Mission Call

One of the most dramatic moments in Mormon culture, for a prospective missionary, is opening your "mission call"--the letter from Church headquarters that tells where you will be serving.  That letter determines where you will spend two years and the memories you will have as long as you live.   Lisa's son, Michael Flindt, received his mission call in Seattle, in mid-December.  He opened the letter over Skype, so both sets of grandparents living in Salt Lake City, and an array of visiting aunts and uncles, could share in the excitement.

 

 

And he's going to...the Denver, Colorado mission!  Michael's mission includes parts of Denver, Boulder, most of Wyoming, and parts of Nebraska, including Scott's Bluff, on the Mormon trail.  Michael's great-great-great Grandmother Isabella Hill was born in the wagon box of a pioneer wagon while her family paused in Scott's Bluff before traveling on from Winter Quarters to Salt Lake City. It would be a great adventure for Michael to serve in the area where one of his ancestors was born, but it will also be an adventure to teach any of Heavenly Father's children the truth!   Michael enters the Provo Missionary Training Center in early April.

 

Another iconic missionary experience is the trip to Mr. Mac in Salt Lake City to buy your missionary wardrobe.  Missionaries are Mr. Mac's specialties, and they have everything for every mission, whether its white ties for baptisms or dress pants with special padding in the crotch for riding bikes all day!  Michael's Spendlove grandparents treated him to his missionary clothes and Michael's Flindt grandparents treated him to his luggage.  The day after Christmas, Dave, Gretta, Lisa, Alyssa, and Uncle Jonny came along to help the boy make good decisions.

First step was trying on suits.  Lisa handed over the gear list sent by the Denver, Colorado Mission. Lisa and Michael even made a call to Michael's future mission mother in Denver to clarify whether her missionaries needed to wear suit coats in the summer (no).  "It feels even more like this is really going to happen, now that we've talked to the mission mother!" Lisa exclaimed.  The clerk made suggestions--a pinstripe, a solid, two pairs of pants with each, as well as some extra slacks for summer--but Michael made the selections.  Michael had good taste--when Dave saw the itemized bill, he realized that one of Michael's missionary suits cost more than any suit Dave had owned!

 

 

 

 

 

Jonny was the expert on shoes, ties, and underwear.  "It's got to be Echo shoes," Jonny insisted, even at $170 per pair.  And so it was.  Jonny also made a selection of tasteful but stain-resistant ties.  "And then go down to Deseret Industries and buy a handful more," he recommended.  While Michael chose shirts and was measured for his suit, Dave and Jonny made a quick trip to Deseret Book to grab ten pairs of underwear.  "But what if he doesn't like the style?"  Lisa asked.  A gift is a gift...

 

When it was all over, Michael relaxed with Grant and Kirsten, Uncle Mike, and a good game of Ticket to Ride. 

 

Let the Revelry Begin!

The first two weekends in December, Dave and I worked like Obama and Romney the day before the election.  Our day of reckoning was December 22, when 16 members of the Flindt and Ebert tribes arrived, all at once.  We scrubbed the house, spiffed up the guest room, set up cots downstairs, cooked 1000 caramels, set out the Christmas china, and dragged out the Christmas tree ornaments. We also bought the tree.

It's a fun tradition, searching among the lines of firs and pines for the tree that is not too tall and not too short, not too bushy and not too spare, not too crooked and not too perfect-looking--just right.  We have the clerk saw off a few inches of the trunk and then rush the tree home to soak it in water so it will--this year, for the first time ever--not dry to crackly bones before Christmas is over.  Dave defines "Christmas is over" liberally.  It's perfectly acceptable to him to drag the tree outside once the presents are open on Christmas morning, breakfast is served, and the guests aren't looking.

The Christmas revelry began even before the Flindts and Eberts arrived.  Jonny and Jenny flew in from Chicago December 12 and stayed until nearly New Years.  On December 13, we took them to dinner at Market Street Broiler and the musical, "A Christmas Carol," afterwards.  Jonny and Jenny came home with us to show the treasure trove of handmade baby blankets, hats, booties, and burp cloths that Jenny's Grandmother Shirley had given them.  She even threw in a red and green poinsettia doily that Jonny and Jenny let us borrow during the holidays.  Shirley shut down her home knitting business this year and gave Jonny and Jenny their pick of the inventory.

  

 

 

Jonny!

