Christmas is a memory and our new year will soon arrive.  Bold and fresh!  2013! Remember when 2000 was a big deal?  All the wild and crazy doomsday predictions in 1999 warning us of the collapse of our Internet and computer systems at midnight December 31, 1999.  And we just went through the Mayan calendar thing which was a total non-starter.  But 2013 will be here very soon just as scheduled and on January 1, 2013, we'll all wake up to the new year ready to take on new challenges and move forward with our lives.

On Christmas Eve we worked at the office in the morning.  We were all waiting for the mail to come.  The plan was for the mail to be divided into areas and then we would all deliver those last minute packages to the missionaries.

Doyle and I went the farthest to Greenville, SC.  We met the zone leaders from Greenville West and Greenville East at the church buildings in Simpsonville and Boiling Springs.  They were very excited to see us with those final gifts.  They did the final deliveries to the missionaries.  It was a great drive even though it rained pretty hard right after we left Columbia. 

 

 

 

Christmas morning was spent here at the 5th wheel.  We had a few presents from grandchildren and after breakfast we opened those.  Practical gifts like body wash, foam soap, chocolate, pizza gift cards , Christmas tree decorations.  It was simple and lovely!

 

 

 

 

Later that day we joined people from church along with a few of their friends and 3 other missionaries to enjoy a fine Christmas meal.  Danielle and Matthew really cooked up a storm.  There was so much food including a turkey, a rare prime rib, a medium prime rib, stuffing, mashed potatoes, au jus and gravies, a bean casserole, 4 or 5 different deserts ...all homemade.  Matthew made a wonderful cheesecake.  We brought the rolls, a cranberry salad, cheese and crackers and some homemade buckeyes.  The kitchen of Danielle's home was completely full of food!  Eleven people simply could not eat enough.  There were so many leftovers! 

 

Danielle and Matthew

 

Doyle and our two branch missionaries, Elder Ward and Elder Olsen.

 

 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we were at the office doing what we always do.  We are moving one of our senior couples from Augusta to Greenville and I was very busy trying to locate a new apartment and make the arrangements for the move.  Luckily, I had a very good connection in Greenville and was able to get it all accomplished within two days.  Doyle has finished cleaning and organizing the entire office, so he's very happy about that.

 

Today we repaired one of our blinds in the 5th wheel.  The cords give out and fray and the entire shade must be disassembled and restrung with cords.  This was the second one we've had to do. It's one of those jobs I dislike intensely!  Doyle did a few things outside and I went to pick up a few things at the store.  Then we decided to go out for a drive to check out downtown Columbia.  Since we got here we have been amazed at the huge churches ... all denominations.  Downtown Columbia was no exception.  One Baptist church took up an entire city block!  I've decided to start taking pictures of them, which is difficult because of their size.  Keep in mind what you see is just the front entrance.  The entire building or buildings have huge footprints.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally the gamecock.  It is the mascot for USC and fans are crazy about it.  This one is downtown in a parking lot and a passerby was kind enough to take the pictures.

 

 

 

 

So amazing that 2012 is almost over.  It's just full steam ahead and going faster every day.  I never thought I'd be in South Carolina at this point in time on a mission, working with other senior missionaries, young elders and sisters helping to move the gospel forward.  What a joy it is to my heart!  We experience new challenges daily that help us to grow and learn.  And it's going to get to be a bigger challenge in 2013.  108 total sisters will be in the mission in 2013.  More will start coming in February and gradually swell to that total.  We will have a total of 274 elders and sisters!  Exciting times to be working in a mission office and see first hand the results of the changes in the age requirements. 

Wonderful sisters from our zone.

Part of our group with Sister Rothman in the front in the red dress.  She's amazing!

Me with a few of our sisters at a zone conference.  They are such a blessing and an inspiration.



Monday night we had dinner at the mission home with five departing missionaries and President and Sister Holm.  We had a testimony meeting and were able to spend time with the missionaries before they left the following morning.  Wonderful meals are always prepared for all of us and of course delectable deserts as well.  Below is a picture of the departing missionaries with President and Sister Holm.

 

 On Wednesday we had our zone conference and went to Lexington which is about 20 minutes from where we live.  It's a very nice town and I want to go back on a day off.  The route we took was scenic going over the dam at Lake Murray.  Fortunately, it was a very nice day! We all gathered for a meeting in the chapel and stayed there until about 1:20 when we stopped for lunch.  The relief society prepared a nice meal and served it.  Then we had our Christmas party where everyone had prepared some type of a skit.  Some of them were really hilarious.  I loved it..we all laughed like crazy.  The missionaries are very creative.  Then it was our turn and the office staff sang a song.  Elder Decker played his guitar.  We received a standing ovation...not for our talent but more that they appreciated that we were good sports.

