Still Holdin' On

It's hard to believe how fast our time in the Washington D.C. South Mission is passing. Our heads and hearts already have scrapbooks full of memories stored -- and there is more to come. It's been an unbelievable blessing and opportunity.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so we thought it was time for a walk through our mission in photos. Looking back now, it's easy to see how we've

•  fallen in love with all the students we teach.
•  gained deeper testimonies and greater love for Jesus Christ and his gospel.
•  mastered D.C. traffic and freeways (well, almost), even during rush hour.
•  had some terrific opportunities to visit historic sights on our free day each week.
•  gained new respect and learned a lot about our country's history and government.
•  enjoyed every minute of our visits with friends and family.

As you check out the photos, you can see that one thing has remained constant through our time here - we're still holdin' on -- to each other.                                                       ~Pat~

On our way...

to the MTC

Our Cookie Factory -
I think I've made over 1500 cookies
since we've been here. Phew!

13949 Big Yankee Lane -
Home Sweet Townhome

The Mount Vernon meetinghouse - Amy & Colin's ward
on original Mt. Vernon property. What a view of the Potomac!

The Slades' moving day

Chillin' in our family room

Our first visit to the Washington, D.C. Temple -
before the tips of the spires broke off in the earthquake.

On our day off each week we usually head to the National Mall.

First stop:  the Lincoln Memorial

To infinity and beyond - heading into the new Udvar-Hazy
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum near Dulles.

Checking out the space shuttle Enterprise

Senior Missionary Couple dinner at President and
Sister Albright's home (Pres. Albright second from left)

Centreville Stake Center - 5 minutes from our townhouse.

Our Thursday night Institute class in Centreville - missionaries included!

The Annandale Stake Center - home to our Wednesday night Institute class.

Annandale Institute class

The new Crystal City YSA meetinghouse

Our Thursday noon Institute class in Crystal City.

Institute Display at George Mason University

George Mason University

GMU Institute class on Wednesdays at noon.

GMU Student Union Building where we meet.

The beautiful Washington, D.C. temple - again.

The Christus statue in the Temple Visitor's Center

From the balcony of the Newseum - what a fascinating museum.
You could wander around there for days.

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 

Baltimore National Aquarium

Friend or foe?

Fallen heroes

Arlington National Cemetery

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Our fast-paced weekend with Iain and Jenn - can you see the blisters?

A temporary exhibit in the Museum of Natural History...

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Cousins

Susi, Paul and Gertrud Carpenter

Amy's first day of  grad school at GMU

The Air Force One hanger at Andrews Air Force Base

We took a driving tour of Andrews AFB. Thanks, Colin!

We got to spend a day with Kristen and her kids on the Mall.

Lunchtime

Josh and Emily came to town for the weekend to dance with BYU.
Brunch at our house :)

Mr. Lincoln at his post.

The World War II  Memorial

The Viet Nam Memorial

The Korean Memorial

Emily and Josh had a couple of free hours to tour the Capitol

BFF

We got to introduce Janet and Kim's family to Mt. Vernon

What a beautiful place.

President Washington's tomb

A 2-year-old rolled down the lawn at Mt. Vernon
and did a face plant right in front of us.

Best friends Pam and Mike Hannan came for a weekend.
Retired Delta pilots get around.

The new Martin Luther King memorial was dedicated
just a few weeks ago.

George had a little help crossing the Delaware

Shenandoah State Park -
a beautiful drive in the fall

Manassas Civil War Battlefield -
10 minutes from our home

Manassas Battlefield

A trip to the temple with dear friends Shawnda  &  Duane Bishop

Brother Devin Toma - our fantastic CES Supervisor - with the Bishops

A few last looks at our comfortable home away from home

Ridin' the Metro. One of our favorite things to do!

Something we're definitely not going to miss --  D.C. traffic at a standstill!

They say it's the worst traffic in the entire nation. Who knows how many hours
of the time we've served  here during the past four months has been spend in TRAFFIC!  :)

It doesn't matter. Virginia is still an
incredibly beautiful place to be!

I've Gotta Get To Institute!

Let me tell you about one of our students. He's a 21-year-old pet store employee who joined the Church about a year ago. He is enthusiastic, energized, very organized, and totally involved in the gospel. It has changed his life. He's the class president in our Annandale class, and when he emailed students with an Institute reminder last week, he attached this fun YouTube message. Check it out!
                                

