One Month as Missionaries! 6-24-2017

June 24, 2017

This week marks one month on our mission - a month full of new places, new people and lots of new experiences. We are learning so much that we can hardly keep track of it all! This past week was busy with lots of variety:

- MONDAY THRU WEDNESDAY: VISITING LESS-ACTIVES & INVESTIGATORS: We have a goal to meet every member of our branch, both active and less-active , by July 15. We are making progress and it's challenging experience. There is a different, distinct culture in rural Ohio ("Foothills of the Appalachians" as our mission president describes it) that we are learning about. We are learning that our mission experience will have some  similarities to an "inner city mission" in some metro areas. 

        - HONORING WORLD WAR II VET: Recently the remains of an American paratrooper soldier were found in the Netherlands and identified as Pvt. Eugene Appleby from Coshocton, OH. We attended the very touching ceremondy as his casket arrived from Europe and was escorted into Coshocton along Main Street by a procession of several dozen police cars, fire engines, motorcycles, etc. 

- THURSDAY: TRANSFER DAY: This was our first experience with a "transfer day". We have about 200 missionaries in our mission - about half of them convened in Columbus for a transfer (exchange of companions and travel to new areas). A highlight was getting to see two sisters from our stake in South Jordan ! Sis. Suzette Hansen who has been here for several months, and Sis. Lindsey Bennett, who just arrived on Thursday from the MTC! They are former Young Women from Kim's years as Stake Young Women President, so it was quite a reunion for the three sisters! We also received a new elder who will be working with us in Coshocton. Elder Cobabe, (from Redding, CA) will replace Elder Cox (from West Valley, UT) who was transferred to Athens. Elder Robison (from Shelley, ID) now becomes a senior companion here. 

- THURSDAY EVENING: We were privileged to visit the grave of Brian Whitaker, son of our dear South Jordan friends Ralph and Ramona Whitaker. Before we left on our mission, Whitakers told us that Brian's grave is in Reynoldsburg , a suburb of Columbus. On Thursday we were traveling near that area and made a visit to place some flowers in behalf of our friends. Brian passed away in 2009 at the age of 32 while living in Ohio. 

- FRIDAY EVENING: We joined nine other senior missionary couples in a farewell dinner for our mission president and wife, Pres. & Sis. Daines. The Daines will complete their three years of service next week and will now live in Spokane, WA. They will be replaced next week by Pres. & Sis. Stratford from Layton, UT. 

- SATURDAY: We stayed over Friday night and then took our P-Day on Saturday while we were in the Columbus area. We visited Ohio State University, "North Market" in Columbus and had lunch at the famous German Restaurant "Schmidt's Sausage Haus" in the Germantown Village. We're learning a little more about Columbus each time we visit from our assigned area in rural Coshocton, which is about 70 miles east of Columbus. 

Thanks for your interest, emails and prayers - we appreciate you all! 

Ohio is beautiful, challenging and VERY humid!