So it's been a bit busy around here over the past couple of months. We have had several conferences (district conferences in Sardegna, Firenze, and Napoli, two 3-Month Conferences and a Zone Leader Council here at home, and Zone Conferences around the mission) plus transfers where ten new, outstanding missionaries were sent to us. (With the training they are getting from some of our former outstanding missionaries in the MTC, they can't help but be amazing!)
Among other things, the very sweet woman, Christina, who helps with floors, bathrooms, and laundry was out for over two months for health reasons, the power went out for several hours one evening/night while we were gone (causing the kids to be a bit nervous to say the least), the internet was knocked out because of it and hasn't come back, the front gate stopped working, the heat wouldn't come on, and we had our area president (a retired Four-Star General) who presides over 48 countries in Europe, his amazing wife, and one of his counselors coming for a Mission Tour!
And that's why you haven't heard from us lately. The only reason I took the time to post about Lisa's mission call was so that she wouldn't think we weren't excited about it.
But with prayer and less-than-normal sleep, we did it. The mission tour was absolutely wonderful with Elder and Sister Robert C. Oaks and Elder Causse. (This was taken during a visit to the temple grounds.)
We couldn't ask for better leaders and motivators. I wish I could have had a tape recorder so that I could catch all the wonderful stories as we drove and flew from place to place over 5 1/2 days. Here's just a taste of what kind of people President and Sister Oaks are (not listed in chronological order): they lived in Napoli for two years while he was commander of NATO Allied Air Forces in Europe (also serving in the church as a counselor in the district presidency at the time), and later became commander of the United States Air Force in Europe. He served as area president in South Africa, flew planes in 188 missions over Vietnam, was shot down and rescued, they have moved 32 times, he earned his MBA from Ohio State University, raised six children (all four sons serve or have served in the military), was senior vice president over operations at US Airways, and both have an incredible memory of people, places, and dates of events in their lives. And the stories they told! They were incredibly inspiring, uplifting, and humorous. We hated to see them go. Our missionaries will long remember their training, stories, and testimony of Jesus Christ and the restored gospel.
Elder Causse, one of Elder Oaks' counselors in the area presidency came with him for the first three days. Before serving in his current calling, he served as the stake president in Paris, France and is one of the sweetest men you'll ever meet. Happy, smiling, and calm. His call as a seventy will be a 25-year call. Imagine! We loved his trainings as well and look forward to meeting his wife.
The good news is Christina is back, the power is working fine, and the heat is on. Now that we're actually going to be home long enough for a repairman to come, we might even get our front gate and internet working (with the internet being TOP priority as the kids are missing emailing their friends back home and not being able to do their homework very well without it!)
Now, days later
We are back in business! Two internet repairmen and a new DSL router and wireless router later, we're back online! We had been going into the office occasionally late at night so the kids could use the internet there and that's where I wrote the previous paragraphs. So not only do I have the internet up and running at home, I will be working on projects for the next couple of weeks while President is off doing interviews, so hopefully you'll hear more over the next little while!
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