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!!

It has been a week of firsts and a week of goodbyes as we took one elder to the airport, attended the temple, had a wonderful dinner at the mission home and enjoyed a video and a testimony meeting with these fine young men.  One of them, Elder Fuller, was in our branch and we had gotten to know him better than the others.  Dinner was chicken pot pie with the best crust I have ever had, a wonderful salad with an apple poppyseed dressing and the lightest, fluffiest, creamiest homemade banana pudding. It was heavenly!  As I was trying hard to be good with all this wonderful food, the mission president came around with the pudding bowl and put more on my plate.  What could I do?  You know what I did!  Oh my!

The elders each bore their testimony, which was very touching, as they all made special reference to how their strength in the gospel had grown so much in the last two years while teaching others about Jesus Christ. When the elders finished the president asked the senior missionaries if we had any words of wisdom to contribute and Sister Putnam shared this, "There are two great days in your life, the day you are born and the day you find out why."  Very profound.





Elder France and I with Elder Fuller who was preparing to go home to Utah the following morning.

Columbia South Carolina Temple
 

On Wednesday we took Elder Burchfield to the airport.  I plugged in the address that I had found online into the GPS in the car, while Doyle spoke the address into his phone to get directions.  We were prepared..until we saw the sign on the freeway that directed us a totally different way.  I made the decision to follow my GPS and off we went further down the freeway and off through downtown, the capitol building, and finally down some side streets that looked nothing like the picture online.  Well, we had found the airport alright...the industrial airport!  Three choices and I took the wrong one!  Thankfully we had lots of time!  While Elder Burchfield directed us out of the area and back to the real airport, he shared lots of Revolutionary and Civil War history.  We found the airport and this one looked like the one I had seen online.  We sent the Elder off for home with 2 full hours before flight time.

Columbia, South Carolina Airport

On a funny note, today Doyle was asked for the second time if he is the new mission president.  I guess he just has that look about him!

We wish everyone a splendid Thanksgiving!  I see many posts on face book regarding the things that people are thankful for...one specific item for each day of the month.  We have so much to thank Heavenly Father for including His Son and His atoning sacrifice for us, our lives and our parents decision to bring us into this world, our families, and countless opportunities to learn and grow. 

Have a great week everyone!  Much love to you all!!

 

What glorious and beautiful fall weather we are having!  Today it got up to 75 degrees!  Nights are getting colder however.  It's been down around mid 30's.  We did have ice on the windshield one morning.  I miss having our vehicles garaged.  They get dirty so much faster and they are cold in the morning.  With our gas water heater in the garage at home, it gives off just enough heat that the cars never really get cold.

This week was a week of firsts for us.  We went to two of the zone conferences.  The first one, on Tuesday was in West Columbia where our stake center is.  Doyle and I made brief presentations to the missionaries with regard to housing issues and baptismal forms.  We watched some driving safety videos produced by the church specifically for the missionaries to encourage them to keep safety first while in the car.  We then started vehicle inspections of all cars in the Columbia and West Columbia zones.  Inspections include overall maintenance, cleanliness and record keeping accuracy.  If they are doing everything well, they get a treat and a happy face card.  If they are neglecting to do things well, they get a frowning face card and no treat.  On Wednesday, we traveled an hour and a half to Greenville to have zone conference with the Greenville East and Greenville missionaries.  The procedure was basically the same.  Both days we were finished before lunch, and then headed back to the office to work there.

Missionary cars lined up for inspection in Greenville.

Next week, on Tuesday we go to Augusta and then Wednesday is Florence zone conference.  On Friday, we will spend time with the departing missionaries going to the temple and having dinner at the mission home with President Holm and his wife.  Saturday is missionary departure day and the following Monday we have arrivals, then on the 21st is transfers.  (I'm tired already!)

The following day is Thanksgiving.  Fixing a big Thanksgiving dinner in the 5th wheel would be quite an undertaking.  The refrigerator is small...so what in the world would I do with all those leftovers?  I think the office staff will probably all go out to dinner together.  We went to a wonderful buffet last Tuesday.  Everyone really enjoyed the food so we may go back there.

