Canada Toronto Mission

We started our newest adventure on December 9, 2013.  We entered the MTC for a week of Preach My Gospel Training with 23 other couples who will be serving around the world.  There were over 2,000 young missionaries at the MTC with a total of 83,000 missionaries in the field.  It is a great time to be serving. 

 

Our District included Elder and Sister Malmrose from So. Jordan UT who will be serving in Nagoya Japan as MLS,  Elder and Sister Pyles from Lehi UT who will be serving in the Philippines as Public Relations and Elder and Sister Roberts from Weiser ID who will be serving in Colorado Springs as MLS.

                                        

We had wonderful young return-missionaries who taught and encouraged us as we did a lot of role-playing and teaching.  Elder Quintin L.Cook was the devotional speaker on Tuesday night.  What a treat to sit at the feet of an Apostle of God and be taught.

While at the MTC we received a call from our mission president, President Scott, asking if we could skip the medical training the next week and come to the mission sooner. He wants me to be the mission secretary as well as the mission nurse.  After talking with the Mission Medical people in Salt Lake, he decided that we would go to two days of training on Monday and Tuesday and then leave Wednesday.  We really had to speed up the preparing and packing to leave that soon.  We made it on the road about 3:00 p.m. Wednesday which turned out to be a blessing because Utah had a major snow storm hit Wednesday night.  We stayed in Cheyenne WY that night and in Des Moines IA the second night with dry roads and good weather all the way.  We are excited to be on our way again.

First Mission Completed

           

We arrived home to find the house beautifully redone, inside and out.  The new tile and carpet look great and the new landscaping outside was such a pleasant surprise.  Everyone worked so hard to get it done before we arrived and we appreciate a beautiful home and family to come home to. 

           

We missed these beautiful hills and as much as we miss the people and places in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, we are glad to be home with family once more.  We had wonderful experiences sharing the gospel and serving where ever the Lord called.  We are finding what retirement is all about and are hopefully preparing ourselves for our next great adventure.

Blanding

We drove home by way of Blanding, UT and spent the week-end with our kids there. 

           

           

The kids have all grown up on us while we were gone.  It’s always fun in Blanding.  We left Monday morning and made the final leg of our trip home, anxious to see our home and the kids there.

Des Moines

After leaving Cleveland, we drove to Des Moines, IA to spend some time with Tearsa, Ben and Family.  We arrived on Tuesday and on Thursday little Daxton G Coombs was born.  He’s a beautiful baby and Cole and Elise love their new baby brother. 

                                 

            

We did manage to get a baseball game in before the baby was born.  Ben and Tearsa gave Rod tickets to the Iowa Cubs game for his birthday.  It was a fun time.           

                  

Ben had to leave the day after the baby was born for six weeks of rotations, so Rod and  I got to spend lots of time with Coleson and Elise while Tearsa took good care of Daxton. 

One day we took Cole to his T-ball game and then we went to the Sweet Corn Festival.  Tons of Iowa sweet corn is shucked and cooked by volunteers and served free to those attending the festival.  We got to watch the parade, Cole and Ellie got to tour an ambulance and then Cole got to spray a can with a fire hose.

                   

              

We did a day at the Zoo and had loads of fun.  We rode the train and saw all the animals.

             

             

                        

Another day we went bowling.  Cole and Ellie used the ramp for the ball and the bumpers on the lane and did great.  Ellie danced her way to and from the ball.  Cole had to finish GG’s turns.  Grandpa, of course, beat us all soundly. 

                  

We were there for the Iowa State Fair.  It’s supposedly the best fair in the country.  We saw the cow sculptured out of butter and Grandpa pretended to be a farmer. 

              

We were there for Cole’s first day of school.  We got to go to the school with him a few days before to meet his teacher, Mrs. Rogers, and see his classroom.  The first day of school he met the bus with all his friends in the neighborhood.  It was a neighborhood happening.  I can’t believe Cole is old enough to go to school.

            

            

We had a fun 10 days in Des Moines.  It was hard to leave but glad to be heading home.

Home

While we were finishing the last of our mission, our family at home was busy getting our house ready for us to come back to.  They are having new tiling put in the bathrooms and new carpet upstairs and down.

                        

                                                  

                         

                         

                                  

                                                          

                                   

Mindy and Ryan avoided the camera, as did Maryn who was taking the pictures, but everyone has worked very hard to have the house ready for us when we arrive home. We are grateful for loving family who have supported us throughout our mission and made it easier to serve knowing they were serving each other. 

                            

Kreg, Maryn and girls put up new lights by the front door for Rod’s birthday.  We love our family!!

Cleveland

Our first stop on our way home was a few days in Cleveland to visit with Casey, Lindsey, Carly and Holland.  We had a wonderful time with them and, of course, we went to a baseball game too.  The Indians were playing the Twins.

             

             

Carly has always enjoyed going to ball games with Daddy and she especially enjoyed the cotton candy this time. 

We have loved being able to see them three times since they moved to Cleveland and getting acquainted with these granddaughters.  Holland is one of two granddaughters born while we were serving our mission.  Carly is especially fond of Grandpa James (Rod).  They will be a good excuse to come back and visit the mission.