Christmas Time

The Christmas season is very special in the mission field.   It's particularly true if you have a beautiful Temple decorated for Christmas with a nativity and wonderful music.   As you can imagine the Temple and  Visitor Center have huge numbers of people coming and enjoying the spirit.   I suggested to the Director that we move one of the Sr. couples from the Brigham Young home to the Visitor Center to give additional help in the 5PM to 9PM rush.   He liked the idea and asked if we could start that day.   Dawna and I were scheduled at Brigham's and I knew the only way it would work was if we switched our own schedule.  We did and once again I was shown that the Lord really is in charge and is making things happen to accomplish his purposes.  By making this change we could have 1 couple outside mingling rather than staying inside the building. 

I was mingling with dozens of folks at the Nativity and introduced myself to a man and his daughter.   I told them that as special as the Nativity is that within the Visitors' Center were other very special things to see at Christmas:  The Christus Statue,  50 nativities from around the world,  a "He is The Gift" display and 7 beautifully decorated 12 ft. trees with themes.   They accepted the invitation to come in and the magic began.    It turned out that he was the CEO of an Aerospace company doing work for a Brazilian aircraft manufacturer.   One of his important clients is Sky West headquartered in St. George.   He and his daughter indicated they were Christian and active in their church but knew they needed to see our beautiful temple.   My background working in Aersopace for IBM for the past 25 years matched perfectly.   We knew many of the same people.   He loved Elder Uchtdorf's  testimony and was dumbfounded to learn that a man would leave Lufthansa as their Chief Pilot to serve his Church.  An hour down the road they had listened to the Christus, visited the beautiful paintings in the Savior of the World room, seen the Christmas decorations, listened carefully as I taught about the Godhead and our final stop was the Book of Mormon display.   As I explained what the Book of Mormon is they both readily accepted a book and I knew for certain the schedule change we had made that morning was so I could meet and teach them that night. 

In most cases because of the huge numbers at Christmas we don't get this type of teaching opportunity  especially since we start outdoors at the Nativity.   We had over 400 people that night and only specifically identified 4 as non-members;  2 being the couple I met.    Needless to say I almost didn't need a car to get home last night because I was flying so high.   We are so grateful and happy to be serving the Lord on this Mission.   For our Sr. friends  if you can't think of a thing to give a spouse because you have all you need,  give the gift of a mission application. 

Love  ---- Elder Borchert 

I've Been Bad

Dear Family and Friends,

I own it, I've been very bad on keeping up on our blog and now two weeks have passed and things are happening so fast that every minute I procrastinate puts me farther behind.  So here goes.

The Monday before Thanksgiving started our decorating marathon.  We started at 7:00 am at the Visitor Center.  We have 9 Christmas trees, a nativity display with over 60-70 nativities from around the world.  We have beautiful art work by Julie Rogers of Mary and the Christ Child and a beautiful enormous painting of the Shepard's looking up at the Star.  It is truly magnificent.  All the Senior Missionaries worked for over 2 hours but we finished and it looks beautiful.

Tuesday morning we met at 7:00 am at the Tabernacle and hung garlands all around the balcony, hung wreathes, put up two 12' trees plus a few other touches to prepare the building for all the events that will be held during the season.  On November 29th we started with the Temple Lighting Ceremony and will have events every night, except Mondays, through the first of the year.

Wednesday morning we met at 7:00 am at Brigham Young's to dazzle the visitors with garlands and bows.  Lots of wreathes and candles in windows and Poinsettias on the piano.  And last but not least was Jacob Hamblin's home.  I decided that I would decorate it between tours.  It took me about 3 days, but another couple, the Ercanbracks put up the two trees and decorated them.  However, Sister Ercanbrack caught her toe on a loose thread on a rug and fell.  She received several nasty bruises and the jolt was so hard, her diamond came out of her ring.  I felt so bad, she was so nice to help us with the house.  There is lots of burlap and muslin garlands, red bandanna bows and sleigh bells.  

All in All the sites are very festive and the visitors keep coming.  Bruce is in charge of the statics for all the sites and we are on track for over 300,000 visitors this year.  Over 2,500 came to the lighting ceremony and we have between 300-700 come to the events at the Tabernacle each night. Busy, busy, busy.  Now, all the stockings are hung and we begin to "Share The Gift" with all those who come.  

