wonderful and spiritual evening. There was a father, mother and daughter from one family, and two boys from a related family who were baptized. What a thrill to see all five baptismal candidates and four elders in a picture before the baptismal services.
  Saturday we went to the Cache South Stake Discovery Day where Ruth taught two classes on family history, specifically on decendency research. The conference was a little light on attendance but there was a very heavy snow storm going on in the morning hours that may have had an effect. Those who attended the class seemed pleased. In fact one brother brought a laptop and found names on his line just by following the instructions Ruth gave in her class.
   Today we went to three wards. The final sacrament meeting was in the fifth ward where we had been asked to talk. We both talked about missionary work and fellowshipping new converts.
The three members that were baptized Friday evening were confirmed members during the meeting. What a thrill to be asked to participate in that special ordinance.
 

  The time is getting shorter for these blogs. We will be released in about five more weeks. It has been a great opportunity to get to know the people of the stake and we havve had some wonderful experiences that we will miss when our mission is completed.
  This was a mixed week. We had some good appointments, some sickness, and some preparation for Ruth's surgery which will be later this week. We enjoyed two family history presentations that one of our former ward missioaries set up for us. There is a lot of emphasis on the importance of family history now so we will enjoy making those presentations.
  We had a meal with a special family on Sunday. However, there must have been a lot of sodium in the meal and George got sick, especially on Tuesday morning. He spent most of the day in bed, did some exercises suggested by the doctor, and drank lots of water. Ruth went with a friend from the ward to present the new member discussion to CJ Tuesday night.
  Wednesday was transfer day and our district stayed the same except for a new Spanish speaking sister, Our Elder Shoemaker was made district leader and some of the companionships were changed from one district to another. Friday evening we had dinner with another neat family. They had invited a non member and her daughter. We had a wonderful time with them and a good discussion about gospel principles.
  Saturday was a special day. Our neighbor JJ was baptized and confirmed. This family has made good progress recently as two of the boys have been baptized and the father is showing signs of being more interested and involved in the church. The evening was the Stake Valentine Day dinner and dance. This is always one of the best events of the year. There is good food, entertainment and then a dance for those who wish to stay. It is an adult activity and is well attended. We invited a neighbor who we home teach to come and he accepted the invitation, and seemed to enjoy the evening. We surely know a lot more people now because of our exposure throughout the stake.
  Sundays are always great experiences. Yesterday was special as well. We started the day in a ward council meeting. Their high counciler was in attendance and did some training. During the meeting we were talking about what missionary opportunities were available in the ward. The high councilor interjected an experience we had in his ward. Some months ago we were looking for a sister and didn't know where she lived. We stopped at a home we thought was the one and the sister invited us in and kindly helped us determine the right home. This is a less active couple that the high councilor and his son had been home teaching for some time. They would go to the home and talk to the couple through the screen door. Never invited into the home. After our visit, the door opened and now the couple is upset if the home teachers don't make a regular visit. He thanked us for our visits and told the council how much he appreciated our efforts.
  That bishopric was released and a new bishopric was sustained in the sacrament meeting later in the day. We don't know the new bishop very well but we will get to work with them as we continue.
  One of the Spanish speaking sisters was sick so they asked Ruth to go with the well sister to a meeting. While she was there George went to another sacrament meeting in the new 16th ward. The high councilor there was a former bishop we had worked with closely. He came to George and expressed how he appreciated our visits to people he had a hard time visiting and how grateful he felt to have someone willing to help watch over his members. We tried to make some other visits but found no one home. We were able to find one family home. The husband is going to have a liver transplant surgery this week. It is unusual because his son is going to donate part of his liver to his dad. The research is suggesting that the new liver will help the remaining liver be more healthy. This is a trail blazing surgery and the first done in Utah. We had a great and uplifting visit with this man and his wife.The ironic thing in this case is that this brother had a car accident many years ago and ended up at the U of U hospital. The blood he received there was contaminated and he has had hepatitus C ever since. There has been no cure for this condition. Now they are telling him they have some medication that they will give him with blood transfusions for the surgery that will probably put the hepatitus C into remission.

