Hope shines brightly in Portugal

We are so impressed with our staff and missionaries and the priesthood leadership for Self-Reliance in Portugal.  Even more, we have seen the Lord's hand in this great work and in this great country.    We were able to participate in the self-reliance seminar for priesthood leaders this past week.  The seminar ended with a visit to the site of the new Portugal temple.  This site is symbolic of the hope that the members have, not only for a temple of the Lord, but also to become self-reliant.

In front of the temple site.  The backhoe in the rear is where the hole has already been dug to begin this special project.

Our week began with the many follow-up steps from our Area Review the previous week.  Much is needed to clarify and summarize our action plans and then execute them.  We have a full calendar planned ahead of us for the next several weeks.  We used the few days we had to make those plans and prepare accordingly.

On Monday night we were able to have dinner with Elder and Sister Jensen.  They arrived with us in Frankfurt just over a year ago.  It is always wonderful to spend time with these missionaries that we love.

We quickly got back into our normal activities, including our german classes on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon.  On Thursday morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise in Frankfurt.  It was a sign of the beautiful sun and weather that we would enjoy in Portugal.  We left that morning for the airport.

We were met at the airport by our Self-Reliance missionary couple, Elder and Sister Neiswender.  The weather was absolutely beautiful.  Full blue skies and sunshine with temperatures in the high 40s.  This was a welcome change from the near freezing temperatures in Germany.  

Campo Pequeno near our hotel.  Blue skies and warmer temperatures!

We also were able to meet with Julio, the first PEF Loan participant in Portugal.  He is currently working for a security company.  He plans on being the first PEF student in Portugal to pay off his loan later this year.  He is also an Elders Quorum President in his ward and a volunteer at the stake self-reliance center.

After getting settled in, we went to the Self-Reliance office and began helping in the preparations for the seminar on Saturday.  All the stake self-reliance committee chairmen and specialists were invited for a one day seminar on Saturday.  Besides learning from them, we also were assigned to share some thoughts about changing the culture of self-reliance within the Church in Portugal.  This was the primary purpose of our trip.

With a few schedule changes, we had time to go out to dinner with Elder and Sister Neiswender.  We had been encouraged to eat at a nearby famous "chicken" restaurant.  It was very good.  The photo below shows a little of the chicken being cooked.

Several grills of full chickens being grilled over charcoal

Friday morning we started visiting with participants of the Perpetual Education Fund.  Some were new participants, others had moved to Portugal from South America.  Each has a story.  We started with a sister who came with her husband from Venezuela.  She had a previous loan and they both received additional loans this year in Portugal.  They are faithfully paying their loans and preparing themselves for greater self-reliance, certainly a success story in the making.  We then met with a bishop who moved from Brazil 10 years ago.  At the time he was studying with a PEF loan in Brazil and stopped studying to make the move.  Although he is doing well in Portugal, we encouraged him to revisit his original dream, which has gone unfulfilled.  He is currently managing a Brazilian restaurant.  He has seven employees working with him, the majority are members of the Church.  The restaurant is closed on Sunday which allows all of them the opportunity to go to Church each week.  We also discussed with him how Self-Reliance could help the members of his ward.  That evening we visited with a sister who had just been approved for a PEF loan and has now been called as a Stake PEF specialist.  This is a role that we have encouraged in all of the stakes in Portugal.  As the number of participants increases, this will be more critical to help manage and bless the lives of the PEF participants in each stake.  The photo below is of a dinner that Elder and Sister Neiswender hosted for this sister, Julio (see above) and a district president from the Azores Islands that came to Lisbon for the training session the next day.  

On Friday, in between visits, we helped prepare for the training meeting to be held on Saturday.  It included the stake committee chairmen and specialists from 7 of the stakes or districts in Portugal.

The seminar began with a message from Elder Moreira, the Area 70 in Portugal.

He was followed by our Operations Team discussing the PEF loan program in Portugal, which just began officially this past year.  As I sat back and listened to Miguel Adriano and Ceu Cavaco share and respond to questions from the leaders, I realized that the PEF loan program was in good hands in Europe.  These two understand not only the processes, but more importantly the principles.  I felt such a feeling of gratitude to witness this program that I had been a part of for so long being administered so well.  We were also pleased to see our SRS manager being very involved in the discussion, also a key to the success of PEF loans in Portugal.

