Dresden here we come!

Our flight to Paris was uneventful and of course we got little sleep. Elder Jones is traveling with us to the Berlin mission. We arrived in Paris in good time and now we can say we've been to Paris. The flight to Berlin was fine and we mostly slept. We were picked up by the Elder Morris, a couple missionary, and 2 other missionaries at the airport in Berlin. He had instructions from President Pimentel, our mission president to take us to eat and get paperwork situated. They put us up at this hotel, since they have no rooms at the mission office, or the mission home. The couple below next to us is Presiden Pimentel and his wife.

It is reallly nice here. . We are just so glad to finally be here. After a rough night trying to sleep and adjust our sleeping schedules. Pres. picked us up at 7 am to go eat at his house for breakfast, then we took off for church in Potsdam. Their were only a few members there, but there were two beautiful women (30's)who sang like pros and I found out that the one was a profession singer in musicals in Germany. Anyway, the one who was the pro was interrpreting for me in RS. Afterward I spoke to both of them and bonded right away. They both have young families.

The other one is a single mother with 5 kids and I really connected with her and told her I was proud that she was so brave and courageous to bring those 5 kids to church each week by herself. We had a fun talk together. You see them in the picture. After church we had some missionary training and meetings for us and 2 Elders. Then we went back to President Pimentel's and his wife, for dinner. After much prayer and thought, President decided we were to go and serve in the Dresden part of our mission!!! We are really excited because we heard it is a friendly city and beautiful too. It is on the east near the Frieberg temple. Part of the week we will be at Chemnitz, just south east of Dresden. Both of these are the Centers for Young Adults. We felt so good about this!! So tomorrow we leave to go there and be trained. The couple who are currently there are leaving to be a mission president in 2 weeks.

Wow! It's so great to be here. I'd forgotten just how beautiful it is here. We can hardly wait to get settled and get to know the fine young men and women of Dresden. Thanks for all your prayers. Oh and by the way, we are 8 hours ahead of you, we will have a car, we will have a mission only cell phone, and a land line. When we get settled we will be in touch. Love to all!!

Our distict and Elder Holland

This picture is our senior couple's district missionary group: Elders and Sisters Christensen, Jarvis, Parkinson, and Dugal. Really nice people who are eager and ready to serve. We have been studying Preach My Gospel together and doing role-play. Today we gave our first discussion to an investigator (actor). It was fun and nerve-racking at the same time. Tomorrow we give another lesson. We are learning a lot and truly admire those young missionaries. They do a mighty work. Thanks to all of you who have already served. You did a great work. And don't stop. Thi is an eternal work, right!

Last night we had an MTC devotional and Elder Holland was the Speaker! It was powerful, dynamic, emotional and passionate. We came away with a burning in our hearts to do the Lord's work. We will never be the same. He spoke mainly to the young missionaries, but it certainly applied to us. I know he is a phophet of God and I know that we have much work to do and that our full commitment, for not just us, but every member of the church, is to bear witness and testimony of this church and Jesus Christ. All 2600 of us left that devotional hall in silence, and pondering much in our hearts.

In two days we leave for Berlin Germany!!! Can you believe it! I'm really starting to get butterflies. Of course Phil is calm cool and collected as usual, but he is excited. What a great companishsip we have. We are blessed. So the next time we blog it will be in Germany. Auf wiederzein :) Love you all!

Our Farewell December 26th 2010

Almost forgot to post these fabulous pictures Tricia took. We had such a wonderful time. 51 of our 61 children and grandchildren came to sacrament meeting to hear us speak. We also had many good friends and other family who came, some from long distances. We so much appreciate the efforts you all made to share that time with us. We actually didn't even know where we would be going at that time, because our visas to NZ were denied. But we had faith the Lord had a place for us. The luncheon afterward was held at the Comfort Inn near our home in Pleasant View. It worked out great and we had an enjoyable time together. The only problem was the weather. It turned really bad and the roads were awful, but the Lord blessed everyone to get back to their destinations safely. So grateful for the support of wonderful family and friends. WE LOVE YOU!! Mission experience is going great. Learning a lot and having many spiritual experiences. The Gospel is true and Jesus is our loving Savior.