  When we were in Eagle Mountain to see our granddaughter Jessie in a play, Ruth had Keith check her eyes because she had been having some issues. He discovered that her cataracts have really grown and he could see why she was having problems. Ruth wasn't wanting to address the issue until after we completed our mission, however, she was getting more and more frustrated with the eye problems so this week she made an appointment with Dr. Hammond who did my cataract surgery for an assesment. They discovered she has two cataracts and so she made the decision to have them surgically removed. She's a little nervous but I have assured her, and the doctor did as well that it will all be worth it in the end.
  This past week has not been extremely busy but our elders are just working hard. We had one baptism on Friday night, one more on Saturday this week and possibly five more by the end of this month! That is great for us. We began teaching new member discussions to a nine year old that was baptized about two weeks ago. He is a neat young man and so sharp! It is a neat experience to teach such a young man with desire to learn the Gospel.
  We have had some wonderful visits with families this week during our dinner appointments. It has been such a struggle to find people home to teach this week, even though the weather has been snowy and cold.
  Saturday we had registered for Discovery Days at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. This is an annual conference sponsored by Roots Tech who develops the system that runs Family Search. It is a great conference. We left early in the morning and stopped in to register. Then we traveled on to Sandy where we attended the funeral of my cousin Julie Castleton Hemple. She was the youngest daughter of my Uncle Vernon and Aunt Norma. She had suffered from cancer twice and passed away earlier in the week. It was an impressive funeral. Most of the funeral was provided by family members who gave their memories of their mother. Some wonderful thoughts about the eternal nature of families and the importance of the Savior's Atonement. At the end of the day, her husband Wayne dedicated the grave site.
  We then returned to the Discovery Days. The focus was on doing family history and temple service. Both of them are important to those who passed on before the Gospel was restored or did not have the opportunity to receive the Gospel during their lives here on the earth. Some great presentations were made to show how important these things were for the exaltation of God's children. Of course, we know that not everyone will accept this work that is done for them but one of the guiding principles of the Gospel is agency.
  This discussion was the focus of our meeting on Sunday morning with the Stake Presidency. We have enjoyed helping families learn about family history and it looks like we will be spending even more time as we complete our mission to see that this work is introduced to as many as possible.
  We attended two of the wards yesterday involved in the boundary changes. There were quite a few callings announced and much more work to do for those bishoprics. The newly formed ward had a long list of callings to sustain and because of the difficulty for them to be fully organized, they only held a two hour block of meetings. They will hold the full three hour block next Sunday. The Gospel is true and the work continues to accelerate as we approach the second coming of our Savior.
 

  Another week in the books, we don't have a great many weeks left to serve. We have already had some discussions about what the future may hold for us as far as church callings. That picture may have become a little more cloudy since there was a meeting tonight and the ward boundries in the East end of the stake were adjusted and the 16th ward was created. Many good 12th Ward members were put in other wards. We didn't gain any new members, but a lot of good members were relocated to another ward. There are always adjustments to be made, but we felt especially bad for some of the young people that feel badly that their friends will not be in the same ward any longer.
  We were excited to visit two families with My Family booklets as a result of Sis. Packer's talk in Stake Conference last week. With one family we worked on Family Search directly. They had a hookup so we could work on the computer and show the site on their television. The second couple had two children that were quite interested in the booklets, the parents were excited to help them find and record the information, find pictures and stories to include in the booklets.
  We had some great visits with those who had invited us for dinners. We became acqainted with some families we had not met before. It is wonderful to get acquainted with these special families.  We were invited to have dinner with two couples this week who have recently returned from missions. We enjoyed discussing missionary experiences with them. It is interesting how the Lord sends couples where they are needed, and how each have different kinds of experiences but all very similar because it is the work of the Lord.
  We visited some people who have had some health challenges recently. We also went to a viewing for the son of a widow sister we have visited several times who lost her son aged fifty-one to cancer.
  We had several names on our schedule to visit yesterday. However, those all got put on the back burner. Over night and during the day yesterday it snowed, and snowed. We ended up with about a foot of new wet snow. Much of the day was used blowing and shoveling our driveway and other driveways in the neighborhood. With that much snow it would have been very difficult to get around to make visits. In fact, the radio station announcer said if it was not necessary, to stay in off the roads, so that is what we did.
   We attended several meetings today including one meeting in the chapel that was damaged by the water from the previous cold snap. Most of the building is useable, but the cultural hall floor is still being replaced so that area is not available for use yet.
  One of the most interesting visits we made this week was to an older, less active member in the first ward. He grew up riding, roping, and shoeing horses. He hasn't been an active member of the church for many years. He was very willing to let us in and to tell us his story which was a blast from the past. His language was a little rough which reflected his lifestyle but he was welcoming and kind. We left him a message about how the Lord loves each of us, that he knows us, and wants to bless our lives. We found out at our dinner appointment that night that the new bishopric in his ward was planning to visit him that night. When they found out we had visited him during the day, they decided not to overwhelm him with another visit.
 
