The Lord has said "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." (Doc & Cov 38:30). And just after that He says in v. 33 that people will be called to spread His Gospel all over the world. This revelation was given in 1831, but these many years later it applies to us.
So, we are preparing.
We started with a family reunion in La Jolla near San Diego with almost all our children and grandchildren. (Julie wasn't able to come.) The weather was great and we enjoyed beach and games and good food, and mostly time together.
We went to Los Angeles (on our way home from San Diego) on January 6th and spent about 45 minutes in the South African Consulate. We turned in our passports, and less than a week later we had them back with shiny new Visas in them. Whew! And this is the only visa we'll need. After getting a new one every three months on alternating passports in Russia, this is a breeze.
We noticed just down the street this interesting building. It's the Peterson Auto Museum. We thought we'd stop in for an hour or so before we drove home to Palo Alto. It was four hours later that we peeled ourselves away. It's a fascinating place! Lots of old cars, famous cars from movies and TV shows, and historic cars, like limos from FDR and Chairman Mao!
This week Ken picked the last tomato of the season! We never had a frost yet this winter, but the plants were looking pretty scruffy, so he picked this green and let it ripen on the sunny windowsill. He said it still tasted better than store-bought.
Now we are packing the house.
The book cases are empty.
But the books are all piled in Ken's study, along with the boxes of stuff from Sue's study. (We each have a little 5x8 ft room we call our 'study.' Great places to stack stuff!)
And the kitchen cupboards are all empty and packed in boxes. It helps a lot that we've done this twice before. Each time we pack up we get rid of more stuff, and then we come home and unpack and find things we know we can live without.
The suitcases are spread out on the spare-room bed. Sue weighed hers this afternoon and has 6 lbs to spare, so she bought more brown sugar. It's one of those things that is different in the USA than in other places, and only our kind makes the best chocolate chip cookies. :o)
We are renting the house mostly furnished, so didn't need much help with moving this time. But there were two cedar chests, a queen bed and a dresser that needed to be moved by muscles younger and sprier than ours. Thanks to the Wiener and Jest families for lending their strength yesterday!
And we are saying farewell to many wonderful friends. We were able to see many people at Church today, but earlier in the week we went to visit Jean Gong. She turned 94 on Wednesday! She's not feeling up to coming to Church these days, but we wanted to wish her our best while we are gone.
Sunday night President Dow Wilson and his wife, Lynne, came by and he set us apart as Missionaries in the South Africa Durban Mission!! We forgot to take a photo while they were there, but got this one later. We now can officially wear our missionary badges.
Our foster son, Tim Schmalbeck flew in to pick up our car. He's taking it home to Lehi, Utah to share with his 16-year old daughter, Eve. She's the oldest of 7 kids, so their family will be glad for some extra wheels. Unlike the old T-Bird which is up on blocks for the duration, this car is a C-Max Hybrid, so it can't just sit for two years. Our son, Reed, drove it while we were in Russia.
We went out for farewell dinner at Sanchos Taqueria in Midtown Palo Alto. It was either that or Chinese, and we figure there are probably a lot more Chinese restaurants in Durban than Mexican ones. And Tim is also hauling 7 banker's boxes of stuff for organist Jim Welch to Utah. [Jim and Deanne just got their official assignment to the BYU Jerusalem Center for 18 months starting in August. Hoorah!!]
It's late evening February 10. We are now at the San Francisco Airport booked through to Durban, South Africa. Friend Andy Chiang had brought his mini-van with the 3rd row of seats gone so we could get all the baggage in. Sue's bags each weighed in at 49 lbs. Perfect! Ken's were a light-weight. His were only 45 and 47 lbs. If Sue had known that earlier she would have thrown in a few more pounds of brown sugar. That and Taco Seasoning and chocolate chips are the 'necessaties of life' that are not easily purchased in Durban. We've been told everything else is easy to come by. Just like our last mission in Russia. And luckily they don't weigh our small carryon roller bags or backpacks with our computer gear.
So the preparations are over and we're on the road. In about 36 hours we'll be in our new home for two years. It should be a wonderful, spiritual, exciting adventure. Thanks for sharing it with us. We're on the Redeye to New York, then another 14.5 hour over-nighter to Johannesburg. Lastly the short 1-hour flight down to Durban. Photos of that next week!
Love,
Ken and Sue aka Elder and Sister Allen
So, we are preparing.
We started with a family reunion in La Jolla near San Diego with almost all our children and grandchildren. (Julie wasn't able to come.) The weather was great and we enjoyed beach and games and good food, and mostly time together.
