Keep on Truck'n - October 2010

P-Day!  (Preparation Day).  In other words, a day off.  Ali and the companions in her district took some time to enjoy a picnic in the local park -before the snow starts to fall.  Highlights on P-days also include... SHOPPING at the local mall.  Every girl's dream.  I checked out the Wells account and saw the "big" spender hit WalMart (ewe!), forever 21!, and a few others.  Now that the mission rules have been updated for the sister missionaries, wardrobes can be more fashionable, but still modest.  They are having a blast, not to mention the mission president's wife who has been waiting for this change for a while.

October General Conference, featuring musical numbers from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, youth chorus, and men's chorus from the Missionary Training Center, added highlights to the plethora of general authorities of the church whose counsel and testimonies added so much needed wisdom in challenging times.  Truly, these men and women have so much to offer and we're so fortunate to be able to enjoy conference in the comfort of our homes on BYU TV.  Not like back in the day when I went to the old Tabernacle on Temple square.  Crammed in like sardines on hard wood benches, and no A/C.  But the nostalgia of that old building made details like that fade.

Ali was able to attend one of the 5 sessions of conference.  The rest were spent answering questions to the over 100,000 visitors at Temple Square over the weekend.  The great news was that they exceeded the mission goal to produce 5,000 referrals of interested people who were visiting that weekend.  All counted, they went beyond the goal to achieve over 5,600 referrals that will be sent to the various full-time missionaries throughout the world!  Great job ladies!!!

Now the big push is to prepare Temple Square for the fantastic Christmas decorations and various concerts that take place from November through December.  If you've ever seen Disney's Main Street Electrical Parade, this would be a good comparison for the display of Christmas lights spread over the entire grounds.  It really is a must see.

Ali is getting along great with all of her various roommates and companions.  Dawn and I received a sweet note from one of her roomates, Sister Anabelle Revard from Arizona who loves Ali's great smile and positive attitude.  Apparently, we've been invited to her home in Arizona after they complete their mission calls.  If we go, we're definitely not going down there in the Summer.  Since they both wrap it up in the winter months, this may be a good idea.  We get the feeling that we'll be traveling to visit quite a few of Ali's friends.  I just don't see us flying to Japan to visit Sister Nishino, however.

Well, now it's official.  Dear ole Dad is a softy when it comes to sister missionaries.  Every time I see sister missionaries doing their work on the various TV programs, such as the Tabernacle Choir on tour at Winter's Quarters in Omaha, Nebraska, I get a little emo.  No, not Elmo!  Emo, as in emotional.  Just being a bit of a proud father, I suppose, knowing she's able to touch people's lives in very meaningful ways.  What more could a dad ask for?  Way to go Alejandra!