 

 

 

 

 

 On Tuesday evening a new senior couple got here.  Elder and Sister Mihlberger are from Utah and will be serving for a year.  Their timing was perfect because their first day was zone conference and the skits.  They were good sports and agreed to sing with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The elders aren't shy and love having their pictures taken!

 

 

 

All mail comes through the office and is relabeled to go to the individual missionary.  This time of the year the volume is incredible.  On Monday alone there were 83 packages plus a bin of mail.  This is a big job and Sister Rothman prepares and organizes all of it and then gives the information to Doyle.  He has a mail merge program and creates labels for all of them.  Then Sister Rothman puts all the labels on envelopes and packages.  We've been transporting the boxes to the post office for the last week on the same day instead of waiting for pickup the following day.  She is very serious about getting the mail out to the missionaries and is a 4'11'' dynamo.  We love her!!!

 

On Christmas Eve we will work in the morning and then load mail and packages and drive to the different areas to hand deliver Christmas packages to the missionaries.  If we didn't they wouldn't get their packages until after Christmas and we just couldn't bear for that to happen!!  On Christmas we will be going to a members' home for dinner and taking Sister Rothman with us.  Danielle was kind enough to invite us over and we readily accepted.  She also invited our  branch missionaries and some other friends.  I'm looking forward to it. 

 

We have received many beautiful cards and letters from friends and family at home.  Thank you all so much for your kind words of support and your love.  We love and miss you all!

 

In closing I would like to share some very personal words that were written by our mission president to his family and shared with us.  "Imagine Christ having been born in Bethlehem and lived without blemish, the perfect life.  His only desire was to do the will of His Father.  All of His life a victim of ugliness; beaten, scourged, mocked, jeered, and then publicly crucified, yet at the very end of His hectic life, with quiet, restrained divine dignity, He prayed for those who crucified Him, "Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do"...Imagine His mercy."

 

We wish all of you a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year. May 2013 be all that you and your family hope for!  May you be blessed by our Father in Heaven!  We love y'all. 

Yesterday was our big day..finally...to get out of town and go to Augusta to the Costco.  We are so spoiled at home to have a Costco just two miles down the road.  After the one in East Wenatchee was built several years ago, we bought tons of business supplies there and got used to buying our food supplies in larger quantities as well.  Here all the grocery stores are different than we are used to and there is a Sam's Club only.  It simply cannot compare to Costco.  I'm sure we'll go to Augusta every month or two just for that purpose.  It's about 70 miles from where we are living.  For me it was the first time ever in Georgia.

Augusta, Georgia Costco.  We're glad to see you!

 

It may sound silly, but we were excited to be in a Costco again.  They have great brands, clean stores and efficient employees.  We are definitely fans of Costco.


Doyle standing by our $400 worth of treasures!

Last week I had my first real missionary experience of my mission.  We have another senior couple coming on Tuesday and I have been putting together the furniture list for their apartment.  As a result, I have been out looking for a few things.  I went to the Big Lots about 5-6 miles from the office and then next door to the KMart.  Standing at the front door of the KMart was a man ringing the bell for the Salvation Army.  I walked up to him smiling and he commented that I had a great smile and that I should always have a smile on my face.  I thanked him and went inside to look for lamps.  I didn't find anything appropriate so I left.  When I exited the store the man introduced himself as Little Alvin and asked me if I was in real estate.  He was looking at my name tag.  I told him I wasn't in real estate but I was a missionary and that's what the name tag was for.  He told me how much he loved the Lord and that he had his own ministry.  We talked about Christmas and our Savior Jesus Christ.  He talked about his children and told me a few stories about them.  We said goodbye and I walked to the car.  I was prompted to give him a Book of Mormon and a pass along card, so I checked in the car and found one that Doyle had written his testimony in.  I dug a pass along out of my purse and proceeded to walk back to Little Alvin.  I told him I would like to give him a book that would give him another testimony of Jesus Christ.  He thanked me with a big smile on his face.  As I pulled out of the parking lot, I drove by him and saw him reading Doyle's testimony on the inside front cover.  It was the first time I have ever had a missionary experience and given out a Book of Mormon.  What a great feeling that was.  Doyle and I together have talked with people and given them the Book of Mormon, but I've never done it without him.  I was smiling for the rest of the afternoon! 