Called to Serve -- The MTC in Provo UT

Have you ever been to Kansas in the late summer and driven past waves and waves of wheatfields? Well, that's just what it's like here only it's all in black and white. I have never seen so many missionaries in one place in all my life. What a unique place and unique experience!! Such power in one place makes me feel... happy! By the way, the food is good and they have a wide variety. I can't believe how much they must go through in one day!!! I was told there are about 2600 missionaries at the MTC right now. To hear them sing "Called to Serve" was amazing!!!! Wow!

We finished our 3 days of CES training on Wednesday. What a great experience. We learned so much and hope now we can remember it all. We had the class with other missionary couples going all around the world; Sri Lanka, Guam, South Korea, Norway, New Zealand (not us), Samoa, Tonga, San Diego, Washington DC, Virginia, Boliva, Salt Lake City Headquarters, Germany (us)and other places. How wonderful that the Lord's work is circling the globe. We enjoyed a special devotional Tuesday night given by Elder Baxter and his wife from the seventy. He bore a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and that, contrary to some beliefs, we DO believe in Jesus Christ!

We are actually staying in the Marriot Hotel downtown Provo. They only have so much room at the MTC for the couples and so the church must have contracted with the Marriot to house us here. So our room is a suite, with a couch, chairs, a kitchenette, and a king size bed. We are very grateful!!

We are having a great experience here and looking forward to Germany and wonderful opportunities to serve the youth there. They will be the future leaders of Europe and so we have a great work to do. We love you all and hope all is well in your lives. We miss you and would love to hear from you. We still have our regular email address so feel free to write.

The Lord Needs Us in Germany

Happy New Year 2011!

Most of you know our visas were denied to New Zealand because of some health issues, but we trusted that the Lord was in charge of this. And He is. We are now going to serve in the Germany Berlin Mission as CES instructors and more than that. We will be shepherds for the wonderful young adults in the area. Our mission president, President Pimentel, said that we will also be working with the young missionaries and will be attending district and zone meetings. We are very excited about our assignment and we know the Lord has a reason we for serving in Germany instead of New Zealand.

We hope you all are looking forward to the NEW YEAR 2011 and will enjoy much success and joy. We love you and thank you for you support. Best to all of you.

Here is the Berlin Germany Mission Blog: http://germanyberlinmission.blogspot.com

We've Moved!

Dec. 4th we moved into our new condo. We sold our home in Clearfield and bought this condo in Pleasant View. We really enjoy it and will be glad to come home to it after the mission. We want to thank all those who helped in this moving process. We could not have done it without you. We love you!!

Above you can see our new home, plus the snow scene view out our back door looking at the golf course, The Barn. Also above is the view out our front door looking at Ben Lomond Peak (9712 Ft.). This famous peak was used as the logo for Paramount pictures.

We have 12 days left before we enter the MTC in Provo. We are still waiting for our visas so keep us in your prayers. Our farewell is Dec. 26th at 11 am at the Major Meadows Ward in Clearfield. The luncheon is at 1 pm at the Comfort Inn in a meeting room, just off exit 349 for Pleasant View and North Ogden. Our home is just east of there. We would love to have you join us.

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for the new year!!

Mission to New Zealand Dec. 2010

Dec. 1, 2010 Just a note to say hello. We are moving to Pleasant View, UT, and also getting ready for our mission to Hamilton NZ to be Institute teachers. We enter the MTC on Dec. 27th. Farewell is Dec. 26 at 11 am. at 2150 South 800 East Major Meadows Ward. in Clearfield, UT. All are invited. We'll post more information later. Got to get back to cleaning and packing. :)