We are Home!!

The Millers arrived in Sierra Vista late afternoon on Monday, September 22.

Elder Dallas and Sister Nancy Miller upon their arrival in Sierra Vista

We showed them the apartment and left them to get settled. Tuesday morning, we met them and took them to the Turn Around Point to introduce them to Alisha Whitney and train them on duties there. We gave them a tour of the base and showed them the town. We stopped and visited Jo Moore and introduced them to her.

Tuesday evening, we met at the Olive Garden Restaurant for dinner with the Millers, Kovacs, and Gonzales'. We had a wonderful dinner and opportunity to let everyone get acquainted.

From left to right, Genevieve and Tony Kovaks, The Millers, The Heningers, Maria and Caesar Gonzales

Following dinner, we departed and drove to Lori and Dusty's place in Tucson for the night.

Wednesday, we got up early, closed up the 5th wheel trailer and headed to the mission office for an interview with President Passey. That lasted about an hour and was wonderful. He was very gracious and grateful for our service.

President Passey with us as we get ready to leave the mission

We left there about 11:00AM and drove to Kanab, Utah, spending the night there. Thursday, we  drove to Orem, Utah.

We spent several days playing with the grandkids and especially the twins. Sunday, we assisted Ben in blessing Dallin and Lily.

Dallin and Lilly just before their blessing

Two proud grandparents

Children left to right, Hyrum, Dallin, James, Lily, Evaleen. Parents Kim and Ben Schoonmaker

Monday, we headed to Cache Valley to spend a couple of days with grandma Jane and Linda.

Wednesday, we left Logan and drove all the way home. Since Wednesday, we have been trying to move back into our house and get everything unpacked. Thursday, we met with President Anderson, first counselor in the stake, to be released.

This officially finished our mission. It was a great experience that we will never forget. We made some friendships that we hope will last an eternity. It has been a bit strange not wearing the badge. It was wonderful to see all our family and we are grateful to be home. The people in Arizona will always hold a special place in our heart.

It is now time to prepare for our next adventure. I am not sure what that will be, but we will do our best.

The end is near

Sunday, September 21, 2014

This week has been a week of lasts and goodbyes. Wednesday, we attended our last district meeting with the missionaries. Today, we attended both the Huachuca Ward and military group meetings for the last time. It was a bittersweet time for us. We will really miss all the wonderful people here.

Our schedule for this week is as follows:

Monday- Finish cleaning the apartment and prepare to meet the new missionaries who should arrive sometime tomorrow. We will move our stuff out and allow the new couple to move in and start to get settled. We will spend tomorrow night with some friends here in Sierra Vista.
Tuesday- We will take the new couple to the base and orient them. We will work with them at the Turn Around Point and introduce them to the lady that we work with there. We will give them a tour of the base and show them what we do. We will introduce them to some of the Chaplains. We have an appointment to stop by the Chaplain's secretary who is recovering from surgery to introduce them to her. Finally, we will meet at the Olive Garden Restaurant for dinner with the new couple and the other couples we work with in the Service Member Group. Following dinner, we are off to Tucson to stay at Lori's place.
Wednesday- We have an appointment with President Passey at 10:00AM and then we will head for home. We plan to spend the night in Kanab.
Thursday- We will drive to Orem and stay with Kim and family for a few days. Her twins will be blessed on Sunday.
Monday- We will head up to Logan to visit Jane and Linda.
Wednesday- We head for home
Thursday- We have an interview with President Shafer to be released

Last week we did get to spend a couple of days at Lori's visiting and enjoying time with family. It was nice. We got some of our stuff transported and put in the trailer for the winter. I am not convinced we will get everything we plan to bring home in the car. It will be interesting.

Saturday, I got a call that really made my day. A young man who recently graduated from class here and who I was concerned about staying active and involved with the church, called me from Fort Bliss to ask how to contact the church there. I was so pleased he took that initiative and am hopeful he will continue to progress.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Well, I did not get this published yesterday. We have just finished  packing the car and RoLayne is wrapping up cleaning a few small things. We talked with the Millers this morning and they will be here around 5:30PM. We will wait here and give them the keys and head to Kovacs for dinner and a nights rest.

