I know, I know... Felycia has been reminding me every week (at least) that I haven't updated the blog in a lllloooonnnngggg time. I've been pretty busy with work and church and everything else. I have kept up with writing to Deric most weeks, but that's about it.
So, here is the missionary update first.
Deric was moved out of the office at the beginning of February for an emergency transfer. President Viers told him that it would only be for a few weeks to get him back in the swing of proselyting. However, when transfers came, his companion moved and he didn't. Deric's companion, Elder Maciel, was from Spanish Fork, UT. They were only together for 2 weeks, but Deric told us that he was really going to miss him. That's the first time he has responded that way to a transfer. At least they live close enough to each other that they might be able to see each other after they both get home. Deric's new companion, Elder Merriman, is from South Jordan, UT. They are in a small area north of San Pedro Sula on the road to Puerto Cortes. It's called Campana. I looked it up on google maps. You really have to get in close before it even shows up.
On the other missionaries on the Flinders side, Evan had his first trip to a hospital in Benin. He was eating something and after he got done, they told him that it had been fried in peanut oil. Well, Evan is allergic to peanuts. When they got back to the apartment, two of the elders gave him a blessing and he threw up. He said that helped him feel a little better, but he was still doing badly. After a call to the couple, they came and got him and his companion and went to the hospital. Evan had to stay overnight so his companion did too. The drs gave him some meds and he was well enough to go home the next morning. It was just in time to take a shower and get to church. Becky and Takaji are thinking that an EpiPen might be a good thing to send so Evan won't have to go a hospital again. In other news, Benin and Togo are going to be their own mission in July. All of the non-Ivorian missionaries have been transferred out of Cote d'Ivoire. It is still unstable so it's great that the church is growing so much in Benin and Togo. Evan and his companion are going to be holding church meetings right in their apartment before too long. That is how they are handling the growth for now.
Now, the big news...Mom and Dad are home. They arrived in Columbus, Ohio on Thursday, February 24th. ALL of us were there (except Deric and Evan). As they were walking towards the security gate, Dad turned to Mom and said, "The whole family is here. Did you know about this?" Mom looked at him and said, "Yes. Happy Birthday." We talked and hugged and laughed and cried right there for so long, that when we got to baggage claim, Mom and Dad's bags were the only ones left. We piled into the cars and headed down to Piketon. However, we had to stop for dinner at Wendy's. That's what Dad said he wanted when he got back to the United States. They did get McDonald's french fries in the airport in NYC but Wendy's was the request. The funny thing is that Dad said he was disappointed. I guess the quality of food in Nairobi is such that Wendy's just got better and better until there was really no way to meet the expectations. We had Christmas on Friday, a sealing session at the temple and birthdays on Saturday, Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday and then it was back to the airport on Monday. It was a great weekend with family. It was the first time that we have all been in the temple together for a session. When Cristi went on her mission, Conrad was just having health issues and couldn't go. What a great start to the morning. Takaji is in the bishopric and was in charge of getting a musical number for Ward Conference so our family sang the EFY version of "As Sisters in Zion/Army of Helaman." We sounded pretty good. I did just fine with the singing until Mom (standing right behind me) choked up and couldn't sing anymore. I'll put pictures in a separate post.
Now, the news from Dixie... Felycia is in the Elementary Ed program. She loves it. She spends every Tuesday at Santa Clara Elementary School working with a class of 2nd graders. She teaches math lessons. So that she could go with us to Ohio, Felycia had to get all of her assignments done ahead of time. For one class, there was a big project due. There was no class the week before we went so she had to have it done 2 weeks early. The professor wanted to make sure that her presentation was perfect so the rest of the class would have no excuse. Felycia met with the professor to show her the project. There were just a couple of minor changes to make and then the professor said, "I'd like you to e-mail your whole project to me so I can use it as the example in the future. It's much better than the one I handed out to you this semester." That isn't the first time something like this has happened. My daughter is an over-achiever. Spring break is coming up so Felycia will be home on the 13th for a whole week. She is waiting to come home on Sunday so she won't miss 2 weeks of church in her ward and so she can get all her homework done. She wants a week with no stress or pressure. I guess she deserves it at this point.
Conrad is staying so busy. They are down another person at work now. Some days, he has to be about 5 different people. The problem is he has to do that much work, too. The stress really gets to him sometimes. He had a flare of his Crohn's disease right before Christmas. Now, he has a bad cold that is starting to settle in his chest. Bishop stuff is usually not too bad. Luckily, our ward is great about helping each other and taking care of things that the bishop doesn't have to know about. It really takes a load off of his mind. Conrad has chronic insomnia so we were at the Dr. on Friday. He changed the meds to see if something else will work better, but the doctor told Conrad to take some time for himself and do something fun once in a while. We'll see how long that lasts. It's not really in his nature.
I worked a bunch of hours last week trying to catch up from missing while we were in Ohio. I only missed 2 days of work but it takes a week to get back on top of things. Girls' Camp meetings have already started and so I have that to look forward to. It's the week before we go to Honduras to get Deric, so I have to, sorry, get to, go. I missed camp 2 years ago because we were in Provo dropping Deric at the MTC. I think it's true that you need a vacation when you get home from vacation. It took 4 days to do the laundry. I think I still have one batch that got left in the dryer. I guess I'll find it when I do the laundry this week.
Last night, we went to a performance by the Mormon Youth Symphony and Chorus. It was called "Lamb of God." What an amazing program!!! The music was absolutely beautiful, as was the message. It was about the life of Christ through the eyes of John. The soloists were adults, but the rest of the performers were under age 25. There were so many of the youth from our ward who were involved. What talent they have!
I promise not to wait another 2 months before I update again. That's just a long time and too many things happen. My memory isn't what it used to be.
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