 

Last night we went to our branch Christmas party.  Somebody had put forth a lot of work and time.  The entry doors guided us to Bethlehem with quart canning jars half filled with salt and a votive inside to guide our path.  Inside the door was the tax collector who demanded payment of taxes (non-perishable food items for the food bank) and then gave us special coins in a pouch to purchase our meal inside the city (the gym).  The city was dimly lit with clear light strands and tents had been placed around a center area where low tables and pillows were placed.  We were then able to go from booth to booth, or tent to tent to pay the special coins for our meal of grapes, cheese, pita bread, hummus and chicken.

 

I'm having trouble adding pictures tonight...so I'll work on that later.

 

Love y'all!!!

 

 

 These are our two branch Elders.  On the left is Elder Ward, Sister Willie in the middle, and Elder Olsen on the right. 

 

 This is our dinner tent.  Doyle has his pouch with his dinner coins in his hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

Another beautiful week here in South Carolina.  The temperatures have been up in the low 70's all week.  Today it is overcast, but still warm.  After church this afternoon I was sitting in the car waiting for Doyle and saw a bunch of bugs flying around outside the car.  Very odd to see any bugs in December. At home there are no bugs, flying or otherwise in December.

This past week, I began focusing on getting bids on new twin beds for the mission.  In 2011 an assessment of mission beds was done.  The decision was made to replace them starting with the worst ones in January 2012.  It is time again to buy the next 50 beds and get them placed with the missionaries.  The vendor last time has gone out of business so I have the task of getting a new vendor lined up.  I actually found a manufacturer in Columbia where we can buy factory direct, so this week I will go to their showroom.

On Friday night we got together with the current office staff plus a couple who worked in the office before we came and we out to dinner at Olive Garden and then went through Saluda Park. 


Sister Decker, Sister, Bowman, Elder Bowman

They have a huge display of Christmas lights throughout the entire park.  You stay in your car and drive through very slowly.  We all got together and used the mission van.  It was really wonderful to all be together.  Picture taking from the back seat of the van did not lend itself to one good picture, so last night Doyle and I went out together in our car with the windows down and we both managed to get a few good pictures.  On Saturday night the traffic was backed up for a couple of miles to get into the park.  Many of the cars were stuffed with people and had kids sitting up on the window sills enjoying the lights and shouting "Merry Christmas!"



Elder France, Sister France, Sister Rothman at the Olive Garden.

I thought of our grandson Ezra when we saw the dinosaurs.

Thinking of my father and stepfather who both served in the Navy during WWII.



Doyle served in the Army during Vietnam.

This one was beautiful and made me think of all the peacocks that my Mom and step dad had on the farm.

This bridge was awesome.

A train with a special car for naughty kids.

 

We are so privileged to be able to be here and take part in the Lord's work and do so many wonderful things for others and with others.  We have a wonderful branch with some very inspiring people who teach, share and support one another.  Next month we will be attending the baptisms of a couple who are being taught by the missionaries and are attending the gospel principles class with us.  It is so wonderful to see the enthusiasm new converts have.  We know that they will be blessed for their efforts as they learn and grow in the gospel.

 

It's hard to believe that another year is coming to a close, but 2013 is right around the corner. For us it has been a year of sorrows, challenges, adventures, growth and a year of many joys.  As we press forward with faith, we send a prayer of thanks for all of you, our much loved families and friends.

 

 

I can't believe it's the first of December!  It was up to 70 degrees today and it's expected to be the same tomorrow.  No snow around here to shovel, however we have started the car early on several mornings to defrost the ice from the windshield.  The leaves are gone off many trees but there are still lots of them with their leaves.

We are staying very occupied at the office.  We are getting a new senior couple into the mission mid-month and we are very excited about that.  The President has decided where he wants to place them and it's my job to find them a place to live in the vicinity of their work area so I went out all of Friday morning and looked at apartments.  On Monday I will go out and do the same thing all over again and just keep trying until I find a good spot. Thank goodness for GPS.  I can get off the main roads and freeways and not worry about getting lost!

One of the other things that I do is to make sure the missionaries have the things that they need in their apartments.  If something breaks or becomes unusable then I try to replace it for them.  Today we spent to morning driving to Lexington to deliver 2 chairs that we had in storage to the missionaries there and then we went to the Walmart in Lexington to buy a new dining table for them. We also bought a couple of microwaves that will be delivered to other Elders soon.  Later in the day we went to the office to do some cleaning.  For all of you who know Doyle well enough, that should come as no surprise!  He did windows and I cleaned the stainless steel sink in the kitchen and the drinking fountain. 


Looks good on that ladder!

 


This is our office area with the little tree that I put up last weekend.



This is our office.  Two desks, two chairs and two computers.  The board to the left is my brain.  It shows all of the housing in the mission and who lives there.





This is the Chick-Fil-A closest to where we live.  The cars are always wrapped around this place! 



And believe it or not, this is the poor McDonalds right across the street!

