One Week In Yuma - Strange & Wonderful

I felt well before going to Yuma but my, what one week in the 100's will do to age your skin!

Mom didn't fair too well either . . .

Bonnie & Clyde: It's hard to appreciate just how large, pink, sweet and wonderful these Yuma grapefruits really are - we ate them every day and I estimate that each one weighs at least 2 pounds. We've never had anything so sweet, mellow (no acid), and delicious. You should have seen the quizzical look on the airport TSA screener when my suitcase went through the scanner with no clothes, just 46 lbs. of grapefruit!

Mom and I always look for fruit on trees that are not being used and then we figure out how to grovel and ask for some, or we just hop over a fence into a vacant yard and harvest a few. In this case, we drove by a home which had a wonderfully large amount of grapefruit hanging on and no one seemed to be taking an interest in them. So we pulled up to the front of the house to find a For Sale sign, lock box, old burnt out car in the driveway and trash all over the sides of the garage. We thought, "hmm, these people must have left long ago and had no success selling their house. Mom rang the doorbell and looked around but it was "obviously" vacant. She thought it was a good idea if I hopped over the locked fence and did a little yard clean up by rescuing the grapefruit which seemed to be going to waste. I did just that and after I picked a very large sack (about 50 lbs.) I turned around to leave when I noticed that the back yard was perfectly manicured, the pool was working, and lo and behold, there were clothes drying on the line! I took off as fast as I could, jumped in the get-away car and we sped for home. Later that night we drove by just to check it out and there was a nice truck parked in the driveway! Yikes, lucky to not be in a Yuma jail right now.

It was great being with Seth, Caroline, Tommy, and baby Calli. She is such a cute little baby and so serene. We saw Tommy complete his swimming lessons, helped out around the house and yard, swam in the pool, and even joined the ward for a wonderful float down the Rio Grande river which was warm and pleasant. A big BBQ followed and it was really fun.

Then we headed home to heavenly cool Corvallis - green and 70 degrees with the garden blooming and putting us in the mood for Fiji. The cool temps helped us regain our youthful looks. Do you think we have the missionary attire pretty well figured out?

Next post in Corvallis from the Impromptu Shally Rally!

Fiji? Oh, My Goodness!

Dear Family and Friends,

       On Thursday, May 26^th we received our mission call to the Fiji Suva Mission (Suva is the capitol city).  We will be at the Provo Missionary Training center from October 3–7, 2011 and will serve for a total of 18 months.

       When we submitted our mission papers we said we were willing to go anywhere the Lord wanted us to serve but we never would have guessed such a far away spot in the southern Pacific Ocean (north of New Zealand and east of Australia).  Mission boundaries include the many Fijian islands (300+), west to the island of New Caledonia, and north to the islands of Vanuatu and Tuvalu (all lie just west of Samoa & Tonga and the International Date Line). You can read on the Internet to your heart’s delight regarding Fiji, its rainy warm climate and equally warm and friendly people (except for the fact that they were notorious cannibals in the not so distant past).  The major languages are Fijian, Hindi, and English.

       We also indicated in our mission application that we would do any type of mission service that was asked of us.  We have been called to serve a “Member and Leader Support” mission that is described as “the senior missionary equivalent of the proselyting assignment normally filled by younger missionaries.  Senior missionaries establish and grow the Church throughout the world by teaching the gospel, retaining new converts, strengthening unit leadership, rescuing less-active members, and encouraging young single adults.”

       We’re still letting this all sink in.  We couldn’t have imagined this as our call and we really don’t know what to think but we’re filled with faith and love of the Lord, and trust that all will work out for the best.

Sincerely,

Annie & Tom Sherry

On September 28, 2011 the Corvallis Stake President - Wade Haslam - came to our home to set us apart for our missions.  He has been a dear friend, with whom Tom served as 1st Counselor to for the past 6 1/2 years and it was a privilege to have him officiate.

 Our dearest of friends, Mark and Alice Rampton, joined us for the blessing and took notes which they later shared with us: