Sunny, warm days abound!

Early morning walks have been the best this week.

 

Monday morning we walked along the river. This fisherman caught my eye as he was casting his long line up the river and watching it float down. We didn’t stop long enough to watch if he caught a fish or not but it was a beautiful sight.

 

Tuesday and went to the prairie. We saw a lot of blue herons.

 

Wednesday it was back to the river. Most of the geese babies have grown into teenagers and have their feathers but we found one flock that must have been late as they still had down coats.

 

We cast long shadows as we crossed the bridge.

 

Thursday we were back to the prairie. We saw so many herons and some eagles that we had to go back on Friday for a second look.

 

In the stream you can see an eagle in the water

At the top of the big pine you can see two white heads sitting in a nest

Saturday morning we went south along the river where we again saw a lot of herons.

 

It has been a great week for walking and enjoying the sights of Mother Nature and the summer.

Tuesday was MLC (Mission Leadership Council). We had all of the zone leaders, sister training leaders, and district leaders in the entire mission for training and lunch. It is fun to help with the lunch because I get to see so many missionaries.

 

Elder Bogle

Wednesday I was blessed to go to lunch with Sisters Boulter and O’barr. What fun!

 

Thursday was Santa Clara Zone interviews at the office. It was also the anniversary day for President and Sister Cornelius being mission leaders for a year. The missionaries in the zone decorated their office and brought them a cake.

 

Friday was interviews in Corvallis. As you can see, we had waffles and fixings. Elders Peterson and Baker once again (repeat of last transfer interviews) got hold of the can of whipped cream…..

 

 

 

Sisters Maile and Blackham
Elders Starley and Kunz

Friday evening Sisters Palmer and Sterzer went to dinner with me at a Chinese food restaurant. Great company.

 

Saturday Katie and Jeremy, my eldest daughter and her husband, flew into Eugene. I picked them up at the airport and we went to the Dough Co for Calzone. We were all so hungry that we forgot to get a picture. They had an early flight and were exhausted so while they rested for a time, I worked on my weekly report.

 

We went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant and ate WAY too much food and again, no pictures. Sorry to my foodie friends and family.

Sunday as Katie and I were leaving the chapel, we saw a turkey vulture sitting on the roof of the mission office.  It had rained while we were in Sacrament Meeting and the bird had it's wings spread wide.  It appeared to be drying out after the rain.  It is an ugly faced bird but beautiful at the same time.

 

Sunday evening, Katie and I drove to Corvallis for the Restoration Devotional. It was a most pleasant evening.   President Cornelius gives a short talk and the missionaries share the story of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth after the death of our Savior through the Prophet Joseph Smith.   It was a spirit filled meeting.

I am grateful for my membership in the restored church and for the gift of the Holy Ghost and for our living prophet on the earth today, President Russell M. Nelson. I love reading and studying the Book of Mormon.  I gain guidance and inspiration as I read and study.

I love my Savior

I love you my family and friends.

 

 

 

 

Transfer week is nice and not so nice

 

Sister and Elder Barker invited me to travel with them to their daughter’s home in Vancouver WA for the weekend. We received permission from the mission president to go so after we finished work on Friday, we took off. 

Alicia and Matt Boyden and their daughters, Aspen, Brooke, and Callie welcomed us to their home. The girls were off to a ball game and the rest of us played a board game.

Saturday, we went into Portland to the Portland Art Museum. They had some Monet art work there on display for a short time. 

After the museum we went to the Portland International Rose Test Garden. Beautiful roses.

This has an interesting name. We thought maybe it was named that because it has red on one side of the petal and yellow on the other.

For dinner we went to Thai Bloom to eat.

I had Tom Kha soup and chicken satay with peanut sauce. We shared a mango sticky rice dessert.

Sunday morning I woke to a beautiful sunrise over the reserve.

After going to church and enjoying a delicious steak and mashed potato mid-afternoon meal, we headed back to Eugene.

Back to the beginning of the week, Monday, Sisters Davis and Zollinger grabbed Sister Crump and me at the office and off we went to Dairy Queen for a blizzard. What fun!!

Tuesday morning in our walk was saw a beautiful blue heron. I love his feathers on his chest. Zoom in for a better view.

Tuesday evening Sister and Elder Barker and Sister and Elder Crump met with me as we had dinner with Koby Hansen. He finished his mission a couple of months ago and returned for a visit. It was so nice to see him again.

Wednesday morning on our walk we saw an egret and noticed that the wild peas are blooming. My phone plant identifier names this the Everlasting Pea. I really like this color. 

Wednesday was transfer day when missionaries are transferred from one zone to another. Not everyone is moved every transfer but many are so there can be a lot of upheaval for a day or so. 

Wednesday evening was dinner at the mission home for the departing missionaries. I tried to get pictures with each one but I missed a few. 

Elder Ashby

Elder Graf

Sister Withers

Elder Graf

Sister Huffaker 

Sister Eastman 

Elder Aires

Elder Neff

Elder Bott

Elders Trotter and Petersen assistants to the president taking the pictures

Thursday the departing missionaries went to the temple with President and Sister Cornelius. I went to lunch with Sisters Sterzer and Palmer. The Dough Co and calzones are a favorite!!

Friday the missionaries departed in the morning and the new missionaries arrived in time for lunch. 

The new arrivals and their companions

After lunch I interviewed each missionary to get their basic health history. It is always fun to get to know them. 

After lunch, interviews and everything was cleaned up, Sister and Elder Barker and I left for Vancouver as explained earlier. 

My mother had a book of poetry by Edgar Albert Guest. I used to love to read the poems. I don’t think I was old enough or had lived long enough to have appreciated them like I do now. Here is a poem about fathers. 

Only a Dad
By Edgar Albert Guest 

Only a dad, with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame,
To show how well he has played the game,
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come, and to hear his voice. 

Only a dad, with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more.
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await. 

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them. 

Only a dad, but he gives his all
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing, with courage stern and grim,
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen,
Only a dad, but the best of men.

I think of my father and the hard worker that he was. The way he took care of us. The way he loved my mother. The way he set an example of love for all. He truly loved everyone. The way he served his church callings. He was fun and playful but taught us obedience too. I am so blessed to have a wonderful father. 

I am blessed to have a husband who was a wonderful father who loved and cared for his family just as our sons and sons by another mother (sons-in-law whom I claim as my own) now care for and love their families. 

I have a Father in Heaven that blesses me in ways too numerous to mention. Fathers bless our lives.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.