We are ready for a break

General Conference was just what we needed.  There were so many wonderful talks given, many of which hit upon subjects that seemed to be directed right at us.  Oh, how we need the direction and council that comes at each of these conferences.  Sometimes, it is the whole talk, and sometimes it is just a hint – a side comment – that seems to have been put in just for our benefit.  Either way, the holy spirit is there driving it in and telling us just what we need to do with it to make our lives better and to bring us closer to being like our Father.

We are almost to our maintenance closure.  The temple closes for a couple of weeks twice a year for maintenance.  During the time that is closed, we are free to do whatever until it re-opens – more or less.  We can’t leave the temple district without permission from the temple president – but that is fairly easily obtainable.  Also, midway through this closure, our re-enforcement missionaries will be arriving and we need to be here when they do, so we can help them settle in and train them to be ready to go when the temple re-opens the following week.  So we won’t go far.  We have planned to go on a two-day tour with a tour guide to Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Far West and Liberty.  On it, we will also have opportunity to attend the temple in Kansas City.  We look forward to the break.  We also hope that while being in the Kansas City area, we will be able to hook up with our daughter, Kristy, and her family who live in that area.

A year ago, the re-enforcement missionaries that arrived included us.  We will have been here a whole year.  And that also means that in just two weeks, we only have six months left before our mission will conclude.  The mission seems to be slipping past so quickly. 

After having been here for a full year, we can better visualize our local friends and how life is for them year round.  That helps us to better understand their needs and their wants.  We see them coming to the temple often, some every week – at least during the summer.  During the winter, many can come only when the weather permits – as we have seen how controlling the winter storms can be on the ability to go from place to place.  We wonder how the early saints ever survived the winters here – not having the conveniences that we enjoy today.  We remember the families that were required to leave Missouri in the dead of winter with nothing but what they could carry in their arms and again when they left Nauvoo, again in the dead of winter, only having what would fit in a wagon, and travelling on foot through mud, ice and freezing rain.  Spring time around here is really wet.  We know. We’ve been here through it.  It can be pretty miserable when you have to be out in it.