Finally! December 30, 2012

Well, what can I say? I'm a flake for sure! We have been busier than a 16-year old with a new car!!!! I'm just going to start posting pictures and talk about them.

You'd think that this sign would some how be associated with our mission, right? But, no. It is posted at the end of the driveway of a church in Bedford NH. But it is such a cool sign, I'm going to pretend that it belongs to us!!

The Bedford Town Hall is just down the street from the Mission Field sign. Bedford was established in 1750 and this building sits on top of the hill with many other buildings of the town.

Thanksgiving Day we worked in the office. Got a lot done since we were there alone most of the day. We came home and had soup! We got to talk with our kids so that made it a really special and different Thanksgiving for us.

On Sunday, December 23 (Joseph Smith's and Diann Hokanson's birthdays) we were invited to a Nepali wedding by Suk. She is from Nepal and being taught by 2 of our Elders. She is about 44 years old and just the nicest lady you would want to meet. Her husband is still in Nepal and should be arriving in the US in about 6 more months. She has had us over for dinner twice--first time was goat meat and second time was mostly vegetable dishes. Anyway, we arrived at her apartment, and it was crammed with relatives--wall to wall. When we got there (Elder B, 2 Sisters, 2 Elders, and myself) it was standing room only. The bride (Suk's daughter) and groom were seated on the sofa and everyone else found room around them.

You can see the red dish on the table? That is sticky rice and food coloring. The relatives say things to the couple, paste the rice on their foreheads, and give them gifts or put cash in the grooms hand. All the while there is loud Nepali music going on all over the apartment. I took a video of many of the guests dancing with Suk including the Sister missionaries who really looked like they knew what they were doing. I got up and participated, but I sure didn't take a picture of myself doing that!

The little 5-year old on the left is Suk's niece, Shearyea, pronounced like sheedia. She loves to come to church with Suk, and she just loves Primary. She is one of the happiest little girls I have seen in a long time. She's happy about everything and so good natured. And she loves dark chocolate! Needless to say we have bonded.

This is Suk and Shearyea at Stake Conference. Shearyea sat very quiet the whole 2 hours, so when there was about 45 minutes to go, I gave her a Dove chocolate and and wipe! She loved it.

After attending the Nepali wedding, we and the four missionaries drove to Bishop and Sister Dickson's home for a prime rib dinner that was delicious. I have to admit though that I think Elder Hatch has a hollow leg. I couldn't believe how many kielbasas he put away. And that was part of the appetizer! Then he ate dinner. And all of that was only 2 hours after the Nepali wedding lunch!!!!

Christmas morning we picked up our 4 missionaries and drove to Deerfield NH for Christmas breakfeast (sic) with the Lahr family in our ward. They do this every year. We were so fortunate to be there. They had sausage, bacon, french toast, cinnamon rolls, yogurt, and juice. They gave each missionary a stocking with goodies in it. So sweet of them. They have 3 children, Elizabeth 17, Eric 14, who looks like Hoss from Bonanza, and Jake who is 8. They live the farthest out in the ward. Brother Lahr has a transmission repair business and said that he is keeping very busy because he pays his tithing. Great family.

Christmas Day after Skyping and FaceTiming with most of our children and grandchildren, we went to President and Sister Wilkey's home for an 8-course French dinner. There were 12 of us--Wilkey's, Stake President Anderson, his wife, and two children, Elder and Sister DeLoach (senior couple doing records preservation in Concord NH) and 2 sister missionaries, and ourselves. It was great and delicious fun. President Anderson's 17-year old daughter, Mary Alice, played a beautiful arrangement of Silent Night on her violin. We chatted and talked about the Savior and his love and left all warm and fuzzy. It was a wonderful day!

December 27 was the first big snowfall and the next day there was even more snow. We are not supposed to get anymore snow for about a week. We are amazed how the plow trucks just stay busy and keep all the streets clear. Almost every house has a snow blower. On the way to church this morning, many people where out clearing their sidewalks and driveways. Normal course of events here in New England in the winter.

It is hard to believe that we have been out on our mission for 11 months already. Time is flying by. Salt Lake is sending us a bunch of new missionaries. Many of the Elders are 18 and some of the Sisters are 19. We are excited to have them come here. We have been very busy making preparations for them. Elder Benjamin is scouting out new apartments in all three states, and I have been doing all the paper work for 32 new arriving missionaries over the next 3 months. Wow, it is fun though. We love staying busy serving the Lord here.