 

  Time just keeps going forward. We hope we are making the contributions we were called to accomplish. We feel like we have done what we can, sometimes we are a little let down by some of the responses we receive as we are out making contacts. We just have to keep reminding ourselves that everyone has agency. That principle was part of Heavenly Father's plan from the very beginning so we must honor that.
  We have some great people that really want to help us. We called on a member and asked about a couple of neighbors. He went right upstairs and changed into a suit and said, "Let's go see if they are home and we will visit." Neither one was home but he is going to follow up with both of them and see if there are any missionary opportunities available.
  There have been some wonderful opportunities to enjoy dinners in homes of people we know and love thanks to ward mission leaders. The weather has been rather snowy this past week and we thought we could find a lot more people home but we were disappointed in several places where people were still going on with life.
   Wednesday was a special day. The Church Missionary Committee sponsored a devotional; first one in over ten years. They wanted to reenforce the purpose of missionary work and give the missionaries all over the world a vision of what we need to do to be effective in this work. We were instructed on the theme, " Teach Repentance, Baptize Converts."
  We had wonderful talks from Elder Neil Anderson, Elder Bednar who taught a group of missionaries in the Ogden Utah Mission in a wonderful demonstration on how to use the power of the Holy Ghost in teaching. Bishop Waddell, Sister Oscarson, and Elder Clayton each took a subject related to the theme of the meeting and did wonderful presentations. The concluding speaker was Elder Oaks. He talked about the mandate the Savior left to teach all nations and baptize those who accept the message. We need to focus on encouraging faith unto repentance and testifying of Jesus Christ and His role as our Savior. It was a wonderful two hours of trainning.
  Thursday was District meeting since the devotional was held on Wednesday. We were able to find a few people home and share a message with them.
  On Thursday my sister Elizabeth posted a picture of she, her husband Harold with Lavon and Eldred and a neighor couple at the open house of the Provo City Center Temple. She said she was happy to be able to get tickets. That triggered my mind to check our the web site to see if any tickets were available for the next day. Wow, there were some available for Friday morning at 10:15. We planned to go to see Jessie in a play the next day so I grabbed two tickets and so we left early Friday morning for Provo. What a beautiful job of restoring the old Tabernacle into a temple. Everything about that temple is just outstandingly beautiful. There is a lot of beautiful wood, stained glass, and murals in the rooms. They have done a wonderful job in restoring the building to the 1800's decor and it is just a wonder how they have decorated such a wonderful peice of history. It will be a magnet to draw people to Provo.
  We had a great time with Keith's family and went to see Jessie in the play. "Thoroughly Modern Millie." Jessie did a very good job as did all the actors.
  Saturday night was the adult session of stake conference. It was a wonderful meeting focusing on creating faithful families. Elder Allen Packer and his wife were the visitors. Both gave great talks.
Our mission president and his wife spoke and I gave the cloing prayer for that meeting.
On Sunday we held Stake Conference in the Logan Tabernacle since our 675 West building is still not in operation. Sister Packer talked about the book, "My Family" We have talked to a number of families about that book and presented family history as well. Yesterday one of our ward missionaries wrote us and already had two appointments for us to present family history lessons.
This will be exciting.

