Joy and Gladness

Dear Family,
            We wereso thrilled and happy to hear from Jaden yesterday that Kirsten had a safe (andvery speedy) delivery and that little Ellany Sue has joined our family!  As I talked to Jaden on the phone I had anoverwhelming spirit of peace and love envelop me and I knew in my heart thatCelia had just recently hugged that little girl and sent an extra portion oflove with her to our family.  I am sothankful that Cherise is there with the Rossers and will be one of the first inour family to hold that precious little girl and feel that  love sent from Heaven.   Also,knowing that Cherise is there helping their family at this time has given me alot of comfort since I can’t be there as I have done in the past.  What wonderful “tender mercies” we havereceived this week!
            Our Sr.Missionary Zone Conference in Gallup on Friday was especially enjoyable.  We stopped at Crownpoint on our way to Gallupto deliver a desk to one of the elders there and those two elders had preparedbreakfast for us.  It was a joy to walkinto their clean and tidy trailer and to see their table attractively set andready to serve us breakfast burritos with all of the trimmings.   Breakfastwas yummy and as we were leaving they gave us an empty grocery bag to pick someJonathan apples from the tree just outside their door.  A flood of memories came back as I bit intoone of those tart, tasty apples.  As myfour younger siblings will attest, the Jonathan apple tree in my folks’backyard was “my” tree and was to be treated with respect.  We also stopped in Thoreau to visit theelders there.  We gave them each an appleand Elder Gledhill just bit right into his – he told us his family raisesapples in Washington and he has missed good apples.  Elder Gledhill will go home at transfers onAugust 21. 
            Weenjoyed hearing from President and Sister Batt at the conference, they are bothdelightful people and full of enthusiasm and spirit.  Their warmth and love is contagious.  They invited the mission office staff to themission home for dinner this coming Wednesday and we are certainly lookingforward to that.  Sister Bouwhuis, one ofthe senior sisters in St. Michaels, prepared the luncheon for all of us at thezone conference and served Hawaiian haystacks at the main table, but had smalltables to the side with slices of fresh homemade bread and also homemade jam(rhubarb, peach, and blueberry).  Thosebread tables were VERY popular with the group. Many folks chose another slideof bread and jam instead of stepping up to the ice cream table.  We had several items to deliver to variouscouples there and it was fun to see their appreciation for their gifts from themission (ironing board, vacuum cleaner, address sign for their road, fly swatters,etc.)
            ElderHunt is planning to leave early in the morning on another road trip around themission – I wish I could go with him, but know that I’m not up to that muchroad time yet (I think he plans to sleep in his own bed on Hunt Road tomorrownight!).  It is always lots of fun tovisit with the missionaries on road trips and have the opportunity to get toknow them a little better -- you can really learn A LOT on these visits.  There are new apartment leases to secure,etc. – urgent needs before August 21.  IDID enjoy going to Bayfield on Thursday and we were able to make an apartmentapplication  deposit on a place we foundthere that will hopefully work out well for missionaries.  We have a mountain of things to do beforetransfer day and work on it a lot every day. Yesterday we made a “mission outing” to Walmart and picked up severalthings we need for new apartments – the first of these shopping sprees tofurnish  new apartments.
            We loveto hear from family and friends, thanks for keeping in touch.
We send our love, Elderand Sister Hunt