The Top 1%

Sunday, September 14, 2014

This past week we remembered the 9/11 attack 13 years ago. As our government prepares to once again introduce our military into an armed conflict, it is important to remember and honor the men and women who put their lives on the line and their families who support them and suffer separations while they serve. In this great country, we rely on approximately 1% of our population to provide the defense for the rest of us. We must never forget their sacrifice. If it were not for them, we would not enjoy all the freedoms and blessings that are currently ours. Please remember them and pray for them. Theirs is not a life of ease and comfort. We know families that are separated right now because a father is deployed, leaving wife and mother to bear the burdens of the family. These folks are dedicated, they do not complain, they are proud to serve. They are the best our country has to offer and we are blessed to have them. Please, when you have the opportunity, thank a veteren.

We are proud and honored to have been associated with these great men, women, and their families for the past year. We will be leaving this mission in about a week and a half, but much of what we have experienced will never leave us.

We had a wonderful Zone Training meeting on Wednesday. The two zone leaders and one district leader gave us some pearls of wisdom way beyond their years. This young group of missionaries continue to amaze us with their abilities. Last month our zone lead the mission in baptisms again. The missionaries in our ward had 4 baptisms, I am not sure what the zone total was.

We had two graduations this week. Each graduation had one LDS soldier in it. One was a Lieutenant and the other was a private who completed Maintenance school so that he can work on UAVs (Unmanned Air Vehicles).

Young Private who graduated

2nd Lieutenant graduate from Basic Officer Intelligence Training

Friday, a missionary couple that is serving in Tucson came down and spent the day with us. We met them at the temple a few months ago. My 5th great grandfather on the Heninger line and his 5th great grandfather were brothers. We had a nice visit and got to know each other a little better. They are sort of from Houston, but have bounced around quite a bit. We gave them a tour of the Post and took them to the museum on Post. I snapped a few pictures at the museum that I will share with you.

Some of the first UAVs used by the army

This vehicle was used for "observing" and gathering intelligence in East Germany

Buffalo Soldiers were a big part of the history of Fort Huachuca for many years

 Following our tour we had a late lunch and sent them on their way. We then went to our monthly Coffee House Activity with the soldiers. It was a good night. I had the opportunity to meet with a few soldiers that we either did not know before or that we had not seen for a long while. One young man, that we have not seen at church, searched me out and we talked for a long time. He was very discouraged with some things that are going on in his life. I gave him some counsel that I hope will help him and I gave him my telephone number and told him to call me, even after we are released and that I will help him any way I can.

I think we fed more than 300 soldiers at the Coffee House Friday night

The lady volunteers who feed the soldiers taking a break after the feeding frenzy

Some of the soldiers playing dodge ball

Our dear little 87 year old volunteer friend Eide, who oversees the baking of all the cookies

This is the Assistant Chaplain that we work with most. He is a great young man and has been a real help to us.

We look forward to seeing you all very soon. We have one more Sunday here before heading north.

Traffic Court

Thursday, September 4, 2014

We just talked with the missionaries who are replacing us and they will be arriving here in Sierra Vista sometime on Monday, September 22nd. We plan to spend Tuesday orienting them and then hope to get an early start on Wednesday heading homeward. They are planning to take some time on their way down to visit with relatives and that is the reason for our delayed departure date. We are fine with spending another week here, although RoLayne is really anxious to see and spend time with our new grand babies. We are actually excited to see everyone and hug all the grand kids.

We have been doing vehicle inspections this week. We went to Willcox yesterday to inspect the Saint David Zone vehicles. Today we did most of the Sierra Vista Zone and tomorrow we will travel to Bisbee and Douglas for the last two vehicles.

Yesterday, I received an interesting call from President Passey. He told me about a missionary who used to be in Sierra Vista who had a date in traffic court this morning. President Passey could not be here so he asked if I would go with the young man as a support and lend any assistance needed.  This young missionary is from New Zealand, is Samoan, (very laid back), but a very nice young man. For some reason, while he was in Sierra Vista and on splits, he was driving the missionary vehicle. They were pulled over for a burned out tail light. Not a problem, except, the missionary does not have a driver's license, in fact he had no ID on him. Being this close to the border, that is a bit of a problem. The officer kept the missionary in custody while his companion ran home, about two blocks, and got the missionary's passport. They then resolved the immigration issue, but today he had a court date for no driver's license. He was given 30 days to either get a driver's license or pay a fine of about $200. I asked the missionary as we were leaving the court house if he had learned any lessons regarding the law of obedience. He just smiled.

