On Tuesday the 2nd of March, Dick and Kyla arrived about 5pm. I needed to deliver a meal to a ward family that live down a lane and I was concerned about the condition of the lane with the snow melting so I made Lon take me out in the truck.
I was right, it was a rutted mess!
Thankful we had the truck, I think the car would have gotten stuck or high centered!
Dick and Kyla will stay till Friday morning and visit with Mom on Thursday and Friday. She was very surprised to see them. She had forgotten that they were coming. The weather is good and no storms expected so they will leave on Friday and go to Idaho Falls and on down to Logan to visit with Clay.
On Friday morning the 4th, we headed to Boise for breakfast with Shayla and her family. This young man surprised everyone with a visit.
Grandpa and Grandma Thompson, Shayla, Gideon and Ryanne
Gideon is stationed in Houston, Texas with the Navy.
He is doing well with his studies and seems to be enjoying it.
.jpg)
He is on the Dean's List. So proud of this young man!
We enjoyed a great breakfast, Shayla's recipe of breakfast pizza and fruit. We got to visit with everyone as Justin was able to stop by from work and Ryanne got home from a class while we were there. Gideon really looks great. Ryanne has applied to Lewis and Clark University and BSU for nursing school. Gideon thinks he will be staying in Texas for his next training. What a fun way to begin a new month!
We enjoyed Stake Conference on the 5th and 6th. It is amazing to me how many people choose to stay home and watch conference on the Zoom feed. There was maybe a third of the seating used. We got right into the chapel for both Saturday evening and Sunday morning. We just love to be there in person to not only hear better, but to feel of the sweet spirit that is there. Our Stake Presidency is amazing and we just love to be in their presence and hear them speak.
Dick and Kyla came back on the 9th in the middle of a snow storm! 😝. By the time we ran over to visit with Mom the snow was pretty much gone again. They headed for home on the 10th. So fun to have them visit.
Our Temple closed for the 2 week cleaning on the 12th. We began having our regular 2 hour church block on the 13th, also the first day of Daylight Savings. We headed to St. George, Utah the morning of the 14th.
With the temple closed, it is a perfect time to head south and visit with family and friends. We stopped in Parowan, Utah on the way down to visit with my cousin, Diana and Dennis Petersen.
.jpg)
Dennis and Diana. They moved to Parowan from Las Vegas. Parowan is a small town with no stop lights! We really loved the hometown feel of it. After a delicious lunch, they took us on a little sight-seeing trip around the area.
This is called "The Gap"
It was created by a river cutting into the rock centuries ago and has Indian writing on the rocks
Indian writing
Nancy, Lon and Dennis
Nancy, Lon and Diana
Lon and Nancy in front of the Indian Chief, you can see his open mouth as he looks to the sky. There is a path behind the head that goes clear through to the other side. When the sun is at a certain point in the sky, it streams right through his mouth.
The first church in Parowan
It is now a museum and boy was it packed full of stuff.
Diana and Dennis volunteer here once a week.
And then it was time to head on down the road. We just love being able to visit with family. Thank you Dennis and Diana for a wonderful few hours and we will definitely have to come back again. Parowan is a great little town with a rich history that we will enjoy learning more about.
Hurricane was about an hour on down the road and we arrived at the home of Gene and Norma Van Wagoner around 6:30pm.
.JPG)
they are now 88 and have been married for 8 years
Tuesday morning Lon and Gene headed golfing at South Gate. They had a great time and Norma and I went to the DI to see if we could find any treasures, and we did. We met up with the men at the home of Charlotte Whatcott, Lon's aunt.
.JPG)
Charlotte is now 93
We all loaded up into one car and headed to Del Taco for some food. Gene loves Del Taco. The food was good and we bought the meal for all 5 of us, $13.50. It certainly didn't break the bank! Then we headed to visit the Brigham Young Home and to Jacob Hamblin's home. They were not open last year due to the pandemic so we were thrilled to be able to take the tour this time and learn more about the history of these sites. We drove past the new Washington Temple construction site to see how it is coming along. The trees are all in bloom here and my allergies decided to act up.
Wednesday morning Lon and Gene again headed out to golf, but the wind was blowing. After only 5 holes, the guys decided that it just wasn't worth it. They were given a rain check for the next day and they came home. We headed into Washington to visit with Jon and Karen Hughes.
