Two in one week...WHOA!

Kati here..not sure if this was supposed to be part of the previous post or what. AND who knows if I've mixed up the pics.  I'm not the best at managing the blog or coordinating with my mom.  Take it at face value...they had a great day :)  

 

It was our p-day today and we headed up to Kolob lake.  We tried a couple of weeks ago and was stopped by snow.  There is another road from Zion Natl' Park so we decided to try the back way.  But when we turned off the highway, it was under construction.  Maybe the third time will be the charm. So we decided to keep going and drove up over Zion through the tunnel, then came back and went to Grafton, a ghost town.  From Grafton there is a road called the Smithsonian Back Byway.  It was the first road into Zion and goes over the mountain into Colorado City.  It was a lot of fun.  There is a hill called "cry baby hill".  Very steep and very rocky.  I didn't cry, but I yelled.  I think it should be  named "mad as he-- hill."  But as soon as you reach the top of the hill, the road was great.  Just that darn hill.

 

Here are a few pictures of our fun day.  Not sure why this part of the country holds so much magic for us, but we love it and love discovering more and more fabulous places to visit.  We are headed to Kodachrome Canyon next p-day with the Burt's.  Stay tuned for the narrative and pictures. 

 

Things---They are a Changin'

Dear Friends and Family,

Well, we truly are the Senior Couple now.  There are only two other couples who were here when we arrived in St. George last June.  We welcomed another 3 couples this week with a Hi Hi Hi party at Jacob's.  We had Indian fry bread with all the toppings, beans and dutch oven cobbler. We then listened to a guest speaker who helped restore the Jacob Hamblin home when the church obtained the property in 1970.  He has a real affinity for Jacob.  He owns property right next to the home and has constructed a tepee and has other period pieces of farm equipment etc.  He is very involved in the Scout program and has troops from all the over valley come and hold their Arrow of Light ceremonies in the tepee.  It was a fun night, but the fact that Bruce and I are the oldies of the group just reminds me how quickly this all coming to an end.

It was transfer day yesterday, as well.  Which means more of our sweet sisters departed to places all over the world.  Sister Ruiz went home to Puerto Rico, Sister Morales to Mexico and Sister Biery to Kentucky.  Again, there are only a few of the Sisters who were here when we arrived still serving. But the work does not stop.  It doesn't even skip a beat.  Three Sisters left and six arrived, ready to hit the ground running. It truly is the analogy of pulling your finger out of a bucket of water.  There is no hole, it just fills in.  Now I follow all of these sweet girls who have gone home, on Facebook. Some are engaged and getting married, others are working, others going to school.  But I now have friends from England, Tonga, Germany, Pennsylvania and other wonderful places in the world. There is no other organization like the church, who brings people from every country, every culture and throws them together and says "Now get to work and go bring the message of the gospel to all you find."  Just think if governments did this.  Don't think we would have as many conflicts as we do.

The only thing that doesn't change here are the visitors who just keep coming.  We are in the thick of our busy season, and will see hundred of people a day.  The last two Sundays we had 10 French and German buses at the VC.  Funny thing happened on the way to the Bus, our Director, Elder Cleverly, was in the Annex and a German Bus pulled up and the guests came in through the annex.  Elder Cleverly does not know German so as they entered he got frustrated and just pointed towards the VC.  After they left, he went to Sister Groeneveld, (who is from Germany) and said, Sister Groeneveld "you have to teach me a few phrases or words in German.  I look like an idiot just pointing."  She replied, "Elder Cleverly, the way you say hello to Germans, is HELLO."  Most speak some English."  We do tend to act goofy when the French or others from other countries visit.

But Bruce and I both had great visitors who asked questions and wanted to understand more about the church.  I had a couple from Beijing China and when they understood I had been to Beijing, they got so excited. They couldn't believe I had visited their country. Then when I offered them a Book of Mormon in Chinese they were ecstatic but they wanted an English copy.  They did try to pay me and we bowed several times.  I'm sure I was politically incorrect but they were so happy.  I also had a couple from Syracuse New York who were delightful.  They had visited Palmyra but they took a Book of Mormon and couldn't say enough nice things about the tour and about our volunteer service.  Now I hope they read the book and contact the missionaries.