Apparently, President Passey was in court yesterday with another missionary for some kind of traffic issue. Pray for the mission presidents! I feel sorry for the poor mission president for the all the things has to deal with. It is really amazing with all these 18- 20 year old drivers out there that there are not more incidents. Since we started doing regular vehicle inspections, the care of vehicles has greatly improved.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Today at our meeting on post, we had a very small attendance. Despite that, it was a very spiritual meeting.  A soldier that we have not seen often brought a non member battle buddy and he bore a very tender testimony.

Tribute to my parents

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Today is my father's birthday. He would be 91 today. As I reflect on the great legacy that he left me, I reflect on the kind of person  he was and the things he taught us as children. Some of the words from his obituary come to my mind. "Howard taught his posterity to work hard, fulfill obligations with dignity and honor, be true to their word and be self reliant and resourceful." It was an honor to be his son. I look forward to the day that we can be reunited. What a joy it will be to see him and thank him again for all he did and who he was.

This week we also remember my mother's birthday on September 6 and my step mom Jane's 80th birthday on September 3. My mother would be 89 next week. Both of these are great ladies and both have had a major impact on my life for good.

My mom and dad the day I was commissioned in 1972.

Dad and Jane, sometime in the 1980s, I think

This week started off great as we attended a half mission conference in Benson. We were honored to be taught by Elder Per Malm of the Seventy as well as our mission president and his wife. It was an uplifting and inspiring day. Elder Malm instructed us for about 3 hours and encouraged us to take the mission to new heights. He taught us how to do that. He taught us to plan, to rely on the Lord, to be worthy and to ask. He taught the missionaries to be their own mission president and to do as the president would do and to be obedient.

Tuesday we had a fruitful day at the Turn Around Point. The customers there really enjoy and appreciate the facility and the service provided. We had a new customer who had not been in before. She was so pleased and excited about the facility and service. It is nice to be appreciated.

The Gila Valley Temple

Wednesday, we did not have anything scheduled so we took the day and drove over to the Gila Valley Temple. It was such a joy to be back in the temple. It is a beautiful little temple and the workers there are so friendly. I have really missed the special feeling and spirit that reside there.

Thursday, I talked to one of our soldiers who has struggled from time to time but with whom we have developed a special friendship. He was pretty down as his entire company was in lock down because of the bad behavior of 4 soldiers.  Just the army way, punish all for the sins of a few. The next day he was to have his wisdom teeth out. He was actually looking forward to the extraction to get out of lock down. He had also failed a test the previous week. As I said, he was down. I tried to encourage him and let him know all these things are temporary and will pass. He graduates on September 10th so is really looking forward to that. We have had some good conversations about "life" things. He is the only member of the church in his family and has not been real active in the past but he is a good young man with a tender spirit.

Thursday evening RoLayne attended a Stake Relief Society service activity where they tied baby blankets to be donated to an organization on the Post. It's nice to help with the needs of others.

Today we get to attend a baptism for 3 sisters in our ward. It is wife of a member and two step daughters. It is very exciting to watch people accept the gospel and let it change their lives as they progress and grow in the gospel.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Kovacs were out of town today so Brother Gonzales conducted the meetings. The young missionaries, Elders Siglan and Schwantes were the speakers and did a good job. We had three new member soldiers in attendance from the Utah National Guard who are here for training. One of our regular soldiers also brought a non-member friend. All in all it was a good day.

Death of a Rodent

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Today I was reminded why we are here. Recently, our attendance at both church and institute class has dropped off. Today, two of our soldiers spoke in Sacrament meeting and another one taught the priesthood lesson. As I was listening to one of the young soldiers, who is preparing to serve a mission at the completion of his military training, I reflected back to our MTC experience and a young man that we met there. He had served in the army for 4 years and was now serving a mission. I reflected on the dedication, patriotism, and loyalty of these young men and women and how fortunate we are as a nation to have righteous men and women who are willing to give their all if called upon in the service of our nation. It is an honor to serve and minister to these folks and we are so blessed to have been called to do so.