November 3, 2012

After President Monson's announcement about the age option of missionaries at General Conference last month, a lot has been happening here in New England. President Wilkey told us that we will be getting ready for about 80 to 90 new missionaries after the first of the year. Now I know why I have been organizing and streamlining all the paperwork for incoming missionaries. There will not be one dull moment in our office! Elder Benjamin will be finding new apartments and furnishing them. Elder Davis will be dealing with new cars and cell phones. And Sister Davis will be stocking more supplies and filling more orders. She also takes care of new referrals and baptism records. I really like my job cause I get in with the new and out with the old!!!! I'm also happy to tell all of you that my 66-year old brain works just great!

Zone Conferences are Nov 12 and 14. Elder Nash of the Seventy will be visiting. You may remember that he spoke in the October General Conference. There are lots of grooming protocols for the missionaries when a General Authority visits. Everyone will be all polished and shined. We decided on sack lunches for the zone conferences and we have to stick to 30 minutes from start to cleanup. Zone Conference is very nice for all the missionaries including the seniors. The two wards take care of everything so we don't have to prep and serve and cleanup. We get to eat and partake of the spirit and not worry about how everything is coming along in the kitchen.

Six really good missionaries went home last month. We loved them all and will miss them here, but we already know that they are moving on in their lives. We sure wish them the best!

We weathered Hurricane Sandy without any problems. The electricity stayed on here in our apartment and in the office. We put in some extra food in case we lost power, but thank goodness we didn't lose the power. Thursday we visited a sister with the Elders. She is inactive and has to work on Sundays so she can't come to church. She was baptized in 2006 in the other ward here and the church just lost her. We see that a lot here. The RS pres made out the visiting teaching routes a couple of weeks ago. This is how it went: An active sister gets a route with 2 active sisters on it and about 6 to 8 inactive sisters. The VTer visits the 2 active ones every month and then has to play detective to find out what has happened to the inactive sisters. The ward is so spread out-probably about like Woodland Ward. Last Sunday Sacrament Meeting started with about 10 people in the chapel and that included the bishopric, pianist, and chorister! The meetings here always start about 5 to 10 minutes late. The mission is stressing "real growth." Baptizing people who will stay active. It's a challenge here, but we're working on it.

We are so happy for Lexie! She got her mission call to Australia Sydney! She is so excited. She checks into the MTC on Wed., March 13. That will be a switch for her. She works in the MTC cafeteria and has been serving the missionaries for about a year. So now they get to serve her!!!!! There were about 30 of us on FaceTime and Skype and the telephone watching her open her call letter. Here is a picture of her call letter.

We love you all and miss you. We are half way done with our mission and from what we understand and knowing that we will be busier than ever, the next half will fly by and we will be home before you know it. Be happy and safe and stay true!

October 13, 2012

We have been busy getting ready for transfers next week. There are 12 new missionaries coming in and 6 going home. We work for 4 straight weeks getting all the paper work and processing done. Then the new ones get here and we take a week to process them in. We have another week to recoup and then we start all over again. It is great work and we enjoy it thoroughly. We feel like it is our contribution to moving the Gospel along in New England. The people here are great. Very standoffish until you get to know them and then you have friends for life. On the sad side--two more missionaries have gone home. One because he said he was "done" after three months here and one for a repentance issue. It is very hard on us when a missionary has to go home. We are excited about the new option from President Monson for 18-year old Elders and 19-yr old Sisters. They don't have to go at that early age, but they do have the option to if they want. We are so proud of Alexis for starting the process the day after the announcement!!! Way to go Lexie! Wouldn't it be great if they sent her here? We would love it and she said she would love it too!!

General Conference was wonderful. I may be partial, but my 8th cousin, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, was absolutely dynamite! He makes me want to get up and get going. I love his talks. I came across this the other day and thought that each one of these could add meaning to a person's life. Or they could make a fantastic Sacrament Meeting talk.

Faith is the power.
Love is the motive.
Obedience is the price.
The spirit is the key.
The restoration is the message.
The members are the means.
Christ is the reason.
Baptism is the way.
Joy is the reward.


Last Saturday we drove up the Kancamagus highway to see the leaves in color. I guess the peak was the week before. So we headed south and found lots of color still there. So beautiful when the sun is shining on the trees. Takes your breath away. Heavenly Father sure has created a gorgeous world for us to live in, especially in America.

We are well and happy and consider ourselves lucky to be able to serve a mission now. Thank you to all our family and friends for supporting us in this time of our lives. We are so very grateful. We love you all.

September 23, 2012

I has been an interesting couple of weeks. Seven new elders arrived on September 3rd and on the 18th they and their trainers attended the new missionary training. The 4 elders from July 23 and their trainers also attended. The senior couples go over to the Manchester Chapel and set up lunch, eat, and then clean up and go back to the office. I get to have fun at lunch because I bring the mail in. After I eat I walk among the tables and call out the missionary's name and let them all know who got the most letters or the biggest box. They all seem to love it, even the ones who don't get any mail that day.

