Woo Hoo! The visa has come! Danie has let us know that she is on her way. She has been in Saint George long enough for this to be a mixed blessing. She will truly miss the people and the work there, and we are confident she has touched many lives and know she has made lasting friendships during her short time in Saint George. Speaking of touching lives. The picture of her that appeared on my cell phone one morning was from a mom visiting from Mesa Arizona, who also has a missionary out. She was so touched by our sweet girl that she asked if she could send a picture of her to my phone. What a sweet woman. She later sent me a text saying how impressed they had been by the way Danie interacts with everyone and that they had just loved her. She said that Danie is fantastic and truly a special missionary. I may be biased, but I was certain of that already.
Of course, Danie is leaving just as the heat is getting unbearable, so it can't be all bad. Danie says she is excited, sad, happy and scared all at once. Laura Groskreutz, who is in Saint George now, managed to contact Danie within the hour she received her visa news and Laura said that when Danie told her, her voice was just quivering with excitement. We love Laura for checking on her and taking care of any extra needs that arise, even if it is just a hug from home.
The most obvious question is, "When does Danie leave?" She will be boarding her flight to Argentina on the monday after father's day according to her email to Mom. According to her email to dad (5 minutes apart) she is leaving on the 15th (that would be Saturday). According to Laura she said Monday, so we will just assume that she gave her dad the wrong date and go from there. Either way she will probably get a call home which makes up for the fact that she was so sad they don't give missionaries father's day phone calls. This means the world to a Daddy's girl like our Danie.
I am sure there will be more to tell after the phone call, and just as an aside, I am not surprised that her visa came just as she was getting used to sleeping in a real bed again. We love our girl. Keep her in your prayers. Oh, and one of these days I really am going to figure out how to put her pictures on this blog thing.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
So I am still struggling with just figuring out how to get to this page to update Danie's blog, but I have 14 months left to figure it out.
Danie is still in Saint George. She is currently opening a new area and grateful for the walking assignment. She says the people love to feed the Sisters and if not for hitting the pavement on a daily basis she would have to be rolled home at night.
It has been an adventure in health care for her lately in that she got a nasty case of pink eye. When fever and chills set in, her sweet mission president's wife took her out of the game and sent her to bed. If you know Danie, that's the last thing she wanted, but her misery eventually convinced her that Sister Pres. knows best. We are all so grateful for mission presidents wives who can be the Mom away from home and watch out for all of those young men and women who have left their families behind to do the Lord's work.
Danie is feeling especially proud of herself these days because she is voluntarily getting over her phone phobia. If you didn't know, she has always hated talking to strangers on the phone and would always try to get other people to do it for her. She has even tried to enlist her little brother on occasion, to back her up in the stranger communication department, and I suspect many of you reading this have been enlisted in the past as well. Now, she says she is spending time working in the call center, and even volunteers to keep the companionship cell phone which means she will have to answer it. (She says she is not sure she will have the same enthusiasm when she has to answer in Spanish.) I can't help but wonder if that is how I ended up with a picture and greeting from her on my (her old) cell phone this morning. It is not really like her to bend the rules though, and more likely someone visiting Saint George from Draper, took the photo and forwarded it. So many people are always going down there, and a lucky few have had the opportunity to run into her. It makes her day.
Rumors of visas are in the air, making it difficult for Danie to keep her mind on her current work, but she is trying hard not to miss out on any opportunities in her present assignment. She has had the joy of seeing some of her investigators baptized and is so excited to see the happiness in the lives of those who are eager to have her share the gospel with them.
We have to send a shout out to Emily Hales and say congrats on her mission call. Danie was anxiously waiting for any word and is excited to hear the news as are we all.
If you want a great example of service, outside of missionary work, look no further than our own "best visiting teacher ever" as Danie has labeled Laura Groskreutz. Talk about going the extra mile. She has twice visited Danie in St. George, bringing her treats, letters, photos and this last time, shoes. I doubt any visiting teacher has ever been so supportive and Danie (as well as our family) is so appreciative of her.
Speaking of shoes, she says she can't believe how quickly they wear out. This leaves me a bit worried since I can't really shop for shoes without her trying them on and we were just lucky to have bought what we thought was one pair too many, which made it possible to send her a pair last week. I thought I was done with shopping for missionary clothes when she finally got packed for the MTC.
