These missionaries
never fail to touch your heart. After a long weekend of coming home from Ireland and trying to get some sleep before work, I was still feeling very tired on Monday. But Elder Norris and Elder Cosmas popped into the office with some flowers for me. What a way to brighten my day. Thanks so much you two.
Tuesday we took Elder Cosmas and Elder Glasgow, from Wales, Utah, out to dinner. We went to Five Guys and Elder Glasgow was so excited. He had never been to a Five Guys before and his eyes were huge when he pulled his hamburger out of the sack and he saw all those fries. It is nice to take missionaries we don’t usually get to take out to dinner. Elder Glasgow came to the mission during the very first transfer after I got here but was immediately sent to Ireland so it’s only been a few months that I’ve gotten to see him around. He is assigned to Stirling right now so he pops in now and then.
Wednesday was a rainy day. The weather has been getting a bit colder and the skies are growing darker again. It’s no longer light outside when I go to bed or even when I wake up. I am so glad I’m not going to be here for another winter. I miss the sun too much. And the rain, it’s so wet here. I don’t know how to describe it any better than that. You get soaked immediately in the rain here. Here is Elder Jonah Jensen from Southern Utah and Elder O’Connor coming in from working in the rain. Elder Jensen has been sick all week so they only worked a half day in the rain and then got a ride back to their flat. 
Thursday was All-Scotland Zone Conference. It’s been a very busy week for me because it is the mission tour week. This is where a General Authority visits the mission, holds zone conferences, leadership meetings, inspects the mission home, mission office and a few missionary flats. He also has a tight time-frame and it didn’t help that we had planes cancel and this big storm on Wednesday that literally shut down all modes of transportation. I was so worried we weren’t going to get all the missionaries where they needed to be. But I should know better by now. There is a greater hand at play than mine. All things worked out. All we had to do was trust.
This was my very last zone conference so I had to give my departing testimony in front of a general authority. That was a bit nerve wracking but all I had to do was look out at all these missionaries who feel like my own children and I wasn’t nervous at all. I just wanted to talk to them and tell them my testimony and how much I loved them. It was so easy to do.
Here is a picture of the whole Scotland group with Elder DeFeo in the front row on the stage, in the middle. He was such a great man to get to know.
Well, we are not doing anything today to write about. I have to give a talk in church tomorrow and I haven’t even started to think about it. Sister Gifford is speaking next week. So we are both working on our talks. Also, Sister Smith, who is replacing me comes this next week so I need to figure out how to pack up my room and decide where I’m going to go for a couple weeks. I might get a hotel but probably not for the whole time. That would be expensive. There is an extra bed downstairs in the Sisters flat and I might go there but they don’t have bedding so I have to decide if that matters. I can’t believe I have just over two weeks left. We all know how fast two weeks goes by. I still have a lot of work to do. But that doesn’t keep me from being excited about coming home. I can’t believe September has gone by so fast. I thought it would be a really slow month but it isn’t. Before we know it I’ll be home!!
Have a great week and know I love you. Hopefully next week when I write I will be telling you I have a new grandson. He is late already.