Beautiful Week in Dixie...and some visitors!!

Dear Friends and Family,

Another week has flown by and if they keep going as fast as the first 4+, it is like we are being twinkled from one week to the next. It has been more than a month since we left Mesa and started this journey, "May the Force continue to be with Us."  (Love a good Star Wars line)

Since it was the week of the 24th of July, we had an army of visitors through the Historical Sites.  Yesterday from 10 am to 2 pm we took 175 people through the Brigham Young home.  Its not a record, but pretty awesome.  Bruce had a young man who was baptized a member but had fallen away and had a lived a pretty hard life.  He was recently released from prison, is currently homeless and was very depressed to the point of taking his own life.  He told Bruce that he hit bottom and now is trying to make things right.  He was walking by the BY home and felt a desire to come take a tour.  He wanted a Book of Mormon to carry in his pack, and when he left he told Bruce the spirit have given him answers to what he needed to do next.  Bruce gave him the phone number to the transient Bishop and pointed him in the right direction.  We pray for this young man to be able to make changes so that he can find the happiness his Father has in store for him.

I gave a tour at Jacob Hamblin's home earlier in the week to a father and son who were Jewish.  They were from California and the father had been to the historical sites several times and wanted his son to hear about these Mormon Pioneers.  I began telling Jacob's story and Frank, the son, kept asking, how did Jacob know these things?  Part of Jacob's conversion is after hearing Lyman Stoddard preach the gospel, Jacob walks up to Bro. Stoddard and asks for the book that he was preaching from.  Bro. Stoddard handed Jacob a Bible and Jacob responds, "No not that book, the other book".  Bro. Stoddard then handed a Book of Mormon to Jacob.  After explaining this to Frank, he wanted a Book of Mormon.  He tried to pay me for it and I told him the only payment I could take was his promise to read the book.  His father kept saying these Mormons have more truth than other religions.  I offered him a Book of Mormon as well, but he already had one.  He then explained that he loved the Mormon's and more people should try and be like them, but he didn't believe in organized religion and most didn't have all the truth.  I promised him if he would read his copy of the Book of Mormon he would find all the truth that God had given man.  He thanked me for my sincerity, but I didn't get the feeling I had changed his mind.  "We'll see."

So as you can see from the pictures, we again had a wonderful surprise visit from Dave, Logan, Noah and the rest of Dave's Venture Scout Troop.  Dave secured a reservation at Zion's Canyon for the boys to hike three different trails.  One was Angels Landing, which I think is 9+ miles.  Oh to be young.  On the way back they stopped at the VC for a short tour.  It was our "P" day so Elder and Sister Watkins gave the tour.  Their son-in-law and grandson were also there.  They are in Dave and Kristi's ward.  What a great bunch of boys.  They were so respectful and listened to everything that was said, even though I'm sure they were ready for junk food and pop.  (Three days in the woods will do that to you)

My mom, sister, niece and her son also came to visit.  What a fun experience to give a tour to family members.  We were able to go to Tuacahn to watch the Wizard of OZ performance, which was very good and then we drove up to Duck Creek to "Duck Days".  I think Duck Dynasty was conceived here.  I have never seen so much camouflage and four wheeler's in my life.  They have a parade and decorate their 4 wheeler's with lights, banners, streamers etc.  (We didn't make the parade, our niece has a cabin here and described in detail)  Yes, I was out of place but whats new.  I still had my badge on and had just pulled jeans on with the same shirt I had worn earlier at work.  What a hoot!  People were looking at me like I was from another planet and no one asked me any questions.  Of course Bruce had taken his badge off---yup didn't notice that. The people were a "hootin and a hollerin" and having a great time.

Well, the Jacob Hamblin home awaits.  We are schedule this afternoon from 2 to 7.  We pray all is well with you and yours and will continue to keep you up to date with what's happening in Beautiful Dixie.

Love Bruce & Dawna

Elder and Sister

PS  Happy Birthday to our other beautiful, smart, charming daughter Becky. Please go to Tia Rosa's for me.  Haven't found a good Mexican restaurant yet.

