...Go!

Sunday morning....

At 8:15 on Saturday morning, my parents came from their hotel to our apartment to assume their grandparent duties. They will stay with Ben and Josie while Scott and I are here in Utah. Also, we are using their van, which they drove out from Indiana. Our little Honda Civic can't haul much luggage, certainly not the 35 school kits we assembled at St. Paul's!

After loading our bags into the van, we said good-bye to the kids, who were so excited about grandma and grandpa coming that I think they didn't even notice we left. We picked up John and drove toward Louisville to rendezvous with Jackie, Lance, and Jessica. (Ruth is driving out later this week.)

It was a beautiful and easy drive. Jessica rode with me and Scott, and John rode with Jackie and Lance and took turns driving Jackie's car. Lance thought he had a sweet deal with the back seat all to himself. We enjoyed Jessica's company, and Lance reported that John has some of the coolest stories he's ever heard. (You might remember that John had just returned from a mission trip to Kenya.)

The space here at the church in which mission groups stay is very comfortable. During the winter, when mission groups are not using it, the church offers refuge to homeless families, probably one or two at a time. This is an incredibly generous thing for a church to do, and the well-stocked kitchen and linen cupboard and supplies of toiletries demonstrate the thoughtfulness and hospitality of the church community. What a blessing it would be for a family to find shelter here in a time of need!

Jackie made a lovely breakfast casserole for us this Sunday morning and has packed a generous picnic lunch with homemade potato salad, macaroni salad, chicken, and deviled eggs. I helped her shop for groceries last night, and she plans to spoil us this week. Soon we will go up to worship (at the latest of the three services...we were not up early today!) and then we will change into our swimming suits, grab our cooler, and drive to Antelope Island for the afternoon. Jessica will take pictures of the Great Salt Lake, and we will post some this evening.

-- Rebecca