Our Thanksgiving was filled with good friends, wonderful family, and fantastic food.  We started the day by gathering all the Sister Missionaries, plus other Sr. Missionaries who are serving in the Temple, or Family History Center, along with a few homeless men and women who come to the Visitor Center and served them dinner.  We fed over 70 people turkey, ham, dressing etc. etc. etc.  We ended with pie and a talent show.  So glad Bruce and I don't have any talents.  Elder Watkins showed us his mad yo-yo skills and dry jokes.  Sister Nicholas and Sister West made us smile with a version of Part of That World, from Little Mermaid with the words changed to what they are looking forward too when they go back to" That World",after their mission. ( So Cute). Those who  speak French, entertained us with "I Am a Child of God" in French.  They did a wonderful job.  Then Sisters' Hansen and Martin played a Viola, Bassoon duet. We ended with Sister Kaona doing the Hula. (Why won't my hips move like that?)

Part Two--We met all my family at a church for Thanksgiving Dinner. (Here We go Again)  There were 50 of us with only Krisit, Dave, Jake, Tiffany and Kade missing.  My mother was in heaven and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at the church, eating, playing Chicken Feet (dominoes) and a wicked game of soccer in the gym.  Not sure that was kosher but they were having such a wonderful time, I decided I would ask for forgiveness if the soccer ball went a-wry and broke something like a nose or arm or leg.  We have some competitive family members but no worries, all is good.  

We were able to spend Friday with family as well, since it was our P-day.  Hung out at the pool, took my mom on a tour of all the sites, played Pickle Ball, Volleyball, then ended the day with left overs in our club house.  The kids were in the theater room watching a movie while the adults enjoyed the relative quite of the great room.  We love our family.

This week has been filled with our shifts at the sites, along with attending the events at the Tabernacle.  Since we sponsor three of the 6 nights, we are asked to attend as many as possible.  They are all very good, but, night after night is exhausting.  That's why my Diet Coke habit comes in handy.  Right now I could use and IV in my arm with Diet Coke running 24-7.  But again, not complaining.  Keeping busy is a blessing that I love.  We are so busy that I loose track of what day it is.  It really doesn't matter because each day is filled with work that we enjoy.

I've rattled on long enough, but hope I haven't left anything out.  If I have you won't know, so doesn't matter. We send our love to all and pray your Holiday Season is filled with Peace, Love and Joy.

 Bruce and Dawna

Elder and Sister

PS  Happy Birthday to our beautiful, kind, funny grand daughter, Rubie.  We got to celebrate while she was here. 

Grand kids are the Best

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope you will forgive me this week for focusing on our wonderful weekend with our kids, grand kid's, nephew and his darling family.  Don't get me wrong, we still conducted tours, attended all the functions at the Tabernacle and worked on lots of projects for the VC, but we were given permission by President Center and Elder Watkins to attend our grandson, Max's, baptism.  We worked our shift Friday morning at BY's home then drove to Las Vegas and caught a flight and flew home to Mesa.  We got their around 8:00 pm and went directly to the salon.  My hair was long enough for braids, not a pretty sight.  Kristi & Caleb flew in and joined us around 8:30 pm.  We ordered take out from one of our favorite restaurants, Oregano's, and enjoyed catching up with all the kids.  Everyone was jamming at Epic.  Saturday, we were able to attend the baptism, then join family and friends for a luncheon at Jodi and Eldon's.  Now there is nothing better than watching your grand children grow into great kids and we are so proud of Max.  He has memorized all the Articles of Faith, but he knows them so well that you can ask him to repeat any article in any order.  He is now working on the Family Proclamation along with reading the Book of Mormon.  For dinner, we went to our other favorite restaurant, Tia Rosa's.  My nephew Brett and his family joined us and I have a darling new grand daughter, Kylie Warnick.  She kept calling me grandma Dawna--I'll take grand kids any way I can get them.  But the icing on this cake was, Jodi and Eldon's announcement that we will be having #11 grand baby in July.  (Sorry Jodi if I've outed you)  Everyone cried----just saying---great day!  Then we jumped in the truck early Sunday morning and drove back to St. George for our 4:00 pm shift at the VC.  Such a whirlwind trip, but so worth complete exhaustion.