P-Day-------was spectacular.  We took the Cleverly's and Gifford's to Torowheep and Mount Trumbull.  Look at the Pictures, you will be impressed.  Elder and Sister Cleverly have worked so hard since they arrived in January, they needed a break.  They asked if we would take them and we were happy to oblige.  This is one fantastic spot.  Very remote, hard to get too, but you drive, literally, to the edge of the Grand Canyon.  Your view is beautiful.  You see the Colorado river in both directions and looking East you see Lava Rapids, a class 8-10 rapid that throws most river runners.  If you go on You Tube you can watch the brave of heart try to run this rapid.  Very scary.  The Gifford's loved it so much they went back yesterday and took the Sutherlands. Mount Trumbull is where the pioneers found the lumber to build the temple.  Again, how they found it and then freighted timber out of there is remarkable.  It is 80 miles South of St. George.

One of our favorite things about this experience is those who choose to visit us.  We love sharing the Historical Sites and St. George with any and all.  This past weekend the Brown's and Germaine's made the trek to "Little Dixie."  We had a wonderful time catching up and laughing, eating and more laughing.  We went to Pine Valley and Mountain Meadow.  We went up to Kayenta to the street painting festival.  We met a delightful artist (a darling returned Mormon missionary, mother and artist) who painted a fantastic work of 3-D art on the street.  We took pictures and even Bruce, Bruce and Monty got in the game.  We love these dear friends and really appreciate them coming to visit

Well, things, they are a changin' and we can't stop it.  Sr. Couples come and they go, but the work goes on and on and on!!!  We have loved every minute and want to finish strong.  Trying not to get trunky.

We love you all.  Keep safe

Bruce and Dawna

Elder and Sister

PS  Happy Birthday to our great athlete, smart, very cute, good boy& grandson 'Noah"  We hope your day was filled with all your favorite things.

PSS  Congratulations to our other great athlete, smart, very cute, good boy & grandson, "Logan". Not only did he get accepted to BYU, he received a 4 year tuition scholarship and if that's not enough he received the "Disney" scholarship as well.  Also he pushed the button on his mission papers. So now we are playing the waiting game.  Where in the world will he go?  I'm praying for Boise Idaho.  I'm a big chicken and want him safe.

The Countdown Begins

Hi Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Where have the past 9 1/2 months gone?  We have 11 1/2 weeks left before we return home.  Its almost as if the time has flown on wings of lightening. (Improve The Shinning Moments)  We have enjoyed each and every day, and pray we have made a difference. (just a little)  When we return it will be to a new baby grand daughter and a grandson who will be leaving on his mission.  Yes, "Time Does Fly on Wings of Lightening."

The past two weeks have been so full and busy.  We are seeing about 15% more visitors this year than last year, so our shifts are crazy.  We rarely sit down between tours and most tours have between 8-25 people.  These past two weeks, we have had guests from Columbia, Australia, Germany, France, Switzerland, Ukraine, Canada and Uruguay.  (Ola', Gutentag, Hey Mate, Bonjour, Aye)  These are the countries I remember plus guests from New Jersey, North Carolina, Missouri, New York and Texas.  

We tried to prepare for Spring Break, Conference and Easter, but there is no preparing for the numbers who flock to St. George.  The words to describe the mayhem, is organized chaos.  But I'm amazed that as crazy as it gets, if someone has come to the sites or Visitor Center with questions, its like the water parts and we find a quiet moment to answer or teach.  It is so fabulous, no-its a miracle.

