Quotes of the Week

What might the Lord say to us? I think He would throw His arms around us and let us know we are worthy enough to keep going and our sacrifices have been acceptable before Him. He would say that He sees us and all we do behind the scenes, that we are not invisible to Him.
--Sharon Eubank

The health of any society, the happiness of its people, their prosperity, and their peace all find common roots in the teaching of children in the home.
--L. Tom Perry

When the lost one is your son or your daughter, your brother or your sister, and h e or she has chosen to leave,... after all we can do, we love that person with all of our hearts and we watch, we pray, and we wait for the Lord's hand to be revealed.
--Brent H. Nielson

Hailey and Elijah's Wedding, Zone Conference Week, 4th of July

We weren't able to leave the mission to attend Hailey's wedding, so I was glad some photos of the event got sent our way. Elijah looks and sounds like a very wonderful companion for Hailey.

What beautiful daughters we have!! So glad they were able to be part of the wedding celebration.

What cute daughters Mark and Michelle have!! I'm absolutely sure they loved being part of their sister's wedding festivities.

This photo Nani sent had me rolling with laughter. I've always known my youngest brother is a goofy guy, but this takes the cake!! Mark gets the award for the best photo bomber.

One evening we took a walk and enjoyed Oceanside Harbor at sunset.

Brooke sent us a package in the mail. We always admire her artwork and creativity. This definitely warmed our hearts.

In preparation for the upcoming zone conference and Glen's object lesson, we went into the nursery by the Flower Fields after one of our morning walks to buy several packets of seeds to illustrate "you reap what you sow."

This package made me laugh. It looks like you can plant these seeds and they grow into Jack-o'-Lanterns. Where were these gems when we were spending many hours carving away on regular pumpkins?!?

We had our first zone conference of the transfer with the Vista and Carlsbad zones in the mission office building.

Second day of zone conference was on the 4th of July (holidays are work days in the mission) with the Murrieta and Temecula zones held in the Washington building in Murrieta.

The assistants are so much help to us. We love and appreciate them so much!

After zone conference we were invited to Elder and Sister Sattley's home where they were preparing a feast to feed any of the marine families they work with in their military relations missionary capacity.

Unfortunately for the marines and their families, only one couple took the Sattleys up on the offer. But, we enjoyed visiting with that couple and also the Sattley's son's family. The food was delicious and they sent us home with enough food for a whole other meal the next evening.

I was happy the family back home sent photos of them at Eaglewood Golf Course as they were awaiting the fireworks show to begin.

Ben and Haley and all their belongings had arrived safely in Utah. Hurrah!! 

Here's how Abe, Klarissa, Newland and Wynne commemorated Independence Day.

The third day of zone conference was held in Del Mar with the Del Mar, Escondido and San Marcos zones.

The zone conferences were so wonderful. We had a lot of missionaries participating in leading discussions, sharing their favorite song about Christ and then singing it or having somebody sing the song. 

After lunch, a sister gave a discussion on meekness. Following a powerful testimony of Christ given by an elder, a sister sang all 7 verses of "How Firm a Foundation." It was so beautiful and had a lot of us in tears. 

It made such an impact the first day that we were able to arrange to have the elder testify and the sister sing this particular song the other days as well.

After the hymn, the missionaries were given time to write a letter to themselves about what kind of a person they hope to become by the end of their mission. It was such a reverent, reflective, beautiful experience for the missionaries.

As always, Glen ends the meeting with some scriptural teaching (this time using the packets of seeds as an object lesson), some personal examples and then his testimony. It always gives me a thrill to hear him teach and feel the power of the Holy Spirit witnessing to me of the truthfulness of what he is saying.

We all go to zone conference with the hope of walking out of there being buoyed up with the Spirit. We are never disappointed!! I love zone conferences!

Meetings, Eye Problem, Elder Wakolo Letter, Ben's Job Change

Two days after the new missionaries arrive, we bring them in for training. Midway through the training, they get so tired, so Glen gives them an assignment and we have them walk around as they read about their topic and discuss it together. It wakes them up and gives them a chance to stretch.

We used to do laps around the inside of the church, but since Elder Lundquist has been the assistant, he started leading the missionaries in laps around the outside of the church.

Why not!!

When we live in such a beautiful place with such wonderful weather, why not!!??!!

Glen used their walking time to get caught up on phone calls and text messages.

What a great group of new missionaries and trainers!!

Their reward for getting through the training--lunch!

The next day we had Mission Leadership Council. The Radfords always make sure there is plenty of food for lunch for the MLC missionaries.

The sister training leaders like to get a photo all together.

Two of our former missionaries stopped by to visit as they were in the area on vacation--Hermana Sabrina Thomas (in the blue jumper), her family and Hermana Catherine Mathews Niesporek (pink floral shirt).

