Our Trip to Atlanta

Our Departure

On Monday, when we left for Atlanta, several of our family members came to our home to say goodbye.

Our newest grandson, Elijah.

Sarah and her children, Roman, Victoria, Luka and Odin all gave us a goodbye hug.

We were also able to see Jared and Jessica, who live in Moab, with baby Elijah.  They were on their way to Jess's family reunion in Afton, WY.

Our Trip

We spent four long days on the road.   In total we traveled 2,055 miles and made 40.6 miles per gallon with the new car.

Along the way we stayed one night with Sister Erickson's brother, Gary, and his wife, Marcie, in Owasso, OK. 

The Atlanta Temple

Upon our arrival in Atlanta, we found out that the branch was attending a Portuguese speaking endowment session at the Atlanta Temple that night.

Sister Erickson and I attended with them and met several of the members. 

One of the Surprises in Atlanta

Sister Erickson's brother, Keith, and his son, Jacob, just happened to be exhibitors at a scrapbook show in Atlanta last week.  We went to the convention center to help dismantle their booth.  

Sister Erickson's widowed sister-in-law, Diana, and her son, Bryan, with his wife, Laura, and baby, Mason, also helped.  Afterwards we had a wonderful dinner together.

Our First Sunday

Today was our first day at the Clear Spring branch where all of the meetings were held in Portuguese.  Many of the people are from Brazil and they speak Portuguese much faster than we are used to.

The Da Paz family from Recife, Brazil were each confirmed members of the Church today.

Right now we are working with the branch and mission president to receive direction and clarify our responsibilities.  Also, we are settling into our apartment, which is in the city of Marietta, and becoming familiar with the area.  As each week passes, we will have much more to share.

The Couple of the Week

While we were home, we had the great pleasure of being with many different couples who have already served senior missions.

We visited several times with Bryan and Becky Gerritsen.  They were the welfare couple that served in Cape Verde before us.  We spent four incredible days with them in Mindelo and the training that we received from them was invaluable.  We love them!

Oh, Those Wonderful Missionaries

Today we had dinner with Elder Roman from São Paulo, Brazil and Elder Cuerenta from California.

Upon our arrival they also came to our apartment and helped us move in.

The work continues to roll forth!