While attendance at Institute has many bonuses, we've found that meeting new people, great food, and good instructors are not the only reasons students come.  These things make a difference, but it's really all about faith and testimony. Those who persist in coming are there because they honestly believe that this is Christ's ancient church, reestablished in our day. They know why they are there. They've asked hard questions and are finding the answers they need in the scriptures and in the counsel of living prophets. They take their covenants seriously and believe their bonds with the Savior can last through eternity.

Those who read, study and participate continue to come to Institute
because they have tasted the fruits of the gospel, find hope and comfort
in its truths, and enjoy being with others who live its teachings. When the
restored gospel of Jesus Christ finds place in their minds and in their hearts, they grow in confidence and purpose.


We love to be with them and to see this process take place. We learn alot from them. We are buoyed up by their enthusiasm, their insights, and their faith in the future. That's why we're glad that once again this week...
we've gotta get to Institute!      ~Don~



       

Surprise Visitors!

We had the most wonderful surprise! Our two youngest grandchildren, the only two who haven't been here for a visit, showed up at our front door yesterday afternoon! Well, sort of. They came as Flat Ammon and Flat Laina (Flat Stanley style) -- in the mail. We loved it!

We took them right in the living room and sat them on the couch for awhile. They've been there ever since. It's almost as good as seeing them in person. Ammon and Laina are five and three, respectively, and we have been missing them so much. They are at that cute, cute age where they just love to be with us. They come running and throw their arms around us when they come to visit. Now they're here!

This morning, when I came downstairs to do the laundry, there they were again, waiting for me. What a great way to start the day! They grin at us all the time, and they make us smile every time we walk through the room. I think I'm going to ask for Flat Jacob (who's 16), Flat Adam (who's 6'2"), Flat Noah, Flat Matthew, Flat Mary, and Flat Rachel for Christmas!

All of our grandkids have been just great about keeping in touch while we've been gone. We get postcards and drawings and letters, cards, and emails every once in awhile.There's always something from them hanging on our fridge. We've also received two envelopes of the cutest drawings from two Primary classes: one of our daughter Kristen's ward Primary classes, and one from Mary Rasmussen and Shawna Fuller's Primary class in our home ward. We love them!

Thanks to everyone who has take time to think of us. It really gives us a lift. Makes me realize I could have been much more proactive keeping in touch with the missionaries going out from our ward over the years.... Now I know how good it feels to be on the receiving end and it doesn't take much to make someone's day. I think it's my turn now.                                                                              ~Pat~

The World Is A Carousel of Color

Does anybody (other than me) remember the Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV show from the 1960's? These past few weeks, the theme song, which began with "The world is a carousel of color...," has been floating through my mind at different times as we have driven through the magnificent countryside of the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia to and from our classes. We spend a couple of hours on the road to and from our classes every day, which gives us a lot of time to observe this beautiful part of our country.

We live in an area of rolling green lawns and thick forests. What fun it has been to see the changes in the colors of the leaves on a day to day basis! Every day is different. It has seemed lately that every night as we sleep someone comes along and sets random trees on fire with incredible hues of deep red, rust, gold, burnt orange, and brilliant yellow. They say the rain this year has deepened the colors. Well, I'm glad all that rain has been good for something...! It's been downright soggy around here and we're in for rain again almost every day this week.

Inside the Capitol Rotunda

This afternoon we said good-bye to Janet, Kim, Adam, Matthew, and Rachel. Good-byes are always the hardest part of the visit! What a blessing that all of our daughters and their families have now been able to come and experience the majesty and beauty of our nation's capitol. It's a senior missionary blessing that we didn't even consider when we submitted our papers. Having family visit us occasionally has been the icing on our missionary experience, and it's been a great education for our 'tween and teen grandchildren. Janet and family have been with us for a week or so during their school break. We loved having them here. Most days, we had to drop them off at the Metro in the morning before our classes and pick them up late in the evening after our night classes, but they covered a lot of territory while we were busy teaching.

We did get to spend all day Saturday with them at the Smithsonian and Mt. Vernon. So much to see and do! We particularly love Mt. Vernon. Although we have always looked up to George Washington, the more we learn about him, the more we admire him. The Father of our Country was an amazing, gifted man. There is so much to celebrate about the history of our country!

It was Adam's 15th birthday on Saturday, too, so we celebrated by going out to dinner and embarrassing him early in the morning with our family's scary rendition of the Happy Birthday song.

Monday marks the beginning of a new week of classes - so it's back to work for us. We already have this week's lessons outlined, but it'll take many more hours of study before we feel completely prepared. Ready, set, go!              ~Pat~