Left 5 people are Rachel's kids. Tall in the back is Spencer, just turned 18. Dark-haired girl is the oldest, Ashly. She just finished Cosmetician school in December and is working in American Fork. Blonde is Megan, just returned from mission in November and is going to UVU. Two younger boys are Rachel's step sons, Dawson (14) and Ryan (12). Then Rachel and her husband Dave in the back. behind Ken. They live in South Jordan, Utah.
Next group is Reed's family. Reed and Jen in the back, Lucas and Lilly, age 13.5. He's gotten so tall!! He was always an inch or so shorter than Lilly. Blonde in front of Lilly is Myra, age 6.5. They live in Henderson, Nevada.
In the back is tall Tim Schmalbeck and his wife, Shelby. Tim is our foster son that we share with Hank & Colette Taylor. The girls in the back are Tyra (14) and Eve (16). In front L-R are Hazel (6.5), Nia (12), Leona (9) holding Sarai (2.5), and then Teus (4) in the front. They live in Lehi, Utah.
And Keith on the right end. He lives in Lehi, too.
Julie is working as a traveling nurse, living here, there, and everywhere.
Julie is working as a traveling nurse, living here, there, and everywhere.
 |
| Office building location of South Africa Consulate on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles |
We noticed just down the street this interesting building. It's the Peterson Auto Museum. We thought we'd stop in for an hour or so before we drove home to Palo Alto. It was four hours later that we peeled ourselves away. It's a fascinating place! Lots of old cars, famous cars from movies and TV shows, and historic cars, like limos from FDR and Chairman Mao!
This week Ken picked the last tomato of the season! We never had a frost yet this winter, but the plants were looking pretty scruffy, so he picked this green and let it ripen on the sunny windowsill. He said it still tasted better than store-bought.
Now we are packing the house.
The book cases are empty.
But the books are all piled in Ken's study, along with the boxes of stuff from Sue's study. (We each have a little 5x8 ft room we call our 'study.' Great places to stack stuff!)
And the kitchen cupboards are all empty and packed in boxes. It helps a lot that we've done this twice before. Each time we pack up we get rid of more stuff, and then we come home and unpack and find things we know we can live without.
The suitcases are spread out on the spare-room bed. Sue weighed hers this afternoon and has 6 lbs to spare, so she bought more brown sugar. It's one of those things that is different in the USA than in other places, and only our kind makes the best chocolate chip cookies. :o)
We are renting the house mostly furnished, so didn't need much help with moving this time. But there were two cedar chests, a queen bed and a dresser that needed to be moved by muscles younger and sprier than ours. Thanks to the Wiener and Jest families for lending their strength yesterday!
And we are saying farewell to many wonderful friends. We were able to see many people at Church today, but earlier in the week we went to visit Jean Gong. She turned 94 on Wednesday! She's not feeling up to coming to Church these days, but we wanted to wish her our best while we are gone.
Sunday night President Dow Wilson and his wife, Lynne, came by and he set us apart as Missionaries in the South Africa Durban Mission!! We forgot to take a photo while they were there, but got this one later. We now can officially wear our missionary badges.
Our foster son, Tim Schmalbeck flew in to pick up our car. He's taking it home to Lehi, Utah to share with his 16-year old daughter, Eve. She's the oldest of 7 kids, so their family will be glad for some extra wheels. Unlike the old T-Bird which is up on blocks for the duration, this car is a C-Max Hybrid, so it can't just sit for two years. Our son, Reed, drove it while we were in Russia.
We went out for farewell dinner at Sanchos Taqueria in Midtown Palo Alto. It was either that or Chinese, and we figure there are probably a lot more Chinese restaurants in Durban than Mexican ones. And Tim is also hauling 7 banker's boxes of stuff for organist Jim Welch to Utah. [Jim and Deanne just got their official assignment to the BYU Jerusalem Center for 18 months starting in August. Hoorah!!]
It's late evening February 10. We are now at the San Francisco Airport booked through to Durban, South Africa. Friend Andy Chiang had brought his mini-van with the 3rd row of seats gone so we could get all the baggage in. Sue's bags each weighed in at 49 lbs. Perfect! Ken's were a light-weight. His were only 45 and 47 lbs. If Sue had known that earlier she would have thrown in a few more pounds of brown sugar. That and Taco Seasoning and chocolate chips are the 'necessaties of life' that are not easily purchased in Durban. We've been told everything else is easy to come by. Just like our last mission in Russia. And luckily they don't weigh our small carryon roller bags or backpacks with our computer gear.
So the preparations are over and we're on the road. In about 36 hours we'll be in our new home for two years. It should be a wonderful, spiritual, exciting adventure. Thanks for sharing it with us. We're on the Redeye to New York, then another 14.5 hour over-nighter to Johannesburg. Lastly the short 1-hour flight down to Durban. Photos of that next week!
Love,
Ken and Sue aka Elder and Sister Allen
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