It must be Spring Break at BYU!

"Brother Jordan" & Daniel Carver made a visit to the Mission Home

Jeffrey Sentman returned with his family who were here for a reunion

We enjoyed catching up with Melanie Pehrson & Samantha Williams
on their visit back to the mission.

Brooke Willardson brought her fiancee to the mission home for approval.
With Brooke, we knew she would never settle for less than the best.
Congratulations Brooke & Jake!

What a wonderful surprise we had when we walked into a sacrament meeting
(not our ward) and there standing in the hall were Carol and Mike Sullivan,
(our good friend Eppa Rixey's daughter from Cincinnati)
It took us back for a moment as they lived in Michigan
and were not members of the church, or so we thought.
She surprised us with the news that they were baptized last September.
How Great was Our Joy !

Dick & Brent Miles were just called as new mission presidents for
Austria/Germany. They were here in Scottsdale with their friends, Clark
and Marsha Lowder on a quick vacation before the big onslaught
of being a mission president came in July. Brenda and I were grade
school friends and hadn't seen each other for about 22 years. Paul
had gone to high school with Clark & Dick also. It was a quick but fun reunion
over lunch at Olive Garden. Elder Miles just happened to be his nephew.

Another Group of Gospel Scholars

Congratulations, Elders Rodriguez, Miles, Sister Ochocinski,
Elder Schneider & Perkins

Stress & Stress Management

O.K., I will be the first to admit that being a missionary can be very stressful.
It just comes with the job description. The kicker is that when we reach a high
level of stress then we need to allow our bodies to relax and come down
to a normal state so that we can gear up for the next expectation/challenge.
At least that is what I tried to tell our missionaries in our Interview training.
We tried to identify the "Stressors" in our lives and then talked about ways

we could address them so we didn't crash and burn!

I demonstrated different ways we could release the stress and one of them
was to close your eyes, let your arms and legs go heavy, clear your mind,
think of the rolling waves on the beautiful white sand,
with a gentle breeze blowing in your face. Clear your mind of everything
and let your body go limp. Well, as you can see,
some of them really got the idea and played the role.
Others weren't sure they wanted to display the way they looked when
they were relaxed I guess. Now lets see if it helps in
the weeks to come. It was a fun training!

Orange Blossoms!!

This is what it is all about while living in Arizona. This is what I look forward to every
spring when the orange blossoms start popping. It is the most delicious smell ever.
I can almost taste it as I stand underneath the tree. I keep my bedroom window open so that I can dream orange blossoms all night long. I have to find a way to bottle the smell. I may have to come back each spring just to take it all in.

Transfer Meeting Gatherings

Ten Missionaries Come to the Mission

Our New Arrivals include Sisters Falke, Alvarez, Uriostegui, Elders McCauley,

Lancaster, Walpole, Killian, Condie & Barton

A brief welcome to the #1 Mission and orientation before lunch.

Signing the Arizona Phoenix Flag

Sister Uriostegui takes a cat nap before

leaving for the transfer building to meet her new companion!

Elder Barton was added to the new missionary group when they

arrived at the mission home!

Five Great Missionaries Leave the Mission

Sister Hartvigson left the mission a week before transfers so she

could get home. She had extended her mission a transfer and did

a wonderful job in serving the people in Wickenberg.

She was one of our great sisters!

Our numbers were few this time, but great were the missionaries.

Elder Beard, Mijares, Rodriguez, & Bingham left the mission to

continue a new chapter in their lives. We will miss these great

missionaries who served with honor.

Elder Mijares....ready to return home

Their final breakfast

Our assistants are great to do the dishes at every transfer. We love and

appreciate all they do above and beyond being a missionary.

A little ping pong competition. This time we got President to play a few

rounds with us even though it was beyond his bedtime.

He pulled out his crazy serve which threw them for a loop.

Elder Rodriguez loves to play the harmonica and he is good at it.

When he came into the mission he asked President to put it away

for him until he left because he wanted to be strictly obedient. When

President gave it back to him that night he told him he had used it as

an example of obedience with other missionaries over the past 2 years.

Our Mission Presidency is so wonderful in supporting the mission transfers.

They are men and women of God who serve with all their heart, might, mind

and strength. They are incredible examples of servants of the Lord.

T-Shirt time!

Car Inspections in Prescott

Elder Skonnard does a wonderful job of car inspections. The missionaries know that he is tough in giving out points. Top points are a 60 and nobody has received that score yet.
As missionaries arrive they get busy and put on the finishing touches to make it look the best they can. A clean car award is given to the top companionship in the district. Theyare awarded 100 extra miles after receiving 3 of them. Believe me, this comes in handy when you are short of miles at the end of the month.