Today was a busy day.  Doyle worked on a few maintenance issues on the fifth wheel as we prepare for unknown weather conditions during winter.

So efficient!

 

Laying in the dirt and gravel after putting on the tire covers.

 

 Everyone says it's pretty mild here, but it has been known to snow from time to time.  We have been told when that happens...everybody stays home.  They have no snow plows to deal with removal issues, so an unscheduled day off makes for smiling faces on school children and a few adults, I'm sure.

We did take some time to go for a short walk here on the campground property.  There is a small lake and it looks so lovely from the other side looking toward the campground.

 

 

Tomorrow is our predictable opportunity.  As two of the newest faces in the ward, we have been asked to speak.  It is the way of the church...when you come or when you leave, the request always comes.  We accepted of course, so we'll be looking out into the faces of the branch members.  I'm ready and looking forward to it.  My topic is service to others.

 

People are so friendly here!  Lots of smiles and courtesy.  Speaking of courtesy, I have really noticed it while driving.  People will actually stop and let you out into traffic.  Now that is a rare sight indeed in the Seattle area!  I love Seattle, but the drivers are pretty rude most of the time.

 

Until next time, I wish all my friends and family all of the peace in their lives that can be achieved by living the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I love all of you!

 

What a week we have had.  The work in the office has kept us on our toes as we learn more  about our job assignments and implement them.  We rearranged our office and removed two old printers and hooked up the new one.  Doyle and I share the same office, but we each have our own desk and our own computer.  It's cozy!

On Thursday we had dinner with Danielle, a member of the branch we attend.  Her boyfriend and our two missionaries from the branch were there.  We had a lovely visit.  Her dog Zoe loved Doyle and didn't mind showing it!  What energy.  Danielle sent us on our way with a quart jar of her  chicken soup made from her grandmothers special recipe. We plan to enjoy it for dinner tomorrow.  On Friday the office staff had lunch with the Mission President and his wife at the deli just a short walk from the office.  It was a luncheon to thank the Bowman's for their work in the office as it was their last day.  The deli has the most divine Tomato Basil soup.  Tonight we had a staff dinner at the Bowman's apartment with our local sister missionaries, the assistants to the President and our last three visa waiters who leave for Columbia tomorrow.  Sometimes it takes a longer period of time for some visas to process after a missionary is out of the MTC and so they put them on a temporary assignment in a mission in the US.  These particular missionaries had been here for six weeks waiting.

Our wonderful sister missionaries, Sister Allen on the left and Sister Chai on the right with Sister Rothman, our receptionist.

Our visa waiters Elder Soderburg, Elder Palmer and Elder Schwab.  They fly to Columbia in the morning.

 

 

Yesterday all missionaries in the mission plus all stake presidents and their wives had a very
wonderful and special opportunity to hear from a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.  From 4-7pm we were all privileged to be taught by Elder Bednar in our stake building in Columbia.  He was so insightful in how he conducted the meeting by allowing the missionaries to ask many questions and giving instruction to them.  He said that the Holy Ghost is always the teacher, not the individual and that we need to be worthy conduits for that purpose.  He taught that we should first observe, then listen, then discern, and finally, after we do those things, we should talk.  We have to know what the needs of the individual are before we can help them.  We all gathered for a group picture in the cultural hall.  There were about 220 of us. When Elder Bednar was finished speaking to us we each were able to shake his hand!  I will post the picture when I get a copy of it.  Needless to say, it was amazing!  Probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

It seems that we are going all the time.  The Mission President has told us that we need to have a date night every week.  I'm not sure how that is going to be possible but we are going to try.  Once a month probably sounds much more realistic.  I'm not complaining!  I'd much rather be purposeful and productive than lost and bored.  I love my mission!  President Holm gives a beautiful coin to his  new missionaries.  On it are the following words:
I love tough things.
I am first to do tough things.
I do tough things first.
I'm a finisher.
Words to live by!