A Change of Mission Presidents

        Last Friday, President & Sister Keyes came into the office for some last minute good byes and some final business.  We had bagels & other munchies to eat for them and Elders who came by.  This is Sister Keyes eating as we sat and visited.  President Keyes was finishing interviews in the office.  She has mixed emotions of going home, but also anxious to see her children, grandchildren, and her parents who are still living.  They left for Utah on Saturday.

        This is President & Sister Keyes, our Mission President.  I work as his secretary and he is absolutely a wonderful and spiritual giant.  We will miss them, but have totally enjoyed knowing them both.  This is in the office where we take pictures of the incoming missionaries.  I take the pictures.  So, I have to practice more and take good ones.

        This is our new President Vest and his wife, Sister Vest.  They arrived the same day that President Keyes and his wife left.  They had a few hours to transfer stuff and information.  The mantle has passed and President Vest is also a great man.  I feel so privileged to work under both of them.  The Vests are from Texas.  He has been a CEO of Kimberly Clark and in Mission Presidencies and Temple Presidency before.  They are both ready and anxious to get to work.  His philosophy is: Preach My Gospel, delegation, obedience (the key to personal revelation) and considering every individual as children of God and our brothers and sisters.

        This is one of the missionaries that came in the office that day.  His name is Elder Sanger.  So, I asked him if he was related to a Dan Sanger (Cheryl Nebeker's husband.)  He said, "Yes, he's my uncle."  I said, "well, I'm his aunt."   Then, of course, we had to talk.  Small world!  He's serving here in Missouri.

Some special people & our work

        These are the AP's.  Elder Moss & Elder Alvey.  They are absolutely fine young men.  They are outgoing and help us so much with our jobs.  They also have great and happy personalities.  They are like sons to us.

        This is a new member of our ward in Riverview.  He is Bede Azuka from Nigeria.  He heard about the church in Nigeria, but didn't take the time to learn about it.  Then, he went to school in the Ukraine.  It was there he kept thinking about the church and couldn't get it out of his mine.  He started to read the Book of Mormon and study.  His testimony is so strong.  He said, "nothing else matters when you know what is true.  You just have to give everything else up.  It's the only thing that is important."  He was so fun and happy when he bore this testimony.  We're grateful to have him in the ward.

        This is Elder Butz, Elder Fisihetau, Elder Maaelopa, & Elder Kaafi.  They were in the office yesterday and I just wanted a picture of some our foreign missionaries.  Elder Butz felt a little out of place, being from Highland, Utah.   Elder Fisihetau is from Utah, I'm not sure his nationality.  But, Elder Maaelopa is from Samoa and Elder Kaafi is from Tonga.  They are all great!!!!

        This is Brother Merchan from our Riverview Ward.  His wife is at boot camp.  So he needed help doing his home teaching.  We went with him to visit Sister Suzanne Milne, our Gospel Doctrine teacher.  She is moving to SLC to go to school and get her doctorate.  Great people.

        This is Sister Atwood with Pam Winters.  We met Pam last year.  We have taken her to work each weekend.  She used to work two jobs and still raise her son.  She is such a wonderful person and we just love her.

        This is Elder Atwood, hard at work figuring out where to put the next apartment in.  Yesterday, he had to drive across the mission and furnish two apartments he rented for the missionaries.  I was surprised the missionaries and him got it all loaded.  He is in charge of over 100 apartments.

        Sister Atwood is hard at work at her desk, where she spends most of her time these days.  She is here to help the President of the Mission have an easier job.  She takes care of all travel arrangements for all the missionaries, the Calendars, the History, Correspondence with parents, Packets, notebooks, and folders for each missionary, the Zone Conference Luncheons, and lots of questions from people who call everyday.  She is even learning more computer skills than she thought possible.

        We love you all and hope you enjoy reading any of these things.  Put comments in and we'll answer questions or write different things.  Our mission is wonderful, very busy, and We love the missionaries and especially the Gospel.  We are so blessed to have a knowledge of it and how we are supposed to live our lives.  God is so gracious and patient with us.  But, we must chose.  Time is important.  He will never force us; just plead with us and wait.  "Now, is the time to prepare to meet God, Behold the day of this life is the day to perform your labor."  May we all choose right.

Great Weekend

        Friday night, the VC had Susan Easton Black & George Durrant speak for a fireside evening.  They have both lost their spouse and were married last year.  They were each great as usual.  She has taught at BYU for 38 years and has a superb knowledge concerning Joseph Smith.  She spoke on the history of Nauvoo.  He has taught at UVU and institutes, written books, and has tapes which inspire millions with his humor and zeal for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Elder Atwood credits him for helping him get active in the church years ago.  He also performed the marriage of Joe Buck & Kati.  I think Jeff had her as a professor of History when he attended BYU.

        The top picture is the garden and yard of the historic Vaile Mansion here in Independence, MO.  It was owned by the Vaile family from eastern US who came to Independence to build a showplace on the western front.  They built it in the early 1880's.  It is fantastic, inside and out.  It is still a showplace.

        Elder Atwood is standing in front of it, showing the size and beauty of it.  We were here Saturday to participate in the annual Strawberry Day Festival where they have numerous booths set up around the yards, selling their wares.  Of course, they sell strawberries and Elder Atwood loved the desserts.  The Vaile Society keep up the mansion and use the money from the Festival to help.

        We took a tour through the mansion and were pleased.  It is all decorated and furnished in European style, (French) because Mrs. Vaile liked the style so well.  It cost $150, 000 to build it then.  It's worth over 8 million now.  It has 35 rooms, 14 fireplaces, bathtubs, and rooms for quests and servants.  It was so fun going through it.  The ceiling here has several layers of trim, just like originally.

        This is a cupboard with a crawl through for the butler.  It is between the dining room and the kitchen.  They also had closets in the bedrooms.  Closets cost more in taxes, but Mr Vaile didn't care about that.  He made his fortune with Government contracts for servicing the mail routes to the west, especially the Santa Fe Trail.

        Here are the booths.  There were many more, completely around the mansion.

        The missionaries in Independence were here to set up the main booths and to take down after the Festival was over.  They were a great help and the people of the community surely appreciate them coming.  There were ten Elders, but here is a picture of some.  Elders Fisihetau, Simonsen (ASL) Christensen, Crowton, and Nyholm.

        Two of the VC sisters attended also.  They even helped a little.  But here, they are enjoying the strawberry shortcake available for all.  Sister Jacobs is from Cedar Hills and knows the Fife family.  Sister Forbush is from Rexburg and a great pianist and singer.  We love all the missionaries!

       We ended the weekend with Stake Conference.  Saturday session included these missionaries here and many others attending the Independence Stake who each stood and told why they loved the members of the stake.  The Theme was on Missionary Work and it was great to hear one line from each of them.
        Sunday morning the Theme was on Keeping our Covenants.  President & Sister Keyes spoke for the last time in the stake because they are changing Mission Presidents the end of this month.  He always bears such a powerful testimony of Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon, President Monson, and the Savior Jesus Christ.  He truly knows that He lives and guides this church.

        President Cato concluded the Conference with his always powerful testimony.  He truly loves every member of the stake.  They know him and love him.  His friendly personality is matched by his strong testimony of Zion and it's place in the future.  He knows the Savior is coming!  He admonished us to prepare ourselves to meet Him!  He promised us that he would not fail us, nor fail his loving parents; that he prays everyday to give his whole heart and soul to this work.  He said, "we are battling Satan, who has filled the world with deceptions and evils that are threatening the spiritual lives of our brothers and sisters.  We must save one soul at a time.  That is our responsibility.  Nothing else matters than living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.