On the 12th I went to the doc for teeth cleaning to find that one of my fillings next to a crown had fallen out and of course, the only way to fix it is to remove the crown and get a new one. Well, it's a lot more expensive here in New England. At home about $1100 and here $1600. Ouch!!! My haircuts cost more here also. Eleni, I sure do miss your wonderful haircuts at home. And getting a pedicure here is a feat in itself. If you want a full spa pedi it's $60. I can get the same thing and a much better job at home for $25. I miss my shop at home, Nails 4 U. Oh well, on October 23rd we will be at the half-way mark of our mission. I can hold out till we get home.

I ordered a new iPhone 5 and it should be here this week. I'm excited for all the cool stuff it can do that my iPhone 4 can't. Especially Siri. I downloaded the new iOS6 on my iPad3 and now I have Siri on that. It is so fun to tell her what I want her to do! I love bossing her around!

Today is Kaydence's 2nd birthday. Diana and Ian and Payton drove down from Idaho Falls to Pleasant Grove for the weekend. We FaceTimed yesterday and Kaydence was having a great time opening presents. She's really into princess books, so we gave here "Princess of the Potty."

My 66th birthday was so nice. I loved hearing from all my kids and friends. When I got into the office on Monday, the Assistants (Elders Esplin and Baker) had decorated with a princess motif. The poster on the door said, "Happy Birthday Princess." I had a really good laugh over that. Sister Davis made a delicious carrot cake for me with candles (only 8 cause we didn't want to have to call in the fire marshall) and everything. Great day.

Tomorrow is Mom Kent's 85th birthday. And her sister, Barbara's 84th birthday is on Wednesday. Both of them are in poor health now. They are such wonderful people and I love them both.

Yesterday, I finally got around to start knitting Leona's Mitered Jacket. It will be a long project since I don't get much time to knit-mostly on Preparation Day on Saturdays. Here are a couple of shots of the start of the jacket.

Today at church we had a talk from Brother Nimmo who is on the High Council. His talk was about prophets. One thing that really snapped me to attention was what he said about President Hinckley--The story goes like this: Someone met President Hinckley and said, "Oh, President Hinckley, you will be remembered for building so many temples." And Pres. Hinckley said, "No, I will be remembered for the prophet that no one listened to." Wow, that really hit me and made me want to go back and read all that he has counseled us to do. It would be a great exercise for all of us.

We had another missionary leave the mission. Really, I don't know the details, but some of the ones who have gone home have said that they just can't cut it any longer. I remember when Elder Ballard announced that the bar had been raised and that only worthy young men should apply for a mission. After 2 years here, President Wilkey has seen 36 missionaries go home for health and worthiness and laziness reasons. So I guess my counsel to young men is that they should not bother applying for a mission if they have any doubts about being able to cut it and keep the schedule and forget about all the distractions at home. Sometimes I think that some youth are pushed out on a mission by their parents when the youth isn't ready or mature enough to go. He or she needs to gain a strong testimony of the restored gospel and the Savior before they even apply. I really do feel very sorry for those who go through all the interviews, apply, go to the MTC, arrive in the mission, get trained for 12 weeks, and then say, "I don't want to do this anymore. I'm done." I just don't understand it.

We are getting ready for fall here. The temp is dropping down to a high of 60 and some of the leaves are changing already. We have a couple more weeks to go before we really see all that beautiful color. I can hardly wait.

All our love to our children, grandchildren, siblings, Dad and Mom Benjamin, nephews, nieces, and all family and friends.

September 6, 2012 After Transfers and some before

We just finished transfers! We received 7 new Elders on Monday, and three Elders and three Sisters went home on Wednesday. Elder Benjamin and I really enjoy transfer meeting. All of the missionaries who are going home bear their testimonies. President Wilkey has them talk about one thing at the podium--On my mission I learned this one golden truth that will change who I am forever. We always cry when we hear these testimonies. The spirit is so strong. Dad/Grandpa starts the tears coming before the first missionary starts talking! Three sister missionaries that I have gotten close to went home. We took a lot of pictures and promised to keep in touch.

We went to the Boston Temple with the returning missionaries.

I'll just post some pictures that we took there with my iPad!!!!

Angel's Trumpets at the Boston Temple.

Sisters Wilkey, Horton, Benjamin, and Huntsman at the Boston Temple

Sisters Wilkey, Horton, Benjamin, and Huntsman

Elder Benjamin and Elder Ward

What are they doing?

