Departure Day!

It is always hard to say goodbye to our Germans after six weeks!
We love this group as well!

These missionaries are headed to Scotland/Ireland!

These to London and London South!

These to Manchester!

And these to Leeds!

Their mission president's are getting some awesome missionaries! We love them!

One of our FAVORITE NEPHI Districts

These are some of our very favorite English learning missionaries! Elder Haddad (Jordan), Elder Tsai (Taiwan), Sister Nunes (Portugal), Sister Jachens (Switzerland) and Elder Barea (Brazil). We love these happy missionaries!

An Email from Elder Haddad!

Today while I was waiting for my plane I received an email from Elder Haddad! He sent me some love and this photo! I love him!

Ten Days in Las Vegas

I had such a sweet week in Las Vegas being grandma Suzy with baby Bear. He is such a great baby, very content and happy when he is awake, but for this week he was sleeping a lot. I love my time with the grand babies through the night, when it is just me and them, in the dark, trying to help them learn that nighttime is for sleeping and daytime is for being awake. 

Isn't he just the cutest little 5 pounder you have ever seen?

Aunt Megan, Nate and Ava were here to help. Aunt Hailey as well but I didn't get any pictures with her.

On Friday, James, Sadie and I took the boys to the Secret Garden at the mirage to see the white tigers and the dolphins. It was a hit!

I loved my week with my family! I am grateful I was able to come home and help! I feel very blessed! AND the food was delicious! Thank you Jon.

MTC Group - 10 May 2017

We took this photo the night before I left for America to help The Gardineer's and Baby Bear! A very happy group of missionaries! I love them!

A Beautiful Day for a Run!

I love to run the path along this canal. Today there were cows, horses and wild yellow flowers. The yellow flowers reminded me of the mustard flowers in Napa, that grew in the vineyards. Santa Rosa and England are similar. There is always something new blooming in both places! I am lucky to have served my missions in these beautiful areas!

Bear Christopher Gardineer

Today we woke up to texts that Kristen was in the hospital, with severe pain, which the doctors concluded was preeclampsia. The only way to save Kristen's life was to get her baby boy delivered. So, they started her on pitocin. That is when we woke up. It had been a crazy weekend, and now Kristen was in trouble and the baby was coming 5 1/2 weeks early. It is very hard to be far away when things are going wrong for your family at home!

Jon had to go to London overnight for a conference he was speaking at. We were prayerful and waiting until we heard word that Bear was born. He was remarkably healthy! Kristen on the other hand had HELP syndrome and was in a bad way. They watched her carefully, and she spent an uncomfortable next 24 hours trying to let her body mend. Incredibly both mother and son were watched over and healed and I am thankful for the watchful angels that were taking came of my loved ones this week. I made arrangements as quickly as I could to get home. Kristen ended up beating me home by a night.

Mike was such an all-star! He somehow managed to take care of everyone until help came. Megan and Hailey and Tod all showed up and did what needed to be done. Families are the best friends. They are always there when they are needed! I love the Gardineer's and their new baby, Bear!

Mother's Day

In the MTC the missionaries call their mother's using a computer. They do not Skype, it is an audio call only. Don't ask me how it is done...I don't know. Trying to get all of the computers set up to be able to do this was quite the process. I summoned some help from a teacher and my Greek missionaries. Everything was working Saturday night. 

As we started our first calls after lunch, at 1:00 pm, nothing was going thru. I asked my Greeks to come and help me again, but you should have seen the confusion and disappointment, as parents were not picking up. With a gazillion different country codes and time zones, it was just a very tricky process. The headphones had to be working just right for the call to go through. Sometimes you couldn't use a 0 in the number and other times you needed to use a 0. It was so stressful for me! The ones that I couldn't get through on the computer were in my office and President's office and the Admin's office, on the land lines. We finished with our last call about 10:00 pm. I had two others that needed to call on Monday, because it was too late by the time we figured it out! WHAT A DAY! I hope by next Mother's Day, there will be an easier way. Like using Skype from their own device! YES! Let's do it!

Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's of missionaries!

Sister Park

This is Sister Park from South Korea. She was here learning German. Her English wasn't very good, and it was very difficult for her to think in Korean, translate to English and then translate to German. She spent many frustrating weeks trying to learn. The first couple of weeks she wouldn't really speak at all. Then she started trying! I was really proud of her as she progressed and was contributing as she and her companion taught their investigators.

She had other problems that she was trying to deal with as well. It all became too much for her this day and we realized she needed to go home. I learned a lot as Jon and I spent the next 24 hours with her, trying to help her, and watching her deal with the realization that she was going home. I had spent a lot of time with her. I really did love her, and I felt like she was turning a corner and going to be ok. It was a little heart breaking for me. I hope she has been able to find some sort of peace. I know she was frightened to return. Her culture is different than ours. I pray for her still, and hope that she is getting the help that she needs.

She is such a talented and lovely young woman.

Going to the Temple for the First Time

Today we went to the temple with Elder Valencia from Spain, Sister Sawatdee from Thailand and Elder Chuah from Singapore. It is always a sweet experience to go to the temple with our missionaries. They are so excited and ready. I'm sure they have been waiting awhile. We are so blessed to experience this with each group that comes!

Elder Valencia, Sister Sawatdee and Elder Chuah!

Wednesday, London Departure Day - Intake Day

London South

This is how it looks when missionaries are leaving. Most of the missionaries get up to come and say goodbye. It is a very sweet sight. Pajamas and Suits. :)

Buses for travel!

London

When these missionaries are gone, we have two hours before the new ones begin to arrive! It is a crazy, long day!

Tuesday Departure Day

This morning our Elders and Sisters headed to Birmingham departed! They are going to be great missionaries! Their bus driver drove around three times/circles so we could wave goodbye three times. He was very cute with us!

Then, this afternoon Sister Gibbons departed for New Zealand. She was very loved by her district! They all came out to wish her goodbye! Brother Miller drove around three times as well so we could say goodbye! She felt very loved.

Sunny Skies

The good news of this week were the consecutive days of blue skies and sunshine that we have had. The staff here have never seen so many sunny days in a row. They think Heavenly Father is blessing Sister Bunker! It was really lovely! Today I woke up and it was chilly and overcast. We had a nice little stretch though!

The Daddy Duck (goose)

Jon was looking out of the window today and he said, "I think you need to take a picture of the daddy duck. He sits on the water all day watching over the mama and her eggs. He deserves some credit!" So, this is the father goose.

Temple Tuesday

No missionaries today, just flowers. These tulips are huge!