Going on a mission together is something Elder Whiting and I have always wanted to do. We've talked about it, worked for it, and waited to do it for a long time. We waited for our call to come for about five weeks.

When it finally came, I was in Michigan with Alyson, Trevor, Logan and new little Samantha. So Leon opened up the call with everyone in the family in on the call either from Nampa, or wherever they lived. When Leon read Dallas Texas, he started laughing; then he read it to all of us, I also laughed and laughed. The Austin, Texas, Whitings were cheering so loud, I was sure we were hearing them all the way from Texas.

We also were very excited and trusting, knowing that the Lord has a reason for what he does. Our mission is only three hours from Austin, and we were excited to be able to more of Curtis and Jen's family. They have lived in Austin for about three years, and we just haven't see them much.

But we had many things to do to prepare for our mission. Leon was working to finish remodeling the kitchen before we left. He ripped out the old cupboards, built a new wall, re-did the counters, built new cupboards, installed a new sink and a new floor and many other things. It was a major thing, and he worked very, very hard. He was still finishing things up a couple of days before we left. Thank goodness for our family, they have always been so very helpful and supportive in all of our decisions. We love and cherish them very much. It's what life is all about.

All of that is a blur as we look back. We packed up our house so that Trevor and Alyson and family could live there until we got back. The back bedroom was packed with all our stuff we didn't take. The garage and out buildings were packed with tools and other stuff. We left the frame building business sitting there and drove away from all of it, excited to serve the Lord in Dallas, Texas.

The following is the journal that I kept from the day that we drove away from Nampa:

May 2, 2008

We are leaving Nampa this morning enroute to Grandpa and Grandma Ferrells house, (my mom and Dad.) Also to Carvel's and Betty's for an openhouse from the relatives and will stay in Syracuse with Kevin,l Kim and family.

Last night Leon and I, and Laura went to the Stake Building where we were set apart for our mission by Pres Jensen, who is our stake president. We felt the mantld as we drove home. It was a good feeling.

We have been packing and cleaning for two to three weeks. Alyson and Trevor will be living in our home. We still left a lot of things to be done! Megan said she would get a work party together to finish things for us.

Our missionary farewell talks were last Sunday. Kevin and Kim and family, Jeff and Wendy and family, besides all of the family in our area were there. Rebecca and Rob also flew in and were there for us. We felt a whole lot of support. In addition the ward has been wonderful.

We had a barbeque the night before and then a pot luck the next day. It was definitely a very memorable time of sharing feelings and love with our family. Our little Natalie (Jon and A J's daughter,) was crying when she realized she wouldn't see us for 18 months. We felt very loved and care for. We, as parents, have been blessed with the most wonderful spirits of Heaven, I'm sure. They love us in spite of all of weaknesses.

Today is a very exciting day. We are actually finally going forth as missionaries!! We can't believe it. It is an awesome feeling of humility, inadequacy, joy, happiness and several other feelings all rolled into one.

5 p.m. - we just stopped in Ogden and visited with My Mom and Dad. It was sad to see them in such a feeble state. Dad is 99 years and four months. He still has his sense of humor even though it is evident that he doesn't feel well. He started to tell us the same things a couple of times and stopped himself. His mind is worn out, he has fought a good fight, he is ready to go home. His dad died at exactly the same age, in his 100th year on the earth. I cannot say enough about the many good qualities and deeds my Dad did. He had his faults, but also had such a kind and caring heart.

Mom's mind is not working now and they are both using walkers. Neither one of them eat much any more and have lost weight. She cannot remember anything after she has been told several times. It must be so hard for her. She said as we left, "well if we're not here when you get back, we'll be somewhere else." It was sad for me, because I think what she was saying was very true. They are very dependent on Linda and everyone else who lives there. It must be a very helpless feeling to be so dependent upon others for everything.


May 5, Monday

Here we are headed for the Senior MTC. We didn't sleep too well last night. I felt nervous and excited, insecure and just unsettled. But Elder Whiting calms me with his spirit. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful built-in missionary companion.

Right now we are on the freeway between Syracuse and Salt Lake City, moving slowly in rush hour traffic. As I said, we stayed at Kevin and Kim's house last night. When we came upstairs at 7 a.m., this morning, there was Kim and everyone of the kids sitting there in their pajamas to say "good bye" to us. It was just the sweetest sight ever. We loved it and appreciated the send off.

