PNEUMONIA, PHONE CALLS AND LETTERS

Three and a half weeks ago, Lynne received the results of her visit to the doctor for persistent coughing, headaches, chills, etc. She was diagnosed with double pneumonia, which came as a surprise to her. "It's not even cold outside, how can I have stinkin' pneumonia?", pretty much summed up her reaction. But she did, she still does, and it's gradually getting better. She was placed on a regimen of antibiotics and cough medicines that seem to have helped, but she still struggles to keep her stamina and endurance at the levels to which she is accustomed. My problem has been trying to convince her that pneumonia isn't something you just overcome in a day or two. I've not been meeting with an abundance of success in my efforts. She still pretty much does what she wants, when she wants . . . and then pays the price when she realizes she's over done it . . once again. She just smiles, looks at me and bats those baby aquas and says, "But honey, I been bein' good." Yeah right.

One of the advantages of having so many missionaries in our home, is that we get to stay in touch with a lot of them when they go back to their homes and go back to school, get married, etc. We have even heard from the parents of some of these missionaries. That's pretty cool. It's very satisfying and we really enjoy keeping up with them. Tonight was a good case in point. We just got off the phone with one of 'our girls', Sister Roque and her husband. We talked to them for over half an hour. Sister Roque (Madella) was in the Phillipines and her husband, Tim, was in Salt Lake. They were married April 12 this year, but Madella had to return to the Phillipines and is awaiting her new visa. This has been a very long, frustrating and time consuming process for both of them. It was so good to hear her voice. She came to Kentucky from her mission at Temple Square, remained here 5-6 months and then returned to Temple Square to finish her mission. We paid her a surprise visit on Temple Square when we flew out there last fall. She had no idea we were coming and cried when she saw us. She called us Momsie and Pops, even while she was here in Kentucky. She, like all of the others, is absolutely adorable.

We also got a call from Sister Hartmann earlier this week. She is home in Boise, making preparations for the winter session at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. She is kinda bummed because we were initially planning on being moved back out west by now and the plan was for her to stay with us while she went to school. She has, however, forgiven us that grievous sin. She really misses Kentucky and will be coming back here in September. She is going to stay with us and we will take her on a tour of some of the places in Kentucky that she didn't get to see while she served here. We are also going to take her to visit some of the areas she served in while here. Cool.

Sisters McFarlane and Ita'aehau sent us a letter last week. They were transferred to Tell City, Indiana a couple of months ago. We are still going through withdrawal for them and Sister Nakajima who returned to Temple Square (like Roque) at the same time they (McFarlane and Ita'aehau) were transferred. Sister McFarlane goes home in three weeks to Morgan, Utah. Sister Ita'aehau still refers to herself as the 'Polynesian Princess', a name Lynne coined for her in the short time she was here. They don't know it yet, but we are going to drive up to Tell City in the next couple of weeks and pay them a surprise visit on P-Day. Hard to believe so much time has gone by and so many sisters (and elders) have had such an impact on our lives. We have also heard from Sisters Curtis, Hair (both married) and Jensen and Gregory among others and several elders also.

And then there's Sister Anderson who went home to a 'new' home and a new country two months ago. Although she never 'officially' served in Elizabethtown and was never in our home, she was here for three days with Sisters Curtis and Roque and knew Lynne from seeing her so many times at the Mission Home for transfers. Sister Anderson dubbed Lynne the surrogate 'Mission Mom' and was almost single handedly responsible for spreading that title throughout the mission. She was called to and left for her mission in Kentucky while living in nearby Pennsylvania shortly after receiving her Master's Degree from BYU. Four months before the end of her mission, her parents moved to England. The British saints in particular and England in general have absolutely no idea what's in store for them. That young lady has such a dynamic, ball o' fire personality. She is vivacious, full of energy and definitely does not come equipped with a volume control or a mute button (which was a real treat).