Final Travel Plans

Today, Sunday the 19th, we have been set apart as official representatives/missionaries of the Church by President Miles, the Stake President of our Mount Mahogany Stake. (This is our local diocese leader.) He gave both Jan and me wonderful blessings and based on experience we know we'll need every one of them.

Monday (Aug. 20th) just before noon, we will check into the Missionary Training Center and we will be there Tuesday and Wednesday. We will stay at home and travel back and forth morning and evening. During this time Sophie "the wonder dog" will be staying with our daughter Danielle and her family. We are grateful for their help.

We'll pick up Sophie on Wednesday evening. We will spend Thursday doing our final packing and shutting down the house. Friday we leave to take Sophie back to "Camp Blue Springs", to stay with our daughter and her family in Blue Springs, Missouri (a Kansas City suburb). Not only are we grateful for the Messersmith family taking care of Sophie for 18 months but all of our children are glad that they aren't the ones to have to watch her for that long period of time!!

On our way back to Kansas City we'll spend Friday night in Denver. We used to make the trip in one day but now we're older (and wiser)! We'll also be taking the truck back to Olathe Ford. I have known the owner of Olathe Ford from the time that our daughters played basketball together in high school. As a friend he has agreed to take the truck in on a trade for a new truck to be delivered in February of 2009 when we return. As my mother used to say, " sometimes it's not what you know but who you know".

We'll visit with family back there until Wednesday, August 29th. We'll then get on a plane to Chicago and then from there to London England. Layover one day in London (again because we're older and wiser) and continue on to Johannesburg South Africa. We will arrive there Saturday morning September 1st. Rest for the weekend and start work on Monday morning the 3rd. The couple we are replacing leave September 11th from that point forward we're on our own - sink or swim - do or die!!

Between now and then entries to the blog may get spotty so bear with us until we can get into a routine.