We are SPOILED!

We feel so very blessed with our new missionary home.  It is a sweet 2-bedroom apartment with 2 bathrooms a block from Temple Square with an amazing view of the mountains and State Capital to the north from our windows.  It is about 980 sq. feet but you can pack a lot into that amount if you plan carefully.

Let me show you:

Gary and Jena pointing out the sign

We are living in the Brigham Apartments.  Although the bulk of the complex (shown here) is located on South Temple Avenue, our building is smaller and to the north and it actually off of 1st Avenue. 

It comes with exercise rooms, a pool and hot tub, social rooms and a party deck with BBQs.

The view from the Brigham sign down 2nd North in Salt Lake to the south.

Moving in---boxes everywhere.  Now as Gary pointed out, most missionaries only get to take TWO suitcases of clothes and other items on their missions.  Stateside, senior missionaries can bring a carload of stuff to most missions.  We, however, made several trips with both our car and our truck to bring things from home to make this new home for us.  The apartment came furnished and with some limited kitchen items, so we were able to bring things from home rather than buying additional things needed for every day living.  Of course, we did have to buy a few things including two small desks to fit in the spaces we had for desks.

Our kitchen which is fairly good size for this small apartment area---

And I brought my refrigerator photos of the grandkids.  I love their smiling faces "to bits"!

From the kitchen out through the living space....

The night view out our window.....

The laundry "closet" which is off the front door which is better than a laundromat any day.

Another view of the kitchen--even room for our bar stools.

And these are the books I brought---I think I stored about 500 so this was really paring it down.  Mostly they are books that I haven't read yet that I hope to read in the next year.  In addition, there are some references books and our family scriptures....plus a collection of children's books for when the grandchildren come to visit.

These little books stacked here, I have read.  Their very titles remind me of their teachings and the attributes I hope to gain someday.  They inspire me just with their titles--"A Lamp to My Feet," "Too Much To Carry Alone," "Born This Happy Morn," "Whom the Lord Loveth," "Moving In His Majesty and Power," "When Your Prayers Seem Unanswered," "Gift of the Sea," "The Joy of Believing," "Covenant Keepers," and "God Wants A Powerful People."

Gift of the Sea is one of my all-time favorite books and one that I often share with friends.  It gets a special spot with a bag of shells and sea glass from a trip to the beach with Tosha in Okinawa.

Daylight view out our living room window.

A corner of the living room....

Our dining area

Jena's bathroom---

The master bedroom with our Hong Kong painting which has hung over our bed since 1987.

My office nook in our bedroom

And my view over my computer monitors

Gary's office in the living room since he is the early riser...along with his mother's clock over his desk.

A printer stand with a place for some games.....

Jena's room

and her desk.  Usually senior couples use this room as their office and that is why the desk is there.  The top came from one of the desks we had at home for our kids.  It was the exact same desk so the top fits perfectly and it gave Jena a place to put some of her things.  Jena was a master unpacker and did her room and bathroom by herself plus helping us.

One last important piece of the apartment--the all-important ice maker which happily makes ice for us all day long if we want.  Again, not something you would pack in a suitcase to travel to a far away mission, but a nice perk in making this little space a home for the next year or so.

There you have it---our mission apartment!  We love it and feel so spoiled... 

And our neighbors to the west are the Bates--a senior missionary couple from Heber City. Elder Bates is the son of Dee and Donna Bates who served as a senior missionaries in Hong Kong with Elder Lybbert back in the early 1990s. We knew his parents there. Small world!

I love this Church!!!