Say What? How long since I've blogged??? Not even going to count the days and incidents gone by...sooo here goes bits and pieces.
All the summer missionaries were gone by the end of Oct. It was very hard to see them leave a few at a time from mid Sept to the end of Oct. However, we have gained 3 new wonderful couples, Rawlinsons from Delta, UT; Hawkins from Spanish Fork; and the Hansens from Cernterville. One more couple, the Rodockers from CA. coming Dec. 26th.
Visitor attendance is very low now until a few days before Christmas and after Christmas. We have had one big snow storm (1st week in Nov.) of 1 ft. and gone with in a week. We are expecting some snow this weekend but shouldn't be too much. We did have about an 1" last Sunday but was gone by Mon.
We have been keeping busy by making our "sharing toys" which we give out to our visitors. Last year the winter missionaries made around 15,000. This year we made appox. 10,000 toys. The men do the cutting of the wooden disks and we string and test them. We are also cutting strips of material for the lady who weaves the rugs for the Fort. We will also sew the strips to save on cost of the rugs which range from over $100 a rug.
Have had some amazing spiritual experiences and have met some wonderful and interesting people. Love being a missionary and doing the Lord's work. I am on my own in the office now. I enjoy the work there. Still playing the organ for Sacrament every other Sun. thanks to Sis. Hawkins piano skills who plays the other Sundays.
Our directors, the Dyes, will complete their almost 3 year mission on Jan. 17, 2013. We will miss them so much. Elder Dye's humor and Sister Dye's poetry and sweet spirit have made us feel at home.
The new directors, the Christensens are from St. George. We have heard good things about them and look forward to serving with them.
We have had some amazing opportunities to see some more of Utah's beautiful country.
Zion National Park is one of those. I had a wonderful experience as we were touring the park on a beautiful day in late Sept. We were at the farthest point of our bus tour where we took a hike towards "The Narrows" (an a advanced hike through water and narrow canyon). Our hike was quite gradual and easy called the Riverside Hike...While on this hike we came across a young woman ranger who was sharing some pictures and natural habitat with some hikers. As we stopped to observe, I recognized her as a former visitor to the Fort a few months prior. She caught my eye and said, "I remember those kind eyes". We hugged and felt the spirit of our earlier visit at the fort. She is not a member...we had a wonderful tour when she stopped by the Fort. She seemed very interested in our tour which she took with some fun young women (members) who had stopped by the Fort at the same time. The young women invited her to take the tour with them. I know she was feeling the spirit as we toured. There was a definate connection. It was not by chance that Dan and I met up with her a couple of months later as we were hiking in Zion. She shared with us that she is scheduled every 2 weeks at a different place to work in the park and only stays in one area for 2 hours at a time. Why was she there at that particular place on our path and at that particular day and time??? It was great to see her. We got a picture and exchanged e-mails. She is from Ohio and spends her summers as a ranger in Zion National Park. She will be back next summer and we are hopeful to meet up again. Looking forward to sharing more of the gospel with her.
Last Week Jo and Eric came for a short visit. We spent quality time with them and enjoyed a visit to the St. George Temple grounds and visitor center. Had dinner at our house on Sat...Snow interrupted our Sunday plans and they had to head back to Scottsdale. But loved the time we had..nice family fix.
It's Christmas in 12 days and we are appoaching our mission half-way point. Can't believe it! The time is flying by and there is much service to render. I want not to let the time get by without bringing many more souls to Christ. I pray that Heavenly Father will lead those visitors to the Fort who are needing and searching for peace and happiness in their lives. I want to be an instrument in His hands to help in any way I can.
So the following is a glimpse of what we have been doing and what we have seen.
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| Our visist to Kolob with Jo & Eric |
