The Hand of the Lord

This week has been interesting for us concerning our mission. We received news that there were several possible apartments available. We looked at the list then we received a phone call telling us about two of them. We decided that we will take the apartment that is only one bedroom but larger. It is also in the same apartment complex as the Portuguese speaking Elders. The only problem is that it is not available until July 1.  In all of this though there is the hand of the Lord.

There is a single sister there that is having some health problems and felt that she needed to go home early but her contract on her apartment is not up until July 1. With the mission combining in July she asked if it might be possible for her to leave a month early. The mission president said that it would be all right. Now she needed to figure out what to do about the apartment. When she heard we were coming she said that we could move into her place as soon as we get there. That solved her problem and ours. We were e-mailed the forms for the apartment we want and we filled them out, scanned them and e-mailed them back. The mission office will take care of what else needs to be done to secure it for us. We will probably have to reimburse them at some point.

On Saturday we had a couple, the Adams, come over. They were visiting in Logan for a reunion. They are the couple that we are replacing. They have been home for about two years though. They were able to tell us all about the people in the ward. There is a sister from Brazil that taught Portuguese in Brazil and helped to teach Sister Adams while she was there. They have her all lined up to help tutor me.

Everyone sounds very excited about us coming. This has been a testimony to us that this is where the Lord wants us to be at this time and why it was not possible for us to go at the end of May. All of this needs to take place as it now is. It is wonderful knowing that this is what the Lord wants us to do.

Wedding and Award

April 16th was a good day. Diane had a Stake Relief Society Conference in the morning. It included at brunch and then a musical production call "Women at the Well" with music by Kenneth Cope, Julie Azevado, and others. It was a wonderful start to a good day.

In the afternoon we went to Layton for the wedding of a faculty member. She is from the northwest part of China near Turkey. She is Uyghur which is a minority in China and have more in common with Turkey. She is Muslim and married a man who is Turkish. Their religious wedding was on Friday and we went for the secular one that was needed to make it legal in this country. She asked me to play prelude music and a special piece from the movie "The Piano" just before they came in. Some of the songs I played were songs from her culture. Paul helped me by playing the melody on our bowed psaltery. People were very curious about it.

The groom and his parents

The bride and her father

The cloth with the design is silk and the design is a traditional one.

After the ceremony there was a dinner and dancing. She wanted Paul to dance a waltz with her. We tried to get a picture but they were just moving too fast and they were all blurry. We enjoyed spending this special time with her and her new husband.

That night was also the Robbins awards. These are awards that are given to the outstanding teachers, advisors, researchers, etc., for the whole university. Paul was up for the Advisor of the year because he was given the award for the advisor of the year for the college of engineering. We did not plan on going to the ceremony because the wedding was more important. Besides we figured that the award would go to someone else. Paul found out two days before that night that he was going to receive the award. We still did not go to the ceremony but it is a nice honor for Paul as he retires.

Craziness

I have been going to update this blog for two weeks now but never could find the time. March was a crazy month. It began with a nice spring break to Moab and enjoying Arches National Park. The weather was cool but that is perfect for some of the hikes.

Looking at Delicate Arch before walking out to it.

 We did our traditional hike to Delicate Arch which seems to kick in my vertigo now. We also made our trek through the Fiery Furnace by ourselves. Some of those rocks and tight squeezes are harder to climb over and through. Maybe it is because I am getting older and weaker.

Paul holding up a natural bridge

Climbing over rocks and through crevices.

The next week we enjoyed having our grandchildren visit. They were here for the best weather week even though it rained a bit. They still seemed to enjoy going outside even in the rain and snow. Paul and I also walked a 10k with Andrea to meet her fitness challenge.

The end of the month brought medical procedures for both of us. A colonoscopy for me which the results were good and an endoscopy for Paul. Here they discovered that Paul has Barretts esophagas which is cause by acid reflux and can become precancerous if not treated. He has been treating it but this just confirmed that it will be a life long treatment.

Paper work, insurance for the car and medical that will cover us in Canada have been part of our tasks. Paul applying for Medicare and trying to get the retirement all worked out are some of the items also.

We have been cleaning out closets, making many trips to Deseret Industries as well as packing our attics as we make room for our house sitters to move in.  Needless to say we have gone to bed each night exhausted or at least very tired.