Week Ending July 4, 2009 Week # 6

This is a view of Dorena Lake. The "smooth" was killing Tom, perfect for skiing.

I snatched a picture of the Strattons while we were taking a break to take in the scenery and the wonderful scents.




Tom hurried ahead (so like him) and got a picture of the rest of us coming down the road.

Sixteen new arrivals this month. Not a record by any means, but more than we've had in a while. It's good to have so many excited missionaries join us. Sister Wilson looks just like Amber Harper, one of my favorite Laurels from years past.

Aren't they handsome! Oh it is difficult to say good-bye, but so wonderful to be in the temple with them. It is with great fondness that I refer to them as "My Boys".

Activities the night before going home. This arm wrestle went on F-O-R-E-V-E-R! Everyone watching refused to let them call it a draw, so they kept on, dripping with sweat, until Elder Turner triumphed.





Then after a very short rest Elder Turner accepted a challenge from Elder Hazelett. This wrestle also went on for a while. Elder Hazelett won.





Elder Wood at the airport taking his "Sinatra" pose. How we will miss his impressions of famous people. Can't wait to see him on the big screen.

We have just had another round of transfers. We were excited to say hello to a great bunch of new missionaries and sad to say good bye to some we have really come to know and love. That is what happens on transfer week and we are learning that we just have to adjust to the emotion of it all. We did have dinner with Elder Livingston (who had been my assistant) and his companion, Elder Bosen, on Sunday, June 28. We were able to offer more of a personal goodbye. One of the departing missionaries took the time, as some others have in the past, to write us a very nice personal letter about the difference that Sister Macdonald and I had made in his life. We will keep that letter, as we have the others. We were grateful that he took the time to write it.

The 4th of July fell on a Saturday this year, which is the day we try and take as a preparation day. We enjoyed a bike ride from Cottage Grove up to Dorena Lake with the Strattons. We started early so the heat wouldn't get bad. Two elders were kind enough to loan us their bicycles so we could go, but if Sister Macdonald decides she wants to go on rides more often, perhaps we will buy a couple of bikes to keep here. It was about a 16 mile round trip with a fairly gradual upward climb on the trail on the way to the lake and a welcomed decline on the ride back down. The ride around Dorena Lake was beautiful. I will admit that when I saw smooth water and only a few speed boats out on the lake, my thoughts went back to wonderful days of boating with family and friends. If someone would have offered me a ski rope and a quick ski, I am positive I would have easily given in to that temptation. Being with the Strattons made me realize how you can see the exact same thing and have different thoughts - as he could only think of fishing. :>)

As we always do with the departing missionaries, we enjoyed a trip to the temple on Wednesday. The calmness we feel there is always so pleasant. It is a joy to live close enough to the temple, both here and at home, to go regularly. We are grateful to be able to send our missionaries home on that high note. We pray that it will set a pattern of regular temple attendance that they will follow in their life once they return home.