  

 We had a HI-BYE party this week.  We welcome Elder and Sister Durrant and Elder and Sister Clinger to St. George.  What a great group of people we have to work with.  What could be better than good food, good friends, and fun games.  As you can see, we had the "Best Thanksgiving Apparel" contest.  I'm sure all of you would vote for Bruce and me, even if your vote is just for Bruce putting the hat on.  Now all of these great people get to start the daunting task of decorating all the sites.

We start Monday morning and decorate a site each day until all four are done, as well as our shifts at the sites. Our shift at Jacobs last Tuesday was very slow, so I just started decorating and got it started.  When the Ercanbrack's came for the afternoon shift they put the trees up and decorated them so it's almost done.  Just a few garlands, bows and bells and its done. " And then there were three"!  I have spent the last month going through, throwing out, redoing and dreaming Christmas decorations for historical sites.  I will be very happy when this project is done.  I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to be sad because I wouldn't have any Christmas decorations to put up this year, wow, that's karma for ya.  But everyone is very willing to help, so it should go fast, if I'm organized.  HOPE SO!

Need to end this story.  We have leadership meeting at 7:30 am.  Where are the days when I could stay up all night and then work all day and not feel like my limbs are made of lead.

We send love to all, and wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.  We have so much to be grateful for and we want you to know we are grateful for each of you.

Love,

Bruce and Dawna

Elder and Sister  

PS  Sister Watkins and I worked Monday afternoon going through some old decorations and came upon these beauties.  Stars made out of hangers and covered in pantie hose.  They made great earrings.  

JINXED

Dear Family and Friends,

Never again will I suggest we had a quiet week.  It has been non stop for the past 7 days. Yesterday we were up at 6:00 am left the condo at 7:00 am walked back in the condo at 7:00 pm and then had several collateral duties to take care of.  Went to bed at 11:00 and I don't remember closing my eyes.  I really think I jinxed our slower winter schedule.  But what a week!  

We had a new Sr. Missionary couple arrive and it just happens to be Susan Easton Black and George Durrant, who are now married to each other.  Along with their shifts at the sites, one of their collateral duties is a lecture series at the Tabernacle.  They will be presenting every Sat for the next 3 months.  The first month is about Joseph Smith, the 2nd is about Christ, the 3rd will be about Brigham Young.  The Sr. couples had a training meeting with them last Thursday and they did a run through of their 1st lecture, and it is going to be amazing.  We attended last Saturday with 560 other interested locals and visitors.  Our Director, Elder Watkins, is now making arrangements for a larger venue.  We are pretty certain that we will be well over 700-800 people in attendance by the time this is over.  Yea for us, I thought I had read and studied everything Brigham, and I can tell you, I don't know 100th of the information that is in Sister Durrant's little pinky. Pretty sure she has a photographic memory.  What a wonderful gift that she is willing to share with anyone who cares to come and enjoy.  Elder Durrant is a kick.  His quick humor and wonderful stories are fun to hear. We are truly blessed to be serving with them.

We had transfers on Saturday and our transfer meeting on Tuesday.  I can't believe it's so hard saying goodbye to these Sisters.  Those who are from a different country, we will probably never see again.  Sister Calves was returning home to France.  We love these wonderful girls and their shining examples.  We also had to say goodbye to another Sr. Couple.  The Collins were released and headed back to SLC.  They have a home here so we hope to see them often.    

Yup, as you can see by the picture its that time of year.  We are in the middle of putting up Christmas lights at the Temple, Tabernacle, and decorating all the sights.  I think I mentioned, that one of my collateral duties is to decorate all the sites.  I have been going through all the old decorations, throwing out, and creating new.  Bruce tells me I got this assignment because I have plagued him our entire life with putting up 9 Christmas Trees at our home.  But I don't think anything can prepare you for this assignment.  There will be 7 trees at the VC, 2 trees at BY's, 4 trees at the Tabernacle and 2 Trees and Jacobs'.  Then there are all the garlands, wreathes, bows etc., etc.  I get exhausted just trying to organize the Sr. Missionaries for their assignments at each site.  I'll send pictures.  (If it turns out cute.  If its ugly you won't see a thing)

We had a great surprise by Marlin Snider (our son-in-law, Eldon's father) stopping by and having lunch with us.  It was wonderful to be brought up to speed with all the Snider news.  Thanks Marlin.  We love visitors and hope to continue to see those of you who pass through St. George.

