Speaking of which, we celebrated our 40 th wedding anniversary on Saturday. We would feel special but we have learned that three other senior couples will celebrate their 40 th anniversary this year. I guess the thing to do during this phase of life is to serve a mission! We went to Virginia City on Monday and I got a White Buffalo Turquoise pendant. It is from a mine in Nevada (Tonopah) where the only white turquoise is found. It is beautiful! Elder Hardman got barbed wire. It kind of sounds like Charlie Brown’s Halloween when all he got was a rock, but it’s very special barbed wire. There is an artist that does pictures with real barbed wire, labeled and mounted. Did you know that there are “rare” barbed wire specimens? Elder Hardman’s also has horseshoes and spurs on it. I would send a picture of his picture but we had it wrapped carefully so the barbed wire wouldn’t poke anything and it’s going to stay that way until it reaches its new home. It was a snowy day in Virginia City and most of the shops are closed but we were able to find things that will remind us of our mission, we are tickled about that. I did want the tacky cowboy nativity too but the Christmas shop was closed. Hopefully I can still buy a tacky nativity in the summertime.
We were invited to a lesson this week where the Elders challenged the investigator to quit smoking. This is a 34 year old man, who is a Veteran and lives in a Nursing Home. We took him to church last week. He is a kind man but there is something definitely wrong with him mentally. He accepted everything the Elders asked him to do. He tore up his brand new packs of cigarettes and threw them in the garbage. He promised to brush his teeth and gargle (if we could bring him toothpaste and mouthwash). He promised to not go anywhere where he usually goes to smoke. He was so willing to do whatever he was asked! We asked last night how he was doing and the Elders told us that his caseworker had called them and they are not to have any more contact with him. Ah, the fun of a mission…. You never know what will happen next!
We went to a couple of other lessons. They changed missionaries in the Keystone Ward. The Keystone Elders used to also serve in Sienna Vista. Now the Summit Ridge Elders have Summit Ridge and Keystone. Sienna Vista is alone. The new Keystone Elders are trying to get to know the investigators. We went to one of those lessons. We also went to the Harding’s. We sure like these people. We tried to take them to church this morning but Sister Harding has back issues and couldn’t go, maybe next week.
We have a new senior couple in the mission. Our “dining out” buddies, the Hemmerts are called as missionaries in the new Self-Reliance Initiative. They will live at home but are a part of the Reno Nevada Mission and will travel the mission to set up this new initiative. They will serve for 18 months. They served a mission before at Cove Fort. They invited us to come to their setting apart. They have already received training in Salt Lake and they had their name tags which they put on right after their setting apart. Their grandson was able to put his grandpa’s on him. That was sweet. They will do a great job in this pioneering effort.
We continue to train Zone Leaders in “Just Serve”. I think it’s a good excuse to invite them to go to lunch and visit with them. We are always impressed by these great missionaries. I’m sure every mission feels this way but we have amazing missionaries!
That was our week, how was yours? We sprung ahead today and are happy that it feels like spring!
The Gospel’s true and we love you!
Love,
Elder and Sister Hardman
Congrats on the Anniversary! Glad you are part of the In-crowd and serving a mish on your 40th.
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