Danie says she is happy to be cured of the pink eye, and is now enjoying the sunshine despite the heat, as well as developing funny tan lines. As dark as she gets, it will probably take years to get rid of two tone skin half way between ankels and knees. With that beautiful golden skin she is going to fit right in if she ever makes it to Argentina.
Miracle of miracles, in Danie's new area she gets to sleep on a bed instead of an air mattress on the floor, and apparently it is a big deal that she has her own bathroom too. These could easily be blessings of the past once she leaves the country.
It is humorous that Danie says her new companion is just like her, and that she is learning a lot about herself. I guess up to this point she has always felt that there was only room for one of her in any relationship so this is yet another new adventure. I can only wonder what her comp thinks. Danie says she just loves her companion which if you think about it is kind of cute and funny also.
For now we are just glad all is well and pray no more pink eye type challenges. She loves to hear the everyday stuff going on in everyones lives so drop her a line. She may not be in Saint George much longer. Then again...
Danie is still in Saint George. She is currently opening a new area and grateful for the walking assignment. She says the people love to feed the Sisters and if not for hitting the pavement on a daily basis she would have to be rolled home at night.
It has been an adventure in health care for her lately in that she got a nasty case of pink eye. When fever and chills set in, her sweet mission president's wife took her out of the game and sent her to bed. If you know Danie, that's the last thing she wanted, but her misery eventually convinced her that Sister Pres. knows best. We are all so grateful for mission presidents wives who can be the Mom away from home and watch out for all of those young men and women who have left their families behind to do the Lord's work.
Danie is feeling especially proud of herself these days because she is voluntarily getting over her phone phobia. If you didn't know, she has always hated talking to strangers on the phone and would always try to get other people to do it for her. She has even tried to enlist her little brother on occasion, to back her up in the stranger communication department, and I suspect many of you reading this have been enlisted in the past as well. Now, she says she is spending time working in the call center, and even volunteers to keep the companionship cell phone which means she will have to answer it. (She says she is not sure she will have the same enthusiasm when she has to answer in Spanish.) I can't help but wonder if that is how I ended up with a picture and greeting from her on my (her old) cell phone this morning. It is not really like her to bend the rules though, and more likely someone visiting Saint George from Draper, took the photo and forwarded it. So many people are always going down there, and a lucky few have had the opportunity to run into her. It makes her day.
Rumors of visas are in the air, making it difficult for Danie to keep her mind on her current work, but she is trying hard not to miss out on any opportunities in her present assignment. She has had the joy of seeing some of her investigators baptized and is so excited to see the happiness in the lives of those who are eager to have her share the gospel with them.
We have to send a shout out to Emily Hales and say congrats on her mission call. Danie was anxiously waiting for any word and is excited to hear the news as are we all.
If you want a great example of service, outside of missionary work, look no further than our own "best visiting teacher ever" as Danie has labeled Laura Groskreutz. Talk about going the extra mile. She has twice visited Danie in St. George, bringing her treats, letters, photos and this last time, shoes. I doubt any visiting teacher has ever been so supportive and Danie (as well as our family) is so appreciative of her.
Speaking of shoes, she says she can't believe how quickly they wear out. This leaves me a bit worried since I can't really shop for shoes without her trying them on and we were just lucky to have bought what we thought was one pair too many, which made it possible to send her a pair last week. I thought I was done with shopping for missionary clothes when she finally got packed for the MTC.
Danie says she is happy to be cured of the pink eye, and is now enjoying the sunshine despite the heat, as well as developing funny tan lines. As dark as she gets, it will probably take years to get rid of two tone skin half way between ankels and knees. With that beautiful golden skin she is going to fit right in if she ever makes it to Argentina.
Miracle of miracles, in Danie's new area she gets to sleep on a bed instead of an air mattress on the floor, and apparently it is a big deal that she has her own bathroom too. These could easily be blessings of the past once she leaves the country.
It is humorous that Danie says her new companion is just like her, and that she is learning a lot about herself. I guess up to this point she has always felt that there was only room for one of her in any relationship so this is yet another new adventure. I can only wonder what her comp thinks. Danie says she just loves her companion which if you think about it is kind of cute and funny also.
For now we are just glad all is well and pray no more pink eye type challenges. She loves to hear the everyday stuff going on in everyones lives so drop her a line. She may not be in Saint George much longer. Then again...
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