Even with all the guests, we found time to add two events to our already packed schedule.  We organized a lecture with Sister Durrant on Saturday night during the Priesthood Session of Conference.  She spoke on "The 100 Most Famous Women in the Church".  It was wonderful and we had over 400 women attend.  My sister, Julie, was here with her family and my dear friend Marilyn Watts was here.  They both came with me and it was such a treat to share this lecture with them.  Then we organized a "Night of Music" at the Visitor Center on Easter night.  We had the Missionaries along with talent from the community perform out on the patio at the Visitor Center. This was a program for the Missionaries to bring their investigators to the Center.  It was an experiment to see if we would have the community participate and the ward members bring their friends and neighbors.  We had around 200-250 come and we are going to do it again.  The Visitor Center is such a wonderful place to feel the spirit.  Hopefully this will turn into a monthly program.  (Cross Your Fingers)

We had a Bye-Bye-Bye party on March 26th.  The Clark's, Millers and Durant's are all returning home.  The Clark's left this last Wednesday, the Millers leave this Wednesday and the Durant's go the following Wednesday.  We will miss these Sr. Couples so much.  It is hard to see good friends leave not knowing when we will meet again. We had a wonderful "Meet The Mormons" party.  We served all the good ole' Mormon food.  Green jello with carrots, casseroles and whole made bread.  We played Meet The Mormon match game. 

If you ask George Durrant how he is doing, he answers, "It's My Best Day Ever." So it caught on and all the Sr.s started answering when asked how they were, "It's My Best Day Ever."  So T-shirts were made with the saying and we all wore them at the party.  Fun times with these good people.  Elder Durrant is a painter.  A water-color painter to be exact.  He painted all the sites and gave each couple a print.  What a treasure to take home with us and a generous gesture from a good man.

  

And then their was P-day.  We took the "Orange Thang" up to Kannaraville and tried to go to Kolob Reservoir.  The start was fantastic and beautiful but the higher we got the colder it got and the more snow we found.  We kept going through several drifts.  We were with the Watkins and the Clarks. The Watkins got stuck first, but made it out, but then we got stuck.  Robert pulled us out and we decided to head back.  (Boo Hoo)  But all was not lost.  We loaded up the machines and went to Cafe Rio for lunch.  We intend to try it again in a few weeks.  We hope the snow melts soon, but we need to let it dry out as well.  Getting stuck in snow is one thing, getting stuck in mud is another.  Bruce is loving his "Orange Thang".

  

Conference/Easter weekend was soooooo much fun.  Kati, Kristi, Dave and the boys came for the weekend.  Bruce and I didn't get to spend too much time with them, but even a few minutes here and a few minutes there was great.  Our 2nd p-day fell on the Monday after Easter and they stayed until late in the afternoon.  We went to a place called "Babylon" north of  St. George. The boys drove the "Orange Thang" to the beach.  A place along the Virgin River with a big sandy shore and high cliffs.  It was beautiful.  We hiked on the Babylon trail and thought we were headed to Dinosaur Tracks, but we never found them.  But a beautiful day spent with family is always fantastic whether or not we found what we were looking for.  We ended our visit with the boys picking our place to eat-------Chuck-a-Rama.  They love the Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Mac and Cheese so our day was a success.

Well, tomorrow is Sunday.  We are assigned to our local ward, Green Valley 1st but because of the schedule of opening the sites or closing the sites, we have only been able to attend this ward 3 or 4 times. It starts at 1:00 pm.  We have to attend the 9:00 am ward (Green Valley 9th) most of the time.  Usually we can stay only long enough to take the sacrament because the sites open at 10:00 am.  This was one of the surprises we had upon arrival.  The sites are open 365 days a year so we work 7 days a week.  

I'm yawning and I'm stuffed up. (Allergies still giving me fits)  So its time to stop.  We are excited to return to AZ for one day to see Lilly baptized.  It will be a whirlwind weekend, but can't wait to see all our family and may be if we are lucky run into our wonderful dear friends.  We send love to all and pray all is well with each of you.  Remember - Be Safe

Always,

Bruce and Dawna

Elder and Sister

PS.  Happy Birthday to our smart, good looking, cool, funny grandson - Luke.  We love him and we are so sad we couldn't make his Ordination.  But know we were thinking of him on his special day.  We will go to CA to see him pass the Sacrament when we return home. 

PSS.  We went to visit Ricky and Lucy and we think there maybe a little Ricky on the way.  We watched as Lucy moved off an egg.  Not sure, but wouldn't that be fantastic.  We went to visit them today, but no luck.  They were not home.  Sooooooo Sad for us.