Miguel Adriano, our Operations manager and Ceu Cavaco, the PEF Loan supervisor

Next our manager Antonio taught the participants how to work in ward councils to strengthen Self-Reliance in the wards.  They divided into three different ward councils to role play three different scenarios for each of them.  It seemed very effective.

Sister Rueckert represented a primary president in this ward council.  The man with his arm on her shoulder was translating for her.  He was a stake presidency counselor in one of the stakes.

Second ward council break out group

Third ward council break out group

The seminar than broke for lunch.  The Portuguese love their squash soup and their cod fish casserole.

Squash soup, a Portuguese staple

Cod Fish casserole.  Cod Fish appears to be the national food of Portugal

After lunch Sister Rueckert and I led a discussion about changing the culture within the Church so that the Self-Reliance initiative can have a lasting impact.  The group had many excellent ideas to share.  Antonio, our SRS manager, than finished up sharing some successes and challenges and getting commitments from several of the stakes to hold job fairs in the coming months.

Photo taken of seminar participants at the end, after a few had already left

After the seminar we had the treat of visiting the site where the Portugal temple is being constructed.  The primary emphasis has been on the neighboring stake center.  However, the hole has been dug for the temple and footings are in place.  We had the project architect and project manager to share their views and experience about this project that is so important to the Portuguese saints.

Overlooking the temple construction site

More close up of the actual temple site.  Behind the backhoe is the hole for the footings of the temple.

The site is on the side of a major rail line.  The temple will be seen by all who pass by.  The rail station will also offer easy access to temple patrons.

After the visit to the temple site, we made one more visit to a PEF participant who had received his loan in Brazil before moving to Portugal in the past year.   As well as the other participants, he is doing well.  He shared with us the challenges and opportunities for immigrants to move to Portugal.

On Sunday morning we went to attend a ward where Elder and Sister Neiswender were speaking in sacrament meeting.  The first speaker was the ward self-reliance specialist who gave an incredible talk about the doctrine of self-reliance and her experience as the facilitator of a recent self-reliance group.  She was followed by Sister Neiswender who gave a significant talk on the value of work, all in excellent Portuguese.  This from a wonderful sister who has only been in Portugal for one year.  Her husband followed with another excellent talk.  He asked why are we receiving self-reliance emphasis at this time?  The answer is simple, because our Prophet has revealed this priority at this time.  An excellent example of being led by a living prophet.  As we finished, I felt like I had just attended the best sacrament meeting about Self-Reliance ever.  Elder Neiswender found out that the ward council was meeting after the Sunday block and arranged to take some time with the ward council to train them about self-reliance.  Once again all went well.  I had the same feeling about these great missionaries as I had felt the previous day about our employees.  They are so capable and are being led by the spirit in all that they do.

Elde and Sister Neiswender

With our dear friends, Elder and Sister Neiswender

Tis beautiful chapel next to a Catholic church.

The bishop from this ward was also an immigrant from Brazil.  His wife was the ward specialist.  His elders quorum president was also from Brazil as were many of the other leaders in the ward.  The church has struggled to grow in Portugal in recent years, but it appears to be receiving a strong boost from very capable immigrants, especially from Brazil.  We see the Lord's hand directly involved in blessing the saints in Portugal.

From mature and capable employees, dedicated and seasoned missionaries and devoted priesthood leaders, we leave Portugal with feelings of gratitude.  We know that the Kingdom of God in Portugal is in good hands as they prepare for the completion of a House of the Lord!

The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning

This was a week of guidance and edification from our leaders.  Elder Joseph W. Sitati from the Seventy spent most of the week with us in a Europe Area Review of the Self-Reliance Initiative.  After participating in several meetings with Elder Sitati,  we can testify that he is one of the Lord's anointed servants.  We have received a constant stream of inspiration  and a new vision of our responsibilities.  We are ready to move forward with faith in a way that is more focused on service to our priesthood leaders.  The following photo was taken at the end of our Area Review.

Area Review Team, Tom King, E/S Rueckert, Miguel Adriano, Jorge Alvarado, Elder Joseph Sitati

Our  Monday began with a birthday celebration for Sister Rueckert with those who work on our floor.  This was organized by our administrative assistant, Constanza, who was ill the previous week.

