And so Salt Lake We say Farwell to You

 Our mission to the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters mission is over.  It truly has been a trip, both amazing, frustrating, hard, wonderful, spiritual, fun, and every adjective you can come up with.  Missions are amazing but the most amazing part of any mission we have served has been the wonderful people we meet and serve with.  This one has been no different, it has just been mostly over Zoom, WebEx, Google Meets, and Teams.  They have been a challenge to learn, but a blessing to keep us all connected and serving even from our homes and apartments. We had our exit interview with President Steven K Randall (Mission President) and then President Cory Ellsworth (Stake President) came to our home Thursday, November 19th at 5:30 and officially released us.  We removed our badges and now on we go to serve in other ways, but to serve.

Release letter from President Randall

Our release certificates

A new favorite picture titled: She Will Find What is Lost by Brian Kershisnik.  It represents our ancestor angels on the other side helping us to find them.

Saturday morning we got a call from DaNell (Bobs sister) who was visiting from California. Mom, Evelyn, had fallen and they were on the way to the hospital.  She broke her left collarbone right at the shoulder and is now in a sling for 6 weeks. She will be 89 in two months.  We are back to 24 hour care.  I take the nights and Bob takes the days and we will get some help from family set up soon. She is such a trooper and has always healed fast in the past.  We pray that this will happen again. This is three broken bones in three years from falls!

Evelyn with broken collarbone.  She looks miserable.

We had the tree in our front yard taken out as it was dying and such a messy tree.  Never plant an Elm with all its little leaves and seeds.  We will miss the shade, but not the mess.  It is amazing that even in trees there is "opposition in all things".

Hug-a-Tree.  Notice the smiley face :)

Henry up a tree!

Almost gone

Grinding the stump.

Totally gone in 1 1/2 hours.

Our granddaughter, Shaylin Mayhew, brought three of her friends to Mesa for a weekend of sunshine.  They are all students at BYU and three are on the cheer team with her.  We had a private show in their backyard and it was so fun and amazing to see what they do.

Shaylin and Gavin

I bought a chair at Deseret Industries for our keyboard in Salt Lake.  It was in need of a good cleaning and tender care.  I refinished it and it is as beautiful as I knew it could be when I saw it in it's sad state.  I think that chair is much like each of us, and I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father can see our potential and continues to work with me.

Almost finished beautiful oak chair.

This has been an interesting but great mission.  I am not sad it is over, but I am so glad we were called to serve in the Utah Salt Lake Headquarters Mission.  We did concerts, Music and the Spoken Word, Christmas lights, best New Years Eve Party ever, great friends, COVID 19, Temple closures, earthquakes, fires, Zoom, quarantines, isolation, WebEx, Salt Lake Temple remodeling, and some family issues, but overall it has been a great year and we are so thankful for the opportunity to complete mission #4.  Now we hope for the Mesa Temple to open and we hope to go back to serve there.

Halloween, Family Fun, Christmas Projects

 We are down to our last 9 days in our mission and it feels really strange.  It definitely been an interesting mission with COVID keeping us behind masks and working all online.  I have learned a lot of things I didn't think I would ever have to use, but now I can see the value of learning the computer, Zoom, Webex, Teams, Power Point, Sharing Screens, Family Search and everything else that came with the last year.  We had our exit interview with President Randall today, and I have to say I did shed a few tears.

Bobs Zoom attire, notice the jeans and no shoes?

This is the way of the COVID world!

I taught my last "Telling your story" class and it went well.  Bob did his last Discover, Gather, and Connect class and it was his best yet.  It is interesting how life works that way, just when you think you understand something, it is over and on to the next challenge.

Our last Zone photo. Sharon Collier, Susan and Mike Parker (zone leaders) Kari Minor, Norda Harder, Dale and Sharon Boushely, Us, Lynn Thomas, Patricia Shearer, Shaunna Robbins, Carrie and Frank Eddy, Toni Cook, Don and Janet Farnsworth, Paul and LynnAnn Farnsworth, Judith Kay, Kerrie Versluis, Julia Raines, Cindie Walker, Becky Richards, Greg and Janet Reed.  Missing John and Kathryn Rogers, and Margaret Cason.

Halloween found us at Heidi's for dinner and Trick or Treating in their driveway with a fire in the pit.  It was a very warm night, but so nice to be with family.  DaNell was here with Evelyn (Moose) for a few days, and it was good to visit with her.

Heidi and Heather my tie dye twins with a tie dye sunset.

Heather, Heidi, Bob Evelyn, Debra, DaNell Halloween 2020

Zoe with Heather dressed for Halloween

I finished the swing and it looks beautiful.  But not as beautiful as Debra sitting in it!!

Debra on the finished swing.

Bob cut me out a Nativity for Christmas and I painted it.  It was a lot of work but it is very nice.

Bob the builder, can he fix it? Yes he can!

Finished Nativity, now we wait for Christmas.

We joined with our Empty Nesters group at Tom and Connie Larsen's and had a great time.  We have watched the last two BYU Football games at there home and enjoyed cheering together.  They are still undefeated this year and are doing really well.

Valerie and David Peterson celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary on November 10.  Just the beginning of an eternity together.

Valerie and David Peterson 19 years ago.  Still going strong.

Betsy Peterson turned 14 today.  What a sweet granddaughter.  We truly have been blessed with the best kids and grandkids!

Betsy, such a fun sweet girl.