We got notice Friday of two new soldiers who have just arrived from Fort Jackson. They are both new converts of less than a month. I called and talked with them both on Saturday. They were not able to attend today, but we hope to see them next week. We are excited to get to know and to work with them.

Two of our 2nd Lieutenant graduated this week and two more of the officers that we have been meeting with decided to attend the regular ward. We had a total of 5 soldiers in attendance at our meetings this week. It is disappointing, that we are missing several that we know about, but the army is not cooperating either. They make it really hard for these soldiers to worship. I think I am heading back to the Chaplain office and perhaps to meet with commanders to try to find a solution.

Friday, we drove up to Tucson and visited with Jo, the Chaplain secretary who is recovering from cancer surgery in a rehab hospital. She looked really good and seems to be recovering. She has a long way to go as her incision has not been closed and has to heal from the inside out. I expect it will be months before she is able to return to normal activity. I think she is also going to face further treatment. We are trying to help keep things going at the TAP where we work on Tuesdays. I am not sure about the rest of the projects that she works with. While we were in Tucson, we stopped and visited with Lori's family and took the cover off of the trailer. We popped the slides and loaded up some of our stuff that we will not be bringing home this fall. We will stay a Lori's for a couple of days on our way home. The big excitement there was that we found a dead mouse in the trailer next to the mouse bait. We searched the rest of the trailer with no other traces. Not sure how the little rodent got in, but he did not get out. We put more mouse bait all around so hopefully no more visitors.

We have a half mission conference tomorrow in Benson. We will meet with President Passey and Elder Malm of the Seventy. We are excited and looking forward to that.

I know that you will all be disappointed as the photos are the most popular part of the blog, but I  did not take any relevant  photos this week. Perhaps I can find a few that you have not seen that are of interest. I hope everyone has a great week, only three more weeks to go. I think we are actually beginning to be ready to go home.

Turn Around Point or (TAP) where we work on Tuesdays. Sister Heninger in the back

TAP, We sort donations and rotate clothing between winter and summer

We usually have about 10 customers in a 3 hour shift. Lots of books, videos, and other stuff. Kids love to play with the toys

Driving Miss Daisy....or Miss Maria

Sunday, August 17, 2014

I am slow getting this blog out this week as today was a day of continuous meetings from 9:00AM until 8:00PM this evening. Reminds of Sundays as a bishop. It was a good day. A sister in the ward talked to me yesterday and asked if I would teach her 12 year old Sunday School class. They were a really good group and I enjoyed getting to know them and spending a few minutes with them.

Sister on left was baptized. Daughter and son-in-law on right

Yesterday there was a baptism in the ward. An older sister, (about our age), was baptized. It was really nice. She is a great lady. Several in the ward were not aware that she was not a  member. She comes to church with her daughter and her son-in-law.

Ward Birthday Party

Bishop on the right going through the food line

A Sister we taught and helped reactivate. She is preparing to go to the temple

Following the baptism, we celebrated the 2nd birthday of the Huachuca Ward. They had a nice pulled pork dinner. Attendance was good. I was amazed at the number of kids. The ward has lots of young military couples with several kids each. It was fun.

We did our last apartment inspections this week. The apartments were all in pretty good shape. This week is transfers and they are transferring more than half of the missionaries. The sisters in our apartment complex are being whitewashed, meaning that both are transferring out. We are not sure if they will replace them with Elders or Sisters. Sisters, we hope.

Monday, RoLayne had an interesting experience. We have this little hispanic neighbor that we have made friends with. She is about 70 something and is a widow. She is a very nice lady but a bit eccentric. She is the one that we took to church with us about a month or so ago and she really did not like it. If RoLayne does not talk with her every day, she thinks that RoLayne is mad at her. She always thinks I am mad at her. She asked RoLayne to drive her to the doctor's office. It ended up being an all day event as the doctor was in Douglas and was way behind on his appointments. They went and visited Maria's sister and got lunch at a taco place while waiting to see the doctor. She really appreciated RoLayne taking her. She is very lonely and really likes RoLayne, but then, who doesn't?