Part of the birthday cake for Sister Rueckert

As we mentioned last week, Elder Sitati and Jorge Alvarado started the week in Italy and France.  They both returned to Frankfurt on Monday.  That evening, Elder Sitati generously offered to spend the evening with the senior couple missionaries in Frankfurt.  We had a family home evening scheduled and the time was turned over to Elder Sitati.

Elder Sitati at the pulpit of the FHE

Elder Sitati spoke on several topics, but his focus seemed to be on rescuing those in need.  He told us that when President Monson introduced the "To the Rescue" emphasis in 2010, each general authority was asked to be personally involved in ministering in this rescue effort.  Elder Sitati shared his experiences of visiting less actives in Accra, Ghana every Sunday when he was not assigned to a stake conference.  He told us that people don't trust us to help them until we have paid a price to gain that trust.  That does not occur in a short visit.  However, once they know that you care, they will often open up with their true feelings or needs.

After speaking, he opened it up for questions which continued for 30 minutes.  The Spirit was strong during his message and his responses to questions.  In this process, he shared some experiences of "rotating" fasts that he and his family and friends have used over the years.  This involves one of the group always being in a fasting mode until the sought for answer is received.  He first did this for over two years while they were awaiting for legal recognition for the Church in Kenya while he was a young branch president.  Other experiences included more than a one year fast for a special family friend to find an eternal companion.  He says that these fasts are not to be taken lightly.

This FHE was not part of his scheduled agenda, but was certainly uplifting for all of the senior missionaries, including us.  While I was taking Elder Sitati back to his hotel, Sister Rueckert was preparing the tables for the luncheon to be held the following day with local self-reliance committees.  This has given her a chance to be creative.  She utilized the small Christmas trees in storage and added  home made snowflakes of all sizes as the decorations.  It turned out wonderful.

The next morning we awoke to the biggest snowstorm of the past five years.  It had snowed about one inch.  Fortunately the temperatures were above freezing, so the snow was gone before the end of the day.

Snow covered streets and cars

One of my primary roles for the week was to be the designated chauffeur for our out of town visitors.  I picked them up at the airport and the hotel and returned them to the hotel and eventually to the airport.  It actually was a nice responsibility as it gave me some great one on one time with each of them.

Waiting for pick up at the Marriot Hotel 

 On Tuesday we started our Area Review.  This included our managers, Tom King and Miguel Adriano with Elder Sitati and Jorge Alvarado from HQ and of course, E/S Rueckert.  This became very hands on, as we reviewed where we are with the Self-Reliance initiative in Europe and where we want to go in this coming year.  On Tuesday morning, we all had a revelatory experience as Elder Sitati taught us.  While he shared his ideas, the Holy Ghost was very active with each of us.  That impact of the Holy Ghost with each of our prior experiences and thoughts helped create many new ideas.

For example, Elder Sitati shared his experiences meeting one on one with some of the unemployed members in Italy during his meetings on Saturday and Sunday.  He also taught us the importance to calendar our visits to the locations where we have stakes and districts and to ask the priesthood leaders to give us a list of members with self-reliance challenges.  Then while in the city for meetings with the Self-Reliance Committees, we should take time to develop resources to help these members.  Of course this should be done in a way that leaves the responsibility with the stake leadership to utilize those resources with the members.  For us, that answered two open questions.  We have known that we need to do a better job serving priesthood leaders, truly helping them.  We also have struggled to define what type of resource development that our managers should be doing.  With this concept, we would develop the resources that will specifically help those members that have been identified as in need.  This may sound simple, but it was a spiritual moment for all in the room.

Being taught by Elder Sitati

Hands on teaching by Elder Sitati

Elder Sitati sharing his ideas

At 11:00 am, we joined with all of our managers by video conference.  Elder Sitati and Jorge participated in our normal two hour monthly managers meeting.  We covered our normal agenda items and then let Elder Sitati share his thoughts with the managers. This initiated a process that will require continuing work on our part.

At 1:00 pm we met with the Stake Self-Reliance Committee of the Frankfurt and Friedrichsdorf stakes and one of our Area 70s.  Sister Rueckert with the assistance of Constanza and Sister Bausmann, had a luncheon ready for all.

Lunch, with introductions by each person

Stake President introducing himself

Elder Sitati introducing himself

Elder Sitati, as he had done all week, started by asking questions to those in attendance, to comprehend their understanding and challenges.  He waited to understand their thoughts before he responded.  The entire luncheon had a very informal setting with meaningful interaction with all.

