Today was the day for Rachel to speak in church prior to actually leaving on her mission, which is now only ten days away. In the invitation Nancy sent out about Rachel speaking, she said we would meet at our house after the two-hour meeting block, and so I thought I was also playing the piano for Relief Society as I normally do, but it soon became apparent to me that we would need to go home immediately after Sacrament Meeting--Aunt Linda needed to be in her own ward to teach her Sunday School class by 1:00, and the Lewis family needed to get on the road because they were hoping to get as far as Denver, on their way to their home in Georgia.
So, I texted someone to see if she could play in my place--she couldn't, but suggested someone else--and also texted the person in RS, Rosemary, so I didn't pay as much attention to my friend Krista's talk as I should have! But then I settled down to sing the congregational hymn which was a song by my nextdoor neighbor, Jane.
Well, that was an interesting exercise. I do not know how to use print screen on my new laptop, and so I googled instructions, and I was somewhat successful, though not entirely!! Like I wanted to do a better job than this, but this is better than nothing. If I have the keyboard I have at work, I can still do it; I just don't understand the laptop's own keyboard!!
Rachel was next up, and she gave a great talk, even if she was speaking too fast. I was sitting with Andrew's Aunt Linda, and she and I were doing slow down motions, but Rachel was not looking at us, though apparently she did look at us but not when we were doing the motions!! She did eventually slow down a bit. People were reacting to her, though, so apparently it was okay that she was a tiny bit fast!!
Aunt Judy and Uncle Wally came, and so did Janice and Steve, who had been in Idaho and got up at five to be back in time to hear Rachel, and Josie was there, and I saved her a seat, but she chose to stay in the lobby, and also Rachel's friend Hoi who is from Vietnam, from Saigon (which is now called Ho Chi Minh, and I did not realize they are the same thing) also sat in the lobby, where you can hear and the seats are soft. And a bunch of Rachel's friends were also there. I was proud of Rachel; she did a good job.
Here are all the pictures I took:
First of all, the Lewis family. I took their picture right away because I was afraid they would decide to leave for their long drive without coming to our house, but they did come to our house, so it was a groundless fear! First I took this picture:
But then I realized that I was sort of cutting Sara off, so I backed up a bit and took this picture:
This is better, too, because Rachel's eyes are open!!
Then Sara told me that she is my friend Libby's niece, so we were both apparently texting Libby to let her know that she missed out on an opportunity to see her niece. It is fun that Libby is Sara's aunt because Libby was the first person who has reached out to Rachel with interest the most, I think. She and her husband recently returned from a mission to Winnipeg, and even the Winnipeg mission president's wife took a picture of Rachel's friend Hailey which she texted to Libby, who texted it to me, who texted it to Rachel, because Libby told her about the roommate connection of these two girls. (Libby and her husband own property in Oregon, and are often there doing things, which is where they are today.)
I took the rest of these pictures after church:
Rachel and a friend I do not know...so I just sent to Rachel and asked, and it is Katie, who was Rachel's RA (Resident Assistant?--person who helped the kids in Heritage Halls, in her hall/floor.)
This man wanted to talk to Rachel, because he thought she might be Nancy and Andrew's daughter, and he was right! He is Steve Colton, and he is dating my friend Tracie. Tracie was in the RS presidency, over music, so we talked about that regularly for several years, as well as I was her ministering sister. Rachel wondered how the two of them might have met, and I don't know, but Tracie is the career director in the School of Accountancy in the Marriott School, and I see from googling that Steve is on the Marriott School's national advisory council, so it might have been that Marriott School connection? I don't know, but I love Tracie, she is the sweetest. Tracie is Lebanese, so she immediately began speaking to Rachel in Arabic which was an unexpected surprise!
This next group is a bunch of Rachel's friends. And also the
That pretty girl at the left does belong, because she is Christian's fiancée, and then he is beside her, then Jackson, Rachel, and Hanna. These are Rachel's friends from Arabic.