Kid's Perspective 1st Edition

Of course it is our parents who are serving but we as a family are all benefiting and have little, tiny experiences from the mission. Again, our mother would not approve of this content but until she figures out how to blog, the kids are in charge. Our motto, while the cat's away the mice will play! 

Small things this week WHICH we started with the best and then it goes down hill... 

1. On the phone we heard about a tour (we can't remember which location) and the tourist kept telling my dad they wanted 'no Jesus'.  They wanted the historical components but all religious aspects were to be omitted.  Of course our thought...ugh, then why did you go on the tour?  BUT it lead to a great discussion among us and Becky said, "no Jesus? If you don't have Christ in your life, what do you have?" Sure that probably wasn't the best tour or maybe not a success, but for us it was great. It was really simple.  It allowed us to reflect the benefits in our life of knowing the Savior and having him part of our lives. 
2. Our dad and the phone.  We used to joke that if we had a Survivor like contest re: who knows how to use their phone, carries it, and answers calls or responds to text...although it is a close race between the Kristi and our dad, he would for sure be the first voted off the island. He was the worst!!! Benefit of the mission...he's figured out the phone.  We've gotten calls and text. It is awesome. He called Ryan this week just to check in.  Lilly (Becky's 7 year old) has also learned how to text and sent 29 in one day.  We'll see if it lasts but it is pretty great the grand kids and us too quite frankly get a quick call/text from him. 
3. My mom calls Kati in the middle of the day using a hushed tone.  The conversation goes like this: 

• Mom (almost in a whisper) "Kati, I'm on my shift and I need some help.  They've put me in charge of the St. George Visitor Center FB page"
• Kati " OK"  (In her mind, this cannot end well)
• Mom "I need your help to do some things" 
• Kati "OK, hold on, let me log into FB to see what your seeing..."  

Kati tried to help and left her with some steps she needed to do.  After hanging up, Kati laughed for easily 10 minutes. Her mom, Dawna Borchert, was in charge of the FB page?  Her mom who,  sure she can log on and post, but the ins and outs...we're not so sure about that. AND the fact that my dad hasn't gone on some rant about it...he thinks social media is a total time waster. Of course later Kati tells the story to Becky & Ryan who laugh about it all over again. We aren't sure if she was just in charge for her shift, if it was a one time thing, a single post or if its on-going...Kati was laughing too hard to get the details straight AND my mom might deny the whole thing, BUT don't fret,  we've added a link on the blog so you can go directly to the FB page.  (YUP...that was an awesome run on sentence. We write like we speak...back off).  We have started to follow just in case something fantastic appears.   

Our parents are definitely in the missionary moment and we are grateful for their awesome example! We really, really love that they are serving. It hasn't been very long, but we are already seeing the blessing that come from dedicating yourself to the Lord.   As kids we definitely need refining, so we are glad they are willing to make sacrifices to keep us on the straight and narrow.  We need all the help we can get!   

We Made it !!!

We made it!!!!  Ten days of straight training and now we are experts in St. George History.  (Ha Ha)

It brought back memories of cramming for finals and knowing, if you're lucky you will get a "C".  But both Bruce and I have a new found admiration for these pioneers who were sent to the Cotton Mission.  In one account Whilimena (Willie) Cannon writes, "We entered the "Lifeless Valley of the Virgin" with not one tree, bush, or bloom.  My heart sank."  And believe me looking at the early pictures there was not one tree, bush or bloom.  What these saints sacrificed is unfathomable.  Their food supply was meager, at best and they did not have cold clear water until 1904 when a pipe was installed running from Pine Valley to St. George.  More than 50 years of harsh conditions-I couldn't have done it.  (I know, I'm HIGH MAINTENANCE)

Bruce and I drove up to Pine Valley and took a tour of the Pine Valley Ward.  There are 80 permanent members but on any given Sunday they can have upwards of 600-700 members attending.  It is the oldest continually running chapel in the church.  It holds a special place in Elder Hollands heart as his Grandmother lived there and he spent many days visiting as a boy. Elder Holland rededicated this building after an extensive remodel in 2005.  It's amazing and if you visit, be sure to attend services.  You may be sitting on the lawn or down in the basement but if you're lucky you will be upstairs. (Not me----sooooooo claustrophobic)

