Happy Mother’s Day! Today has been such a great day! Clark has treated me well and fixed a delicious shrimp dinner. Besides our usual Sunday things, we were able to be on a teaching call with a family we had been helping before all of this. We were also able to do a zoom call with our family and do some reminiscing. We really do have a great family and we love and miss them so much!

Monday we had our Office Council meeting. President decided we would have it outside to practice social distancing. It was a beautiful day and we had a great meeting. However, we all got a little sunburned! Tuesday we met some elders out at the airport. Three of them were going home – so hard! That means we have about 130 of our 175 left.

We had to deliver a car to some elders in Stroudsburg and Elder Lundell had to get the keys for a new apartment, so the 2 couples went together. The Christensens did a great job manning the office. We had a mission wide call with President Dunnigan where he cautioned the missionaries about avoiding materials that are against the church. He also told us to prepare our minds and pray to understand the message the Lord would tell us through his apostle the next day.

Friday we had a special devotional with Elder Christofferson, Elder Vai Sikehema, and Elder Peter Johnson (2 Seventies). It was SO good. Elder C. had the camera pan out so we could see the meeting room where the Quorum of the 12 meet with its big round table. He gave some great advice about being good missionaries during this time and encouraged us to keep track of what we are learning from this experience. He said the missionaries are the companions for the Quorum to accomplish their work. Elder Sikahema talked about our PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and how we owe it to our companions to protect them and ourselves. The guidelines for a missionary, if followed, will protect him on the mission and throughout his life. Elder Johnson taught that keeping the commandments show our love for God and allow us to feel his love. It doesn’t always mean instant blessings. He related the story about his daughter who lost her testimony for awhile. What a blessing to be able to listen in.

It has been unusually cold for this time of year. Yesterday we started out in the 30’s and only went to about 45. And of course, we’ve had lots of rain, and even snow in the Pocono Mountains north of us.

We went for a drive and tried to get out and walked awhile but it was too cold to go far.

We were told that of the 10,000 missionaries sent home and given the decision of when and if to return to the mission field, 9500 of them wanted to go as soon as possible. So far we have 27 scheduled to come on various days in June. We are pretty excited and a little nervous about housing, money, cars, etc. for them. But it will all work out!

We love what we are doing – What an exciting time to be a missionary!

Love you all!! Be safe and have a great week!

In spite of all the slow down with the pandemic, it seems like the time is passing quickly. We are so grateful to be able to go into the office every day and to be needed and productive. Fortunately, we are both healthy and are able to get out and walk a lot, as well.

We are happy to report that we are well under budget for the year and we have set a new record for the most days without a preventable accident (105) with very low mileage on the cars! Always a silver lining, right?

We had to deliver a few things to some missionaries on Wednesday NE of Philly, so that was a nice break. It’s seems a little strange to set things down and back up so they can pick them up and all of us wearing masks. We were pleased to see that the sparkle and energy is coming back to the missionaries. They were so down and discouraged when this all first started, but they’ve worked hard, had training and share ideas and now they are starting to see some great results from online proselyting. Missionary work will never be quite the same.

Thursday we were able to sit in on Zone Conference for 3 hours and be taught by President and Sister Dunnigan and the missionaries. Although a lot of it didn’t relate to us and our assignments, it was very uplifting and great to hear all the things they are doing. Friday we all tuned in to the virtual BYU Women’s Conference for a couple of hours. In between Amy seemed to have plenty to do.

We were asked to send to Pres. what part of our jobs we thought could be done online. Probably most of it, but we would hate to have to do that. Without the missionaries, our ward, and the experiences we are having, it would start to seem more like a job.

Today has been a great Sunday! We started out with the morning devotional with the missionaries and then spent a couple of hours on our Come Follow Me lesson. At noon we joined our zone for a virtual Sacrament Meeting and afterward Clark blessed and passed the Sacrament. We were able to talk to Wayne and his family, had dinner, and got on at 6 for our virtual ward Sunday School lesson. Then we had a good visit with Christy and family right before we got on a zoom call with Clark’s siblings.

