So I kind of left out a small detail that happened last week. Thursday after school Zac came home wanting to ask a girl from school to the Homecoming dance. I told him he was only a Freshman and that he was too young. His response was we let Allie go and she was the same age. Can you say, “that came back to bite way sooner than I ever expected?” Never did I imagine that Zac would have the desire to go but surprise, surprise. He explained to us that their was no dinner involved that they would meet at the dance and maybe do an after the dance activity. Oh the pressure. He ended up asking the girl the next day with what I thought was a poster. I guess that didn’t work out because he just asked her face to face. What a brave boy I have? I mention this now so you can feel the added stress I was feeling during transfer week. ;) So another tidbit of information that I actually forgot to share in the moment is that last Friday Allie called me after school to let me know that she was nominated for Homecoming Royalty. I am so excited for her but surprised because she was nominated last year for Prom. When I was in high school (a long time ago) you could only be nominated once. I hope she has a lot of fun with all the activities that go along with this opportunity.
Our transfer week this go around was much more manageable than the first, but still very busy. I actually started preparations the Friday before by planning the menu and purchasing the food. I also cooked the meat on Saturday and started the Jello for the raspberry tapioca salad as well. Monday I prepared dinner for our departing Elders, 5 in total. I got a lot of help from our AP’s during the day. Prepping food and making sure I had everything I needed for the next two days. Our AP’s are going to be awesome husbands by the way. We had a great departing testimony meeting prior to dinner. I hope these Elders leaving realize their potential for greatness. The next day we drove them to the airport. I took some Instagrams of them leaving. We will miss them. From goodbyes we switched to welcoming. We anxiously awaited for our 16 new missionaries, 10 arriving from Provo and another 6 arriving from the MTC in Mexico City. This time around I videoed their arrivals. It was so much fun and I couldn’t wait to post it for their families to see. We then took them to the Bissonet building for interviews and “OYM”ing with seasoned missionaries. This activity is a great confidence builder for new missionaries so they get over the fear of sharing the gospel.
Following a full day of transfer meeting on Wednesday we prepared to head to Las Vegas for the Southwest Area Mission President Seminar. This entailed me getting a schedule put together so the girl that is helping with the kids would know when and where to get the kids while we are away, pack for the trip, prepare the kids stuff, fill the car with gas, and oh I forgot about Issy. Need a plan for her too. Uuugh! I had too much to do with very little time to do it in. On top of that Bode also had his first football scrimmage. I didn’t make it to the game but Aaron did. He started as a corner on defense and on offense he rotates every other play as receiver. They got thump but Bode had a great time. Happy to say we actually made it out of our house early the next morning and made it to the airport. At the airport, we met three mission president’s and their wives and the medical advisor from southern Texas area. Once at our hotel in Las Vegas, we met all the other mission presidents and wives. It was a nice reunion for me with the 3 other wives (Loveland, Chestnut and Adams) that started with us in the MTC. Elder (President) Lynn G. Robbins, Lawrence Corbridge, and Brad Foster make up our area presidency. They have responsibility for 21 missions in their area and we all assembled in Las Vegas for 4 days of training. Las Vegas was the chosen location as they rotate through the major cities where there are one or more mission presidents. Elder Robbins described it as the perfect place for us to see opposition in all things. These seminars are held every six months. I definitely look forward to these get togethers.
We started the seminar by taking a bus to the Las Vegas temple to do a session. What a great way to start! Elder Robbins retaught his YSA talk on "Tasting the Light" and tied it to the way leaders can help inspire others in their stewardship. He also taught us a pattern on teaching and how it is the essence of leadership. Elder Corbridge taught us on why we need God, the Savior, the Holy Ghost, and the Church and tied it to Mosiah 2-5. If you go back and read these chapters King Benjamin clearly defines why we need God, why we need a Savior, how the Holy Ghost helps us know these things are true, and how the Church provides the covenants and ordinances we need. He also taught on obedience and how the only intelligent choice is to love and serve God, all other options are foolishness. Elder Foster taught us how we can bless the lives of our missionaries now and into the years to come. He had one of his missionaries come and share how his mission experience shaped him and in particular the things Elder Foster taught him to keep him on the right path. It was very inspiring to see how we can make a difference for our missionaries in the years to come. We had two sessions with Bro. Heaton, he works with the MTC educational division. I loved his sessions. His teaching style totally jives with my learning style. I hope to share what I learned with the missionaries at ta future MLC. The wives met together for a session on clothing and practical ways to address issues when they arise. We had a wonderful sacrament meeting that included talks from two mission president’s and their wives and testimonies from 3 other ones. We also received instruction from the presidency. There really is too much to share on the things we have been taught. While there we also had the opportunity to tour Hoover Dam together, the Old Mormon Fort (oldest building in Las Vegas), rode the Las Vegas ferris wheel, and watched a bit of the BYU vs Boise State game. GO BYU!!
While we were away back home………As part of Homecoming tradition here in Texas, the boys make the girls a homecoming mum. This is a mum flower arrangement on steroids. The best ones have more than one mum, at least 3 feet of ribbon in school colors and a variety of widths. The more ribbon the better. Each of their names are put on the ribbons and the best homecoming mums include items or trinkets related to your interests and hobbies. So a basketball for Zac and a soccer ball for his date Brittney. The girls wear the mums all day at school on Friday. Lucky for me the girl that watched the kids totally had mum making skills. Zac’s mum for his date looked awesome. Zac went to the Clements homecoming game, which was a really good game for them. They were ahead at one point and tied in regulation time but lost in overtime. Zac had a good time at the homecoming dance and it really was as chill as he said it would be. No dinner before except he, Hunter and Sam went to dinner with each other. They met the girls at the dance and were home by 10:30. No day date or after dance activities. What a relief for me. ;) We were sad not be home for his big dance, but he looked great in the pictures. Bode had a scout camp out on the beach Friday night. He said it was a blast. He reported there were lots of mosquitoes though. Jessie had a play date Friday and a birthday party on Saturday. That girl has fun wherever she is. It makes me happy that the kids could have a great time while we were away. Yeah I don’t think they missed us much but I sure missed them.