 We had the wonderful opportunity of attending the sealing of my Nephew and his cute wife, Jake and Tiffany Cook.  They met in St. George and decided they wanted to be sealed in this Temple. Good for us, we were able to visit with family.  We had pizza, pizza and more pizza.  They had a pizza party and ordered a few too many, but lucky for us, I didn't have to cook.  YEA for me!!!

We continue to try and enjoy the great out-doors of this beautiful part of the State of UT.  This week as you can see, we took a different mode of transportation.  Yes we are on a motorcycle, however, my mamma didn't raise no dummy.  The motorcycle isn't running.  I tried to do a "Hang Loose" hand sign and ended up doing "Go Toros."  (I am a fan, buttttt...)  Its a good thing I don't belong to a gang, I would get myself killed doing the wrong gang signs.  But don't you think I make a great "Biker mamma missionary?"  Can't you just picture us out knocking on doors on one of these bad boys?  We could appeal to a whole new group of people who might be interested in the discussions if we showed up on this.  (Just kidding)

We cannot wait to see the grand kids this weekend.  We will leave Fri, after our shift and drive to Las Vegas to catch a flight to Phx.  We will attend Max's baptism on Saturday, then head back to St. George.  I can't wait for hugs and kisses from all the kids.  I really can't believe its been over 4 months since we have seen them.  I could hardly go a month without heading to CA to see those boys, then hurry home to see our AZ kiddies.  They are such a joy for us and truly enrich our lives.

Need to bring this epistle to a close.  We have a program at the Tabernacle tonight so need to get on our way.  Things are going great.  We are busy sharing the gospel with anyone who is willing to hear.  We pray we have planted a few seeds that will bloom.

We send love to all, please be safe.

Bruce and Dawna

Elder and Sister 

Quiet Week

Dear Friends and Family,

This past week has been more quiet than any in the past 4 months. We didn't have any training meetings, Senior parties or Firesides.  Not quite sure how to handle all our free time.  HA HA HA

Both of us had great tours this week.  Bruce gave all the discussions to a couple from New Mexico.  He spent 1 1/2 hrs with them (which is a no no) because they had so many questions and were so interested in the church.  They asked all the right stuff and Bruce gave him his email address and they promised to read the B of M then contact him with any questions.  When they finished they both told Bruce that "this was one of the most interesting afternoon's they had ever had."  They both gave him a hug, then came down and gave me a hug.  We never know how these encounters will end up, but it is so fun when you talk to someone and you can actually see the light go on.  Our goal is to plant lots of seeds and to show others that we are not a weird cult who practices voodoo.

Our directors, the Watkins had a family emergency they had to attend too, which took them back to San Diego for most of last week so we were on our own.  What do Sr. Missionaries do when the boss is away?  Sleep in!  We are so boring.  We were still busy at the sites and gave lots of tours, but no extracurricular activities, besides the regular programs at the Tabernacle.  Last Wednesday we showed the original Phantom of the Opera which is a silent movie and then had one of our regular performers at the Tabernacle play the original score from the movie on the organ.  We had 219 people attend and they gave him a standing ovation at the end.  It was pretty cool.  He wore a cape and we put a green light on him, so kind of creepy.

The Sr. Missionaries made goody boxes for the Sister's at the VC.  We delivered them early Halloween morning and they were so excited.  They were pretty cute, if I don't say so myself, and we had some fun things for them.  It was great to see how happy they were.  We closed the VC early on Halloween so they didn't have to be out on the street with all the crazies.  We try to be so careful about the safety of these sweet girls.  I'm so grateful we are just support staff and not in charge.  I'm not sure I would ever get any sleep worrying about all the Sister's.

Bruce and I spent Halloween night with Dave and Marilyn Watts at Tuachan.  The Odyssey Dance Company performed Thriller.  We are not sure if we liked it or not.  Half of the performance was fun and great, but the other half was very dark.  One of the numbers they performed was "I saw Mommy Killing Santa Clause."  Need I say more. The dancers were dressed like Zombies and roamed through the audience throughout the performance.  But it is always fun to be with good friends.  

   

Then Saturday night we had tickets to a performance by Jim Whitter at the Cox theater at DSU.  He performed all the music of Simon and Garfunkel.  It was fantastic and I was in heaven.  I love Simon and Garfunkel and it was so fun to hear all the music.  It brings back such fun memories of the sixties (yes I can still remember that far back).