Another visitor was former missionary Sister Cassie Davis.

On Monday morning we drove to this park on the top of a big hill in San Marcos and took our walk on the trails around it.

Question: How many times can one woman visit the foot doctor in 2 years' time??
Answer: More than one can count!!

Here Dr. Dustin is preparing the spots for a couple more injections in my most troublesome right foot. My dear, beloved, electrified neuromas are not letting up. But, to be fair to my left foot...it has become more agreeable and has not required injections for the last couple of visits.

That evening we had our senior Family Home Evening. I really love these meetings. This time we were able to introduce Glen's new counselor and his wife, President and Sister Badal, to the group.

We attended various district councils throughout the week.

Note: they used to be called district meetings. Just recently they were changed to district councils. This is the Carlsbad district.

That afternoon we had the 2nd trainer follow-up meeting with the missionaries who have been here 8 weeks, along with their trainers.

There is one Spanish-speaking missionary in the group, so Glen and Elder Jordan rotated through the training so she could have practice teaching someone other than her trainer.

Well, well, well, what have we here?? A cute little Madison! Dallas and Rebecca like to take their kids to the air show at Hill Air Force Base each year. Looks like Madison figured out a way to stay cool while there.

Is that a heart in the sky? If not, it should be! Dallas and Rebecca love each other and we love them!!

Okay, back to missionary work. The next day we went to the Borden building to attend the Felicita district council.

After each meeting, we take a few minutes to evaluate the district council with the district leader. When we went back in the room, we saw these sisters all lined up eating their salads together.

Elder Jordan has made me aware of all the "sisterly" things the sister missionaries do. He gets such a kick out of it and I just had to snap a photo of this because it seemed like one of those "sisterly" things he would get a kick out of seeing.

Glen went to Temecula to work with these elders in the evening.

At the Pauba district council, they all signed their Title of Liberty in support of Glen's letter to the missionaries urging them to re-dedicate themselves to being obedient and serving the Lord with all their hearts as they promised to do when they accepted their mission call.

A district the following week printed up a quote from the letter Glen sent out to all the missionaries.

Date night was a pleasant experience as the new mission presidency and wives got a chance to get to know each other a little better. President Marín is so happy President Badal speaks Spanish. 

He has made plans for them to go out working with the missionaries and go visiting wards together. He likes the idea of working together as companions. We are thrilled they are both excited to work together and spend time with both the missionaries and the members.

That was the day my left eye started giving me fits. First of all the whole area under my eye got all swollen. As the days progressed and the swelling continued down into my cheek and it looked like I had a pouch of infection in there, I called one of our mission doctors and he prescribed an antibiotic eye drop for me.

As time progressed, the whites of my eyes got very red and were tearing all the time. My eye and eyelids were so itchy. I was also having gunk coming out of it. It was very annoying.

When the swelling had subsided somewhat, my lower eyelid developed a huge red blister-like bump on the lower outer eyelid. My eye continued to be very red and watery for many days.

It has now been 3 weeks since this all began and I am happy to report my eyeball is white once again, the watering has subsided, the red lump is still there but has been shrinking a little bit each day.

Glen and I spent hours and hours watching all the new mission leadership training videos. We had our eyes peeled to try and catch glimpses of the two couples from here that have been called as new Mission President and Companions.

I got so excited when I saw Stephen and Rosely Webster in one of the sessions when Stephen was answering a question. They are the couple Dad, Mom, Nani and I met on the New England cruise we went on many years ago.

This view shows all three couples that I know: the Websters from Australia (he's in a red tie), the Treadways from Temecula (she's got yellow-blonde hair) and the McBeths from Escondido (sitting two rows behind Treadways, her face is half visible).

We were very touched by the letter we received from Elder Wakolo. He and his wife are so dear to us after they spent several days with us last year when they came here for a mission tour. They will forever hold a special place in our hearts.

This is another something special we received in the mail. A sweet note and a puzzle made by Brooke.

This photo of Ben brings back memories from 2 years ago when Glen and I went to Washington to help Ben and Haley rip up the old carpet in the home they had bought and helped them put in laminate flooring.

Their home in Maple Valley served them well. They were able to sell it for well over the price they had anticipated. Nice blessing for them!!

Ben and Haley have now relocated to...none other than our house back in Utah. 

He will be working at the new Amazon in Salt Lake City. They will be living for a while with Jeff and Sarah until the Excells move to Las Vegas for Jeff's new job.

Now I'll end with a photo of Abe and Klarissa's darling little Wynne. 

She's got a fun grandma in Florida that helps make life very happy for her and her brother when they are visiting there.