A Final Good bye

We gave a final good bye to two of our favorite seniors – Elder and Sister Carlson.  They came in today to do some last minute stuff and to finish packing at the Richards (where they have been staying the past week).  They will be leaving real early tomorrow morning and heading for home.  They will be missed, but what a great service they gave to the mission and to Heavenly Father.  We will see them at the mission reunions.  It is hard to see your ‘friends’ leave, but seeing family is something we all look forward to.

        

Sister Hatori has planter's fasciitis and it is painful.  In our mission, because of the many missionaries coming into the field, we are going from a vehicle mission to a bike mission, which means, that the missionaries have to share a vehicle with another companionship.  On the days that they don’t have the car, they have to either bike or walk.  I am sure we will be seeing more of these types of ‘problems’ with especially the sisters.  Guess they’ll have to toughen’ up. 

I am working on Senior Conference that we have coming up in March.  We are going to meet at the Frederick Stake Center from 10:00 until 12:30, with ideas and things we all want to work on while out here serving.  We will give ideas on how best to serve, what works and what doesn’t.  At 1:00 we will go to Famous Dave’s Barbeque House.  There will be between twenty-six and twenty-eight of us.  We’ll need the banquet room.  Even the senior missionary group is growing.

The Larsens

The Larsens

Another new senior couple arrived today – The Larsens.  He is a retired plummer and she worked in health care. Sister Larsen served a mission as a young woman in New Orleans.  Elder Larsen has never served a mission until now.   In their ward they are one of four couples who have left or are going to leave on missions.  I hope that in our stake we will soon have others that are going to serve.  I know that the Drapos in our stake have left on a mission to serve in a temple in another country.  The adventures you have while serving a mission are many.  Serving out here in the Maryland Baltimore Mission has been full of new adventures for Elder Boehrer and I.  We all went to lunch at Red Robin.

                           

On Friday the Carlsons will be leaving us because it is time for them to go home.  They will be greatly missed   Elder Boehrer and I enjoyed working with them and enjoying the senior outings with them.  They were some of our hardest working senior missionaries.   Wish they could have stayed longer, but like us, they have a big family to return to and that is exciting.

Bob and Susan Carlson

Busy, but loving it!

We had a busy, but productive day.  We have the Carlson’s working with us this week.  They will be released as senior missionaries the end of this week and will be going home.  Until then, they will be working with us and helping us out with all of the missionaries coming in.  We have twenty-five coming in March, at this point twenty in April and twenty-five in June (subject to more additions daily).  We have gone from 120 missionaries to now 160 missionaries.  We understand that we will probably end up with 240 missionaries before this growth is over.  As I said in a previous post, we are growing in leaps and bounds. 

Already planning for our trip home.  Yep, it’s almost that time.  More to follow . . .

The Dittman and the Kunz

(Back Row) Elder Boehrer; Elder Carlson; Sister Carlson; Sister Jones; Elder Jones; Elder Dittman

(front row) Elder Kunz; Sister Kunz; Sister Boehrer; Sister Richards; President Richards; Sister Ditman

The Kunzs                                                               The Dittmans                   

      

Two new senior couples arrived today – the Kunz and the Dittmans.  They stopped by the office and then we all went to the President’s home for dinner.  We sat around the dinner table and visited and got to know each other.  I want to say that in the year we have been here I have never felt so strongly the spirit as I did at the dinner table tonight.  What a wonderful set of senior couples.  They have such fire and ideas and they are so active and involved in the work.  It is wonderful to see.  I know that couples like this are needed.  Our mission is growing by leaps and bounds and having senior missionaries that are such examples to the mission – Wow!

Sunday

Four of our beautiful grandchildren – Cali, Jackson, Sam and Hailey – Bryan and Monica’s babies

Can’t help it – I think they’re perfect!

Well it’s been another busy week in the mission. We now have 9 of the 12 new locations for the incoming missionaries located. We still need Savage Mill Area, Columbia 1^st area & Woodstock VA.

We had a break this evening and Sister Richards fixed us a great meal and made the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for desert.   The Carlsons, Elders Holmes and Weeks, us and the President Sister Richards had a great evening.

Sister Boehrer is spending the evening watching the Oscars. It is a twenty year tradition. Her ‘Oscar Group’ of friends at home are together carrying on the tradition of watching the Oscars, eating TONS of food and critiquing and laughing at all of the movie stars. Fun times.  [Elder Boehrer]

Our Church

The church is growing in leaps and bounds. Fifty-Eight new mission are being opened. One of them will be opened in the Oregon Salem area – right where our daughter Jennifer and her little family live. She is so excited. She and David, her husband, have both served missions and they understand the importance of serving and how much the Gospel can touch your life and help you to grow strong spiritually and to have peace in your life. The growth of the Church is so exciting. Elder Boehrer and I hope to be able to serve another mission.

Elder Gundersen and Jenks

We love our hard working missionaries!