Fall has been beautiful in Charlotte! This photo was taken one morning
as we were leaving for the Mission Office a couple of weeks ago.
The weather has been dry and mild and the colors have been spectacular!
Of course the one day we did have rain we were cleaning out an apartment
in Matthews. Elder Henderson and Elder Matthews helped us carry furniture
down the stairs and load it in the trailer. This apartment had special
meaning for us, because our granddaughter, Rachel
(Sister Hatton-Ward) lived there the last few months of her mission.
When we picked up the Elders to help us move, we thought we were at the wrong address
because of these cute Halloween decorations!
Missionary moms take good care of their sons and daughters!
We attended a very special baptism for Hemie Dickson on November 8th.
He has been in the US for 15 years and all his family are still in Liberia. He
is a tailor and designer by profession but more importantly,
Hemie is a valiant, faith filled young man with the Light of Christ in his countenance.
The Spirit was there in abundance!
The Sisters are teaching his family in Liberia by Skype! I love technology!
Elder Youngstrom is 21!
We celebrated his Birthday at his favorite place, Red Robin
with Elder Call, Elder Mautz, Elder Benham and Elder Bagley.
Elder Youngstrom will be released on November 25th
and will fly home the day before Thanksgiving. We will miss him.
The Kunz family from Riverton, Utah surprised us at the Mission office a few days ago.
Bishop Kunz was Elder Kunz in our mission some 35 years ago. It was delightful to
visit with them and I felt like we'd known them forever. They have a beautiful story.
The biggest surprise was RYAN coming to visit.
Ryan called Wednesday and said he had a last minute meeting in Greensboro.
Would it be possible to meet him Thursday evening after his meeting?
As he was talking I had this overwhelming feeling whisper to my heart,
"This is a special gift, a tender mercy from Me (Heavenly Father) because I love you!"
No coincidence! Not just luck! A beautiful GIFT!
Thursday, we drove in the Mission Van complete with trailer to Lancaster, SC with
the Hunts and the Slades to empty out an apartment and clean it.
I appreciate these wonderful friends and fellow missionaries
for the great help and support they are to me in taking care of apartments.
We get the work done AND we have a fun time being with them!
On our way back to Charlotte, we had lunch at 521 Barbeque.
Elder Urban's new favorite rib place!
From the Mission Office we drove the van and trailer to Greensboro
to pick up our special surprise!
It was dark, traffic was horrid but the drive was certainly worth it!
Hugging my little boy again, made this mommy so happy!
We had one last errand to accomplish before we left Greensboro.Ryan helped us pick up a washer and dryer from a vacated apartment we needed to close.
Friday morning, Ryan came with us to the office and worked, while we worked.
Then we took a late lunch at Mac's Speed Shop (barbeque of course)
We drove to beautiful Lake Norman and did some exploring.
We'd never taken time to look around the lake before and it truly is idyllic!
It was a relaxing wonderful afternoon and evening.
We took Ryan to Huntersville and walked around Birkdale Village for a short time.
(These pictures are from google so just imagine a cold fall afternoon
and the blossoms are beautiful fall leaves and
children were bundled in coats and scarves instead of swim suits!)
The rest of the evening we just visited and told stories and laughed,
ate some leftover soup and just enjoyed the unexpected "tender mercy"moments.
My heart is full of gratitude for the blessings I receive daily.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to reflect on our blessings
and to express love and gratitude to God and to our family and friends.
Dieter F Uchtdorf reminds us beautifully....
and
Sending our LOVE to y'all!
Happy Thanksgiving from Elder and Sister Urban
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