Every day we get new information about what’s going to happen here. We’ve been told we could get a lot of new missionaries (we had 175 but are down to 140). Our 30 empty apartments are all in the metropolitan areas where they don’t want missionaries to be right now, so we’ll see how that plays out. We are to expect lots of new cars and will have permission to rent cars if need be. For extra housing the church has contracted with some hotel chains to provide rooms (minus TVs and cable, with fridge, microwave, 2 beds and complimentary breakfast). All of the missionaries who have been sent home from other countries, etc., had to decide by April 30th what they would like to do now. We expect things will start happening soon!

Have a wonderful week! We love you!!

Before meetings a minister was talking to the substitute organist and told him that part way through his sermon he was planning on asking the congregation to increase their contributions to the church. He wanted him to think of an appropriate song he could play at that moment that would inspire them to chip in. Sure enough, half way through his sermon he made the announcement that the church was in need of more funds and asked if all those who would contribute $1000 please stand up. That was when the organist began the “Star Spangled Banner!”

On Monday we met two missionaries at 5:15 am. in the morning at the airport to get them checked in and through to security. Unfortunately one’s flight had been cancelled so we took him back to the AP’s apartment so he could call Missionary Travel and get another flight. The other one got on his flight. We also had two more to meet at 9:30 am and it worked out to take the prior one out as well for his re-booked flight to Canada. We knew two of them quite well because we had been in the same ward with them for a while. They were both Zone Leaders and fine missionaries. It was hard to say goodbye since they didn’t want to go but the health guidelines had them go home.

On Thursday, the President had arranged a mission wide Zoom call with Elder and Sister Sikahema speaking to the mission, he is an area authority that lives in our mission. They spoke for about an hour and a half and were fantastic. He shared some experiences in his life with football, his mission and some travel that all impacted his life. He told about deciding to go on a mission after his first year of football at BYU due to the influence of the returned missionaries on the team. He had won a Holiday Bowl ring that year and took it with him on the mission and wore it proudly. He often had good conversations with people about football. A general authority visiting the mission took 3-5 minutes with every missionary to talk with them. During his talk with Elder Sikahema, the GA asked him about the ring and he explained the game to him and his part in it, taking a punt return for a touchdown to help win the game. The GA asked if he could give him some council and he agreed. The GA said as long as he wore that ring on his mission he would be an inferior missionary. It was hard council to him and he didn’t like it. He wouldn’t talk to his companion for a couple of days then his companion suggested they fast and pray about it. He finally agreed and later got the answer that he needed to put football behind him and devote his heart, might, mind and strength to bring others to Christ. He put the ring in a box and sent it home. It made all the difference in his mission and life by doing so. He also shared other stores that were amazing. We were so fortunate to be part of it.

Amy in her spare time was taught by Sister Christensen how to make bobbin lace and has started one. It requires concentration and with all the headaches she has had this week it was a bit of a challenge. Hopefully next week will go better.

This is an excerpt from a letter from a missionary to the President that was amazing.

“This week I had an experience that was so awesome. We went into a lesson planning to
read Mosiah 18 with a less active woman that wants to find the truth for herself. And as
we started talking to her at the beginning of the lesson the spirit was like “yo Mosiah 18
is not the chapter you need to read with her right now.” And i was like “what??? Then
what chapter??” And the spirit was like “Alma 36!” So i signaled to [my companion] and
we read Alma 36 with her. As we were reading she told us that she had just seen the bom
video on this chapter and it had touched her very deeply in a very personal way. With lots
of tears we continued to talk about the Joy of living the gospel and how aware Heavenly
Father is of us.”

We have wonderful amazing missionaries to work with and love working with them every chance we get. The Gospel is TRUE.

The Assistants to the President were able to get all the transfers made and luggage delivered without our help this week. We are finally getting close to figuring out where all the missionaries are, but Clark is still working out who has what car. Right now we have 5 sitting in the parking lot at the church.

Clark broke a tooth and was really fortunate to find a dentist that would fix it for him. He has a temporary crown for the next couple of weeks. The dentist didn’t take our insurance, but he gave him a great deal on it.

