April always starts out wonderful with General Conference. We look forward to this event for 6 months and then far too quickly, it comes and is gone. We enjoyed watching conference in our home. 17 new temples were announced. Idaho is getting another one in Montpelier. We had to look that one up as we had no idea where it was. It's in the corner of Idaho next to the Utah and Wyoming borders. What a great 2 days.
We subbed at the temple on the Wednesday pm shift three weeks in a row this month.
April the 7th we picked up Sarah and headed to Pocatello for the sealing of Nathan and Loren. Lon got permission to seal them. He did a beautiful job. The spirit was so strong and the ceremony very personal for our family. It was a very special day for everyone who was able to come.
Nathan and Loren
The Pocatello temple is huge. After pictures we went to a cute venue for a dinner and the newlyweds headed to Canada for a honey moon.
Grandparents: George and Renae Parker and Lon and Nancy Thompson with Nathan
Mindi and Justin's family has grown
Jacob and Hannah, Loren and Nathan, Mindi and Justin
Isaac is on his mission serving right now in South Dakota.
After getting the venue cleaned up, we changed clothes and headed to Twin Falls to watch Eisley's first track meet. You could tell that it was the first one of the season. Junior High track meets are not always run smoothly. We were afraid that we would be late but we had an hour and a half to wait till Eisley ran in her first race.
Eisley ran in the 100 yard dash and took 2nd in her heat. Then we had to wait till the last event of the track meet and Eisley ran the first 100 yard leg of the medley relay. She gave her team a big lead and they won the relay. The weather was in the 70's with no wind to speak of. What a perfect day for the meet. We didn't get home till about 8. It was a very long day but we sure enjoyed being able to support two of our grandchildren today.
The second week of April was cold and wet and windy. We had snow almost every morning but it melted off by noon. But the winds were 20 to 30 miles an hour daily. Lon said that he felt like he was with Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness, manna on the ground every morning. We are so thankful that the temple is open because it has been too cold to fish or golf so we have enjoyed spending more time in the temple this week. Eisley's track meet was even canceled due to the weather.
When we got home from the Wednesday PM shift on the 13th, we had a message from Kandace, the secretary to Elder Sam Wong, a General Authority Seventy, who is now the new area president of the Northwest Central Area. She wants us to call her first thing in the morning and set up a video call with Elder Wong at 3:30 on Thursday afternoon. It has been two weeks since our last call from Salt Lake😓
We had a very sleepless night! We took the Zysette's and Sister Petersen to the temple for a session and sealings then grabbed a quick lunch so we were home by 3 to prepare the computer for the video call. We think we know what it is about😕. As we began our visit with Elder Wong, he asked us if we had ever been divorced and then about our Spanish knowledge. He really went on a long time about the Spanish and we decided that we didn't know what this was all about! We really didn't think that this was a good time for us to leave the country but we would never tell the Lord no if he needed us somewhere. He always knows best!
April 14, 2022
Elder Wong then called Lon to be the 2nd counselor in the Twin Falls Idaho Temple and I to be an assistant to the matron. We are so thrilled!!! We get to serve while living at home! It is a 3 year commitment. If we were out of the country, it would be called a mission but serving from home it is a calling. We were told that we could tell only our children and grandchildren at this point. Lon asked permission to share this news with Kurt and Linda as they are the only ones that know about the first call two weeks ago. We were given permission. We love the temple and have served in a temple since 1998 when we served in the Boise Idaho Temple. We have since served in the Twin Falls Idaho Temple, the El Salvador Temple, the Guatemala City Temple and the Santiago Chile Temple. We are humbled to know that our Heavenly Father has put such trust in us and we pray that our service will be acceptable to Him. We hope that we don't have to keep this a secret for too long, we want to shout the glad news to all our family and friends.
Mindi and Justin came on the 15th to spend the night. They have a sealing in Meridian on Saturday morning so they came half way today. When we told them that we got a call from Salt Lake they immediately asked us "where and how long" we would be gone. They were thrilled when they heard Twin Falls!
Tracy and Sarah and the kids came over on Easter Sunday to have dinner with us. I fixed enchiladas and black beans, not your normal Easter dinner but everyone loved them, even Eisley! As we began to tell them that we got a call from Salt Lake, again we were asked "where and how long". They too were thrilled that it was at the Twin Falls Temple. Justin and Shayla stopped in on their way home and once more the same response. We told Ginger the following Sunday as she had a house full of company on Easter. All of our children were thrilled that we have another opportunity to serve a "mission" but very thankful that we will be staying right here at home to do it. They are so supportive of us. We love them so much.
We went for a ride with George and Kim on Saturday the 16th. We headed north and ran into rain in Shoshone. We continued on to Belview where it started to snow. By the time we got to the Hailey Hospital we turned around and headed for home.
It looks more like January than April! We did see a big herd of Elk bedded down in one of the meadows.
We turned off and went through Fairfield, Gooding, Wendell, and ended up in Buhl for lunch! Another one of George's short trips. But we had a good time.
Dick and Kyla came down on Monday. They will stay with us Monday and Tuesday nights then head to Provo to pick up their grandson, Matthew, Christy's oldest. They drove to Provo on Wednesday and back that same day, then headed for home on Thursday. While they were here, we got a call from our new temple President, Reed Harris, and they now know about the new calling but have promised to keep it a secret.
Eisley had another track meet on the 21st.
Eisley again ran the 100 yard dash and took second in her heat. She ran the first leg of the medley and again gave her team a big lead and they won. It was a cold, windy afternoon and we froze to death. It was at Minico High School.
On Monday the 25th we went to President Harris's home for dinner and got to meet the 1st counselor in our new presidency and his wife, Brother and Sister Nancy Taylor from Burley. When we saw their faces we knew them from serving in the temple together over the years. We are so excited about this new presidency. We think that we will work together very well. We found out that we will have 20 video training sessions together between now and the end of August. On the 30th and 31st of August we will train in the temple and then take over on the 1st of September. We don't have details yet as to when and where we will be set apart. It will just be good when everyone knows about the call so we can talk openly about it. We found out that starting tomorrow, Tuesday the 26th, it will be announced in each preparation meeting at the temple.
As we sat in our preparation meeting on Tuesday morning and it was announced, suddenly the calling really became real. We had some sweet reactions from people all week. We began to tell our siblings and Mother and our friends. It really is going to happen. Our lives will be so different for the next 3 years. We let Kip know that we are done doing service work for him, and we hope to be released from our ward and stake callings soon so we can focus on preparing for this new challenge.
We went to Eisley's final track meet of the year, district. Eisley again won her heat in the 100 yard dash, also in the 200 and won her leg in the medley relay, however they took 2nd in the medley overall. This one was held in Jerome and it was a pretty good day. So thankful that we were able to support Eisley this year with her track.
That pretty much sums up our month. I visited Mom three days a week, we took the Zysett's and Sister Petersen to the temple each Thursday (they will be greatly affected by our new calling) and taught our english class each Tuesday. It's hard to believe that 4 months have already come and gone this year. I have a hunch that September 1st will arrive very fast. Our lives are changing as we prepare to serve our Heavenly Father full time in His Holy House.
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