President and Sister Wilkey with Elder Tirrell Ward

President and Sister Wilkey with Elder Stephen Adams

Davises, Benjamins, President Wilkey, and his assistants, Elders Sommerfeldt & Esplin

Elder John Sommerfeldt and Elder Kaleb Esplin (Assistants) eating Diana's Creamy Mushroom Chicken and Rice, and Watermelon.

President's Assistants like candy!!!! Elders Esplin and Baker

September 2, 2012 Bar Harbor Maine

We just got home from a 2-day trip to Ellsworth, Maine to pick up 2 missionaries and take one to Damariscotta, Maine and the other back here to Manchester, New Hampshire. Since it is a 5-hour trip each way we left yesterday and drove up Highway 1 along the Maine coast. The weather was gorgeous, and since it was Labor Day weekend, we ended up bumper-to-bumper in a few coast towns like York, Maine and Kennebunkport, Maine. We spent last night at our favorite motel in Bar Harbor (mainly cause there were not any other vacancies)-- the Bar Harbor Motel. We went to dinner at the Union River Lobster Pot and had some really delicious clam chowder and Maine blueberry pie. This morning we attended church at the Ellsworth Maine Branch. The attendance was low because of holiday weekend, but the building is very nice and so were the members. A sister I sat with in Relief Society said that everyone has about 3 callings. One thing that was said in the lesson was "Families first because families last." I like that!

Here is a picture of the moon over Bar Harbor. So pretty.

It was Fast Sunday today so we bought some cheese and crackers and bananas last night and broke our fast with the 2 Elders in the car. It was a beautiful ride home.

Tomorrow we are receiving seven new Elders from the MTC. Tuesday is a large Transfer meeting (about 110) and a trip to the Boston Temple. Then on Wednesday we have 4 missionaries returning home. And then it starts all over again in 6 weeks.

Well this is a short one. We love all our kids, grandkids, and friends. And we are so sad to lose Bishop Driver, but we are already in love with Bishop Heath.

August 19, 2012 First Disappointment

Today was to be Tanya's and Josiah's baptisms. They passed their baptism interviews with the Zone Leaders just fine last Saturday. We picked them up for church last Sunday as usual and everything was good except that Tanya told us that her boyfriend, Eric, had gotten on the internet and told her some anti-mormon stuff that he found there--like we have horns and tails and that we were going to change her name and junk like that. We assured her that what he was reading was garbage, and we had a good Sabbath with her and Josiah. Tuesday she was supposed to meet with the Elders and Elder Benjamin, and she wasn't there. We have been calling all week. Finally when Elder Benjamin couldn't get her to return calls or texts, he got permission for one of the Elders who taught her (but he got transferred) to call her. She returned his second call and said that she hadn't been feeling well and that Eric was in the hospital. We haven't heard from her since. She has not returned any calls from any of us, nor does she answer her door. So two Sister missionaries and I dropped by to pick her up for church this morning and no answer. So we just don't know what to think. We are praying for her and hope that there is some really good explanation besides a very negative one. Eric asked her why she was giving up things she likes to do--like smoking, coffee, and him! She asked him to meet with the Elders and he did once, but he didn't seem very receptive. Eric's son who is 11 sat in on the discussion and said that he wanted to be baptized, too. Well, anyway, we were very disappointed that the baptisms didn't happen today. We hope to hear from Tanya about all this.

On a little happier note: We and 2 Elders took Tanya and Josiah to the Joseph Smiith Birthpace Memorial two weeks ago. Had a wonderful time with them and they loved the spirit of the place.

Josiah loves Primary (he is 8 but looks bigger) and loves to read the Book of Mormon. Last Sunday he was at church with a white shirt and tie. He looked so spiffy.

Paul sent me this picture of Ryker and Kaydence. Paul called it "The General and His Homey!" I laughed forever!!!! Thanks Paul for that one.

Tony and Annette and all 5 of their children were here for a visit. It was so good to see them and to see someone that we are related to! We took them to the JSM as well and had a nice picnic there, looked around, then drove back to Manchester for dinner and ice cream at the world famous Puritan Chicken restaurant. They have the absolute best chocolate almond frozen yogurt!! Everyone loved dinner and the ice cream. Sunday they all came to church with us and then here in our little apartment for a cozy spaghetti dinner and more ice cream. It was wonderful. I guess I got a little homesick after they left, but I'm back on track again.

Zone Conferences this week on Tuesday in South Royalton, Vermont and Thursday in Augusta, Maine. Such fun to be with all the missionaries.

Bye for now. We love you all--children, grandchildren, parents, and friends.