KAILEE'S GRADUATION LEADS OFF THE MONTH OF MAY

Kailee graduated from Utah Valley University on the 5th of May. We are so proud of her. She has accomplished this over the 5 years she and Todd have been married, attending some classes but mainly doing on-line studies. We have been amazed at her determination and dedication to getting her degree. On the day of her graduation, she found out her college was receiving their diplomas last. She and Todd had a big dinner party planned at their home for family, so she feigned an emergency. The graduation director let her walk with the first college receiving their diplomas - the foreign language department - so she could get to her 'emergency'. As soon as she received her diploma, she walked right off stage and out the door, instead of returning to her seat like everyone else. We followed her out and by so doing, we missed all the traffic and were to their home in Lehi before the actual graduation was even over. Pretty sweet.

                           Kailee's parents came down from Idaho so she had many 
                                     family members to celebrate with her.

On May 12, we had a baptism. Sandra Verbino, who has been investigating the church for 2 years, decided she wanted to be baptized on her birthday. She told us that 10 days before, so we had to hustle to get interviews done and program assignments made. She asked me to give the talk on baptism and I was thrilled to do it. Her baptism was a very special affair. Afterwards, we had Sandra and a few friends to our home for dinner. The Chapels, who started teaching her before us, were there as well as the Cottle's who have been wonderful to fellowship her over this past year or so. Two of Sandra's special friends and their husbands were there, too. She seems happy with her decision and we are so excited for her. We have been teaching her since November and had recently made some pretty direct challenges for her consider being baptized. The day she announced to us her intentions, we had come with a lesson on the importance of baptism, hoping to leave with a commitment for her to be baptized.  

Sandra at our home with her birthday cake

Sandra and her friends from
West Jordan

Other missionary happenings weren't so happy. Our recent convert, Rick, and his wife Carolyn decided to celebrate all the good things that were happening in their lives. The problem is that Carolyn took a drink of alcohol and, because she is a recovering alcoholic, ended up in the hospital, in ICU, fighting for her life. She couldn't stop drinking, once she started. Rick was a trooper to stay with her the whole 10 days of her hospital stay. The day before she was released, we drove Rick to Evanston, Wyoming to visit his doctor there and to get his prescriptions renewed. That was his downfall. As soon as he got his prescriptions refilled, he popped a few pills. By the time we got him back to the hospital to be with Carolyn, he was out of it....hardly coherent in his conversation and very drowsy. We don't think he ever dried out from then on. By the weekend, we got word that Rick was in jail and Carolyn had been picked up for a DUI (due to prescription medications) and was back in the hospital. We visited Rick in jail and all the light we had once seen in his eyes was gone. We attended his arraignment, for which he was very grateful. We thought he was going to be released until his sentencing date in July but, it turns out, he had an outstanding warrant in Summit County so was immediately taken to the Summit County jail. We think he will be in prison for a long time. He was arrested, at first, for possession of heroine and the warrant was for selling prescription drugs. These are second or third offenses so prison is a certainty. So sad - Addictions have destroyed these two good people. Carolyn is moving soon and divorcing Rick. She is facing life with no driver's license for at least 90 days and two court dates. They had it all together for so long and then they blew it. We are heart broken.

On this mission, we feel like we are always in a preparation mode. If it's not preparing for discussions, it's prepping for a district meeting assignment or a talk in church. It is good for us but there is not much down time after prepping, visiting, and doing personal and companion study. We are, too often, sad when we prepare and then the lesson is canceled. Such was the case after I had spent hours doing an over sized plan of salvation visual aid, complete with rice krispie treats. This was for an 'after baptism' lesson for a 10 year old and her family. As we were heading out the door, we got a text that the family needed to cancel. Oh well, such is the life of a missionary. We have upwards to 5 cancellations in a week so we get used to it. When that happens we try an fill in with other visits.

Our district - Halls, Gordons,
Wards, Ourselves, Barnes

We had to say good bye to an elder and a senior couple, one was transferred and the other released. The Halls finished up their 12 month mission so we had a special lunch for them at the Gordon's home after our district meeting. We will miss them and their great insight to the scriptures. Elder Hernandez was transferred to Price. He has been with us since the beginning of his mission,18 weeks ago. We will missed him dearly. Transfers are always hard as we come to love our missionaries.

Elder Hernandez will be missed

It has finally become Spring and things are in full bloom. We love the blossoms that come out on our trees - pinks and whites. We did have a late freeze that singed the leaves of a few trees so their leaves will be coming out later. We planted annuals at the end of the month, once we were sure there would be no more freezing. We have decided not to put in a vegetable garden this year as it takes too much time with the demands of our mission. Maybe next year.

Of course, we celebrated two holidays in May - Mother's Day and Memorial Day. On Mother's Day, I spoke in church in our ward and, then, Jon and Mindi and family came up for dinner. We always love having them come up to Heber to visit. They gave me a marble cheese board and two specialty cheeses.  I use the board continually as I do a lot with cheese in my cooking. Andrea sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and I thought of her each time I looked at them. It was phone calls for Todd and Ryan which are always appreciated.  

The following weekend, we went to Ruth Chris's for dinner, kind of in celebration of Mother's Day. We chose Ruth Chris because Todd and Kailee had given us some gift certificates for babysitting Aria for a week while they were in Hawaii in March. 
We ordered a porterhouse steak for two and it was huge. It was a filet on one side and a sirloin on the other. Both sides were very tender and delicious. It was more than we could eat, though, after we had a salad, asparagus, and scalloped potatoes, too. Ruth Chris is a very expensive restaurant so our total bill, for two, ended up being $150 plus tip. Thank you Todd and Kailee. The bone was appreciated by Alice, Jon and Mindi's dog. We took it down to her the following Monday.

Paul trying out Jon and Mindi's
Traeger grill.  It is amazing.

On Memorial Day, we planted the annuals and then took dinner down to Jon and Mindi's. Todd and Kailee joined us and we enjoyed ribs, potato salad, spinach-strawberry salad, watermelon, and rolls.  Mindi made a delicious frozen lemonade dessert. It was fun to just relax and visit with everyone. We are excited that Jon and Mindi's home is finally taking shape. They even had furniture in their family room for the first time since moving in the first of February. As soon as the kitchen is done, this house will finally feel like a home. Earlier that week, we had put flowers on Paul's parents graves. 

While at Jon and Mindi's, we noticed lots of weeds in the back of their yard and decided to help them get their backyard cleaned up. Wednesday, the 31st, Paul and I, and Todd and Kailee spent several hours weeding the back area as well as the garden areas. Except for the the pile of weeds left, it all looked a lot better when we left. They are hoping to put the house on the market by August and finding another one that better suits their needs. If they want to get top dollar for this home they are remodeling, the yard needs to look great, too.

Clark, Olivia and Carly helped a bit too.

Also this month, we finally were able to take the April birthday boys out for a birthday dinner. Schedules are so hard to coordinate, hence the May birthday dinner for April birthdays. It was fun to be with them at The Sukiaki House.

AND THEN THERE'S ARIA.....

as

our little graduate

and

loving the slide in Jon and Mindi's backyard.