Blog Post Summary From June 19 to July 2

This summarizes the last two weeks--

"Happy July and welcome to the land of hot weather and high humidity (although in fairness when the temps have been triple digits this past week the humidity has been a reasonable 50 % give or take)! Wildflowers are still blooming along the roadways and we have enjoyed some amazing thunderstorms...no tornados yet!

It hasn't been all "roses and rainbows". Sometimes missionary life is filled with the typical annoyances of life. Last week I was sick with a cold/flu/fever for about a week and was not able to talk in Church or teach Relief Society last Sunday as planned. That same weekend, early on Saturday morning I went to get an ice pack from our freezer to find everything melting- our fridge had died sometime in the night! Our landlord was amazing and replaced it by noon, but we lost all of our freezer stuff and much out of the fridge. Not good timing when you are sick! Water had filled the utility closet behind the fridge which we assumed was from the fridge. After four days of cleaning water, finally figured out it was a problem with the furnace unit. Again the landlord was great and got it fixed within the day. So missionaries can still have "terrible, no good days" but it all works out.

And the times spent discussing the gospel of Jesus Christ in Institute classes or with the young missionaries in district and zone meetings are definitely in the "priceless" category.

Gary was able to take the Van Buren elders and a couple they are working with to the Bentonville Temple Open House last Saturday.

The three of us had a wonderful day on June 30 with Marcie and Kevin Marcie Carter Kevin Carter . We served with them in the Headquarters Mission. They are in Arkansas to visit some of our elderly relatives but we got to spend the day with them first. It was a perfect day! We went to the Parley P. Pratt Memorial Garden, then the Bentonville Temple Open House with them and then to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. We fit in two meals together and some fun conversation. They are waiting for their next mission call!

And birthdays although quieter than usual are still fun in the mission field. But no cherry pie at the store!!"

I posted about 30 pictures, some of which will be included in other posts. Missionary work is a blend of good and hard; busy and not; health and sickness; and even broken refrigerators. Just like life...