Sunday, April 24, 2016

We may not have had any out-of-state-mission-travels this week, but it has been a very busy one nonetheless!!  Somehow that happens.....and it seems like every week.

We started our week out with finding out Elder Harmon (left) was going to be transferred a week before transfers!!  That is because the new Elder (in the middle and whose name I can not remember (it starts with a 'V' and he is fresh from Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico and had to wait until he got his visa!) just arrived on Monday.  We will surely miss Elder Harmon.  He is from Wyoming.  Second from left is Elder Wilkerson.  He will be staying and training Elder 'V'.  Dad is trying to figure out which 'button' to push on my watch to take the foto!!

This was another week of 'lasts' for us.....seems like every week are those now!!!  As we should expect.  On Tuesday morning we drove over to Griffin (about 40 minutes from our apartment) so I could have my last eye exam and shot with Dr. Cribbs.  The morning sky was just amazing that day....this foto depicts it very well.

And my Dr. Cribbs!!  He has been great to take good care of my eyes these past 2 years.  Grateful that he has been here.  It will be nice to get back to Dr. Zimmer-Galler though!

Tuesday afternoon I had my last hair appointment with Linda.  She has been cutting my hair for the past almost 2 years.  She is a non-member.  I have had many gospel talks with her over this time.

In doing some packing this week (quite a bit actually!!) Sister's Hunter and Kelly brought one of Bishop Haycock's daughters over to claim my excess yarn!  I was so happy to pass it on.  She will put it to GREAT use making hats for an orphanage.  

On Wednesday we attended a Zone Conference in the Georgia Atlanta North Mission.  They were having a half-mission conference because of having some 'car work' done on the mission cars and a brother from Salt Lake had come to take care of that.  WOW....Elder/Dr. Allgaier saw 30 patients that day!!!  That has been our biggest day so far!!!  Elder and Sister Dixon came out with us almost 2 years ago.  Dad treated him for gout while we were in the MTC together.  How fun that we got to see them again.  They will be leaving in about 2 weeks.

Box lunches were in order for this Zone Conference.  They were delicious too!!!  We were even able to get one.....and ate it after we saw the 30 patients!

It felt good to get some progress done on the packing this week.

I was able to get this ginormous afghan finished this week as well.  This one is for the newest member-to-be in our family.....Hollie Parker!!  I thought maybe they might want it for '2'!  To have in the apartment when they get married in August.

On Friday we drove over to Morrow, GA to make arrangements with Comcast to switch our account here to our replacements.  We drove through Fayetteville and right past this really cool Court House (now converted into something else, i.e. museum?)  This is reportedly the oldest Court House in the state of Georgia....1825.)  And this is the LONGEST bench sitting just outside along the sidewalk.  Really, really cool!!!

We managed to get a couple of walks in this week.  We needed those walks just to get out and stretch our legs and and clear our heads.  Sometimes we just need to do that.  However, Elder/Dr. Allgaier still gets calls and texts as we walk....as evidenced here by him responding to a call!!  Bless his heart. He surely works HARD.

On Saturday we managed to slip up to the temple for a little bit.  The spring flowers were just gorgeous.

What a HUGE surprise we had as we literally pulled into our parking space at the apartment.  Two seconds after we pulled in, our DEAR FRIENDS, President and Sister Cottle pulled in and parked.  We could not believe our eyes!!

They were on their way back to Macon (their mission) from attending meetings in Atlanta.  We surely love them and can't wait to see them in Utah this fall.  They finish their mission one month after we finish.

The Cottle's didn't get to stay very long and it was still light outside, so we snuck in another quick walk.  

I wonder if we will find any golf carts in our church parking lot when we get home!!!  We will miss that as well.

 Brother and Sister Purdy invited us over to their own after church today for lunch.  This was the 3rd time in our 2 years that they have invited us.  They are so sweet and we love them.  

And with that, I will close our yet another week.  We will be traveling back up to the Tennessee Nashville Mission for Zone Conferences tomorrow.  Stay tuned!!  Love y'all....love our mission!!

Sunday, April 17, 2016

W.O.W. what a week this has been.  We can just never guess what might be happening in any given week.....most of the time we are surprised at what comes about!  

On Monday morning as we were preparing to head from Morehead, KY back over to the Lexington area for another Zone Conference on Tuesday, we decided to meet the Morehead Sister Missionaries and do a little 'hat-supply-shopping' since it was their P-Day.  (We do NOT get a P-Day so it really doesn't matter to us when we go shopping if we ever need anything).  They got the MEMO from Sister Brough, the mission presidents wife to bring a DERBY HAT (if they could borrow one or buy one for a $1 or less!!) for Zone Conference.  We would be wearing them at lunchtime!  They were excited to go on this adventure!  SO....off we went to Goodwill where we bought 'supplies' to put on the hat and then to Walmart to purchase the hats (and a glue gun and glue sticks to adhere the fun things we bought at Goodwill to the hat).  We had a very successful trip!!!

