Monday, October 27, 2014
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
For Parents of BAO missionaries
My husband and I will be coming to Salt Lake for General Conference in October. The parents of Hermana Alley have volunteered to have a little reception at their home so that we can meet the PARENTS of some of our missionaries.
It will be on Sunday evening, October 5 at 7:00pm. The Alley’s home is located at 3847 South 1915 East, in the East Millcreek area of Salt Lake City. It is an easy find, getting off eastbound I-80 freeway at 2300 East exit. Then you travel south 3 lights to 3900 South, turn right (west) through one light and they are on the second street, a right turn, second house in.
For planning purposes, if you could send me a quick email or leave a comment, so we know how many to expect, that would be great! We are looking forward to meeting some of the wonderful parents of our amazing missionaries!
Our updated contact information is on the tab at the top under contact information, but making it easy, my email address is debbiecarter_ar@hotmail.com
We miss the mission so much and look forward to updates from all of you!
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
our homecoming
Everyone on our flight saw our happy greeting. “Welcome Home” groups are not that common in the Charlotte airport.
What a beautiful sight!
Almost as soon as we got back to the house, we called our missing daughter and her family. She is in the hospital waiting as patiently as possible for the arrival of our new granddaughter. They joined us via Facetime.
Presidente read our release letter from the First Presidency and the thank you letter from the Quorum of the Twelve. We took off our black name tags and pinned each other with the mission logo pin.
On to the next chapter…
Sunday, June 29, 2014
the robertsons arrive
It was a very cold and foggy morning. We had some worries on our way in that they might end up in Uruguay waiting for the clouds to lift. Fortunately, that did not happen. Our first stop was at the mission office.
Then we continued to the mission home where we spent the rest of the day together. I have to say that it is all a little bit surreal.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
our extra day
It turned out that the extra day in Argentina was not only a blessing for us, but a blessing for our extended family, as well. We all appreciated the time and opportunities that it unexpectedly brought.
This evening, we met up with the office elders for dinner. I think that the missionaries that serve in the office are the unsung heroes of the mission. They do all the leg work and have a ton of additional stress making it all happen, in addition to teaching and baptizing. A million thank yous would not be enough.
We have a little code in the mission that if you have an emergency, you can call twice in a row. Over the three years, we have received some double calls. The truth is, that it is seldom an emergency. However, with our few genuine emergencies, it has been a real blessing. Fortunately, we had no real or imagined emergencies and all of us enjoyed a celebratory dinner together. I just forgot to take a picture before it was back to work while Presidente paid the bill.
As always, going the extra mile, the elders presented each of us with a little going away gift that will continue to remind us of our mission days…not that we are likely to ever forget! Nevertheless, we are so grateful for their kind gesture, and even more importantly the extra time we had to spend with them this evening.
Friday, June 27, 2014
last leadership meeting
The last leadership council was a great one. Normally, we don’t have special musical numbers at these meetings, but today, there were two, and they were both extraordinary.
Sometimes parents can be fortunate getting things into the country. Presidente received some Guarana from Brazil and I received this handmade shawl that is a tradition to wear on the first day of spring.
One of the zones made a flag for us. And there were some leftovers for the missionaries to take back to their pensions for dinner tonight!
The missionaries are also working on a welcome project for the Robertsons. We learned today that the long goodbye was going to last even a little longer than we thought. Hermana Robertson’s visa didn’t come in time. Their arrival and our departure has been delayed 24 hours.
Normally, the missionaries come in and leave almost immediately after we finish. Today, everything was more relaxed and almost everyone wanted to take a few extra photos.
A few years ago a youth soccer club in Thailand was highlighted by a bank that used the theme—Make the Difference. Our missionaries certainly are making a difference and I used it as the theme for the spiritual thought!