Our outdoor activity was a hike on the Chuckwalla trail.  For those of you who don't know what a Chuckwalla is, it is a cousin to the Gila Monster.  It was a beautiful day and the hike was ok.  Not my favorite, but just being outside and enjoying the scenery is wonderful.  Look for the rock climber on the cliff.  Hope you can see him on the picture.  I have a bucket list of hikes to do before we return home and I need to get my b__t in gear to do them all.  So much fun.

Well its time to get to another couple of assignments that I need to finish before our P-day is through.  We love and miss everyone and pray all is well.  Til next week.

Love, Bruce and Dawna

Elder and Sister

PS Happy Birthday to the best little Hockey player, soccer player and baseball player, Max.  We can't wait to see you and attend your Baptism.  Love ya buddy.

A BORCHERT FAMILY PROCLAMATION

[From my dad. I debated if it should go on the blog (its kinda personal and not to brag but its pretty great). Such a great example to remember our blessings and cherish our families. I think its a great reminder of Heavenly Father's plan and how important families are. Thank goodness they are forever.]

From his email:  "I'm still here in St. George with your Mom [where else would he be? I thought that was pretty funny].  This isn't as entertaining as Mom's stuff but hopefully will be something the family will get encouragement from and can cause reflection.   Encourage your sisters to make sure they read it to the grand kids." 

I am privileged to explain and testify concerning "The Family Proclamation" issued by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve most days while serving my mission.  It has been a  remarkable experience to see how people respond and I've certainly reflected on my family much more in the context of an eternal perspective as a result.  These reflections are now captured in a proclamation concerning my own family. 

I am so grateful that I was raised in a wonderful home by loving parents.  They were a great examples to me and much of what I am today was shaped by their encouragement, demands and approach to parenting.   I look forward to learning why I was blessed to grow up in such an amazing environment.  I never had the sadness of going without good food, warm clothing or a roof over my head that the majority of spirits that have come to this earth experience.  Perhaps the greatest lessons taught by my parents were how to work hard and the importance of education.  These lessons have allowed me to create a wonderful quality of life in which I can't think of anything I lack.  I really have had substantial advantages. 

At this stage of my life I realize that there are just a handful of decisions that a person makes that determine your overall happiness, success and ability to function as God intends.   First among those decisions is the degree to which you embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Thankfully through family, friends, teachers and leaders I've been close to the Church my entire life. 

The person you marry is one of those decisions.  I have been blessed by having Dawna as my eternal companion.   I could not have made a better choice.  I married up;  way up.   Our marriage has reinforced and brought me closer to the Savior.  Dawna is a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother and  friend.  She's mixed the right amount of encouragement, patience and forgiveness for my flaws that I can honestly say we've had love in our home our entire marriage.   We have lots of fun and enjoy being together.   Our mission has been validation of our marriage.  We are doing really well being together 24 x 7.

 

Parenting is a truly daunting experience.   Dawna and I had the additional challenge of spending most of our time raising our girls living away from home.   We missed the additional support of grandparents, uncles and aunts and cousins because of employment decisions.   Much of the time Dawna was on her own as I was consumed in building a career and the results have been spectacular.   My Family Proclamation isn't complete without declaring how well she did raising four girls in Tucson, Vermont, Atlanta and Mesa.   Dawna is an amazing lady. 

 

Our four girls survived us as parents and now are remarkable adults.   We are so proud of them.  We look at each of their individual personalities and can see pieces of each of us in them.   Some of the traits we've given them are strengths and some are weaknesses.   The good news is that our daughters are better than we are and give us much joy.  We are so happy with the lives they are leading and the choices they are making.  Their living close to the Lord and being strong in the Church is such a comfort to us.   Families have so many challenges today and it isn't easy to create  wonderful homes but our daughters have accomplished this feat.   They are great examples to our grandchildren.

Our three sons have come to us through marriage.  We couldn't ask for better son-in-laws.   I'm pretty certain we couldn't have raised such good young men.  Much of the goodness in our kids homes is a credit to these good men.   They honor their Priesthood and love the Savior.   They are terrific fathers; mixing the right amount of love, discipline and teaching by example.   It is a great relief to Dawna and I that they are good providers.   They really know how to work hard.  I am so grateful that they want to be part of a close family.   We have so much fun together and the best time of our life is when we are doing anything with our entire family.  So my Family Proclamation contains a huge thank you to my son-in-laws.