  This has been a good week. We have had some good visits and some that have been challenging at best.
  The most inspirational and exciting was on Wednesday night. We were invited to dinner with a young couple who have three children. They had invited a lady and her daughter to join with us for dinner. Following a nice dinner we shared a message about family and the importance of sharing our love for each other. The children in the family were so quick to bear testimonies of how much they loved each other and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed their lives. Later in the week we received a message from the family who invited us for dinner saying that the lady that had been invited really enjoyed the message and had committed to attend church meetings and become a member. We received word today that she kept her commitment of church attendance. We are sure that those children were a big part of having that sister feel the spirit and make those commitments.
   It looks like it will be a while before the 675 West building is ready for reoccupancy. In the meantime the three wards that have been displaced will continue meeting in other buildings that are available. We are just fortunate that there is room for them to meet in buildings in the stake.
  Our bishop called and asked us to speak in sacrament meeting today. We took some time to study and talk about how the Savior taught and then share some experiences we have had as we have tried to teach as He taught. We are so fortunate to have scriptures that have a record of His teachings and great examples of how to share the things that are important in the Gospel.
  We also had a great district meeting and a wonderful couples training meeting this week.
  Time is flying by, we have just two months and a week before our calling comes to a close. We will miss the association we enjoy with the people of our stake.

  We have recently realized the importance and benefit of regularly having companionship study. This is a great time to determine how and what to teach as we go through our schedule for each day. It is a spiritual uplift that is so valuable in our work. We have had some great visits and experiences this past week. Our new missionaries are working hard and giving us a number of families to visit. Each visit is unique and exciting.
  On Wednesday we had dinner with a Relief Society president in the fifth ward. She asked us to go to a nursing home and visit with a member of her ward who is quite lonely, blind, and so we went to see her. She has a wonderful memory and we talked about many people in her neighborhood. We also visited the mother of one of the sisters we know and visit. She is 97 years old and pretty sharp. She had a cold and wasn't feeling the best but we had a good visit. The nursing home was the same one Ruth's cousin was in for a number of years. It brought back a lot of memories and feelings from the days we spent much time there.
  One visit was surely directed by the spirit of the Lord. We have visited a less active sister several times. On Friday we pulled into her driveway as she was coming outside. We all went inside and had a great visit. She had been having some difficulties with her health but then she indicated she wanted to do something rather than play games on her computer all day. She said her bishop had asked her to get inviolved in family history or indexing before. We discussed some options and then set up a meeting for Monday to meet her at the stake center and look at some family history. She is very knowledgeable about her family and found some good information. We talked briefly about how to do indexing. She was really excited and we stayed for nearly two hours. Hopefully it will be a help to her in realizing what the Gospel has to offer in her life.
  Saturday night Ruth's sister Jennette's grandson Jonathan Dayton's family hosted a reception for he and his new bride Zanna. It was great to spend some time with the family and friends who attended the reception.
  Sunday we enjoyed the day with Keith and his family for the blessing of Elizabeth. What a sweet child and a wonderful blessing. We were a little concerned because as we left home there was snow falling and the Sardine Canyon can get bad quickly. As we approached the Wellsville park and ride it was snowing pretty hard, however, as we looked ahead two snow plows had just pulled onto the highway and we followed them all the way to Brigham City. As we returned home it was snowing at the Point of the Mountain area but then cleared off and we came on home on mostly dry roads.
  What a joy we are having in serving. We have talked a little bit lately about what life might be like when we complete our service in a couple of months. It appears that the ward building on 675 West is going to take some time to be repaired. We found out yesterday that our Stake Conference on Jan 24th will be held in the Tabernacle in Logan. That way they can accomodate those who want to attend and not have to worry  about simulcasting the proceedings over a closed circuit.

   Christmas was a wonderful time for us. We had a lot of good experiences doing the living Christmas card presentations. We were able to spend some time with Kaylene and the family then the day after Christmas we took Collette to Montana. The driving lane was clear so the traveling was not too difficult. We met grandma Pat in Butte, and she and Collette traveled on to Billings. We then went on to Helena. Korinne's  family were all there and we really enjoyed a couple of days with them. We went out to eat and played games and had a good time.
   On Wednesday we traveled to Butte and spent the night there before picking up Collette for the trip home on Thursday. We had a great time at Ken's. Little Gemma is growing up so fast and is as sharp and cute as can be. We enjoyed visiting with Ken and Sherri, Kylie and Katlin were both at home so it was a great time to visit there.
The roads coming home were all clear. We felt like it was probably the best winter traveling we have had going and coming from Montana.
  As we arrived home we were tired and some interesting news greeted us. The 675 West chapel is the newest one in the stake. On Christmas day a fire sprinkler pipe froze and broke. Since no one was around the building, the water was from two to four inches deep in the chapel and the bishop's offices, the cultural hall floor was soaked as well. Damage assesment is not complete but the estimate is that it will take two weeks to two months to clean up and repair the building. In the meantime, there will be four wards meeting in the Stake Center and four in our Blacksmith Fork building. That mean that the late wards will be meeting at 3:00 p.m. Last Sunday all the wards met in a two hour block but this week they are all going to meet for the full three hours.
  We decided to go to all the sacrament meetings in our building. We began the day in our ward and then also attended the other three sacrament meetings in the building. The most touching meeting was in the 14th ward. There is a young teenager in that ward who has some significant physical challenges. She struggles to get around with a walker and she has a difficult time speaking. She made her way to the front of the chapel to speak into the microphone. It was difficult to understand her words but her spirit was so strong that no one could question the depth of her testimony. She testified strongly as to her love of the Savior, the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the fact that the gospel is true and that we are led today by a prophet of God.
  What a great family! They have supported her and encouraged her to participate as fully as possible without putting any doubts in her mind that there are things she is unable to accomplish. We talked about her family previously when her younger brother was baptized and they all sang the song, "Gethsemane."
  Being away for a week, we are a little rusty with our work but we are determined to go forward with faith and finish strong.