We get monsoon rainstorms almost every night. It is really beautiful as there is generally lots of lightning associated with the showers. They generally start in the evenings about 7pm and last  until about 10 or 11pm. It is often quite a show for a couple of hours. The days are generally very nice though sometimes a little muggy. The high temperature the past few weeks has been in the 80s. It has been very comfortable.

We did have one soldier graduate this week

Soldier and his proud family who drove from Spokane, WA to see their son graduate

As we continue to try to stay busy, the reality that our mission is going to end is starting to set in. We are in our final month. For those in Vancouver, we should be home about the end of September. I expect that we will leave Sierra Vista around the 15th or 16th with some stops along the way to visit.

Zone Training

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Yesterday, we had lunch with President and Sister Passey. We had a nice conversation and appreciated the opportunity to spend some informal time with them. We are really blessed to have a wonderful leader like him.

Last night was our monthly Coffee House activity. We served chicken from Fry's grocery store to almost 300 soldiers. We did get the opportunity to meet about 5 LDS soldiers that we have not seen at church. We were able to introduce ourselves and tell them we miss them. Only one claimed not to be a member. He was a young man who's mother called us and asked us to find him. This is the first time I have been able to talk with him. At least I know where he is now and how long he will be here.

The lady from the Chaplain's office that we work closely with had a relapse of the cancer she had been treated for. Six months ago the doctors removed a 40 pound tumor from her abdominal area. She had surgery yesterday and they found two tumors, one was about 12-14 pounds and was intertwined with her intestines. During the surgery, they apparently punctured her intestine. She is in very serious condition and has a long recovery road ahead. We are praying for her and hope for a full recovery.

Wednesday, we met with the other missionaries in our zone for training. One of the zone leaders and our district leader are both very young missionaries. They have been out less than a year. I am so impressed with the quality of training that they provided and the testimonies they bear. We had the opportunity to go to lunch with the Merrills after the training. they are the senior missionary couple serving in Douglas. They are wonderful folks.

Zone Training

Zone leaders conducting training with some missionaries role playing a ward council

The Douglas Missionary Couple

239 Years of Service

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to attend a celebration for the Chaplains as they celebrated 239 years of military chaplains service to the country. They had a  nice luncheon and short program. We missed the program because we were in Douglas and Bisbee inspecting missionary vehicles, but we made it in time for the lunch and to mingle and talk with some of the chaplains and other workers in the  chaplain office.

Chaplain (LTC) Maglio is the Acting Senior Chaplain at the Garrison and a really good man

Chaplain in center recently left Ft Huachuca. We work closely with the Assistant Chaplain on the left

Monday, our daughter Lori brought the kids down to spend the day. We enjoyed nachos and cheese for lunch, then went bowling. Lori beat me the first game but could not maintain the pressure the second game and collapsed. We will not talk about grandma's score as several of her grandchildren topped her. After bowling, we came back to the apartment, the kids played ping pong and we had pizza for dinner. It was fun spending the day with family.

This week was vehicle inspection week, so we have traveled the area inspecting missionary cars to make sure that they are keeping up on cleaning and maintenance. Our group is doing a very good job overall taking care of these valuable resources.

The past couple of weeks our group leader and his wife have been away on vacation. The assistant group leader lost his father a couple of weeks ago so RoLayne and I have been trying to fill the gaps. We do not have any presiding authority, we are here as support, so a member of the bishopric comes out and conducts sacrament meeting when these brethren are away. We are happy that they are back in town now to resume their responsibilities. We did really enjoy taking care of the Kovak's garden while they were gone. We enjoyed, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers, beans, beets, and some apple pears. It was really yummy. RoLayne's garden continues to do well and it looks like we will soon get some more tomatoes from it.

RoLayne's Garden

The monsoons continue as it has been raining almost every night. Fortunately, so far no more floods, but things are really greening up here and the temperatures are much more reasonable.

We have been working hard to improve attendance at church with mixed results. Our attendance remains about the same each week with 8-10 soldiers attending. They are not always the same soldiers however. We did have one soldier graduate this past week and we will miss him as he was a regular attender.