Tuesday night we had the last testimony meeting for those going home Wednesday. We did it all digitally, but we were grateful we could hear their defining moments. We miss them! We aren’t getting any new ones for awhile while the church sorts everything out. So we’ve gone from 174 missionaries down to 141. The Lundells’ friends who were the mission couple for the Jamaica Mission just came home. After they sent all the missionaries home who weren’t from Jamaica, they were down to just 5. So glad we weren’t sent international!

Wednesday the Senior couples got to do the daily devotional at 7 a.m. We said the prayers, the Lundells gave a spiritual thought, and the Christensens talked about technology from the receiving end (speak clearly, loud enough, easy to be understood, etc.). We also got to sit in on a call from the MTC technology personnel for an hour of training on using social media to teach. Really good! Then Thursday we did our regular new missionary training virtually for the 3 missionaries who were sent here temporarily right before everything went crazy. One was going to Peru, one to Philippines, and one to Thailand.

Sister Lundell and Sister Christensen have some pretty slow days and Amy’s are slow-er, so one day we used a sheet and a pillowcase to make 22 face masks. We set them out in the entry way for our delivery people to take. We have 5 left.

Saturday Clark and I went up to the Amish Market near West Chester and bought a few things (Beiller’s donuts!) and had lunch. We had seen most of the things around there but we found a covered bridge and looked around for awhile before coming home.

I also wanted to include this cool drawing done by Sister Shepherd, one of my favorite sisters, who is doing virtual tours of Susquennah plus some online proselyting.

We had a Sister call from the Missionary Department checking on our welfare. We were happy to tell her we feel no fear and are very much at peace to still be here. It is nice to have something to do everyday, and we can still face time our family. We probably couldn’t be around them too much at home. It is a blessing to know that God is in charge. He is never surprised, and He has prepared us for such a time as this. So many great things are going to come because of this! Missionary work will never be quite the same. We are fortunate to be able to see God’s hand in the work our missionaries are doing.

We love you all and pray for you and hope you have a wonderful week! God bless you!!!

A little tender mercy happened Monday! Clark and I were out walking at a park nearby and I was sure I could smell lilacs. I love lilacs in the springtime because of the big bush my mom had and I haven’t been able to find ANY here. Last spring we spent hours searching. It really was a lilac, so I broke off a very small sprig and brought it home. Our apartment smelled so good!

Things are changing daily here. Pres. Dunnigan received word to move all of our inner city missionaries out. Fortunately, we had a bunch of empty apartments since the senior couples went home. So Tuesday the Assistants loaded up the trailer with furniture and luggage and we made the long trip to Susquehanna. It is almost 3 hours up there to the very top of our mission. Everyone had their masks on including us and we had hand sanitizer so we could stay safe.

Wednesday we had 3 elders return home. Clark and I met them out at the airport to get them checked in and to security. They wanted pictures and I didn’t have the heart to tell them “social distancing!” They knew they couldn’t get near us, but it is so hard to keep our distance.

Thursday the trailer was full again, so this time we headed northwest to Pottsville, about 1-3/4 hours away. By 4 o’clock Friday it was full again (!) so we headed south to within an hour of the farthest southern point of the mission. We dropped it off with the missionaries at the Harrington, DE, building. Can I just say I am getting really tired of that big van!

Some very sad news – our dear little friend, Sister Estella (from Honduras) passed away from the virus Friday afternoon. She has had lung problems and was on oxygen full time, but when I talked to her a week ago she was being so careful. She was such an amazing lady, full of sunshine, and loved to make people laugh. She didn’t have much money, but she still tried to feed some missionaries almost every week. I guess the thing that saddens me the most is that she was alone in the hospital when she died. No visitors allowed. She will be greatly missed!

Another tender mercy for me was when Sister Christensen and Sister Bushman called to tell me about Estella. Sister Christensen was comforting me more that I was her. She reminded me of the story of Lazarus and how when Jesus came to Mary and Martha, he wept. Christ, the one who knows and fulfills God’s plan and could raise him from the dead still wept for him. How grateful I am for Christ and his atonement and resurrection! How grateful we are for the testimonies of these young missionaries that we love so much and have learned so much from.