This has been a great week! We have had many neat experiences with our Living Christmas card activity. We have met some wonderful people and enjoyed reading the Christmas story from Luke with many families. One memorable experience was just last night. Following a visit to former neighbors we went to a family with a mother and three children. She is not a member of our church but when we arrived there we recognized that last year about this time we were looking for an address in that area. We stopped at her home and she was very kind to us and told us where to find the address we were looking for. As we knocked on the door the children then she came to the door as we sang. She invited us in and we read the Christmas story, taking time to explain to the three children what some of the words meant. Words like decree, delivered, and swaddling clothes are not part of most young children's vocabulary today. After we read we asked the mother about how things were for her family. She told us a long story about her life and adventures. She has had some difficult times recently with health problems and she doesn't seem to be at the end of those problems just yet. One of the redeeming factors in all this is she had a member of our church in the neighborhood that she just loves and that neighbor is very loving and kind to her and the children. There was a great spirit in that home which made it very comfortable for us to be there.
We have had a busy but memorable week.
  We are looking forward to today. We have a zone conference until about three o'clock. Following that we are going to Keith's home and celebrate and early Christmas with him and his family. Thursday night we are having Kaylene and her family here and then the day after Christmas we are going to Montana to see more family. We are just praying that the weather will be calm so that the trip will not be a white knuckled experience.
We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  This has been a pretty good week. We have been busy but there are a couple of things that stand out for the week. Our mission is doing a living Christmas card project. Members in the wards give names of friends and neighbors to their ward mission leaders who make up the list for the missionaries to visit.
We and the Elders then take those lists and divide them between us unless there is a specific pair requested to make the visit. So, during the eveing hours we have been making those visits.
Last night we found two families at home and delivered the singing card. We begin by singing "Silent Night" then announce who had asked us to make the visit. We then asked if we could come in and leave a short Christmas messsage with them. We then read Luke 2: 1-20 about the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. We conclude by asking if we can leave a blessing on their home. In both cases last night we were welcomed and it was a great experince to share the love of Jesus Christ with each family. In both homes they warmly received the story of Jesus' birth, and seemed happy about having the blessing on their homes. In the second home, the lady said that she had just found out this week that her mother has cancer. She was so grateful for our visit and asked us to share that news of her mother with the person who sent us to see her.
  The second miracle of the week happened today. Early in our mission we were sent to a home to visit a neat lady and her husband.The husband had a serious bout with an infection and had spent an extended time in the hospital. Both are members, the sister has been active and after many years of waiting, went to the temple and continues to attend regularly. When we first went to the home we gave some specific attention to the husband and encouraged him to attend church so he could go to the temple with his wife. After a few meetings, he told his wife he didn't want to have us come to his home again, he just wasn't interested in becoming active. Later he told her that he still wasn't interested but if she wanted to have us visit, that would be fine as long as we didn't preach to him. We have been there a couple of time since and talked with her, he did not join us on the visit. During this past week, we were told that she would be speaking in sacrament meeting today so we were determined to be there. Well, the great surprise of the day was that her husband came with her to listen to her talk. She bore a wonderful testimony of how much she loves the Lord and how blessed she feels for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in her life. Her husband could not help but feel her testimony and recognize how blessed he is to have such a sweet woman for a wife.
  The Lord loves all his children and wants them to be happy. The only way to be truly happy is to be willing to learn His commandments and make a commitment to live them to the best of one's ability.
We love the Lord and are happy to be able to celebrate His birth and love for His children.