We stopped at an old Denny's restaurant for breakfast. The waitress must have been as nervous as we were. She asked us three times if we wanted to order!! Maybe she was on drugs or something. Actually she did take our order the first time she asked.

May 7

We have been in the MTC since Monday. What a wonderful experience! We felt like such "greenies" when we first began on Monday. I could not even imagine what it would be like. We arrived at the MTC a little early. We were able to get our business done and were anxious to see what it was all about. We were the very first couple. They registered us and assigned us housing and then had us go to lunch.

After lunch we met with 23 other couples for orientation and our first class. It was a kind of get-acquainted day. There were couple going all over the world for several different kinds of missions. Three of us couples are going to different Texas Missions!! Yay Texas!!! The teachers were returned missionaries and adult faculty members who gave us assignments to read our manual and told us we would be teaching on Tuesday, the next afternoon. Yikes, a little worrysome.

The next morning they showed a video clip on Joseph Smith. I felt the Holy Ghost witness to my whole being, the truthfulness of that experience. I couldn't hold back the tears. Leon and I were both very touched. Then we turned to our companions and bore our testimony to each other. I was very touched by this experience. It was a re-certification of knowledge that Joseph Smith was a prophet, called by God to restore his church to the earth; that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Jesus Christ and God live today as immortal beings in their perfect ressurected state. I am grateful for that knowledge.

We made outlines and taught our first lessons to our pretend volunteer investigators who came to our rooms and knocked on our doors. Leon and I both felt like such "greenies." It was especially difficult for me, but I just decided I was going to do it.

There is a man in our district that has a severe stuttering problem. He has a marvelous spirit and we all loved him so much. He had a very humble spirit. He told us that he chose not to go on a mission as a young elder because he was embarrased about his problem. But now he and his wife were going to serve that mission together. He had sent five sons on missions and now it was his turn. He said he had set several missionaries apart in his life and spoke to many huge congregations. He was from Lehi. We thought he was either a stake president or one of the counselors. His wife was quite shy also and they were just plugging through it all. I decided that if he could do it, so could I. It reminds me of that scripture that says that the Lord will turn our weaknesses into strengths.

The spirit here is so strong. I can feel God's love everywhere I turn. We leave the MTC tomorrow morning to drive to Texas. Today is Alysa and Alyson's birthday. I hope they are having as good as day as we are. I actually talked to both of them. It is strange to not be with either of them. I miss that, but know we are where we need to be.

May 7 - Friday

Another thoroughly exciting day. It feels so good to be excited about the Gospel. Today we have been role playing members with problems or non-members. They are teaching us how to help these people find their way to God so that he can help them. It has been very enlightening to me. The Lord knows all the answers and teaches well.

The food in the MTC is mamazing!! There is a lot of it and it is really good. We have eating a lot of salads and enjoyed those a lot.


May 8, Saturday

On the road to Texas, here we are!! Leon is driving and I am writing. We haven't slept well in the MTC. We were nervous and the beds were not the greatest. But we made it through and were pleased with ourselves and appreciative of the great experience and preparation. We are going to travel all day today and then stay in New Mexico tonight and tomorrow night. We will go to church and rest tomorrow. The next two days we will travel to Dallas.

May 14, Tuesday

Our area is indeed Corsicana! It is a town of about 14,000 people. There is a lot of land around here that is not too expensive. A lot of run down houses and people who need assistance. There are many churches here, one almost on every corner! That is not too much of an exaceration.

Yesterday we met our new mission president and the office people, the Wooleys. Our mission President, Pres. Warner, goes home in July. He is a dynamo!! Already we love him and we don't even know him. He has done wonders with his mission. They are one of the highest baptizing missions. The missionaries really love him and work hard because of that. He will teach us a lot.

Last night we arrived and unpacked our boxes and suitcases. We shopped at Walmart for pillows and a few groceries and then went to bed. This morning we had district meeting at 9 a.m. in Dallas. It was really something. The spirit was so strong. The missionaries are so dedicated to the Lord's work. President Warner was there and did interviews and spoke to all of us. He is the best! This is such a sweet experience.

I am still in a daze and depending on Elder Whiting a lot for his knowledge of the scriptures and missionary work, but I am so grateful for this experience.

May 16th, Thursday

We have been trying to set a schedule for ourselves. Get up, shower and get ready for the day, private study, companion study, and a lot of planning for our days. Today we also made a decision to get cable DSL, internet. We will enjoy it because it will keep us in touch with our family.