 You can see how cute the hats turned out!!!  Sister Bailey, office senior missionary on the right, and myself joined the sisters for a foto op!!

After Zone Conference on Tuesday, we headed up to Louisville where we would attend Zone Conferences there for the next two days.  We had the time to stop by the Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and pick up some mini bats for gifts.  This has been a MUST STOP for the past 2 years.  A TRADITION!!!  They had a 'super-hero' kind of event going on....hence the super heros out front of the store....with the biggest Super Hero of all standing in the middle....Elder/Dr. Allgaier!!

Yep.....our purchase of mini bats!!!  Hopefully this will make someone's day!

We also had time to drive by the Louisville Temple.  They were not open at that time.....seems like they are never open when we come by.  The smaller temples have fewer hours than the larger temples.

 On the last day of Zone Conference ALL of the sister missionaries, plus a couple of extra sisters from the local ward who had come to help repair clothing for the missionaries, wore their DERBY HATS at lunch time!!!  How fun is this!!!  Love it!!

AND, on the last day of Zone Conference we got to see Elder Irwin again.  He and his family used to be in our ward in Maryland.  We didn't get to know them very well because they moved in while we were on our first mission to Finland.  His dad passed away before we got home.  Shortly after we got home he and his family moved to Washington State (I think).  I also think Elder Irwin was in Jonathan's seminary class.  Small world in the church.  We love our mission!!!

After the 'usual' Zone Conference foto I decided to stay seated for a minute and turn my iPhone camera on.....as son as I did the Elders behind me starting yelling....'Selfie, Selfie'....and there you have the caption for this foto!

Meet Elder and Sister Bailey.  They are senior missionaries in the office.  He is in charge of cars (hence, his attire for the meeting....he was out checking cars) and Sister Bailey.  She is in charge of the apartments.  We have enjoyed getting to know them.

After we finished the last zone conference we started our drive down to Goodlettsville, Tennessee where we would spend the night.  We decided to take the 'back roads' to see what fun things we could find.  And we found some.....like this sign for the church.  This is NOT typical to have a church sign telling where the chapel is located.  But it was in this really teeny, tiny town.  IF we had had more time, we would have gone in search of the church.

The hills and hollars were just gorgeous!  We love Kentucky.

We found a few more barns too.....and some of them down dirt/gravel roads!!  Typical of where we were.

And we made it back to Tennessee after 2 weeks....

Just across the Tennessee state line we also found a canola field on the back roads.  This time we were able to stop and get a foto of it.

Pulling into our hotel for the night and sitting at a stoplight we noticed this 'Hooter' sitting on the drivers lap and looking out the window.  It totally reminded me of Punkin-Hooter-Tooter!!!  I realized that it was April 14th....the next day, the 15th, would be both my mother's birthday and Punkin's birthday.  This was also like a little tender mercy letting me know they were both close by!  Love the tender mercies we feel and see and experience almost on a daily basis in very subtle ways.

 And, we are back in Georgia just like that.  Good to be back 'home'!!

ALL 3 of the cats were waiting for us.....and Lucy was the first one in the door and she found her 'spot' pretty quickly!!!  What on earth are we going to do in 6 weeks when we leave??!!!

On Saturday morning we were able to head up to the Atlanta Temple.  It was good to be back here again.  When we got out of the Temple, we had a missed call from Tyler.....

 We called him back, not sure what to expect.....and LOW AND BEHOLD.....just like that he and Hollie are ENGAGED!!!  SAY WHAT.......

And....she said Y.E.S.!!!!  WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR THEM and so excited to welcome Hollie into our Eternal Family!!!!  

 We have reserved the date of AUGUST 13th at 12:00 noon for a very important ALLGAIER WEDDING!!!  WE ARE SO  E-X-C-I-T-E-D!!!  Way to go Tyler and Hollie!!  Have I said how excited we are.....EXCITED!!!  (B.T.W.....Tyler and Hollie gave us permission to share these fotos with the family!  Thanks guys!!)

The HAPPY COUPLE!!!  CONGRATULATIONS!!!

AND.....we gave our neighbor, Rodney, a hand-signed (by Henry) copy of the Book of Mormon!!!  Like I said in the beginning........W. O. W.....WHAT A GREAT WEEK!!!  We feel so blessed.  Stay tuned for this coming week......we just never know.  Love y'all  Be safe and watch for reindeer!!  :-)

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Another super fast week!  Still don't know how that happens.  Well, we started PACKING this past week!!!  WHAT??  You may say.....but, we realized this week that of our 7 weeks left before completing our 3rd mission we will only be in our apartment at the most 5 of those days!  YIKES!  We have a lot to do to get ready to leave....hence.  The packing has begun.

Lucy was not happy with us doing this packing.  She decided to just plop down on top of the box that I needed to pack our 'travel tree' in.  What are we going to do when we leave.....what will happen to Lucy!!!  :-(  Makes me sad to think about it.