    On Monday we visited several members of our ward and invited them to attend the Christmas Party on Wednesday. But first things first, Wednesday morning we attended our mission Christmas devotional. The senior couples made breakfast cassaroles, muffins, and other things to make a breakfast. The mission had fruit, milk, and juices as well. Following the breakfast we had a very spritual devotional. Many scriptures were read, and several musical numbers were performed. They were all done very well then we had talks from Pres. and Sister Allred. It was a wonderful meeting and very uplifting. We had a dinner appointment in the fourth ward so we attended the 12th Ward Christmas Party and just visited. Because of our dinner, we missed the program which they presented first; but we had some good visits with our ward members.Thursday we had our District Meeting and then attended a temple session. The first week of each month, the senior couples go to a temple session. Because of the mission devotional, our district meeting was held on Thursday instead of Wednesday so some of the couples had conflicts so there were only three couples who were able to go to the temple.
  Friday we had the First Ward Christmas party. It was lightly attended but that was because a young lady from that ward passed away on Wednesday and the viewing was held on Friday evening. It is a sad time for the family because this young lady was born with a serious mental handicap and had nearly died a year ago from complications of pneumonia. She recently had a serious fall and the effects of that fall led to her passing.
  We have had some wonderful visits this past week. We have shown the video "A Savior Is Born" to many families this week. It is a short video but really brings to focus the importance of the mission of Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement for each of us. Hearts are generally soft at this time of the year and the spirit is quite strong in the homes where we show that video.
  Today we went to an early morning meeting with our stake presidency and our Elders. We then attended the fourth ward sacrament meeting and then we enjoyed the opportunity of going to our own ward for the block. It is so different to go to our own ward and see so many people that we don't know. We will have an opportunity to get acquainted with them soon.
  Christmas season is upon us. This coming week we are going to start visting families with our live Christmas card presentation where we will sing a Christmas hymn then read the story of Christmas from Luke chapter two. It will be a fun experience! We have a list of about fifty families already to visit with this program.

The last few days have been a blur so before time gets totally away, I will update everyone on the last weeks activities and experiences.
Now that we have elders instead of sisters in our stake, Elder Castleton has been doing a lot of transporting etc. with the missionaries. It is a switch since Sister Castleton went frequently with the sisters when they needed help.
Sunday Ruth gave a Family History presentation to the fifth ward combined Relief Society and Priesthood.That took a lot of time to put together her thoughts and she went even further and made a power point presntation along with a bundle of handouts for the class participants.
  We have had some wonderful visits with people in the area. Our big challenge is to find people home during the day time hours. Most of the time, we have plenty of people to see during the evening hours after dinner. The members have been very kind inviting us to dinner, we really enjoy getting acquainted with them and especially the children. Where there are children, we try to fit the message to them We find many of them are excited when we show them the Family History video presented by children and then talk to the children about the book MY FAMILY.
  Thanksgiving was different for us. We are usually able to have a lot of family around us on that day but this year was a little different, we mostly worked from home during the day and then in the afternoon we spent time with Kaylene, Ron, and Collette. Then we had dinner with them and Hallie and TeTe. Friday night we had a great meal and enjoyed the family of one of our ward mission leaders with his wife and four neat children
  Saturday was a real special day. Ruth's nephew Jonathan is going to be married next month. There was a shower for his fiance so we stopped in and met her and saw some family there. That was a nice experience.
  Later in the day we had a young man who had been investigating the Church with the sisters that went to the bishop and told him he wanted to be baptized. Our new elders went and met with him and he was excited to follow through on his commitment. He was interviewed and the arrangements were made for his baptimsm on Saturday afternoon. The ward was very supportive and he had a nice group to celebrate his baptism.
  Following the baptism we were invited to have dinner with another neat family with three children 13,11, and 9. They have been here about three years and previously lived in Nevada. They said it seems that a lot of people in this are are realated and it is more difficult to get to know people. Their previous exerience was that they would invite several families for a barbeque and would have a good number show up. They have tried that here and no one has come because they have had their own family gatherings. It seeems we are not as willing as we have been in the past to get acquainted with new people in the area and include them in our gatherings. That is sad but true in many instances.
Following dinner we talked to them about their family. The children were quite aware of things about their family and were excited to talk with us about the MY FAMILY book. We really enjoyed the eveing with this family.
Sunday was a big day for the First ward. We went to the sacrament meeting for Hadden's confirmation which was very special. During the meeting their bishop was released after serving for about six years. It was a special meeting and there was a wonderful feeling of love expressed for the outgoing bishop as well as the new bishop. We then went to the fifth ward where our new friends Chris and Holli had their baby blessed. Chris was just ordained an Elder so he was able to bless his child Cooper. What a great experience to be asked to stand in the circle for the blessing. We then attended the combined meeting where Ruth did a great job presenting Family Search changes and answering questions from those in attendance. We attended a ward missionary meeting and then our regular stake coorelation meeting. Then we had wonderful meal with a delightful family and presented them the new Christmas message that was just released on Saturday. It is called "A Savior Is Born." It is a wonderful reminder of why we celebrate Christmas. President Monson said, "The Spirit of Christmas is indeed the CHRIST spirit. May each of us recognize Christ as the reason for the Christmas season!