At the house, they had a lot of fun talking to the Lewises, because Brother Lewis is also an Arabic speaker, army trained. That made it fun for Brother Lewis to talk to Wally, because they were both active duty at the same time, Wally being a linguistics interpreter/interrogator, both in the Iraq conflict. And then Wally connected with Steve Bunker over Sons of the Utah Pioneers, which Steve just joined, and Wally just finished his stint as the national president of SUP.
So pictures from the house:
Rachel with Aunt Linda. Linda is the sweetest. I had Josie ride with her from the church to the house, so she could easily find her way. We will see Linda again when we take Rachel's car to hang out with her until Miriam is here to drive it. Fingers crossed it keeps working!
Rachel with Josie, Janice, and Steve. Josie, Janice, and Steve were very helpful in the kitchen while Rachel had the responsibility of visiting with all the people who were there to see her.
Rachel with Hoi. He got up at seven AM to walk for 45 minutes, arriving early and then just waiting at the church. Dedication, much! He walked that early in order to be cooler while walking. Don't worry--he got a ride home! (Honestly, I would have gone to pick him up. Only, I was doing food prep all morning, so I am actually thankful that he walked, now that I am thinking about it!)
The above picture is Rachel with Uncle Wally and Auntie Judy. They are so busy with their 11 children and umpteen billion grandchildren and with the presidency of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers at the national level...that we do not see them very often. We were glad they came!
Rachel with Margo, one of her roommates. I actually came upon Margo giving Rachel a heartfelt thank you for calling her out on things that she needed to hear, even though it was difficult for both of them--like leaving dirty dishes and stuff--and I thought it was cool, but I ducked back out into the garage because I didn't think I was meant to hear anything, but I thought it was very sweet.
Why is there a bucket on the stool behind them? Well, that is Bruce's puzzle table behind them, and he has a bucket to put pieces in, which happens to be sitting there in full view to make viewers wonder why.
Rachel with Lydia, sister to her friend Corbin. Lydia served a mission in Mexico. Funny story, I gave the three last people to leave (Hoi, Lydia, Margo) a bag and told them to take anything they wanted of the leftover food. Hoi took only chips. Margo took all the leftover green vegetables, and Lydia took all of the leftover tomatoes, plus I gave her another tomato, a big one, because she likes tomato in sandwiches. Nobody took any of the desserts, of which we got too many!
And then my next door neighbor Jane came over. (Well, she came over while Hoi, Lydia, and Margo were still there! She left before they did.) Jane said she just had to talk to Rachel! Jane was so excited that Rachel is going to Vietnam! That is where her husband died 57 years ago in the war!! Jane coming gave Auntie Judy the opportunity to congratulate Jane on the song (above, that we sang today in church) and Jane accepted some lunch and took the opportunity to visit with the young people. She mentioned that Vietnamese people are short, so we had Hoi stand up--because he might not be tall, but he is also taller than Rachel, and certainly taller than Jane.
Here is Rachel and Margo with Jane. Jane wanted both of them in the photo.
And then Jane wanted a picture of me and Rachel with the flag, that Rachel had hung on the cat cage in the kitchen. (I do not think anybody realized there was even a cat cage there!) So I had Josie take a picture of us, too, because I realize that I got no pictures with Rachel today.
From this vantage point, it totally looks like a cat cage under the flag, doesn't it? It does.
Also, I forgot to say that at the beginning of Sacrament meeting, they thanked the people who came on Saturday to help with assembling the newest printing of hymns into the binders, and Rachel and I did that! It was a nice thing to get Rachel out of the house, and she met a few people that way. Just as she is gearing up to leave, she is meeting more people! That is probably my fault--I am not the best joiner, the best social person. I am among the worst. However, I was glad we could help, and I am glad that people are so interested in Rachel going to Vietnam. One lady who went up to talk to her, whose name I do not know, was married to a Vietnamese man and has many family members, including her own children, who claim Vietnam as home. It is fun to see so many people excited about Rachel's mission!
Edited to add my daughter Kelli's note to me to share with Rachel: Tell the first speaker, I'm the best Auntie, (Krista had claimed that title in her talk--and to her nieces and nephews, she is!) and Rachel did a fabulous job, love the Forrest Gump quote and sometimes confidence comes when you don't have any other options... I'm learning this at my new job.