Take care and please know that we love you and pray for you always!

P.S. On a lighter note – I’ve been meaning to share some “Carroll-isms” from Elder Carroll. He is from Alabama and talks real slow. When you’d ask him how he was, he’d reply, “I’m great, but I’ll get better!” He is totally bald, but he “had hair when he started this job.” “Of course it’s my fault – I’m the only one around here that does any work.” He told us if he goes another couple of weeks without a hair cut, it might be long enough for a comb over. But our all time favorite – “You keep that up, I’m gonna’ have to slap you upside the head with a wet squirrel!”

Another crazy week here in PA! Clark had a video chat with his doctor for his last visit on his hand. It is looking so good, and the doctor was pleased. Looks like water skiing is on for August! Tuesday we had our regular interview with President Dunnigan. He asked how we were getting along with all of this. Amy told him: Surprising well for living with the energizer bunny and all the quiet evenings at home. Pres. started talking about the old Addams Family show and how Uncle Fester was always having things blow up – surely there was something around the apartment Elder Bonner could use! I told him thanks so much for giving him ideas!

We don’t usually get to sit in on zone conferences, but we had some time so we joined in on the Zoom call Wednesday for a couple of hours. It was pretty amazing to hear the missionaries train each other and to listen to the counsel from President and Sister Dunnigan. Our missionaries are truly extraordinary! We only ended up doing half a day Thursday because Clark wasn’t feeling well. He had a pretty bad 24-hour stomach flu. He didn’t even go into work at all on Friday.

It’s time for the missionaries to get their receipts in for gas (they shouldn’t have much this time). They are also supposed to do their own car inspections and send them to Clark. Not sure how that will go, but we will see. Transfers are on the 15th of April, so the missionaries are excited about that. Some might get a change of scenery. It doesn’t sound like we will be getting any new ones with the changes they just announced, but we still have a few days.

We have loved listening to conference this weekend! So many wonderful messages that were just what we needed to hear. Amy made blond brownies Saturday morning before it started. Then this morning we took some around with conference bingo and some treats for 2 investigators and their families, as well as a couple of member families. We also took bags of small candy bars, like the ones we keep in the office, to the missionaries for our ward and the other one that meets in our building. They were pretty excited to see us even though we couldn’t even get close.

In between sessions we drove down to Fairmount Park to see all the cherry trees. Beautiful! It always feels good when we can take long walks outside.

Thank goodness for Springtime when it feels like the world is coming back to life! Perfect to remind us of the resurrection of our Savior and the wonderful gifts He offers us. We are so grateful for Him and we love Him. Please stay safe and know we love you and pray for you!

What unusual times we live in, a major change to daily living has occurred and we are riding it out. It has been a rather slow week for us, office work most of the time with a few changes. Clark went to his last therapy session on his hand, partly because it is going well and mostly because they are shutting down. He was given therapy to do for the next little while as the hand continues to heal. They are planning on opening again the end of April if all goes well but also think Philly is still on the upswing of infections and it will be a while until things return to normal. We have a new normal now.

We received 3 new missionaries that are waiting to go to Peru, Taiwan and the Philippians and will be assigned here for the foreseeable future. They flew in, stayed overnight with the local missionaries and then met their new companions and went out the following morning. We didn’t get to see them. We are expecting many more to be coming but nothing definite yet. We send about 16 home on the 15th with our regular transfer that also includes 7 returning after 21 months service that is the new normal until September. We have about 7 coming for that transfer as well. We have yet to figure out how we will be training them and getting them qualified to drive mission vehicles but it will work out.

Friday we took our car full of commissary and packages to the northern PA missionaries so they could have them. We stopped at 7 apartments and got to talk to the missionaries from a distance and give them a little goodie bag as well. They were happy to see us and said they are doing well but the pep in their step seems to be missing some. It is tough staying in and using technology for contacting and teaching all day. They can get out for exercise and groceries but that is about it. We really miss having the missionaries in the office. It seems more like a job rather than a mission.

