After we got home from the Copeland Girls' Get-Away, we left two days later for Oakland to help out with the kids and dogs. John and Alison were going to Ireland with John's family to celebrate John's dad's 70th birthday in the country that he spent his two-year Mormon mission in when he was a 19-year-old young man.
With only Tyson and Preston at home now, who are very independent, it is a pretty easy "tending" job. The hardest part is--Rosco and Roxy!
They can get pretty bored, so they love to have attention, which George gives them.
They love to scare the fat squirrel up the wall.
Otherwise, they want to be right by your side, every minute!
And they expect treats several times a day for basically doing nothing! Hah!
We loved watching Tyson and Preston in their activities, which made me further realize how much we're going to miss events like these for all our grand kids in five different states for the next two years while we're in Russia as volunteers.
The twelve days flew by very quickly, and soon we were leaving to return to Washington.
We said "bye" to Alison for two years, unless she comes to Moscow for a visit!
Our next three days were jam-packed busy! We had only three days before we would be flying to Utah to enter the MTC! The first day we tried to finish packing. I had packed quite a bit before I left for California, and fortunately Natalie, my DIL, had come over and packed up my kitchen for me--but I definitely used the entire day! The next day, the movers came to take everything over to their storage warehouse--I was still trying to finish my own room and closet as they moved the rest! I literally was out of breath and hyper-ventilating!
Then on the third day, a great friend and her husband, Kathy and Jory Anderson, came over for a few hours to help clean, along with a woman who cleans Kent's dental office who came for the entire day--she hardly spoke a word of English, but we did just great! She was fantastic! George and I actually finished about 8:00 p.m. The people were moving in the next morning and we knew we were flying out, so we had to finish that night!
One of the nights during these three days, we were set apart as Volunteers for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by our Stake President.
We were now official Volunteers!
Before we left, Ethan had to cut one more "Y" into our grass for BYU. He is another loyal BYU family member!
Saying "good-bye" to Natalie and Kent. We surely are going to miss them. They have been so good to us while we have lived by them.
One of the first things we did when we got to Utah was go by our little grandson, Cannon's grave to tell him we were going to be helping others for the next two years just like he's doing in the spirit world.
Also, we purposely planned to go out a couple days early before we had to enter the MTC so we could go to the BYU game, our old Alma Mater, and spend some time there with some of our family members--especially my 94-year-old dad! He goes to all the games and is a very loyal fan. An added bonus was getting to see my brother, Jerry.
The game was horrendously bad for BYU, but it was really nice to sit by my dad and spend some time with him before we left for two years. I told him I surely wanted to see him in two years and that he would be 96 years old. He said, "Well, that's not that old!" Hah!
It was, also, great seeing our son, Cameron, from Dallas, and our grandson, Taylor, who lives in Salt Lake City.
Jerry's son, Jace, came, too. I hadn't seen him for quite a few years. He is such a nice young man!
ENTERING THE MTC
We really appreciated our son, Kevin, taking us to the MTC to start five days of training for our volunteer work in Russia.
Upon entering the MTC, the first picture I took was this special stone that had so many meanings for me--
When I was serving as a Student Body Officer in 1965-66 at Ricks College, we were trying to think of a theme for the coming school year. Our SB President, Ron Hart, suggested this quote which had meant so much to President McKay when he was serving in the Scotland Mission--"What 'ere thou art, Act well thy part," usually attributed to Shakespeare. President McKay was very homesick at the time, but he re-dedicated his next two years to do the best he could in what the Lord would have him do. I had never heard this quote before that time, but that year, we really emphasized it to the student body and centered all of our activities around it, so it has long been a favorite of mine.
Then, when my grandson, Elder Carter Copeland, took a picture of a copy of this same stone which was on the Scotland Edinburgh Mission until 1970 (now a copy is there), and he is serving in the Scotland/Ireland Mission with this as their motto, it struck me again how brilliant and important this saying is--that all who serve throughout the world will remember this same thought and pattern their lives after it.
The MTC is so well organized and beautiful, inside and out!
Our rooms for the next five days were very adequate and comfortable.
Our name tags were written in Russian. We weren't sure whose was whose when we first received them.
The newest area of the MTC where some of our classes were held had beautiful murals that were back lit and just beautiful!
Overlooking the area where P-day activities are held for recreation.
The grounds were just beautiful with all types of flowers and greenery.
With 2,200 in the MTC right now, over 300 as seniors, this is a city by itself!
After the five days of lessons and learning, we finally got to put our little tag on our door--"We have left for our mission!"
ONE LAST WEEKEND IN UTAH BEFORE WE FLY TO RUSSIA
After leaving the MTC, we were picked up by some very dear friends, the Oborns, and went to dinner with them. They then took us back to Kevin and Angie's to stay the weekend before we flew to Russia on Monday.
During the weekend, we got to watch our granddaughter, Hannah, cheer at her school's football game. She was fantastic! She is the second over from the left on the back.
They did wonderful stunts and gymnastic moves!
We, also, got to watch our granddaughter, Jenna, cheer at the high school game. It was absolutely freezing this night, so George and Kevin had already gone home by the time we took this pic.
Me, Jenna, her mother, Kim; and her brother, Brady.
So fun to see another granddaughter there--Lauren.
On Saturday evening, two of my daughters-in-law, Angie and Kim, as well as two granddaughters, Lauren and Jenna, and I were able to attend the Women's Conference at their Stake Center. Nothing better than being together as family listening to such wonderful talks and music about the Savior!
Another pleasant memory I will have while in Utah is watching our grandson open his memory book of his two-year Mormon mission to Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission that he just returned from.
I keep a blog for each of our family missionaries, and when they return, I compile it all into a book of memories, letters, and pictures.
Yes, Parker definitely seemed pleased with it!
I took this pic out the downstairs window at Kevin and Angie's house. Winter is coming to Utah as can be seen how low the snow is on the mountains. It made us realize that winter would be coming shortly in Moscow, too!
The good-byes to grand kids got harder and harder as the time got closer for us to board the plane for Russia the next day.
It has really touched George and my hearts to see all of the emotions our children and grandchildren have had as we said good-bye. Most of them were too emotional for me to take pictures of!
Since we could only take two large suitcases apiece, plus two carry-ons, they were stacked so tight and three of the four were over-weight, but we tried our best. Living with just what you take for two years isn't the easiest to pack for! Lauren was so sweet to keep helping me until the final zipper was zipped!
Kim was so kind to take us to the airport. Hopefully some of the family will come to see us next June when the weather gets a little nicer and the World Cup comes to Moscow--we can always plan to see family if a sporting event is involved! Hah!
Our flight would be 9 1/2 hours to Amsterdam, a little over 3 hour lay-over, then another 3 1/2 hours to Moscow. Fortunately, our son, Kyle, had gotten up-grades for us to sit in Economy Comfort where we had extra leg room, which really helped out!
After basically two days of no sleep, we were exhausted when we arrived. But the Mission President, his wife, daughter, and the two APs were there to pick us up and take us to the Mission Office where we were served the traditional Russian borscht soup made by the mission secretary.
The suitcases which had been lifted up three flights of stairs--16 suitcases in all--now had to be taken back down and loaded in cars to take us all to where we would be living, which included us, one other senior couple and two other young volunteers who had come with us. We all lived in different areas of the city.
We would now be starting the next 23 months of our lives with new experiences every day, helping out wherever we can. I will be posting our volunteering experiences on another site, but thank you for allowing me to keep this journal for the past ten years almost!
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