Jon and Karen served with us in the mission office in Santiago, Chile
They had just built this home before they left on their mission and there was nothing around them.
The sun was so bright. The new Washington temple is behind us but the sun washed it out
In the back yard, this house is being built above the Hugh's home. Each of the bricks in the retaining wall are $1,000.
We had lunch and a great visit. We really love these two.
We did all of our sight-seeing in Santiago with Jon at the wheel. (see how hard the wind is blowing)
Jon and Karen took us on a drive to see Washington, the new temple, and the surrounding area. The houses were HUGE!
Thursday was a much nicer day. Lon and Gene were able to golf and had a great time. Norma and I enjoyed visiting and treasure hunting at second hand stores. We headed for home on Friday morning. I have a funeral to organize so it's a good thing that we will be home tonight.
The funeral service for Marg Jones was held at the funeral home and they were to come to the church for lunch at 12:30. We had to do the lunch at the Stake Center. The family didn't arrive until 2:30😟! I was afraid that the casseroles would be dried out by then, but everything went well. We didn't get home till 5:30. It was a very long day, but thankful that we could serve the Jones family.
Lon and I went golfing for the first time together this season on the 23rd. We went 4 more mornings before the end of the month.
RED LETTER DAY! We paid off our house on the 23rd of March!
What an amazing feeling to be without a house payment for the first time in our married life!
Friday, March 25
We were exercising at about 9:15 when the phone rang. It was a Utah number so I figured it was a scam call and was ready to hung up. The lady on the line said that she was, (I forgot her name as soon as she went on to say)," I am the secretary to Elder Gifford Nielsen. Is Brother Thompson available?" I immediately went to the office and told Lon to turn off the rowing machine and listen. She went on to say that Elder Nielsen would like to talk to both of us at 10:00. I started to calculate how much time there was between now and 10 and knew that we could not get to Salt Lake by 10.😏 I wondered if he had an office close? She said that Elder Nielsen would be calling us at 10, would that work for us. Of course we answered yes and hung up. Now we had 45 minutes to think and wonder what this was all about. Elder Nielsen is the Area President of our Northwest Central Area at this time. Why would he be calling us? Does the Lord have something in mind for us? Are our lives about to change?
At exactly 10:00 am the phone rang and Elder Nielsen was on the line. He informed us that he had been given the assignment by the First Presidency to call us and conduct a priesthood interview. He said that he didn't have any other information to tell us. He asked us about our children, grandchildren and parents. He asked about our health and our finances. He asked if we held current temple recommends and if we attended the temple often. He went on to ask us the temple recommend questions. He knew a lot about our service in the Guatemala Temple. He asked a lot of questions about our service there. He didn't seem to know much about our other missions. We talked about golfing and fishing. It was amazing to visit with a General Authority 70 for a half hour. We felt such love and kindness from him. We hung up and went golfing, even though we were late for our tee time. After our golfing, we went to visit with Kurt and Linda about our interview with Elder Nielsen. We knew that they would understand exactly what we were feeling as they had a similar experience a few years ago. It was 5 years after their interview that he was made a Stake Patriarch. We may never know what this call was about, or we may have a change coming to our lives. We are willing to serve our Heavenly Father wherever and whenever he has need of us. But it was just amazing to know that our General Authorities are aware of two country bumkins from Jerome, Idaho.
What a day!
We were thrilled when the temple reopened on the 29th and we didn't have to wear masks anymore! We also can have 39 in the sessions, instead of 14, and 4 patrons each half hour in initiatory. It is so great to have people in the temple again. We ended the month with the opportunity to help Sister Zysett get her parents sealed and then getting her sealed to them. It was a special day in the temple on the 31st. We celebrated by going to lunch at Janitzio's Mexican Restaurant.
The winter months are done and we are looking forward to spring and warmer weather. Ryanne has been accepted into Lewis and Clark Nursing School and will start there in August.
Gideon will be headed to North Carolina in a month to finish his schooling with the Navy.
Grandkids are growing up and moving on. They are all amazing people. We are so proud of each and every one of them. Hello April!
No comments:
Post a Comment