Elder Sitati listening and then responding

Teaching in the Savior's Way

After the informal session, Elder Sitati took time to teach us from the scriptures.  He taught about the parable of the sower and likened the four planting situations to Lehi's Tree of Life dream.  Once again our minds were enlightened and the Spirit confirmed the truth of his message.

After the luncheon meeting, we continued our Area Review.  We needed to finish for the day by 4:00 pm so that we could travel to the Heidelberg Stake, a little over an hour distant from our office.  There we met with Priesthood Leaders and then Elder Sitati was to speak in a devotional for all members.  At the priesthood leadership meeting, Elder Sitati did not deliver a set presentation.  Instead he asked for questions and concerns.  After a moment of silence, questions and concerns were shared.  Elder Sitati then spent the rest of the hour answering their specific concerns and needs.  Once again we were taught not only in doctrine but in the right way to teach.

Elder Sitati interacting with Priesthood Leaders

In the devotional, presentation equipment was set up and I asked Elder Sitati if he had something that we should be ready to share.  He said that he didn't know, the spirit would tell him as he went along.  He shared the doctrine of Self-Reliance with the members and then asked each of us to share different thoughts.  He told us afterwards that he felt prompted during the meeting to do that.

Jorge Alvarado, adding his testimony through a translator

After the meeting, many of the members came to talk to each of us.  The Spirit was very strong.  We had never felt such a strong bond of love from the members as we did that night.  It was amazing!

Afterwards, the Stake President's wife had prepared a meal for us and we visited some more with the Stake leaders.  This stake has already begun holding My Path Devotionals, something that has rarely been done in Germany.  They want to do more.  When a Stake President is converted to these principles and then leads his stake in that direction, miracles occur.  We experienced that this evening.

A wonderful chili dinner with sandwiches.

Wednesday we continued our Area Review, preparing for what Elder Sitati would be able to share with our Europe Area Presidency during a luncheon.  They had a wonderful meeting together. After the luncheon, Elder Paul Johnson stayed to address our team. The Area Presidency shared their number one priority for us, to help unemployed leaders and members in the southern part of Europe to get jobs.  Even though the overall initiative was important, they wanted high priority to help what has become very critical for many priesthood leaders in these countries.  They had just come from meeting with all of the stake presidents in Spain and had felt especially impressed with this need.

This changed our primary focus but was perfectly in line with what Elder Sitati had been teaching us in ministering to the one.  The inspiration that we had felt on Tuesday was 100% in line with the desires of the Area Presidency.  I know that we are all being led by the Holy Ghost.  It was very revealing to watch this occur before our eyes and in our hearts.

We then finished preparing a draft copy of our Europe Area SRS Plan for 2017 and shared it with President Johnson.  It became a topic of discussion for our Area Self-Reliance Meeting the next morning.

On Thursday morning, Elder Sitati had to leave on an early flight to arrive in Salt Lake in time to reorganize a stake, beginning on the next day.  We certainly have seen that there is no rest for a General Authority.  We were aware of all of Elder Sitati's meetings during this week and participated in many of them.  He has been totally guided by the Spirit and his influence has been monumental on all  those that have participated in these meetings.

While taking Elder Sitati to the airport at 5:30 am he shared some additional insights that I considered revelatory for me.  I wrote some of these thoughts down and shared them by email with Elder Sitati to see if I had understood correctly.  He confirmed my understanding and shared some additional thoughts that he had on the airplane trip.  These thoughts follow:

Elder Sitati's comments that touched me so deeply. He was concerned about the difficulty for our managers to change their way of working.  Much of the solution is in these words.

"When I am in an uncomfortable position, I take myself out of the picture and determine what is being asked.  Then I do what is asked and trust in the Lord. If the results do not work out I never want it to be because I didn't do my part. Sometimes when things do not work out, there are lessons that I need to learn." 

He also shared some personal experiences that showed me how he had learned this principle soon after he joined the Church in Kenya as an adult.  In his email back to me, he shared the following: 

"On the plane to SLC, that conversation kept coming back to me, and I felt I should capture the essence of it in the following note which I wrote down:

HOW TO EXECISE FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST – Take the Lord literally at His word, by striving to live according to His teachings without wavering. For He has taught: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C   6:36), and “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17); and “he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God” (John 3:21). Therefore when we determine to follow the Lord, may we be true and faithful, laying aside every sense of personal pride and every vain imagination, that the pure spirit of the truth that is in Christ may reign freely in us, that we may witness His divine power working through us."