We really appreciate Face Timing with the family and the calls, we are trying to keep up with some of the members here as well via phone. We also try to walk when it is nice outside and walk in the church when it is not. Too much rain lately however. Spring has started with some trees and bushes really blooming with great colors.

We enjoyed a nice fast Sunday today and partook of the sacrament. It is a humbling opportunity to bless and pass the sacrament in our apartment and know the Lord recognizes the priesthood in these situations. We enjoy the opportunity to spend more time studying the gospel and intersperse it with talking with our family and friends. The gospel is true and we trust our prophet to lead us back to our Savior, especially in these troubled times.

We love you all, take care. and be healthy and safe. You are always in our prayers!

Well, our missionaries were able to get their supplies purchased just in time – they were all put on self-isolation Tuesday. Some missionaries with health issues that could be affected if they got the virus were moved to safer areas. Two sets of missionaries were put into quarantine – 2 from being around Japanese missionaries at the MTC and two who may have been exposed by someone in the YSA ward. All the zone conferences were changed to virtual ones (no virtual food, though!) and Missionary Leadership Council was the same. All the missionaries are having to do their lessons via the internet and phones. They try to keep the contacts up and the investigators progressing as best they can and it seems to be working. Thy also call members and give short discussions and encourage them with missionary work.

Wednesday we made a trip down to the end of the mission in Delaware to work on a TIWI for one of the cars. Since we were going, we took all the commissary for that area with us. We had to be good and stay at least 6 feet away from the missionaries, when we really just wanted to hug them! We also stopped in Wilmington to pick up a big supply of toilet paper that one of the couples had been able to get so we can help our missionaries when they run out. We had to drop it off at the Mission Home before we went home – we didn’t want anyone breaking into our car to steal it! Crazy times!! We also found out that day that all 10 of the couples not serving in the office were to pack up and go home, by the weekend if possible. That was a shock for them and so hard and disappointing. We also had another couple that had just finished the MTC and was told to stay home.

Our new mission nurse and her husband, the Christensen’s, were able to make it here okay and will be staying. Thank goodness! All the young missionaries are not allowed through the office doors to keep us old people safer.

We had a busy day Thursday trying to catch up from Wednesday and get ready to be gone again on Friday. Clark was busy registering cars and doing car stuff and I had to get the rent paid. The rents for the apartments for our mission equal over $108,000!

Friday we took another trip, this time to New Jersey to deliver some bikes and more commissary. The missionaries were so glad to see us and loved the goodie bags we brought for them. We got back in plenty of time for our office pizza party for the Carrolls before they left, but President had asked us not to have it. He’s asked the young missionaries not to do take out and felt like we shouldn’t either. Darn it! We went over Saturday morning for a while to help the Carrolls and tell them goodbye. So hard!! They travelled to Florida and now are quarantined at a hotel for two weeks. She was so excited to get home and hug the kids, but she’ll have to wait.

We had to go into the office for a little while on Saturday, but then we HAD to get out of the house. We went to Wissahickon and did a 5 mile hike along the small river there. There were so many people, but we all just tried to keep our distance. It was a beautiful day and felt so good to be outside. Springtime is coming!

We were able to join Sacrament Meeting with one of the zones. Amy was asked to give a talk, and they asked all of us to sing the opening and closing songs from our balconies. We are so blessed to have such strong faithful missionaries. They are amazing! One missionary having to go home way early said he was pretty upset and sad when he found out. But he prayed that night and God told him it was time to go home and he is okay now.

The missionaries with underlying health issues (10 of them) are all going home tomorrow. Then the regular arrivals and departures will be April 15 and will also include all those who will have been here over 21 months. In the meantime, we are getting 4 temporarily reassigned missionaries and 5 others will be coming soon. I’m just glad I don’t work at Church Travel trying to make all these arrangements. One of the ones called to our mission arrived from the Mexico MTC at 1:30 a.m. today only to find out that another flight plan for her had just come in. She flew out at 10 to go home for quarantine.

These are tough times for so many. President Dunnigan tells us often that God is NEVER surprised. He has prepared us and our families for us and we can trust Him to help us get through it. I am so grateful to know He is in charge, He loves each of us, and He has the Plan. Hang in there everyone and know that we are constantly praying for you. We love you!!!