  It seems that each week goes faster now but we are enjoying the opportunity to meet new people in our stake. We have talked some about how great it is to still be meeting people we do not know. With over three thousand people in the stake, it isn't hard to understand why we are still meeting those families we have not met before.
  Monday night was special. We spent some family time as Jennette's grandson Anthony graduated from the police acadamey. He also earned the award for being the most physically fit in the class.
  Tuesday turned out to be a different day. We have been working with Nick and trying to help him through s tough stretch in his life. He called in the morning and asked if we could take him to Idaho Falls to pick up a truck.We first told him no because Ruth had taken some sisters to the temple early in the morning and we were to pick them up and take them to the transfer breakfast. We looked at our schedule and felt it might be the best use of our time to accomodate Nick's request if he could go in the afternoon. So we went to the breakfast at a family named Tolman in the Wellsville area and had a great time as the missionaries learned of new assignments. We were w
"whitewasshed" as Sis. Fraizer went home and Sis. Burt was transferred to Mendon. In their place we have elders. Elder Madsen and Elder Castillo.
That afternoon we drove Nick to Idaho Falls and then returned home. It was a long day but we had a good discussion with Nick. He seems to be inching closer to wanting to look closer at meeting with the missionaries. His bishop is just a great man and is looking after him even though he is not a member of the Church.
  On Wednesday morning we took the truck to pick up Sisters belongings and take them to the Tabernacle in Logan where we traded them for our new elders. Sister Michia was transferred to Ogden so we helped her as well as Sis. Burt. We met our new elders and trucked their belongings to their new apartment and they started to settle in. Later I drove them around the area and talked with them about what we knew as far as their work was concerned. They dug right in and cleaned out the apartment and organized their area book. It is great now that they have I pads they can get much of the information they need and know what has been going on in the area.
   Thursday we took the Elders to lunch and then spent the afternoon talking with them about what we knew about the work in the area. They are anxious to meet people and push forward.
   Friday morning we had a nice visit with the family we taught temple lessons and went to the temple with them a few months ago. They have moved to Nibley and they brought their son and visited with us for a while. They seem to be doing well which we were happy to know.
  Sunday was a busy and long day. We started with an early morning stake council meeting. It was a follow up with the discussion centering on making the Sabbath a delight. The bishops and counselors were invited to attend, it was a great meeting. We then attended the 14th ward, we hadn't been there for a while and we really enjoyed their sacrament meeting. We then attened Nibley 2nd ward where our friends, the John's gave their mission ending report. It was a nice opportunity to see them and their family. We had a home teaching visit before our ward mission leader meeting.
We returned to the 14th ward for dinner. It was great because we weree invited to the Barfus family in the 14th ward. Josh's grandmother was Hazel who was married to Ruth's dad. Cheli's step-mother and her husband are very good friends of ours, we have been good friends most of the time we have lived in Hyrum. They have twin boys and a new little girl that is just about four months old and cute as can be.
We love this work and are thankful for the opportunity to work together to share our testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel.