As I have pondered these words, additional thoughts and inspiration have come to me.  I testify that Elder Sitati is truly inspired.  He, like other General Authorities are men that are very accomplished, but what they do does not come from their own abilities.  It comes, as Elder Sitati mentioned above, as His divine power works through them.  We are so grateful to have been able to witness that divine power this past week.

After taking Elder Sitati to the airport, I returned to participate in our Area Self-Reliance Committee meeting.  This meeting is led by Elder Paul Johnson, who has the same calling and strengths as Elder Sitati.  We are blessed to be guided by these men.  Elder Sitati also told me that morning that he fully supports the Europe Area Presidency.  The obvious message to us is to give all of our support to their priorities.

After the meeting, I took time to take Jorge Alvarado to the airport to catch a flight to Portugal, where he would spend the next two days.  We did have time to stop at the hospital where he had been treated for malaria just one month ago.  This is where Jorge's life was preserved by an excellent medical staff and the hand of the Lord.  They had told him that his recovery was remarkable.  He kept sharing with them that this was due to the hand of the Lord.  On this day, he wanted to thank them and to share a special gift with several of them.  Sister Rueckert had wrapped up Books of Mormon for Jorge to give as gifts.  These were given to the head doctor, one of the other doctors that Jorge had several discussions with and three of the nursing staff.  It was great for me to accompany Jorge and to witness his sharing of his gratitude and his faith to these people who had become his close friends.

Jorge in front of building 68A where he had spent more than a week with Malaria

Jorge with one of the nurses who was so excited to see him again.  She helped us to get in to talk to the head doctor.

Jorge with the head doctor of the team that treated him.

 This finished up a chapter that began just 5 weeks earlier.  Jorge is now almost fully recovered and extremely grateful for all those who were part of his recovery.  His kindness and enthusiasm is infectious.  He also loves to share his testimony with those around him.  I was able to take him to the airport on Saturday and say good bye to a very special friend.  As Sister Rueckert has said, our experiences with him in the hospital created a much deeper relationship with him than we would have ever had in any other way.   There are always blessings that come from any trial that we encounter.

Friday we had five video conferences scheduled with our missionary couples.  In each we shared our experiences of the week and shared our testimonies of our 2017 goals.  These thoughts were well received.  We love working with these missionaries.  They have pure souls and consecrated hearts.  They inspire us in every visit we have with them.

Saturday evening, we went out to dinner with other couples that share a January birthday.  This was organized by one of the other couples.  It was a wonderful way to enjoy our Saturday night and end our week!

A New Year in more ways than one

We started a "new year" in many ways.  The new year officially began last Sunday; we completed the first year of our mission on January 3;  Sister Rueckert celebrated her birthday on January 7.  Our week focused on finishing up the prior year and starting anew.  The photo below highlights Sister Rueckert with the roses that she received on her Birthday.

As we finished our last blog post, we were still working on our New Year's Eve puzzle.  In Germany, January 2 was not a holiday, so we went to work.  Between Monday and Tuesday evenings we were finally able to finish our puzzle, which was of a Castle in Germany. 

We found it in the Kellar of the office building, but had to settle for a 1,000 piece puzzle, requiring additional time to complete.

Final Cheese ball, finished off with the puzzle

Not bad for a finished product, photo taken before putting it back into the box.

Christmas Cards falling form the door

Dying poinsettias

With finishing the puzzle, it was time to put away our recent holiday season.  As we arrived to the office on Monday morning, we saw that the Christmas cards had fallen from the door and the poinsettias were dying in our apartment.

Our work week was focused on preparing for our Area Review and Area Self-Reliance Committee meeting which both occur this week.  From that time on, our January will be busy with events and travel.

Tuesday completed our first year on our mission.  So much has happened in the past year.  Much of it has been covered in our blog.  Let us just say that we are so very thankful to be serving as missionaries.  The Lord has blessed us immensely during this past year. Our love for our Savior continues to increase as does our love for each other. 

On Tuesday, our can of  Cooking Spray finally ran out.  It was here when we arrived and lasted the full year.  We have not been able to find this type of spray here, so we have been blessed that it has lasted.  Fortunately we found some more that was left behind by Elder and Sister Matheson.  Hopefully we will be okay for the rest of our mission.