This has been an interesting week to say the least. Monday I went back to the doctor for a check up on my hand and he was very impressed with my progress, he gave me an A+. I’, in the top 10 percent of recovery patients so I am happy with that. Still some swelling and scar issues but it will come so I am told. Tuesday I had therapy and that evening we taught our institute class. I was great and we had an investigator attend as well. She is on date to be baptized and is an amazing young lady. She had just finished the Book of Mormon and is quit analytical in her studies. When told many people don’t read all of it before being baptized she said she was surprised that anyone would make that kind of a commitment without having read it.

Wednesday we got our Institute Director to take the senior missionaries on a church history tour around Philadelphia. We met downtown and he showed us around talking about the early days of the church here and the time Joseph Smith visited and other apostles and the many spiritual things that transpired here. It was great, then he had to hurry off to a class so the rest of us had dinner together. He is an amazing man, so knowledgeable, speaks Hebrew and Greek and is a fantastic teacher as well as a sealer in the temple. Thursday we took two sisters to dinner that taught our Institute class the prior week while we were at the mission home seeing departing missionaries off. They then invited us to go to a lesson with them so that was a nice evening. Then Amy got a call from the President asking her to put $100 dollars on all the missionaries accounts so they could go out and get a two weeks food storage supply in case of a quarantine or something. She had to do them all one at a time. That took her until about 10:30 that night. The next night we drove about an hour to replace a fuel card for some missionaries who had their card compromised and took them to dinner as well.

Saturday I had therapy then we caught up on all the rest of the work, did some shopping and visited a small Paoli Battlefield in the area that was interesting plus got some walking in. Sunday was a new experience being at home and having our own gospel centered study. It was 3 hours instead of 2 however. We have digressed. It was a good day, even a great day because we Facetimed with many our children and families. What a wonder opportunity technology affords us. We love our family so much and appreciate all the support we receive and prayers. We love you tons.

Have a wonderful week and remember social distancing. Let’s get this virus under control and get on with life. It will all work out. Take care everyone. We love you.

This week passed quickly. We didn’t get a lot done in the office on Monday. We had an Office Council with President and Sister Dunnigan there that took most of the morning. Then Clark had to run down by the temple to rescue some sisters whose car battery had died. He got back in time for us to go to inservice with Brother Muldowney after lunch. We didn’t have to prepare for Institute this week because we had asked some Sisters to teach our class.

Tuesday was transfer day. It went better than last time but still had a couple of small hitches. Clark was busy driving the van for those moving to and from the Philly area. That evening we had dinner for the ones going home. It is great to be able to hear about their “defining moments” and their testimonies. Afterwards, Pres. Dunnigan always takes time to answer questions they have before they go home.

We both got to sleep to our regular alarm since we only had 8 going home. They were able to get the luggage and enough of the missionaries in the van that the Assistants drove (along with President’s car) so they didn’t need Clark to go. They usually meet at 4:45 to go to the airport. He was busy that afternoon bringing the luggage home for the 7 new ones. They take them right from the airport out by one of the main transit stations to do some street contacting. They all seem to really like that.

After doing breakfast and lunch for the new missionaries and their trainers on Thursday, we went out to Palmerton, about 1-1/2 hours away, to go help some sisters that had both had their cards compromised. We met them at 7 to take them to dinner and barely found a place to eat before everything started closing. It’s a very small town!

Friday the Lundells talked us into going to a local high school’s production of “Cinderella”. It was okay, but it would have been better had we known anyone in the cast. Probably not something we will do again.

Saturday I took Clark and Elder Carroll out to pick up two new vehicles. One is a Toyota Tacoma truck and the other will replace the mission pickup – it’s a Toyota Tundra. Pretty exciting!

Clark’s hand is doing very well. He has started therapy and will see the doctor again on Monday. We had the two young elders give him a blessing before surgery and they have been pretty excited that it worked!

One quote from our lesson this week: “What you sincerely in your heart think of Christ will determine what you are and will largely determine what your acts will be.”

We love our Savior! Have a great week!!