Well, everyone we talk too asks "How Are You Doing?"  We are great!  Bruce had the most fun in the Visitor Center on Friday.  He had a family of Baptists come through who he gave almost all the "Preach My Gospel" lessons.  (they took a Book of Mormon-yea that was his first)  The Sr. Elders hang out in what is called the "Annex" or "Man Cave."  The Sr. Sisters work in the front of the Visitor Center.  All the young sisters rotate between the front of the VC, the back of the VC then the Sr Elders in the Annex.  This is so we can meet all the visitors who enter the temple grounds.  Now this may sound like over kill, however, you cannot imagine the number of visitors who come through.  We had a bus of Slovenian tourists on Friday who were wonderful.  There were 20 of them and they just kept saying, "What is this feeling we have here?"  The sisters could not hand out Book of Mormons and referral cards fast enough (BTW the books were in Slovenian).  They were so excited (both the visitors and the sisters).  After the bus left the sisters were shouting "we love being a Visitor Center missionary."  It was like watching a Slovenian fire drill. (TA HEE HEE)  I have to admit, the excitement is catching. 

I have to give a shout out to all the Sister Missionaries at the VC.  They are fantastic, darling, spiritual and enthusiastic.  They run around like little bunnies, so anxious to share the message of the gospel, but you would be so impressed with their knowledge and testimonies.  We have 24 sisters and only 9 are from the states.  The rest from as far away as South Africa, Australia, Tahiti, South America, Germany and Canada.  I have pictures of a few, I tried to gather them all together to snap one picture but gave up.  They never sit still, so willing to work.  Here are a few pics of our cuties.

     

I'm starving, its time to close and get something to eat, plus get to bed.  We have about a 12 hour day tomorrow.  Sundays are challenging.  We need to get to church, plus we have a 7 hour shift at the BY home, but so glad I don't have time to think about being away from all of you.  You are missed more than you can know.  We love you,

Bruce and Dawna

(Elder and Sister, still not used to this)

PS  Happy Birthday to our wonderful, beautiful, talented, smart daughter, Kristi.  Sure wish we could be together to share a piece of cake.

Guess who we gave a tour to???

This is Kati and I'm taking some liberties with the blog.  My mom would probably censor me (not probably, she absolutely would...oh well) but we got the best texts from her this morning, I had to share! It started by telling us they were working at the Jacob Hamblin home today with the most lovely couple, Elder and Sister Kaona from Kauai, HI.  We automatically love them because they are from the best place on Earth.  I responded I want to meet them but only if we can in Kauai (I'm hoping they live near PoiPu:) 

A few hours later, we received another text saying 'guess who we gave a tour to?' followed by two fantastic pictures.  We love the Fulkerson's and it made every one's day.  My parents were soooo excited (I'd venture to say nervous too...since it's their first day @ this location). It was awesome! Such a great way to start the week seeing familiar friendly faces.  

First Days of the Mission

Dear Family and Friends,

 
OK, we survived the first 3 days of our mission. Yea for us---not sure our trainers feel the same way.  I'm sure they wonder---"whats wrong with these two!!!"

On the 10th we met the Directors of the Visitor Centers, Elder and Sister Watkins (Bob and Pam) who gave us a tour of the Temple Visitor Center and then sent us on our merry way to memorize about 100 pages of historical information.  We came home and started studying and then realized that we are old, old, old, or at least our brains are.  Pretty soon all the dates and stories were mushed together.

 

That night all the Senior couples met for a "Hi-Bye" party.  This is a tradition in the mission, that when a new couple comes or a couple goes home, they celebrate. It was a wonderful evening and as you can see from the pictures the "theme" was patriotic.  Everyone brought a picnic dinner and then gave it to another couple.  Each couple told a story of an ancestor who had influenced their lives.  It was a wonderful way to be welcomed into the mission.