 

I've saved the best for last in my Family Proclamation.  The grand kids.  The best part of getting old is that grand kids come into your life.  We have the best grand kids on the planet.   Each of them is unique and they are special because of this.   They make us better because we want them to be proud of us and love us even as we get older and  weird in some ways.   As the grand kids get older and become young adults we are seeing greatness in their lives.  They are doing better than their parents and far better than Papa and Nema.   I want the grand kids to know how happy they make us by living good lives and doing what their Father in Heaven wants them to do.   We love them more than anything I can think of and want them to know that there isn't anything in the world that we wouldn't do for them. 

 

Eternity with my family in Heaven is going to be wonderful because I've had a glimpse of that here on this earth. 

 Love Dad (Papa)

Happy Halloween

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Halloween, WHAT?  How did that happen?  I love Halloween and I'm starting a little withdrawal thinking I won't do a Halloween dinner for the grand kids or go to the ward Party or have spooky little goblins and witches at my front door.  Buttttttt - the Sr. Missionaries are getting together tomorrow night to put together goody bags for the Sisters so "all is not lost."  Just send all your wonderful pictures of the great costumes and fun ghoulish food.  I really want to see them, pleeeeeease.  "Happy Halloween" to everyone.

This week was exciting for the fact we have a new Art Exhibit.  I'm not sure I ever wrote about our last exhibit.  It was titled "Sacred Places" by Al Rounds.  So beautiful, Google it and enjoy a real treat.  He spent several hundred hours researching and visiting each site.  But our new exhibit is titled Hawn's Mill.  There are several contributing artists, Julie Rogers, David Bedard, Kirt Hamson and a couple of others, but Glenn Rawson put together these artists interpretations of Hawn's Mill and included them in a new book entitled "Hawn's Mill. (and yes it is spelled HAWN'S per Glenn Rawson)  We then had a Fireside last Friday night by Glenn and he told the whole story.  What a moving experience.  I have included Julie Roger's interpretation of Amanda Barnes Smith praying in the corn filed after the mob took possession of Hawn's mill and forbade the survivors to pray.  Amanda would sneak off to the corn field to pray.  She was a true hero and a woman of incredible courage and strength.  Enjoy the picture.

Well my adventure for the week was a hike with Sister Collins up Snow Canyon on the Hidden Pinyon trail.  It was fantastic.  We hiked through slots, down rocks, up creek beds and finally ended up on top of an out crop of sand stone and lava rock with beautiful views.  What a high.  I still can't get over all the wonderful hiking and biking trails.  If I hiked every day I don't think I would get to all the trails in St. George.  So fun.  If you ever visit, go hiking!

So another week begins.  Our time is flying by and we are so grateful for all the experiences we are having.  We love the Sr. Couples we work with and adore all the Sister's at the Visitor Center.  What good people.  

We are blessed.  Be healthy and safe.

Love, Bruce and Dawna

(Elder and Sister)

My Oh My

Dear friends and family,

I'm not sure where to begin this week.  It has been crazy.  We get up at 6:30, leave the house around 8 and return after 9:00 pm.  Its all a little fuzzy, or I am just getting so old that I can't remember from one day to the next.  Between training meetings, Hi-Goodbye parties, collateral duties, and teaching a little family, we haven't had an extra minute to catch our breath.

The sites have been extremely busy.  It was Fall Break for Utah and I've decided that everyone in Utah has bought a home, condo or Park Model in St. George and then they all talk to each other and head for the historic sites.  On Saturday in our 3 1/2 hour shift at Brigham Young's we gave over 300 tours.  By the end of the day it was over 600.  It was a record for Brigham's.  The only negative, is if we have non-members, we don't have much of a chance for teaching or exposing them to the principles of the gospel.  We do good to give a short history and then lead them through the house.  Bruce had a group of over 50 and I had a family reunion who made a reservation for 20 and ended up with 35.  Our average group was 20 guests.  By the time we finished, Bruce was totally hoarse and I lost my voice all together.  Good Times.

But what truly amazes me are the strong, confident, devoted little families who want to teach their children about the history of the church, or about Brigham Young, Jacob Hamblin and most importantly about the Temple.  So they come to St. George and instead of going golfing, or hiking, biking or any of the other incredible activities that are available here, they come to the sites and want us to tell the stories, teach gospel principles, and help their children understand the importance of these Pioneers who sacrificed so much, to not only make St. George succeed, but to build the Kingdom of God on the earth.  Pretty impressive members.  I love their example and feel a little sheepish that we weren't that diligent in exposing our girls to these Pioneer's experiences.  Maybe they can move back in and I can have a do-over.  Or maybe I can do a better job with the grand kids.

