July 16, 2018

Elder McMillan--Newest SOI Elder

Elder Pack and Elder McMillan

Nathaniel Smith (far right)--Honor Man

Natalie Olsen and Nathaniel Smith

July 12, 2018 MCRD Graduation

Elder Sattley presented the marines challenge coins

July 16, 2017

Monday we had a delightful visit with Hannah and Matt Frost.  They are both from Wyoming and this is Matt's first assignment.  Hannah is a nurse and she is expecting their first child in August.  It's so fun to get to know our marines and their families.  We also got to talk to some of our family and enjoyed chatting with Heidi and her boys.  They are officially settled in Minnesota.

SOI Graduation was a huge success.  Nathaniel Smith was named the Honor Man for Golf Company.  Quite an honor to be the top man in a group of 238.  It was fun to visit with Nathaniel and his parents.  We were also able to congratulate Natalie Olsen and Ryan Aamodt for completing MCT.  Elders Pack and McMillan joined us for the ceremony.  Elder McMillan is from South Jordan, Utah has been working in the Chinese Zone so this will be quite a change for him.  We celebrated by taking the elders to Sonic for lunch.  We enjoyed talking with Scott and Beau.  Elder Halvorsen sent Beau a marine t-shirt and he thought that was terrific.

We enjoyed working with Megan and Carolyn at NMCRS--such fun ladies.  The color board Brooke put together for our new house was finally submitted to the HOA design committee.  We have run into some difficult times with our home.  Our general contractor has informed us that he is overbooked and he will be unable to work on our project.  We are carefully considering our options and what we should do.

It was wonderful to see our friends at MCRD again.  There were three graduates and their families present--sharp young men.  After the cake cutting, we found Cash Sales and were able to find a pair of marine combat boots for Scott's boys.  Elder Halvorsen can only purchase one pair per visit so we will need to make several more stops to fulfill their order.  The boots are inexpensive because they were originally used by recruits who didn't make it to graduation so they were gently used.  We met with the senior missionaries at Cafe Rio.  It seems like whenever we are meeting at that restaurant someone talks with us.  This week a darling young woman who will soon be serving a mission in Berlin stopped at our table.  It was so fun to meet her and feel her enthusiasm for her upcoming mission.  We also received the good news that a new couple will be coming to serve at MCRD when the Kapololus return to Hawaii in November.  Unfortunately, we still don't have a replacement for us yet.  We received a message that there are less than 50% of the senior missionaries requested for 2019 who have been assigned.  We have been asked to encourage our friends and loved ones to serve--you'll be glad you did!

Friday started off quite promising, but as I did my regular exercises my sciatic nerve was irritated again.  Oh, that is so painful.  Although we volunteered at the NMCRS, people could tell I was in pain.  I was thankful when that assignment ended.  We had to stop by the commissary on the way home and ran into Jayde Lee.  She is such a darling marine spouse and a great example to the younger wives.

Saturday we were scheduled to take three marines to the temple.  Unfortunately, none of them were able to leave the base.  That is always so disappointing.  But, it was the best for me.  I ended up spending the entire day in bed.  The pain is not bad when you are laying down so that is a blessing.  But standing up was excruciating.  However, I was able to receive a blessing and while scanning Facebook I found a stretch for my exact problem (a tender mercy).  Sunday morning I couldn't believe it when I could get out of bed without any pain.  It was a miracle.  I was able to complete all of my assignments without any discomfort.  Saturday was the Halvorsen family reunion.  Eric and Scott's families were able to attend and reported that they had a great time.  Thanks to Marilyn for planning such a terrific activity.  We really were sorry we weren't there to visit with the Halvorsen Clan.

We spent much of Sunday worrying about our future home.  Got some great advice from Eric and Chelsey.  We will be talking with their neighbor who is a contractor in Midway about the possibility of him helping us.  We are also looking at the prospect of purchasing an existing home.  We are sad that our thoughts have been diverted from our missionary efforts.  Hopefully things will sort out soon so we can focus on what is really important.  We enjoyed hosting 41 marines at our fireside.  The Spanish ward provided a fabulous meal of Santa Maria BBQ, potato salad, baked beans and rolls.  Everyone loved the food.  What a treat.  Bro. Jolley was the fireside speaker and he provided some wonderful insight into how Daniel's interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream relates to history.  It was a fascinating presentation.