"Holey, Wholely, Holy"

  Grab you booties campers because it's cold outside, at least that's the word on everybody's lips, (everybody's chapped lips!). February has been a perpetual Groundhog Day and we're starting to wonder is Phil ever going to see his shadow? The snowing has stopped but the inversion is really yucky, and the bright sunny days are actually the most frigid of all! So what do you do with eternity? You just make the most of every single bitter cold day you're given. Bing! That's the ticket. I am truly grateful for turtlenecks and sweaters, earmuffs and gubs, long underwear, and Heatwarmer socks. If not for them, I should've surely perished by now. Apparently Salt Lake is not the only place suffering from bad weather (Even St George got snow!) I know I am truly wimpier than most when it comes to cold weather but even Rob has murmured a bit in our Siberian-like tundra environs. We should count our blessings though. Gratefully, the Lord has helped us to stay healthy through this month. But my socks are getting Holey Holey Holey, and aren't going to last much longer. Darn it. Hurry Spring! Or India! (Whichever comes first) 

This is not a handgun or a horse puppet

There were plenty of wonderful things to focus on this week other than the weather; Valentine's Day, some call it Singles Awareness Day, but we prefer Carbohydrate Overload Day, was great because it fell on our P-day.  We found the yummiest frosted soft sugar cookies for $4.80 a dozen at the Church Office Building (COB) Cafeteria and decided to treat our zone to 24 of them. Look out Swig, Crumbl, Crave, there's a new cookie in town. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea and we had other cookies, cupcakes, chocolates, and sundry treats aplenty in our breakroom that could've buzzed an entire starving nation. Still it was fun to indulge for a day with our zone friends in a festive environment.  At home we listened to our Love Songs Playlist all afternoon and had the most beautiful sunset ever, even if we could only look at it for a brief moment before hypothermia set in. 

Love was in the air

Vidhya, one of our Indian Young Adult friends moved into our very apartment complex this week and knowing we were close by, called us to help her move her things up to the 3rd floor. We were soooo glad she thought to think of us! It allowed us to meet 2 more Indian friends, plus her new roommate Anna from Mongolia, who's not the least bit bothered by the cold and was out sunning on the balcony. JK.

Vidhya, Bala, and Clinton. Anna, not pictured

We got an email this week from Elder & Sister Gibson saying they had met one of our friends in Hyderabad. What? How could that be? Well it was Ambika, the one-name sensation! She is back in India for a month visiting her family and had come to the meetings held in Hyderabad with Elder Uchtdorf. isn't it crazy to think someone in India knows us when we're not even there yet? We confess, it's been a little hard to see all those wonderful photos posted on Facebook of India right now, knowing we could've been there had the timing been different. Ah well, even in this desire we were duly compensated. We were blessed to have a devotional with Seventy Emeritus Tad Callister, the author of The Infinite Atonement. The Spirit was there in abundance and he taught us how to enhance our scripture study. All is well.

Sister Gibson, Ambika, Elder Gibson

We continue to console ourselves with all the marvelous visits we had this and every week. Our surprise family pop-in this time was Kinzi & Tom! It is such a blast to look up and see people you don't expect to be standing in front of you! Surprise!! They were coming down to Ogden to attend the temple and figured going 30 extra miles out of their way to surprise us would be a kick. We had a real great chat but since we were on our shift, weren't able to do much more than that. I was excited though to give Kinzi some of her Dunlap family names to take to the temple and even more thrilled to see the next day that Barbara Sanzi's endowment had been completed, thanks to her. Yay Kinz!

The Kunzlers and photobomber Gwen.

Just as promised, the Young Men of the Midvalley 6th ward, our old ward from 2013-2018, came to the FSL for their activity night after the Young Women did a few weeks ago. I mentioned before that we adored these boys when they were in our 7 year-old Primary class. Now they are shaving! We had yet another night of fun and merriment helping them do the ipad discovery activities. 

Imagine my utter surprise while helping James, who moved into the ward after we left, that we were 3rd cousins twice removed. Here, I'll prove it!

Rats, the glaring screen of the ancestral lines is not real visible but you can vaguely see only 3 generations before we find our common ancestor, William Parker and MaryAnn Child. Besides my siblings and daughters, this is the closest relative I have found since working here. It's Cuz Luv.

The guys had the most fun choosing their green screen backgrounds and hamming it up.

It was a double-dose treat this week seeing Bishop Dwight with the guys, and then again in his capacity as our attorney, getting our trust ready before we leave the country. In any and every capacity, He and his wife Jillyn are some of our dearest friends. What a blessing it's been to have bonus time with them.

We love all our friends and family

 wholely, wholely, wholely!

We could devote an entire blog to the friends we have made while serving here. (In fact, I think I will sometime in the near future). They have made getting up every morning and going to serve at the FSL a true joy. There are many types of missionaries that we serve with;  full-time couples, full-time single sisters, the service missionaries of both varieties who generally serve just 2 days a week, and a smattering of volunteers who come in much less regularly. We love them all and we're grateful when we can serve them with homemade sourdough bread, chicken soup for the sickly soul, helps with moves, temple trips, a listening ear, and general friendship. Gwen here, a single sister and not the photo bomber, needed help to put together an Ikea cubbyhole bench. With all of us chipping in and utilizing the power of extra sets of hands to just hold it all together, we were able to assemble it in less than an hour. In the process, we came to love Gwen even more from our time together. She is a dear soul. Service always leaves us feeling happy. You should try it! Daily!

Voila!

Our dear friend Jennifer from S. Africa recently had a huge scare when she learned she had skin cancer on her back. If I could show you the scars on her back, you would've thought she had had a run-in with a samurai and his sword. She has 2 large lacerations over her shoulder blades and back after her surgery. Earlier she had asked our Zone Leader Bryan and Rob for a priesthood blessing to guide the surgeon's hands to find the cancerous parts. They also blessed her that she could be completely healed, according to her faith in Jesus Christ and could resume her mission. She was out for a couple of weeks but here she is back at work, with a smile on her face, and now only complaining about her arthritic middle finger. We're so grateful for the Priesthood power of God that has been restored to the earth to bless and heal us in our times of greatest need.

"And with His stripes, we are healed" Isaiah 53:5

It was a wonderful dilemma to have the Bountiful temple so crowded and busy this week that the only free sessions we could find to attend were in the wee hours of the morning. Despite the added frigidity, there was a peaceful stillness to arrive in the bleak midwinter and see the lights against the darkened sky. It gave us such a feeling of awe and holiness. 

A light in the midst of darkness

We are blessed to be on this mission at this time and in this place. 

Holy, Holy, Holy are thy ways, O Lord.