The next morning we were thrown from the frying pan into the fire.  We were scheduled to work at the Brigham Young home and were to accompany another couple giving tours.  However, it became very busy and Bruce was told to take the 2nd tour of the day by himself.  He has no idea if what he told them was true or not.  My first tour with Sister Child was a couple from Pennsylvania.  He was a student of religion and no sooner had we started the tour then he bombarded us with questions.  He wanted to know where the Book of Mormon came from.  How Joseph Smith obtained the plates  Who told Lehi to leave Jerusalem and how we differed from the Catholic church.  He just kept asking question after question.  You know the song "Three Hour Tour", well our 20-30 min. tour turned into 1 1/2 hr.  (Now I know how Gilligan felt)  But at the end he took a Book of Mormon and was very complementary.  I returned to the little office where the missionaries wait, emotionally drained and sweating like---you know what.  I just prayed I gave him the correct info.  (Thank You Elder Zundel and Sister Yazzie at the MTC for making me leave my comfort zone.)  Our second day was also at the Brigham Young Home and we both felt a a lot better about the day.  We crammed our heads full of dates, stories, and facts about Brigham Young and his wives, family and friends who accompanied him on his trips to St. George.

Today we spent going to our new ward (Green Valley 1st) and then a shift at the Jacob Hamblin Home.  Totally different experience.  There is so much information at the Brigham Young Home, including stories how they built the home, his family, building the temple, etc., but the Jacob Hamblin Home is all about him and his remarkable life. The dates, facts and names of his wives and his travels is incredibly extensive.  I kept getting his wives mixed up.  First there was Lucinda Taylor,(according to Jacob's journals, Lucinda wasn't very nice), then Rachel Judd, Priscilla Leavitt and finally Louisa Benilly. (sp)  I'm sure I will dream about them tonight and their children.  (Greg Hamblin where are you?)

Great first few days.  They have flown by.  We barely have time to catch our breath, which is good because I'm sure if I had a lot of extra time, I would miss all of you too much.  We pray all is well.  

Our love and very best to family and friends,

Elder and Sister Borchert

Bruce and Dawna

Farewell Provo

We finished the MTC with mixed emotions.  You know that feeling after you have worked out so hard that every muscle in your body screams at you, well that is the MTC.  You know you have accomplished something fantastic and wonderful but very hard.  My head felt like a balloon ready to burst.  We left every day so exhausted that we fell into bed like rag dolls.  
 

The instructors were fountains of information.  It just flowed out of them like a faucet with no turn off valve.  They were unbelievable "YOUNG" men and women with incredible spirits who knew "Preach My Gospel" like the back of their hands. We have no need to worry about the future of the church with these capable Elders and Sisters teaching and preparing new missionaries to spread the word.

 

Because we spent 10 days at the MTC we were able to participate in two of the Tuesday night devotionals.  When you get 1500 Elders and Sisters in one room together who are charged up and ready to serve, the spirit is palpable.  It is like electricity running through the air and you feel it on your skin.  There are no words to describe these sights and sounds.  

We were blessed to have Elder Lowell M. Snow (member of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy emeritus) and his wife speak to us on the 1st of July and Elder Neal A. Andersen and his wife speak to us on the 8th.  Both gave very inspirational messages, but it was the young Elders and Sisters who were the true inspiration.  They stole the meeting!!  To know that 18 and 19 year old kids are giving up 2 years of their lives with eagerness, happy hearts and enthusiasm to preach his Gospel around the world, brings tears to my eyes. (especially when they sing "Called to Serve")  What a sight!!!

 

It was a hard hard hard, 10 days and we are tired, but excited to start the next phase of this journey.  Not sure they are ready for us, but we'll try.  We hope to not have too many "Senior Moments".  So much information to learn and teach.

We miss and love all of you and pray all is well with you and your families.

Elder and Sister Borchert 

Bruce and Dawna

 

PS  Happy Birthday to the best 17 year old Grandson ever!  We love you Logan