SEATTLE TEMPLE

Last night Mark and I were released as Seattle Temple Ordinance Workers.  We had worked there for 11 1/2 years.  It was very sad for me.  I kept it together until the Assistant to the Matron, Marlies Sainsbury, called me into her office to formally release!  Then I got a little teary-eyed!   She was my mentor and trained me!!  I remember her as the sweetest, most dignified and helpful person ever.  I wanted to emulate her.  I changed shifts and later when I was the Shift Coordinator, she switched over to our Friday night shift as an OW.  It was fun and she boosted my confidence even more!!  After my interview with her I was off and on emotional the rest of the night.  

It has been a great privilege to spend time in this Holy House on a regular basis.  No place on earth is as peaceful, or uplifting!  I learned so much by being there.  Whenever I was going through hard times, I felt I got a clearer perspective of which direction I should choose, what I should do and how I needed to change me to become the best person I could be.  Obviously, I haven't reached perfection, yet, but I love the feeling I get when I know I am trying and I feel the approval of our Savior....especially in this place!

What great people we meet there....other OW were such great and supportive people.  Each of them had their own struggles, and were being strengthened by being there!  The patrons were delightful and often seeing them all dressed in white walking through the halls, brought me to tears!!  There were many small miracles that happened there that are almost too sacred to share!! 

I am so grateful I had the opportunity to serve there for so many years.  I am a different person because of the experiences there!! 

Now we are headed in a different direction!!  To serve as senior missionaries in the Iowa Des Moines Mission!  We will be able to occasionally attend the Winters Quarters Temple in Nebraska and the Nauvoo, Illinois Temple!  So excited for this next chapter in life.

The only sad part is leaving my family.....and just before Christmas!!  I will also miss the birth of a new granddaughter....James and Jamie's!!  I will miss games, baptisms, baby blessings, table games, dinners at our home, holiday get-togethers, all the backyard activities, babysitting and so, so much more!!  What makes this bearable is that we are promised that we will see many blessings in the lives of our children and grandchildren!   That we can always use!!!!  So to my children and grandchildren....I hope you will be aware of the little blessings in life that you will receive because your parents/grandparents are serving a mission for our Heavenly Father and His, Son, Jesus Christ and there are ALWAYS blessings attached when you serve!!

I HAVE A NEW WARDROBE

So now that I know where we are going on our mission, it was time for a new wardrobe!  So Becca and Maria took me shopping!  How is it that they can find the cutest outfits?  When I look at them on the hanger, I am not too impressed.  But, they find the skirts, tops, dresses, etc. and put it all together and they look great!  I had so much fun and came away with enough stuff to put together 7 or 8 outfits!   And we laughed a lot through the whole experience!  Especially when buying some unmentionables!!  Let's just say that they thought 30+ years was too long to keep certain clothing.  I thought I was just being thrifty!!  We finished up with lunch at Azteca!  I have some more shopping to do from a list of suggested items to bring that we received from the Missionary Department.....specific to our mission!

IOWA DES MOINES MISSION.....here we come!

Mission Call

We always planned on going on a mission for the church when Mark retired.  He retired the first of April.  I had some health issues that needed to be treated before we could even fill out the papers.  In February, we found that I had gluten intolerance and after going gluten free for several months I was feeling so much better.  So we started the process of filling out the papers.  Soooooo many papers!!  By the end of  September we had our papers in.  There were a few little glitches where we heard back from the Missionary Department via our Stake President and after that was cleared up we waited. 

I really wanted my children and grandchildren to be there either in person or via FaceTime.  I got my wish when Brian had his kids the weekend that the call arrived.  It came in the mail on a Saturday early afternoon.  At 6:00 pm everyone was to be there or connected via FaceTime. 

Called to the Iowa Des Moines Mission as office specialists!

Need to report to the Provo MTC (Missionary Training Center) December 9th.

I am looking at Jamie, because her baby is due the 21st of December!

Not to happy about that part.  Also, was hoping to have more time to fly to visit Jason and Jenn in their new home before we had to leave.  Really thought we had until after the first of the year.  No matter when we left, this family is so busy and big that we would have to miss some important events.

There it is in black and white and signed by our prophet, Thomas S. Monson.  We are very excited about where we are going.  So far what I know about Iowa is it gets very cold, they have had tornadoes, they are very serious about their corn, have several medical schools and they have a great state fair in Des Moines, IA.

 

The grandkids that were here for the picture!!

We have such a long To Do list and we leave in about a month.  We wish we could sneak in a visit to Pennsylvania to see Jason and Jenn and family.  All their kids and especially Jim Jim are growing up way too fast and we will miss so much of it.  But, thank goodness for facebook, FaceTime, email, instagram, and blogs!!!

I have to say that I am very excited about this chapter in our life.  Both Mark and I served missions as young adults.   I hope I will be better at it and more seasoned in teaching and in my testimony.  Having the gospel in my life gives me purpose, strength to face hard times, a guide to a happy life, a desire to become more like my Savior (and that is a work always in progress). 

It seems as if we will start out as office specialists in the mission home where are responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:  computer work, ordering supplies, caring for the young missionaries with health issues, homesickness, cars, bikes, apartments, mending their clothes and generally being their "parents" away from home.  Also general office work that includes mail, packages ,  There is probably more that I can blog about later.

Going shopping today with Maria and Becca.....now that we know where we are going!  They are super great at finding styles that are not in the least frumpy and look good on me!  And they are fun to be with!!