My Sister is Coming!

  Sharon and I - 1960 - Flagstaff, AZ

It is now confirmed.  My sister is coming to visit us here in New Zealand.  I am SO excited!

One of the blessings of Senior Missions is that the rules for us are totally different from those of the young elders and sisters.  The young ones  email their families once a week and only get to talk to them on the phone twice a year - at Christmas and Mother's Day.   For us, there are no restrictions whatsoever on contact with home.  We can use FaceTime, FaceBook,  MajicJack or other means to call as often as we like.  Best of all, family are also allowed to come and visit.  Several of the other Senior Missionaries here have had kids/grandkids or other family come.   We had a blast when Larry's sister, Toni, and her friend Sheryl were here.   Now I get to have MY sister come too.  I've been grinning so much my face hurts!



Sharon is three years younger than me, the caboose of our pack of siblings.  Our lives have been very different indeed.  We don't actually have that much in common in terms of what we believe or how we live our lives.   But the love bond between us is huge.   I'm really tickled that I get to show some of the beautiful places here to her.  I can't wait!

Boise, ID  July 2010

Having Sharon in my life is such a blessing.  When we were young, we were not all that close.  For a while some years back we were estranged, not so much angry at each other, but both choosing to limit contact for reasons that are no longer important.

But somewhere down the line we found each other again.  For the past several years we have shared reglar phone calls, notes, visits when we can manage it since we live in different states.   She means the world to me.  To be able to show her this experience is icing on the cake.

Taken at Valli Hi (Eagle, ID) 2014