To There and Back Again!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it is 2022 already. It seems like we just got here on our mission and yet, so much has happened.

On Sunday we had a wonderful day with Sean and MyLiege and the girls. They went to Church with us and it was so nice to introduce them to our friends. It was bitter cold outside and the wind was blowing. I told Elle that Jack Frost was nipping at my nose and she replied that "he is nipping at my ears!" The walk back to the apartment wasn't quite as bad, but still very cold. We had dinner and visited for a while. We were watching the weather report closely. Originally, they were going to leave on Monday, but the report said Monday would be a bad day to travel so they were thinking of leaving on Tuesday. We had arranged to borrow blankets and pillows again so they could stay with us. As it turned out, the bad weather day was actually Sunday, and Monday was the opportune day after all. They woke up at 3:30 AM and decided they needed to leave now. So they loaded the car and got the girls and left by 4:30. They called us to drop all their remaining food off. So, we met Sean and Anna in the lobby, got a box and bag of food, gave them one last hug and sent them on their way. We went back to bed. lol They managed to stay ahead of the bad weather and made it home by 5:30 PM that night to a blanket of snow at their house. I guess we all got a White AFTER Christmas.

MyLiege decided our apartment needed some help, so she purchased a few things to brighten this up. We also had a missionary couple going home so they left things they no longer wanted out for people to take. We picked up a nice area rug that matches our living room perfectly. I didn't think it mattered that much, but I was wrong. I absolutely love our apartment. It is so cozy and inviting. I can't wait for Family Home Evening this week to show everything off.

This week was the slowest week we have had since arriving here. There were only three events on the calendar and all three had nothing to do with us other then setting them up in the computer. So we went into the office late and sometimes left early. It was really good in one way because it gave all of us plenty of time to finish up a project I have been working on since before General Conference. I was on the final stage and unfortunately it required a lot of intensive labor from all four of us. I'm trying to identify all the Interpreters that are not in our PLUNET software so we can make sure

they get onboarded before April Conference. Unfortunately the majority of volunteers in the PLUNET system don't have their LDS Account name on their record and that is what I use to match them with the other software we use to make assignments. So, we selected all the blank account names and looked them up one by one by name to see if they were in the PLUNET software. If they were, we added the information we needed. If not, we left them blank. We divided the list into 4 and we each worked on it for several days. We finished on Friday. I selected the remaining blank ones and thought of another way to check if they existed in the PLUNET system. So I spent Friday and Saturday checking email addresses one by one for the remaining blanks and found quite a few more. The remaining blanks now are truly NOT in PLUNET so if they are to be used for Interpreting, they must be onboarded. We will be presenting our research in an Area Training Meeting later this month. Each area will receive instructions on what to do as well as a list of all their people and their status in PLUNET so they know which ones need to be added and which need to be reactivated. We are trying to avoid the headache we had last conference with people not active in PLUNET, and yet needed for General Conference.

We had another very cold and snowy week. It looks so beautiful and I love that we can look out our windows and see it, but don't have to be in it. Walking to and from the office hasn't been too bad. We bundle up and it is a fairly short walk. They do a good job of keeping the sidewalks clear so we aren't trudging through the snow.

We did manage to get to the Temple on Tuesday with the Linfords. We have another appointment scheduled for this coming Thursday. It has been so nice to be in the Temple more often. It is pushing me to work on Family History so I have names to take. The Linfords are a good influence on us. They served two Temple Missions before this one so they love going to the Temple a lot. They were used to being in the Temple everyday and try to go as often as they can get an appointment. We are happy with once a week and hope we will be able to continue that once things start getting busier.

Today we get to enjoy a delightful Break the Fast with all the Missionaries on our floor. We do it every month with a delicious Potluck dinner. It is so fun. We have several events this week and next week so things are getting back to normal. We also have an offsite training meeting coming up which we expect to be fun. We love it when our whole department gets together. Everyone is so great to work with and we all have a lot of fun together.

So, what are some of my New Year's Resolutions?

Go to the Temple as often as possible.
Spend more time in Gospel Study.
Look for more opportunities to help others and to serve the Lord.
Not get so frustrated with PLUNET because it doesn't work the way it should.

I hope you all strive to keep the Spirit of Christmas with you throughout the year. Of course that really means to keep the Spirit of Christ with you. As we strive to emulate Him and try to be like Jesus, we will naturally be kinder to others and more loving to those around us.