Some things are meant to be.  Dave and I planned to fly home from our Columbus, Ohio visit to Camille and Steve Ebert's home on Sunday, November 25, 2012.  When Dave looked at his tickets, on Saturday night, he realized that he had booked our return home for, Monday, in the late afternoon rather than Sunday.  After a relaxing Sunday with Camille, we packed up Monday morning for our drive to Cincinnati, two hours away, where we were to catch our plane to SLC. I left my cell phone in the kitchen and went back upstairs.  When the phone began to ring, Camille looked at the caller ID, which said "Jonny Spendlove"!  "Are Mom and Dad by chance flying home today through Cincinnati?" Jonny asked.  He and Jenny had spent Thanksgiving at Machu Pichu, Peru, and he had just put Jenny on a non-stop flight from Miami to Chicago.  Jonny's Miami/Chicago flight had a 6-hour layover in Cincinnati on Monday, from noon to 6 p.m.!

It was a joyous reunion to meet Jonny at the Cincinati airport.  We drove downtown and ate a decadently delicious meal at McCormick & Schmick, an elegant restaurant chain which Kyle and Lisa introduced us to in Portland and Seattle. Even better than the food was talking with Jonny about his and Jenny's trip to Machu Pichu.  Jonny showed us his gorgeous photographs of Machu Pichu and the surrounding mountains, as well as of the five star hotel in a nearby town where they spent another few days.  Jenny had been sick, and we also heard tales of Lima hospitals and Jenny's lingering recovery.  In our turn, we reported on Thanksgiving in Columbus and all the adventures we had with Michael and the Eberts.  As Jonny and we split up at the airport, we gave big hugs and thanked each other for that good visit.



Prophets, Airplanes, and More

We did some great sightseeing during our Columbus, Ohio, weekend.  We ranged as far north as Dayton (the National Air Force Museum) and Kirtland (LDS Historical Sites).  On Friday morning, before those trips, Dave and Camille went running along the many green, winding trails.  I walked around the Eberts' neighborhood in the suburb of Dublin.  The Eberts' backyard abuts the elementary school which Annelise, Sophia, and Ezra attend. That provides one huge backyard!

 

 

 

When the crowd was awake, we ate leftovers, the best part of Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

 

We then drove to Dayton, Ohio, to visit the National Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  The "Wright" in the name of the base is for "Wilbur" and "Orville", the inventors of  the airplane, who lived in Dayton.  The museum is full of airplane treasures, from early double wing airplanes used during World War I to stealth bombers.  There were also special military exhibits, such as video interviews with soldiers who had liberated the Nazi prison camps during World War II.  We promised ourselves to visit again, when we had a whole day to spend, rather than just a few hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Columbus has fabulous ice cream stores, and we tried out several of them.

 

 

 

While the adults chatted, Ezra gave Oakley a good scratch and watched "101 Dalmations" over and over and over again with his sisters.

 

On Saturday, we traveled to Kirtland, Ohio, where the Mormons lived from 1831 to 1837.  Dave, Michael, Sophia, and I visited an exhibit of nativity sets from all over the world, while they waited for the rest of the Eberts to arrive.

 

 

 

 

 

We then visited the Newell K. Whitney store, where Joseph Smith asked Brother Whitney, whom he had never met before, "What do you want of me?  You prayed me here."

 

 

We visited the upper room of the store, where Joseph Smith received many revelations recorded in the Doctrine & Covenants.

 

We also wandered through Kirtland village, enjoying buildings from the 1830s, the creek where early members of the Church were baptized, and the mill and potash plant which provided wood and an export for the early Saints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the research computer at the visitors' center, Dave looked up Peter Shirts, his ancestor who lived in Kirtland.

 

Next stop was the John Johnson home, where Joseph Smith was living when a mob broke into his house one night, dragged him out, and tarred and feathered him.  There's now a garage/visitors center on the back of the house, but the front is original.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday night, Dave, Michael, Camille, and I went to dinner at one of Columbus' stylish restaurants. 

On Sunday Michael drove home, but Dave bought tickets home Monday, rather than Sunday, by mistake.  We enjoyed another day with Steve, Camille, and the kids, including watching Annelise lead a family night on The Proclamation of the Family.

 

 

Ezra led the Eberts in singing, Sophia showed off her climbing skills, and the whole family formed a pyramid, at Annelise's urging, to demonstrate family unity!

 

 

Steve had already decorated the house for Christmas by the end of Thanksgiving weekend.  He also baked his famous chocolate chip cookies for us to enjoy, with a glass of cold milk.