Awol in Reno

Last weekend we flew to Reno to see Nathan and Liz and family for a special event.  On April 26, 2015,  Nathan was ordained a high priest by his dad, Scott, and then set apart as the second counselor in the bishopric of his ward.   It was good to be there with their family.  Nathan and Liz are loving people and will serve the ward well.  It will be a sacrifice and difficult at times, but the Lord will help them during this opportunity to serve.  

We actually did have permission to leave our mission area.  Luckily we had a preparation day on Monday, so we only missed one day of actual missionary work.  It was fun to see everyone.  Bella got sick but was a good sport and did everything anyway.  London, Scarlett and Samantha entertained us with their energetic activities.  Nathan and Liz made yummy food and were great hosts.

                                                   Nathan and Liz with Samantha

                                                   


                    Boom and Scott (Dad) with Samantha

                                                 Scarlett with Boom and Pam (Mom)

Bella, London, and Scarlett

Samantha in bunny outfit

At the Brigham Young Winter Home there are some pomegranate trees.  I had never seen any of their blossoms before.  They are big and bright orange.  There were only a few, but I got a picture of one.

Thomas Cottam, a chair maker, carved this doll displayed in the Brigham Young Winter Home

During the first three years, the settlers of St. George almost starved to death.  Most were still sleeping on the ground or in their wagons.  (1861-1863)  It was a tough time for everyone.  "To help buoy the spirits of the struggling community, for Christmas in 1863 'Thomas Cottam made thirteen dolls of wood with hinges for joints so they could sit down and move their legs and arms.  Then he asked a lady who was quite an artist to paint hair, eyes, lips, etc. on them. . . My mother found one of the dolls by her stocking (that Christmas morning), and in her stocking were a few raisens and several pieces of molasses candy and a slice from an apple . . . How happy she was:  Then Thomas (her dad) let her and a younger brother carry a doll to each little girl in the settlement.  Both they and their mothers wept for joy.'"  quote from All that was Promised by Blaine Yorgason

This week Scott got an e-mail from a man from Paris who had come to the St. George Temple Visitors' Center a couple of weeks ago.  A missionary from St. George who was in Paris, told this man he needed to visit the temple center when he came to explore Zions, etc.  So he came, and Scott  spent an hour with him answering questions and showing him around.  He wanted the tour in English, so even though we have sister missionaries that speak French, he wanted Scott to take him around.  Scott gave him a Book of Mormon and did a good job of helping him understand key principles.  It was exciting that he e-mailed,  and Scott hopes to keep in contact with him.

The Desert Blooming

Last week we barely survived all the spring break visitors.  About five hundred people a day tried to visit the Brigham Young Winter Home.  This week has been calmer.  We actually got to give people some personalized attention.  I gave out two English Books of Mormon to some people who were from India but now live in California.  I told them I had friends serving a mission in India.

It's beautiful down here in the desert right now.  The cacti are blooming and the yellow desert daisies and orange globe mallow are all over the place.  I was able to get pictures of our own Argentine cactus in bloom.  I also bought a red one this year.  I was surprised to see the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly fly into it for nectar.

A desert spiny lizard has taken up residence in our back yard.  They grow to be 13 inches long.  He's very shy and hard to capture in a photo.

More cactus pictures!

Our Karen was with me when I took this picture.  She and Jim came to the mayor's meetings in St. George.  We were together on National Siblings Day.  It was really fun.  I love all my sisters and my brother.  Rich stayed with us a couple of days and played golf with his friends.


Susan Easton Black and George Durrant are leaving on Monday.  George is an artist and has painted a watercolor picture of the St. George Tabernacle, Brigham Young Home, Jacob Hamlin Home and just finished the St. George Temple.  They have made prints of each of these places and given them to all the senior missionaries.  We will miss them a lot.  Their talks each Saturday at noon in the tabernacle have been excellent and well attended by the community.

                                       Elder and Sister Burt and Sister and Elder Durrant

EASTER and General Conference

We were excited for Easter weekend for various reasons:

1.  The kids were coming.
2.  It was General Conference.
3.  We got a preparation day after a 10 day stretch without one.
4.  It's always good to remember the Savior and His atoning sacrifice.

The excitement was pretty much over the top.  Janessa drove the kids down on Wednesday morning and Beeg flew in from meetings on Thursday afternoon.  Sher, Paul, Sarah, Scotty, T.J. and Will and Brocky Hoagland arrived around midnight Thursday morning.  Saturday morning at 4:38 a.m., Amy, Jas, Em, Ty, and Joshy arrived.  They were in Mexico doing humanitarian service building a house.  It was good to see everyone.

As I looked at the photographs I took while the kids were here, most of them were a blur as though no one stood still, which was true.   Following are a few photos that pretty much sum up our time together.  We also watched lots of conference together.

                 Molly's April Fool's joke ~ cheerios in the ice dispenser!  Grandpa fell for it!

Hiking Snow Canyon!

          Visiting the St. George Tabernacle with its circular staircase.  "The jewel of the desert."

                                                               Cute Burt Family

  Luckily the Easter bunny found our house on Saturday morning.  What a stash of eggs to divide out!
Everyone was good and let Lily find some eggs before the hunt was on.  She likes chocolate.

Paisley had fun, too.

Ty by the bags of popcorn ready to be packed into the car for the return to Davis County.

Bean was wondering how the road runner statue was doing.  It is happy by the blooming claret cup.

 Sister and Elder Burt by the Christus statue in the St. George Temple Visitors' Center.  Elders can wear short sleeve shirts and a tie from now until October.

Sego Lily (Utah's state flower) found in Snow Canyon

With all the visitors from spring breaks and the start of summer, we have extended hours at the church sites, so our shifts are longer.  It's really busy everywhere as we have tour buses coming, sometimes three a day.  We hope to have a positive influence on these visitors.  This week I was with one family for an hour in the tabernacle telling them about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, etc.  It's interesting how you can get attached to people so quickly, and wonder about how they are doing after they leave and if they will ever learn more about the church and come to Jesus Christ.