P-day was fabulous.  We took the roof off the jeep and headed for Zion.  We headed up the trail to Emerald Pools, which is a 3 1/2-mile hike, that ends in the back of a canyon which has water falls and beautiful views across the park.  The weather was perfect and we are convinced we were the only ones on the trail who spoke English.  Again, it was very busy, to the point that you can't drive up to the Lodge, you have to take a shuttle with all the French, Germans & Italians, who end up at the Visitor Center in St. George.  Bus loads of them, but its great for missionary work.  They have to drive through St. George on their way to Las Vegas and we have the best potties.  Lots of French, German and Italian Books of Mormon are given to these visitors.  You never know who will read it, believe it and get baptized.  Bring on the Buses!!!!

 

One of the hard things to do on this mission is say goodbye to those Sr. Couples who we work with.  We become close very fast as we serve together at the sites.  We have two couples who finish their mission this month.  The Drolet's will be returning to Canada and the Collins to SLC.  The Drolet's were are French speaking couple who helped with all the French tours that come through the center.  They will be missed and remembered always.  The Collins have been our Party chairman's and have done a spectacular job.  We hope to see both of these wonderful couples in the future.  At our Hi-Goodbye party we were entertained with Native American Dancers.  What a wonderful evening. Good food, good friends and great entertainment.

We had surprise visitors this week.  Wonderful, dear friends keep stopping by to check and see how we are doing.  We love it.  We were able to have dinner with Cless and Shari Alvey on Wednesday night.  It was wonderful to catch up with these darling people.  I just have to apologize to them and you that I forgot to take a picture.  I have been trying to keep track of all our visitors by taking pictures of each and everyone.  But I totally forgot.  Shame on me.  Today, Bonnie and Alan Costley stopped by while we were working at Brigham's.  So fun to see familiar faces from home.  We can't thank all of those who have taken the time to come see us enough.  Our friends and family are our greatest treasures.  Thank You!!!

Well, its time that I stop and get to my weekly cleaning.  (My least favorite thing)  But if I want to play tomorrow (p-day again) I gotta do it.  We send our love and pray all is well with each of you.  Til next week.

Love, Bruce and Dawna

(Elder and Sister)

PS  Happy Birthday to our fabulous Grandson, Caleb.  Sure wish we could be there to share soft-serve ice cream with sprinkles.  No cake for this boy.  Have a fun day at Disneyland.

100 Days

Dear Family and Friends,

We have now passed our first 100 days in the mission field.  It has been delightful, hard, spiritually uplifting,spiritually depressing, wonderful, exhausting and all together better than our expectations.  But it seems like we just arrived a week ago.  The time is flying by so quickly that we feel anxious to do better every day.  We still continue to study the church history of the St. George area, however, it is so intertwined with Kirkland, Nauvoo and Salt Lake City that sometimes it is overwhelming, but just convinces me more and more, that these men and women could not have accomplished the things they did without the help and guidance of Heavenly Father.  The more I learn, the more I realize that the church could not have survived if mere men were in charge.  

The church sites continue to draw hundreds of visitors and we continue to try and figure out to give tours to 30-50 tourists at a time.  There is a tour group by the the name of "Rhodes Scholars".  They advertise their tours to be educational and a chance to see behind the scenes.  They have tours all over the world, but one of the most popular tours, is here in Southern UT.  The visit all the National Parks, including the Grand Canyon, but they also want the tourists to learn the history of the area.  

We had a Rhodes Scholar tour come to the Tabernacle this week.  It included 2 Benedictine Nuns, teachers, all different religions including the Jewish Faith.  We actually were able to have great conversations with several of these people and gave several Books of Mormon to them. The two Nuns promised to read it.  Pretty exciting.  Bruce also had a conversation with a woman who came into the Tabernacle who told him she was a pilgrim.  She explained to him that she has no permanent home, she just travels around the world and finds people to pray with her.  She told Bruce that she had never in her travels met people who were so happy. She asked Bruce why we were so happy and peaceful.  Bruce told her, that if she knew where she came from, her purpose on earth, and where she was going, she could find peace too.  He pretty much gave all six discussions and sent her on her way with all the information we have.  Pretty great week.