Three Lieutenants who have been attending, two returned missionaries and the young lady who is investigating

A couple of the Lieutenants who are here attending the basic officer course have been bringing one of their classmates to church the past three weeks. The missionaries have started teaching her this past week so we are hoping for some success there.

This is a Vancouver, WA soldier who graduated this month

For those who have wondered what kind of place we live in, this apartment has been our home for the past year. (Bottom right apartment)

Pioneer Day Celebration

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Today we attended the stake Pioneer Day Celebration. They had a number of fun activities and a large number of folks attended. We got the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the members of the stake we did not previously know. The weather was wonderful and the children excited.

Children's tug of war at the Stake Pioneer Day Celebration

FT missionaries competing in but not winning the three legged race

Stick pull is always a favorite for all

Sister Heninger counseling the missionaries on something

This week we received a call from the couple who will be replacing us. We know that he is retired army and they are from Mapleton, Utah. They will be finished at the MTC September 12 and we expect to see them early the next week. We had an interview with President Passey this week as well and talked about the transition. We will plan to spend a day or two orienting the Millers when they get here. Our plan is to be out of our apartment the day before they arrive so that they can just move in. We will probably stay at Lori's in our trailer and commute for a day or two. It is only a 70 minute drive.
It is hard to believe that our mission is coming to a conclusion so quickly. It seems we just really got settled and into a routine. We do look forward to seeing family and friends again. The family members already have lots of requests for reunions, travel, and visiting that we will need to do.

The work here is ongoing. We continue to receive a trickle of new soldiers and we really do not have any more graduations for a couple of months. The challenge right now is getting some the soldiers out to our activities. We scheduled a temple trip to the Mesa temple for today and had some soldiers excited to go. Last week we realized that the temple is closed for maintenance until August 4. We would consider visiting the Gilbert or Gila Valley Temple, except they do not have clothing rental or a visitor center. There are often non-LDS soldiers who go with us. They are able to linger in the visitor center while we are in the temple. We will try again. I am just glad that we found out before driving the 3 hours to the temple.

Last week, RoLayne and I drove to the the only sizable body of water within a 100 miles or more from Sierra Vista. Patagonia Resevoir is about 50- 60 miles from Sierra Vista. It has some RV parking, campgrounds, and a beach of sorts.

The beach at Patagonia "Lake"

Not much water by Washington standards, but the most we have seen in a year

With the rain last week, the desert is beginning to blossom

Beautiful desert flowers around the perimeter of our apartment

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Today is our oldest son's birthday. I cannot believe that he is so........ old. That makes RoLayne and I so very..................OLD. That is ok, he is a great son with a wonderful family and we love him. Happy Birthday son.

Today in church a brother told an interesting story. His grandfather and 2 great uncles went off to World War II. One of the uncles was the pianist in the small branch. Since he was gone, his sister had to play for the branch. She only knew one hymn, Sweet Hour of Prayer. She played it every week. When the soldier came home, he found that the parrot that lived next door to the small building where the branch met started to sing Sweet Hour of Prayer every time the piano started to play. I thought that was a cute story. It apparently was a Spanish speaking branch because the parrot would sing in Spanish.

We hope that this posting finds all of you well and prosperous. We are still enjoying our mission and would not trade the experiences or time we have spent here.

One at a Time

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Recently, I was reflecting on how easy it is to get discouraged when things are not as fruitful or exciting as we would like. We sometimes begin to wonder if we are making a difference or touching anyone's life. I was preparing for my institute lesson this week and was disappointed that no one had attended the past two weeks. I was wondering to myself, how long should we continue to invite, encourage, send texts to remind, prepare lessons, and go set up and wait for soldiers to come and attend? As I started to prepare the same lesson that I had planned to present the previous two weeks, an impression came to me that I should prepare on a different topic. I felt that I should prepare to discuss the topic, "The  worth of a soul." As I researched, I found a wonderful talk by Elder Robert Gay, and put together a lesson on this topic. As I studied, I began to realize that perhaps the reason I was studying this topic was for my benefit as much as for the soldiers who might receive it.