Today we stayed at the apartment all day except when we signed up for the internet. We have been calling people and getting to know them a little. We also studied our lessons and watch the church videos we have. I am missing familiar sights and family today, but I will get past this as we involve ourselves more with the members of the branch whom we have not yet met.

Yesterday we met with the Branch President and he took us on a tour of his facility and his home. He is a very nice older, grey haired man. He has been called to be Branch President of this area even though he doesn't live in the boundaries. He is a member of the high council. We also met with our district leaders who gave us some training on filling out forms.

Tomorrow we are going to a baby shower for a girl whose husband was recently bapized, Sis Bottoms. It is still a little difficult because we are ready to get started but we haven't met our branch yet and feel a little lost. We feel the strength of the Lord's spirit directing and influencing us and that is a great feeling. We can do this with Heavenly Father's help. He will make it happen. We feel the spirit guiding us.


May 19th, Monday

Yesterday was a wonderful day! We were able to meet many of the people in our branch. We were invited to PEC and then they asked us to introduce ourselves in Sacrament Meeting. The Corsicana Building is a medium sized new building. It has been built in phases. It is a 2nd phase Building. It has amazing facilities for one ward. It was so neat to see some faces and feel their spirit. I am so grateful for that blessing.

Today was P day and we got a lot done. After cleaning and washing this morning, we studied a lot. The we went shopping for baking supplies. We stopped at three stores and saw three different opportunities was talking to peole. But we were not able to open our mouths so we lost them. Actually we were not able to figure out what to say fast enough, so we missed them. But now we know how we would handle it next time.

After we came home, Leon made dinner and I baked some cookies for our LDS neighbors. The cookies were yummy, but unfortunately our neighbors were not home. I put the cookies in the freezer. After that we started preparing for Zone meeting tomorrow. It is on Finding people to teach. We definitely received a lesson on that today. We will need to leave early tomorrow morning.

Another thing we did today was pour over the branch list to see what people we need to contact.
The Lord is blessing us and we are growing in spirit. He is teaching us precept upon precept. He is very good to us.


May 22nd, Thursday

We were pretty busy today. We visited the Cornells. They live out in the country about 15 miles. They are not members, we were supposed to teach them the second lesson. They are having a difficult time remembering the things we have already taught them. So we just reviewed all of the things we have talked about. They will be gone for the next few weeks for a trip to Florida. So then we will pick things up again.

The Vega Family was also one we visited. A newly baptized father, a very sweet family, they just need some love and encouragement. They also need personal interaction with other ward members.

Tonight we tried to visit the Bottoms family, but he was rushing her to the hospital with contractions, they thought her water had broke. So we came home and made phone calls and set up appointments for next week. This week-end is memorial day week-end, so it will be hard to catch people at home. Curtis and Jen are coming up on Sunday and going to church with us. That will be so much fun.

The Zimmermans, the ward mission leader and his wife, met with us last night. They are dedicated people. That was good for us because they actually talked to us about the situation in the ward and expectations and so forth. We also went to a mutual activity and met several non member youth. This branch has only a few youth, but it was well attended with parents, etc.

Tomorrow we have a couple of meetings with less actives in the branch, it just takes a while to get to know people. The Branch President wants us to get his ward records updated and cleaned out. It is a time consuming process.


May 30, Friday

Has it been a whole week since I have written? Time flies by so quickly. I will try to fill in.
Curtis, Jen and family came on Sunday.It was so good to see them again. The kids are all growing and changing. They went to church with us and we were so proud to have our family with us. Everyone was friendly and loved them all. We were so proud that we had a family, too, to belong to. We came home and fixed spaghetti and french bread, etc. Then we had brownies and cookies and then we made sandwiches later. They left around 7 p.m. It was a wonderful birthday present.

Wendy and family sent us a birthday package. I appreciated it so much. It was just fun to be remembered and to have packages to open. I felt care for. Also every one of the families called us or contacted us. It was so kind of everyone.

We visited Sister lehr this week. We think she might be a professional investigator. She cannot quit smoking, she says. We will keep working with her. We also visited Jimmy Bowling and talked with her about going to the Temple. She has been feeling nervous and wondering what the process entails. She has a kind spirit and a desire to progress.

The Millers were another couple we visited. They are an older couple who are less active also. They were very nice and would do anything for us except come to church. We're not sure why. We just dropped in and they were fine with that. They told us to drop in anytime. We will whenever we are in that area.