Zone Conference #2

This week I am so grateful for all the missionaries in our zone and for President an Sister Jackson.  We met together Monday and Tuesday, and I always feel so inspired while being with all of these great people.  Our missionaries all talk about the the great love that they feel from President and Sister Jackson.  We are blessed to have leaders that lead with love.

Monday everyone flew to the island.  It took a spread sheet for Elder Larsen to keep up with all the trips to the airport, but being the master organizer that he is, everyone arrived without a problem.  We had fixings for sandwiches and I made two batches of snickerdoodles which were enjoyed by everyone.  

Then we went to a park where they played Ultimate Frisbee and Soccer.  It was a beautiful day and the missionaries really enjoyed getting out and burning up some energy.

Hermana Irigoyen is actually scoring a point at this moment!

 After much coaxing, President Jackson joined the missionaries.

And just moments later, he pulled his hamstring.  

Poor President!  

That night he slept propped up in bed 

and the next day he couldn't turn his neck.

It's no fun getting old!

We had the privilege of having the eight Hermanas, and Elder and Hermana Hatch spend the night with us.  I always wanted a house full of girls, and that night we had just that.  They brought such a sweet spirit with them.  After everyone got cleaned up, Elder Larsen gave a beautiful message from Luke 19:1-10.  We discussed Zacchaeus and his great desire to see the Lord.  And what is our desire?  What are we willing to do to be with our Savior, and have his Spirit with us on a daily basis?

 Elder Larsen sharing a story with the Hermanas.

 Don't you just love their smiles?

 I made two batches of chocolate chip cookies that night.

And the girls enjoyed hot ones form the oven!

The next morning, we had French Toast and Oscar Meyer bacon. 

It was just like being at home.  Yum!

We had a wonderful Zone Conference.  President Deniz, the stake president joined us.  He is an amazing man with such a love for the Lord.  I always enjoy hearing him speak.  President Jackson shared a story I had heard before, but it had been a long time.  It starts out with a young boy who is not happy and can't wait to be older.  It goes through until the man is old and wishes he was young once again.  The simple message is that we need to learn to be happy in the moment we are in, whatever our circumstances.  

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies and Happy Missionaries!

 Elder Bybee

 Elder Gentry

 Elder Thunell

Elder Dyer and Elder Hansen

Elder Bybee and Elder Wiltbank

 Our Great Leaders-President and Sister Jackson

My Heroes Hermana and Elder Hatch

This is their 3rd mission.

We sure wish we could get together more often.

We celebrated Ruth's birthday with our group in Vecindario.

 Ricardo, Ruth, Kimberly, Fabio

Pictures of our happy missionaries before getting water poured on them with the silly group game!

 Hermana Irigoyen and Elder Bybee

 Elder Wiltbank

 Hermana Grover, Luis, Desiree

A great class with our Las Palmas group and delicious food.

The missionaries invited us to a Japanese Wok on Saturday.  

 Do they have to serve the shrimp with the heads on,

and the black beady eyes looking at me?

Institute Training

This week I am grateful for all of the wonderful young adults that we get to spend our time with each week, missionaries and young single adults.  They are the greatest!

We started out our week with a Missionary Pday (preparation day) at our house.  It was a beautiful day outside and we all enjoyed being together!

They wrote their emails.

 Elder Wiltbank, Hermana Irigoyen, Hermana Grover

You have to love technology today.  Here is Hermana Grover taking pictures of the pictures that her family sent to her.  That way she can look at them during the week, since they can only be on the computer on Pday.  

 We ate yummy fried chicken and I had lots of help in the kitchen

from these wonderful missionaries.

 Elder Hansen and Elder Gentry

 Elder Larsen performed a great act of service

and shined all of the missionaries shoes.  

They played knock out.

 Elder Dyer, Bybee, Thunell, Hermana Irigoyen, Grover, Elder Wiltbank

Here we have Elder Bybee sporting some gypsy pants that all the missionaries love.

 And is this is what you do if you are trying to play basketball in gypsy pants.

We were all grateful that he had only worn them at the house, 

and not out in public!

 Elder Thunell

Elder Bybee

 Elder Dyer

 Elder Dyer getting a little crazy!

 Elders Dyer, Hansen, and Hermana Grover and Irigoyen playing a little ping pong.

A fun day!

 And a silly picture!

The Smiths stayed with us again on Monday night and then left early Tuesday morning.  They are a wonderful family and we really enjoyed getting to know them.  We decided they would make the perfect neighbors.  Now we just have to convince them to move to Utah.

Tuesday afternoon we had a great Indexing event with five of our young adults.  Two youth joined us and our genealogy director.  This is the group enjoying lunch afterwards. 

Elder Larsen, Sarinhaah, Saray, Aida, Gabriela, Denisse, Marta, Fran, Jonaton

Hermana Grover took a few pictures of our English class.  I think now that August is over,

 we should have better attendance.  

When we were in Vigo, Elder Bybee and Elder Wiltbank taught the English class.  

I start out class each week telling them something about Texas.  

This is them poking fun at me by telling things about Utah and Wisconsin.

Silly missionaries!

 Elder Hansen was on splits from Telde, Elder Bybe, Hermanas Grover and Irigoyen

We had a great district meeting on Wednesday.  Elder Larsen was asked to share some things that he had learned on his mission to Spain 38 years ago, or things he wished he would have known.  He gave a great message about the atonement.  We talk so often about how Christ's atonement allows us to be cleansed from our sins, but we don't talk as much about how Christ knows all the suffering of this earth, not just suffering from sin.  We can follow His admonition to take His yoke upon us as it says in Matthew 11:28-30.  He felt all the suffering of the world and now He will succor each one of us, no matter what we are going through.  Elder Larsen said as a missionary he sometimes thought that he just needed to work harder, when really he needed to turn more to the Lord.  It was a great message.

Homemade Apple Pie-Happy Missionaries!

We had a big group at Institute in Vecindario.  

It was Jennifer's birthday, so her two nieces and mother joined us.

 Happy Birthday Jennifer!

We had a big groups in Las Palmas as well, with three investigators.  

We love it when everyone comes.

Saturday morning we helped pick up people at the airport for the training meeting for Seminary and Institute teachers.  Elder Larsen will be teaching the group in Vecindario and my Spanish might get to where I could share a few things.  We will see how that goes.  The meeting was wonderful and the man at the far end of the table, Jose Morales, is over the Church Education System for all of Spain.  He has spoken to us one other time.  He is an amazing man.  He truly makes the scriptures come to life.  I love being taught by him.  

Afterwards, we all had lunch together.

We dropped people off at the airport, ran home to do some baking, and headed to Vecindario for a baptism and a genealogy meeting.  It was a very busy Saturday.

Fabio was able to baptism his sister Ana, and his broher Renato.  I love their smiles.

Our mission president and his wife were in town for our zone conference.  They attended the Vecindario ward with us on Sunday and then came to the house for dinner.  I fixed my new favorite Szechan Shrimp dish.  It was only the second time I had fixed it, but it was yummy and I think every one enjoyed it.  

The weeks are flying by. We are very busy and very grateful to have this opportunity to serve the Lord.