Today we needed to get one of our propane tanks filled up.  The tractor supply where we do this is behind the Chick-Fil-A.  We have noticed before that the Chick-Fil-A is always so busy and the poor McDonalds is always empty by comparison.  As I waited for Doyle to get the tank full, I decided to take pictures that reflect what we've noticed.  The second day we arrived here we ate at this Chick-Fil-A and it was standing room only.  Service was amazing because we really didn't wait that long.  Great business and NOT open on Sunday! We support that!

 

We are getting to know more of the missionaries as time goes on.  What a wonderful group of young men and women they are.  They all work hard to do the best they can to help others to come unto Christ!  Right now we have 192 missionaries in our mission including President and Sister Holm.  With the new age rules, President Holm told us that we could expect our mission to grow by up to 100 more.  This is so amazing and so inspired to bring all these younger missionaries forth at this time.  We know they will each be blessed for all that they do!

Today is another spectacular Sunday!  It's sixty degrees outside with a clear blue sky..yes..at the end of November.  We have the weather here and at home set to the home page on Doyle's computer.  We have seen the cold and snow that's been the weather situation at home, so this looks really nice here.
It is pretty chilly in the morning, however.  We drive by a nursery on the way home and they are selling flats of pansies as well as Christmas trees!  I've never seen that before.

On Monday I turned into Sister France the barber!  One of our AP's asked me if I cut hair and I told him I cut Doyle's.  He asked if I would cut his.  I took our clippers in to the office and went to Sally's beauty supply and got two aprons, one for me and on for the victim..er..Elder.  First Elder to get his hair cut flinched like crazy and I asked him if I was pulling his hair.  He answered that I was.  Mind you Doyle had told me this on several occasions, but we never bought new clippers.  He simply toughed it out.  This Elder asked one of the other Elder's that he lives with to bring a set from their apartment.  From then on..no more pulling!  These were sharp and good.  They told me what number they wanted me to use and I went to work.  They all looked sharp when it was over!  I'm sure I'll get many more opportunities to be their barber.  Oh..and... by the way.. I agreed to get rid of our old ones! 

Last Wednesday we had transfers. What a great experience that was!  All the missionaries from the mission gathered at our Irmo building, with lots of luggage and excitement as transfers are announced.  We sang Called To Serve, which is always such an uplifting song.  When we sang it at the devotionals at MTC, I thought my heart would burst as I listened to the volume and enthusiasm of the missionaries sing that glorious song.  While the total volume was less on Wednesday, the enthusiasm was still there! Doyle and I were asked to sit on the stand and bear our testimonies at the end of the meeting. Sitting on the stand gave me an opportunity to look into the face of the future of the church and our country.  Young men and women filled with the spirit and the promise of the future.  I look forward to the next transfer!  Soon it will be so much busier as the influx of new, younger missionaries begin to flood the field.  It will effect our mission alone by an increase of 50-100 new missionaries.  Think of that on a world-wide basis!  Amazing!

For Thanksgiving we went to the mission president's home.  There were eight of us there, the mission president, his wife, one of their daughters, and the five of us that work in the office.  We talked about going out to a restaurant, but the mission president's wife wanted us to come to their home for a potluck.  It was lovely.  While it is true that nothing can replace the holidays with family, we enjoyed our time with all of the staff.  We know that the Lord is watching over our families as we are away.

President and Sister Holm, Thanksgiving 2012. 

Doyle came down with a sore throat and the accompanying distress over a week ago and has been dealing with that.  He hasn't missed any days at the office, but he has been tired.  I've been going along full steam ahead thinking that I would escape...but I didn't make it.  Yesterday my throat started to bother me and today it is raw and sore.  Vitamin C in large doses and liquid Echinacea are now part of my daily diet.

Our office is the one right in front of the red car.

I realized a long time ago that putting a tree up in the RV would never work as we are lacking any extra space, so to fill my need for putting up a tree I went into the office yesterday and put up the small tree at the office.  It's about 4 feet tall with the lights already on it.  I found a large box of bulbs in the closet and put all red on the tree.  The topper that was there was too heavy for the little tree and kept flopping over, so I went out and found a little angel with a hollow center and it fits perfectly.  I also found a nativity and bought some gold mesh fabric to set it on.  For the next two Christmas's I will have to get my Christmas tree fix at the office!  I usually put our tree up either before Thanksgiving or the day after.  I love Christmas, the trees and the lights.  But we all know the true meaning of Christmas.  May we all reflect on the real reason that we celebrate and enjoy the blessings that are ours.

To our most beloved family and friends and associates, we love you and hope that you enjoy this wonderful holiday season.  Happy holidays, y'all!!