Our entertainment for the week was attending Meet the Mormons with the Sr. Missionaries and going to The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn.  Oh my, both sooooooo amazing.  Meet the Mormons beat every expectation that I had.  If you have not seen it, go now.  And the Little Mermaid was a masterful piece of special effects on the live stage.  It rivaled anything we have seen on Broadway. Great entertainment.

P-day was today, Sunday, which is not supposed to happen.  How do we go grocery shopping, clean our condo, or more importantly travel to fabulous places and do fun things?  And to top it off, we were given an assignment to speak in a Branch this morning.  But we did go for a drive this afternoon and found a spot that we have heard about since coming to St. George.  The locals all talk about "Little Jamaica".  There is a spring that comes out of the mountain and flows into the Virgin river.  It is located right before you enter the gorge from the Vegas side.  The exit you take off the freeway is Dessert Springs.  It is a nasty hike down to water falls, pools and the river, however, its a favorite of the locals.  We hiked down to it today and took a few pictures.  I don't think we will be swimming or jumping into the pools.  It is for the young and agile, or monkeys who can hold onto slick rocks.  But a very fun unique place.  The pictures don't do it justice.

We hope all of you had a wonderful week.  We love hearing from you and your visits are priceless.  May this week find all of you happy, healthy and safe.  We love and miss you and think of you everyday.  "Keep the Faith"

Love, 

Bruce and Dawna

(Elder and Sister)

No Longer the "Newbies"

Dear Friends and Family,

I am sure all of you are basking in the glow of conference weekend, as we are.  There is no way I can pick a favorite talk, all of them were so wonderful.  Now we have our spiritual power boost until next April.  We hope all of you enjoyed it as much as we did.  We did have to work both days, however, we were able to record all the sessions.  We actually listened to the Sunday afternoon session on the radio (that's a blast from the past) while we were working at the Tabernacle.  High Five to the men and women who gave such fabulous talks.

This week we have 3 new couples who are starting their missions.  We are no longer the "newbies". We are excited to get to know them and work with them in the Historic Sites, but it is hard to say goodbye to the couples we have worked with over the last 3 months.  The new "Newbies", have the "deer in the headlights look," that I am sure we walked around with for weeks.  There really is a lot of information that you have to learn in a very short time.  But I am sure they will do a great job and be a great asset to the mission.

In addition to our work at the Historical Sites, we also have collateral duties, i.e. I submit all the events that we do at the Tabernacle to the St. George Visitors Center Facebook page.  I coordinate with SLC any human interest stories that would be appropriate for the page as well.  Bruce was given the assignment of all the statistics for the sites.  He has to collect all the log sheets from the 4 sites and combine them into a report that is submitted to Elder Watkins, President Center and again SLC every week.  But this last week both of us received new assignments.  Bruce is the new assistant to Elder Watkins and I was assigned all the Christmas decorations for all the sites [lets hope they have a big budget], plus I'm helping Sister Watkins with the Missionary Christmas Fireside.  I'm getting a little nervous. (really a lot nervous)  but they tell us that Christmas is magic.  I hope I can find some magic to complete this assignment.  Its really hard without my peeps (my people).  Maybe it would be a good time for some of you to come visit and help me.

We had visitors this week, which always makes us happy.  Dave and Marilyn Watts came to enjoy conference weekend, along with Janet Hancey.  We always have such a fun time when they are here.  There were bike rides, hikes, movies, eating good food, and eating more good food.  How blessed we are to have such wonderful friends.  

Also, last week at Brigham Young's I walked out to take a tour and there were wonderful friends from American Fork.  Mike and Mary Jo Greenwood were visiting St. George and stopped by to see us.  What a joy to be able to visit with them.  Last but not least, today again at Brigham's, out on the porch was a darling family, the Christofferson's.  They were on their way back from conference in SLC to CA.  They are great friends with our daughter Kristi, and stopped by to say hi.  It made our day.  

 

Mike and Mary Jo Greenwood

The Christofferson kids

Well its time to forward this to Kati so I don't get scolded[she acts like I'm a tyrant] for not getting her our weeks adventures.  We love and miss all of you and hope all is well and good where ever you are.  Keep safe!

Love,

Bruce and Dawna

Elder and Sister Borchert