More pictures from Hawaii

It was so nice to be home and be with family!  We enjoyed our time there!!we also went out with a dear friend from high school. Actually our families have been friends since we were babies. Leigh Ann Chang Siaosi. She is very accomplished and her family is outstanding in every way!!

Pioneer Trek Youth Conference

Before we came to Hawaii Lillie went on a pioneer trek. We are so proud of her. We were nervous because the weather was going to be extremely hot and humid and the youth were going to trek from noon until midnight on the first day. With nothing to eat. So we are so proud of Lillie. She can do hard things and we heard she was a real cheerleader to other youth. We sure love our Lillie a lot.

Grandma passes away

We have been in Hawaii for the passing of my grandma. I sure miss her. I have fond memories of spending my summers with her. We would go gallivanting all over the place on foot and bus.  I don’t think I was appreciative of doing that with her back then, but I am now. Somehow those simple days with her a long time ago were the best!  The funeral was wonderful. Lots of the extende family came out. That was so nice of them to honor my grandma like that. Over 150 people. The program was beautiful too. Simple for my grandma. I think she would have liked it.

When ye are in the service of your fellow beings...

we have started doing some service recently by playing music for a nursing home near by our home. It is really fun and it seems like it brings such joy to the people for a brief hour. Tonight we met a woman who played the piano and said she taught piano to children. The patients see to really enjoy our short concerts. And we love it too. It is such a small sacrifice for us to try to brighten the long days of all these older people.

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Ovations Violin Camp

Lillie participated in yet another year of this violin camp. We make it a family staycation. We all stay in a hotel near the university where the camp is located. We could not have been more proud of our Lillie. She prepare her audition and did so great. She got third seat first violin. We were so elated after all her hard work. Her quartet was good and the orchestra was the best she ever played in.

Happy Independence Day!!

We went to Philadelphia to celebrate a wedding of a dear friend of ours and we were lucky enough to celebrate the Fourth of July as well!!!

Change in Mission Presidents

It is that time again. The changing of  mission presidents. We have loved President and Sister Johnson. He was so missionary minded and created a real missionary culture. He and his wife worked really hard. They sacrificed a lot and were loving in every way. We will miss them very much!!

Young Women (YW) Camp

this year Lillie went to camp without us participating in any way. And she had a great time!!  The girls camped by wards this time. She learned so much about love being the key to helping people. We are sure glad she had such a good time.

Lillie advances from middle school

Our sweet Lillie advanced from middle school. She is such a smart girl. She was recognized for getting honor roll every marking period since 6th grade. She also received the presidential award, which is GPA over 3.5 and a 4 or a 5 on the standardized test. We are so proud of her. She is such a good girl!!!  We love her.

Stake Reorganization

On June 9 the stake presidency was reorganized. It was a bittersweet moment. After 9 years as the stake President plus serving with the previous stake president as his counselor for the same time, it seems like it was time for a change. Elders Larry Kacher and Richard Hutchins were assigned to do the reorganization. They came in on Friday. We had dinner with my counselors and their wives. I will be forever indebted to them for their service. On Saturday the process began. I must say it was revelatory!  They interviewed 30 brethren. After they interviewed everyone, they would deliberate, invite me in to discuss names, then they would excuse me and then deliberate again, then invite me in to ask more questions, then deliberate again and so forth. That process took about 2 hours of going back and forth. Each time they excused me they would pray and ask me to pray for them. In the end President Derrick Boyd was selected as the president. I can not think of anyone more obedient than him. He has implemented and listened carefully to the things we were teaching, even if it wasn’t very popular with the ward members. He was outstanding in every way. His counselors are Richard Bracey and Stacy Cheney. All wonderful men.