We were off this week to the GREAT Kentucky Louisville Mission for 2 weeks.  We stopped in Nashville, Tennessee on the way....that seemed like a good 'stop and stretch' point for us.  We LOVE that skyline.

While there we parked our car across the Tennessee River Bridge to downtown.  What a great little walk that is....we love it.  We decided to have lunch at the GooGoo Restaurant/Candy Store.  You can see from the foto that it is just really close to the AT & T 'Batman Building', as we call it.  What a nice little restaurant.  As we were standing in line to check out I noticed someone behind us in line speaking what sounded like Finnish.  I called Dad over to whispered to him what I had heard.  He walked a little closer to the two ladies and before I knew it he was talking Finnish to them.  When I finished making my purchase I walked over and we had a 4-way Finnish conversation going....right there in the middle of this store in downtown Nashville.  Go Figure!!  What fun to find some Finns right there in Nashville.

We are not the only ones taking fotos of State Signs.....this guy had the right idea....just get out of your car and get a good foto!

We drove right on through Kentucky and in to Indiana where the first Zone Conference would be held the next day.

 We love seeing the cute (and edible) table decorations.

Because May 1st is Kentucky Derby time, Sister Brough, the mission president's wife, told us Sisters to bring our Derby Hats....we would wear them at lunch time.  This senior sister missionary joined Sister Brough and I for the foto op.

Sister Brough and I modeling our hats.....she has 2 hats, I only have the one.

It was a FUN Derby Hat day on Friday because some of the young sister missionaries had made hats and wore them.  They are so creative!

President Brough was a good sport.  Elder/Dr. Allgaier needed him to 'model' a foto for a slide presentation Dad had been asked to do......i.e., what NOT to do when riding a bicycle!  To prevent injuries to oneself and companion.  The missionaries LOVED seeing him on the bike and were very quick to point out the things he was NOT doing right!!

When we left Zone Conference on Thursday and headed toward Lexington, KY for the last Zone Conference of this week, we drove past the Evansville, Indiana Visitor Center.  It was a really neat building right on the Ohio River.  We got to see the River and the building very quickly.  As we drove into the parking lot a siren was blaring.  We were informed that that siren was a 'weather warning' let residences know of the impending storm.  We didn't dilly-dally but rather got on the road and headed to our hotel.

When we finished Zone Conference on Friday we drove over to Morehead Kentucky.  It was only about an hour and a bit from Lexington Kentucky.  We typically don't drive back to PTC for the weekend because it is too far to drive and we don't need to spend that much more time on the roads.  We hunker down fairly close but out in the remote areas so we can just relax....as much as possible with the phones still ringing and missionaries still needing medical help.  Plus, we remember that Uncle BP's mother was from Morehead, KY so we thought it would be fun to see where his family came from.

Morehead is in the Daniel Boone National Forest.  What a GREAT place to visit and roam around.  Beautiful countryside!!

Yes, we even got a little ice cream at the local drug store across the street from the Morehead State University Campus.  We couldn't believe we were getting this because it was snow-flurrying outside.

There is a huge man-made lake (largest one east of the Mississippi River) Cave Run Lake that is absolutely gorgeous.  We drove to the dam and dad got a few fotos.

We call these the 'bump-bump' mountains.  Because that is what they look like.....lots of bumps!

We rarely wear P-Day clothes but we did on this day.  That felt strange to do that but also made it easier to drive around the lake and see things.

We found a whole bunch more barns with quilts on the side.  LOVE these barns.....and lots of them to.

Sit back and relax....here is a FUN and interesting story to add to our weekend!!  You all know Uncle BP.  Of course you do.  You know the home he grew up in 2 houses up from Grandma and Grandpa Allgaier's home in Arlington.  Well, we have known for decades that his mother grew up in Morehead and she loved the house she lived in there.  We knew that she agreed to marry Uncle BP's father IF he would build her a home exactly like the new home that she had just built (her brothers built it for her) here in Morehead.  He agreed and they were married.  Uncle BP remembered the address and we were on a hunt to find the original house.  We FOUND it.  Meet Fred and Marieta Pissarro (great-grandson of artist Pablo Pissarro).  They live in the home.  They were very warm and friendly to us and invited us into the home so we could see the inside.  Amazing how it really is a mirror image of Uncle BP's home in Arlington.

The full view of the front of the home in Morehead, KY with me standing in front.

And the Arlington VA home....where Uncle BP lives.  So weird to walk in the KY home and feel like it should be in reverse!

 We attended church in the Owingsville KY Ward today.  Such a warm and friendly ward.  How fun to be there.  This is also where Uncle BP's mother and her family attended church.  Only back then they met in homes because they were small in numbers.  

It has been another great week and weekend.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our travels.  This was no exception.  We look forward to another week here in the GKLM!!  And more presentations and Elder/Dr. meeting with missionaries and we LOVE OUR MISSION!!!  We appreciate the support from our family....and love each of you.  KIITOS PALJON!!  See ya next week......