On Wednesday it was my turn to teach the Book of Mormon class for the Senior Missionaries.  The assigned chapters were Alma 38-41.  Overall, the lesson went well. The senior missionaries are easy to teach since they have many insights that they are willing to share.  I just wanted to share one special insight that I received while preparing for this lesson.

In Alma 40, the focus is on the resurrection.  Alma spends much of the chapter focusing on what he does know, what had been revealed to him after he "inquired diligently of God". He tries to avoid discussion of details that he does not know about the resurrection.  Of those details he says 3 times that "it mattereth not",  3 times "I do not say" and twice "no one knows".  In verse 5 he summarizes an important truth for all of us:

Alma 40:5 "Now, whether  . . . . it mattereth not; for God knoweth all these things; and it sufficeth me to know that this is the case - that . . . "    

I can say that I have been blessed with the ability to fully trust the Lord in all those things that I do not understand.  I truly believe that many of our unanswered questions will be answered in time, but for those that I do not know now,  "it mattereth not; for God knoweth all these things; and it sufficeth me to know that this is the case."

On Thursday night we went shopping for items for our upcoming meetings and also to print the updated photos of our grandchildren that we had received for Christmas.  Of course, this was the basis for new wall displays of our treasured grandchildren.

Updated wall display of our grandchildren in our office

Updated photos on our Family Tree in our living room

On Friday, Elder Caracena came to our office and shared the display of part of his family history that he has been working on during his mission.  He has prepared a scroll of one of his family lines which goes back to 1 A.D.  I'm not the only one bitten by the Family History bug.  He has nearly 1,000 names that he has ready for temple work when he finishes his mission.  The scroll is an idea to make this more interesting for his grandchildren who will need to help in all of the baptisms.

The scroll includes photos of ancestors, including coinage for some of the royalty, included in this particular line.

Starting point of the ancestry (1 AD)

 Friday was one finally the finish to the European Holidays.  It is called Epiphany and is meant to represent when the Wise Men visited the Baby Jesus.  It is not a holiday in Germany, so we worked.  Sister Rueckert started receiving her birthday greetings, including a birthday luncheon with Sister Healy.  She also received thoughtful gifts from other missionaries.

A plant and some toffee from a few of the missionaries

Friday night we went to the airport to pick up Elder Joseph Sitati, of the Quorum of the Seventy.  He will be with us in Europe for the next week.  We then took him to his hotel, he will be traveling to Italy this weekend and will return on Monday to spend time with the senior couples in a Family Home Evening.  He will conduct the Area Review with us on Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Saturday, when we opened the door of our apartment we found a birthday surprise from one of the senior missionaries.

The wreath was newly decorated by Sister Rueckert for the winter season

 We enjoyed a relaxing day at home to celebrate Sister Rueckert's birthday.  We considered a movie or a museum, but she wanted to just relax and put things in order for the new year, including updating our new calendar with birthdays, finishing the family tree, etc.  She was able to enjoy a few presents that she had selected at the Christmas Markets in the Czech Republic the previous week.

A woman never has enough jewelry

Hand made holiday table runner.  On sale on the last day of the Prague Christmas Market

 As I went out to the store during the day, I was able to surprise her with some German roses.  They were wrapped in paper to transport in this cold weather (-4 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday).

Opening her only wrapped gift

Wrapped Roses, with a vase

We did decide to go out in the cold for a birthday dinner.  We both thought of a nice restaurant that we had not visited for almost a year.  When we got there, it had changed hands and was a different type of establishment.  We tried to find a Chinese restaurant, but finally settled on one of our favorite places, Chicago Meatpackers.  Once again the ribs were tasty.

We chose to buy a slice of carrot cake to go, so that we could have a birthday cake.  We brought it home and found another surprise from the Senior Missionaries, which included a cupcake with a candle.  So we now had two birthday cakes.

 After returning we also were able to Skype with our newest little grandson (and his mother).  He will be blessed in Church today.  This was the first time that we saw his eyes open.

Hudson Daniel Ferguson

 We woke up this morning to our biggest snowstorm of the year.  At least it covered the ground.  However, by the time that I write this blog, it is all melted.  The weather has now warmed up to 35 degrees, Fahrenheit; 2 degrees Celsius.