Trail Center Engagement

Zach and Laura emerge from the Memorial Room

all smilles...

he asked and she said yes...

an impromptu engagement party downstairs...

and a very happy couple!

Congratulations!

Goodbye Winter

Beautiful...

beautiful...

SPRING!

Senior Dinner: Hawaiian Style

Elder and Sister Scott just returned from a trip to Hawaii,

so the Senior Sisters decided to have a Hawaiian style dinner.

The food was out of this world, 

the decorations were adorable,

(did you know that Spam is a Hawaiian staple?)

and the company was the best ever!!

We have such marvelous senior couples here in NOM.

They provide an incredible example 

to our young missionaries 

and to us

of the gospel in action.

They are strong, selfless, loving, followers of Christ 

and we love them all.

Dan's Birthday

We were invited 

to David and Hailey's house

to celebrate Dan's twentieth birthday.

Of course we couldn't be there but-
thanks to Skype
we were able to join in the fun.

Happy Birthday Daniel...

sure do love you!

Leadership Training

Here are a few pictures from our recent Leadership Training.

A part of our training consists of role-play, 

which is when we break into groups and practice

the skills we are focusing on.

Afterwards..

lots of smiles for the camera.

What incredible Elders we have!

Thanks to their families at home

who helped prepare them.

They are doing such important work

here in Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas.

We know the Lord loves them 

and appreciates all their efforts

in bringing His children closer to Him.

You would be so proud if you could just 

see how amazing they are.

We are proud of them and love them all very much!

And introducing 

Sister Carry Vacanti and her daughter Allie.

Sister Vacanti is my new helper.  

We will be doing all the cooking together.

Welcome to the NOM family!!!

Engaged!!

Two more of our returned missionaries

passed through Nebraska

announcing their final transfer companion;

this time of their own choosing.

Announcing the engagement of:

Spencer Stoddard to Kelly Haase

and

Nathan Heyborne to Wendy Evans.

We are so pleased to see these two worthy men
find such happiness.
Both beautiful young women
served missions also and all four of them
have been prepared by a loving Father in Heaven
to enter into His Temple and be sealed together for eternity.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful news with us.
We love you all.

Annie and Eric

Two of our fantastic returned missionaries,

Eric Petrie and Annie Hale,

came to visit us.

What great young people they are

and the spirit of missionary work still burns within them.

Annie works at the MTC with the senior couples and

Eric just applied to be a teacher there.

They are happy and well adjusted to civilian life and

no, they are not together.

?

Lay-Over

We picked up four more elders who are waiting for visa's.

Two are going to Mexico and two to Australia.

They are exceptional young men,

excited to get to work here in Nebraska.
We feel privileged to have them here
for how ever long they can stay.

Good-bye Dear Friends

Elder and Sister Mangum left for home this week.

They are valiant servants of the Lord

who have served so selflessly and so well.

We will miss them tremendously

as will all the other sisters and elders 

who had the opportunity to serve with them.

We know their family is so excited to have

Grandma and Grandpa home

but...

it just won't be the same around here without them.

Spot of Red

A beautiful cardinal 

greeted us at the Trail Center this morning.

He was singing the sweetest love song.

And somewhere over by the temple

a shy female returned the sentiment.
The duet continued all morning long.

Spring is in the air.

Going Home

It's always hard to send a missionary home early

especially for health reasons.

Even though we know it is for the best

we just hate to loose them.

And

we miss them so much too!

Good by, sweet Sister.

We wish you well...

Misc.

I found these two overlooked pictures in my files today
and I love them.
The first is of the whole mission
after having posed for several serious pictures
just letting loose...funny guys.
(You have to click on the image to enlarge it.)

The second is a 'Hurrah for Israel' shout.

This is when we all get together 

with our hands on top of one another

and we count to three bringing our hands up and down 

and on three we shout out

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!!

 and throw our hands into the air.

We all love it because it makes us feel we are a part

of the Savior's army...

which we certainly are!

1  2  3   HURRAY FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!

I just had to do it again ^_^