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Young Adults farewell party

Here is a picture from our Young Adults farewell party. We love them and will miss them.

Mission Farewell Songs

Here are our 4 oldest Virginia grandchildren singing the songs they performed in our mission farewells in the Great Falls and Bella Vista Wards.

Obama r Inaguration

When we got our mission call, I noted that one thing I would regret was missing Brack Obama's inauguration (this was back in the summer and people laughted at me). But here we are. The picture at the left is during the Sunday concert at the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool. I think the Obama presidency is important for many reasons. As they sang "Your land is my land" I couldn't help thinking that back in the 1960s this was essentially a song of protest and when they sang it today, it was to celebrate America.

Old mission picture

I left the Uruguayan mission field for home in 1958 -- more than 50 years ago. I tell people now that when in the mission field as a young man, I fell in love with the Latino people and the Spanish language. The photograph at the left shows some of my good friends who taught me to love Uruguayan and the Uruguayan people. These 50 years later, Carolyn and I look forward to meeting and falling in love with a new group of Latinos -- in the Northern countries of South America. We leave for the MTC in just two weeks and still have many preparativos.

The House passed and the Finance Committee in the Senate voted out the S-Chip bill (which provides health insurance to uninsured children). Essentially this same bill was enacted by the House and Senate in the last Congress -- and President Bush vetoed it both times for reasons that no one could understand. This Congress, with larger Democratic majorities and with the assurance that the new president will sign it, the Congress will likely enact it easily. Becky, who had been a key player and driver in the last Congress (she was largely responsible for crafting a bill that passed the Senate and the House, operating in the minority). She takes some pride in the fact that her bill will be enacted, but at the same time would like to be more involved in pushing the final bill, now taken over more completely by the Democrats. In the photograph, she is sitting behing and "staffing" her boss, Senator Grassley, minority leader of the Senate Committee on Finance.

Bella Vista Ward Young Single Adults

For the past 18 months or so, we have worked with the Young Single Adults in the Bella Vista. This has been a great calling for us and we have enjoyed so much working with and teaching this wonderful group of young people. They all have become important parts of our lives. The group has even attracted a few gringos from other parts of the stake who like attending a Latino ward and speaking the language of the angels. We will miss them.

Beautiful Flowers

A hundred beautiful roses were sent to us by a friend. These flowers came from Ecuador.

We're on our way!

We enter the MTC on February 2. We are there two weeks and then fly directly to Bogota on February 13. We hope they have kept the apartment because we paid a ton of money for it.