As we proceeded to our institute class and began to wait, about 5 minutes after the time we were to start, I received a text from a soldier who asked, what time does institute end? I responded to him and a few moments later, I saw him and two other soldiers headed our way. I met him at the door and explained to him that he was the only soldier there and that he could come in and we could sit and talk together or he could head back home, his choice. He said, I will come in and talk. He is a soldier who has been attending fairly regularly since he has been here, but he told me when he first arrived that he had not been active for a long time. As we sat and talked, I asked him about himself and his background. I found that he was baptized as a teen because of a wonderful neighbor, that he is the only member in his family, and that he has been less active for the past two years. As we talked, I asked him about his conversion story, he began to tear up and it was apparent he felt the spirit and that his conversion was important to him. It was apparent that he was very tender still in his gospel knowledge. I asked if he would like to have the missionaries meet with him regularly and refresh what he knows and help him come to a better knowledge of the gospel. He jumped at the opportunity.

As we concluded the evening with a prayer, it became more clear to me how important each of our  Heavenly Father's children are and how much he cares for them. I understood why I  had prepared to talk about the worth of a soul. We are here to assist the children of our Heavenly Father, one by one to receive a testimony of the gospel and make covenants.

We attended the baptism today of a lady who is a wife and a mother. Her husband and in-laws are members and it was wonderful to see her enter the waters of baptism and covenant with her Heavenly Father.

Those of us who have the gospel in our lives are so blessed. If you do not understand what I have been talking about here, I invite you to seek out the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and ask them, do you have a message for me? I promise you that they do have a message that will change your life. Every soul is important to God. (D&C 18:10, 15-16).

This week we also got to meet the new Douglas missionary couple at our Zone meeting on Wednesday. They are a delightful couple, and will be a great asset to the mission and for the Douglas ward. They are from Colorado.

The Douglas missionaries with the new senior missionary couple

Then came the wind and the rain and the FLOODS

Friday, July 11, 2014

In the last week, we have received almost 6 inches of rain in Sierra Vista. Last night we had a storm that dumped almost 3 inches at our apartment complex. It got pretty exciting as the runoff water level reached to our door and was within 1/2 inch of coming through the front door. This storm lasted about an hour but it was incredible. We were driving home from the Coffee House Activity and we almost had to stop a couple of times because of low visibility due to the rain. By the time we reached the main gate and started down the main street of Sierra Vista toward home, the streets were flooded with as much as 6-8 inches of water. The way the city is designed is that all drainage flows to the streets which flow to these large drainage canals. The parking lot of our complex acts like a drainage canal for the complex leading to the street which leads to a large drainage basin about a block from the complex. Last night the parking lot was about 6 inches deep running swiftly. It overran the banks and came to our front door which is on the same level as our patio. It was exciting for a little while.

Our front patio last night during the storm

Flood waters lapping at our door

This week we attended two more graduations. One of the soldiers that graduated has been here almost a year. His family came down to be with him. He has been separated from his wife and two boys for more than a year, including basic training. He really had a difficult time sometimes because he is about 35 years old and most of these young soldiers are just out of high school. The army treats them often like they are even younger, telling them where to go, what to wear (even to bed) when they can eat, etc. They must always have a battle buddy with them wherever they go. Their rules and guidelines are set up to the lowest denominator, not for a 35 year old married man. The other soldier that graduated was a newlywed from Vancouver, Wa. He is a guardsman and will be headed to BYUI this fall.

One happy soldier graduating after a year long training program. Almost the first smile in a year

Happy to finally be reunited with his family

Guardsman graduate heading back to school at BYUI

Other than the weather excitement and the graduations, this has been a pretty ordinary week. We did get a call from Military Relations  in Salt Lake City to advise us that our replacement couple will be finishing the MTC experience on September 12, so we can expect to see them sometime the following week. This is a bit earlier than we had expected so we will probably be heading towards home about mid September. Our house will not be available until October 1st so we will take some time to visit family on the way home. RoLayne really  needs to hold those two new grand babies.

That is about all the exciting news for this week. We hope things are going well for you and we will look forward to seeing everyone in a couple of months. We will keep our heads down and try to work hard til then.