  Time marches on but we are going to take advantage of each day and enjoy every experience. Last Sunday was an especially exciting day. I'm just looking back on our blog and it appears that the entry last week was not posted. We took our prep day and went to Eagle Mountain to see our new little granddaughter Elizabeth. She is so sweet and the children are all excited to have her join the family. The highlight of the week was when we were able to attend the ordination of Chris to the Melchizedek Priesthood. He was very humble but excited. His mother and his sister attended. His mother was very teary and his sister seemed happy to be there as well. This is like a pay day for missionaries.
  This week we had some great teaching appointments. We mostly stopped in to see people that had been referred to us and we found many home and were able to give messages to the families. We found a neat video on Thanksgiving we are sharing that is very well done.
We were saddened by a letter from our former supervisor couple. Elder Fryer has been diagnosed with stage four liver bile duct cancer and has about six months to live. This couple treated us so kindly and were so great as our leaders. It is hard to see this kind of thing happen in the lives of people we love. We are praying that he will have a good quality of life and know how much he is loved by those that they helped in our missionary service.
We have had some great visits with members who have invited us to dinner with their families. We have been blessed to get acquainted with so many neat people in the Stake. This has been a blessing we have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy as we see these people even after our mission ends.
Friday afternoon we attended a temple session. As we were going into the temple we met a special couple who have become close friends. Through tears he told us he has been called to be a counselor to the bishop in his ward and asked if we could come when he is set apart following sacrament meeting. Bro. Toone will make a great counselor for the bishop.
The day was rather bitter-sweet for us. Last night we attended a farewell testimony meeting for our Sis. Frazier and another sister who started her mission in our area, Sis. Smith. It was a tearful meeting but a spirit filled meeting. We are anxious to see what happens with transfers looming on Wednesday.
What a blessing to serve the Lord. We pray each day for guidance so that we can see the people the Lord needs us to help turn toward the Gospel.
I want to end with a quote from Elder Scott from his book 21 PRINCIPLES. He recognizes that adversity is a part of life. The Lord is interested in what we are becoming through our choices. Then he says this. " Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels your are prepared to grow more (see Proverbs 3: 11-12) He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching and that generally entails discomfort and pain."

Week of November 10

  We have had a good week. We only have about four and a half months left to serve and we have been thinking some about what life might be like when we are finished with this assignment.
  We continue to have wonderful experiences with the young couple we have been teaching. They are so willing to learn and keep their commitments. They are praying and studying the scriptures. This will surely bring them blessings and opportunities to continue their understanding and spiritual growth.
  We have wonderful support from our leaders. One bishop gave us an opportunity to be of service to a young man. He and his family went to visit some people in his ward. The person that they wanted to see was not home but they met another young man who had just returned from spending some time in jail. His wife and child had left and gone to California and he was quite distraught. They left him the plate of cookies after visiting with him for a while and then called us and asked if we would take him to the bishop's storehouse the next day to get some food. As we drove to and from the storehouse, he gave us a life sketch. He is really struggling right now but is willing to learn and grow.
He promised the bishop he would come to church on Sunday and he came and a friend from the same apartment complex came with him. The friend had met with our sister missionaries earlier in the week.
  Saturday was a family day. We drove to Eagle Mountain. Our first experience was to watch our grandson Jeff play a football game. This is his first year playing tackle football but is a dedicated football team member, willing to play wherever the coach wants to use him. He is one of the smallest in stature but has a big heart and desire to contribute. He was happy to play and his team won the game and now this week will be in a playoff game.
Following the game we drove with our son Keith to Provo to watch two of his girls in the play, "Into the Woods Jr." Jessie played Red Riding Hood's grandmother, and Naomi played a tree. They both did a good job, we were happy to be there to see them act.

  Sunday was a normal but busy day. We attended several meetings including going to our own ward for the full block of meetings. It is always good to meet with people we know and  love, although we are getting quite well acquainted in all the wards int the stake.
  The highlight of this post is that yesterday Catherine and Keith delivered our 18th grand child. A beautiful little girl named Elizabeth. She was over due by doctors time table but right on time according to her mother. We are so excited to go spend some time with her tomorrow. One additional note is that she was born on her great grandfather's birthday. John N. Castleton, my father was born on Nov. 2, 1913. What a wonderful birthday present for him. We have wondered how much opportunity they may have had to become acquainted before she left the presence of Heavenly Father.I guess that is a question we can ponder until we are able to know for sure about things like that.