Crater Lake

We were pretty happy to be able to take a trip to see Crater Lake. It was worth the drive!

What a beatiful sight! And yes, the water is as blue as it looks in the picture.

Getting ready to hike down the Cleetwood Cove Trail, the only trail that leads down to the lake. It was only about 2 miles, but felt like 20 on the way back up!

Taken by Sister Terry sitting on one of the many benches on the trail going back up.

Elder Terry waiting patiently for Sister Terry to finish sitting on one of the many benches going back up the trail!

Wizard Island out in the middle of the lake.

Phantom Ship Island

Vidae Falls

It was a great day!

Life in the mission office

Each weekday (and some Saturdays) we work in the mission office. We work with some great people!

First, meet the Oliphants. They are service missionaries from Roseburg, Oregon, about an hour away from Eugene. They have temporarily moved to Eugene and will have served longer than any of the rest of us by the time they go home.

 Elder Oliphant is in charge of finances. 

Sister Oliphant is in charge of mail, referrals and supplies. 

Next up from El Paso, Texas, meet the Routs!

Elder Rout is in charge of the mission vehicles. 

Sister Rout is the mission nurse and also does the newsletter and President Young's blog.

That leaves yours truly....

Elder Terry is in charge of housing for the mission.

And Sister Terry is the mission secretary.

We have some great assistants. Currently serving are Elder Jennings on the left and Elder Migliori on the right. In the center is Elder Covey who agreed to finish his mission in the new Oregon Salem Mission to help them get on their feet. This picture was taken the day we drove him to his new mission.

Recently we were asked to be the "parent mission" for the new Oregon Salem Mission which officially started on July 1st. We helped to set up their files, order supplies for them and trained their office staff. Here we are with Sister Christensen, my counterpart in the new mission.

And here are the men with Elder Christensen who is their housing coordinator.

"Men in Black" Elder Terry and Rout with Elder Haines, one of our office elders.

Once in awhile parents send treats to the office staff. This was a yummy fruit basket. President and /Sister Young came down and we all enjoyed it together. Yum!

Nashville Tribute Band Concert

A couple of weeks ago we attended a concert put on by the Nashville Tribute Band. They are a group of musicians who are all LDS, who have been successful in Nashville, and still find time to perform together paying tribute to Joseph Smith, the pioneers and missionaries. It was held at a farm outdoors on a nice evening.

Visiting with each other before the show begins.

Enjoying a delicious BBQ dinner.

Elder and Sister Terry. This hat was the best of the selection at Fred Meyer so don't laugh too hard!

Nashville Tribute Band. Jason Deere, who is second from the left served his mission in Las Vegas back in the 80's. 

Due West. A great group. One of their best known songs is, "When the Smoke Clears."

Singing with the band. At one point they asked if there were any full time missionaries in the audience. We raised our hands and they had us come up and sing with them. The song is about missionary work and is called "I Was Born." I loved the chorus which is:

And we are here to serve our King!

Children of the Most High

It's His good news that we bring

As we labor gladly bringing souls to Christ.

And that's why we are serving our mission... to do whatever we can to help bring souls to Christ.

 Beautiful moon. A perfect ending to a perfect evening!

King Estate Winery

A few months ago we met the other senior couples at King Estate Winery for lunch. Such a beautiful setting!

It is always nice to spend time socially together. Since we are LDS and don't drink alcohol, we chose to eat out on the patio. From left going around the table: Sister Caldwell, Sister Rout, Elder Rout, Sister Terry, Elder Terry, Sister Oliphant, Elder Oliphant, Elder Mangun. Unfortunately Sister Mangun got cut off of the picture!

This lavender field was just off of the main road and so pretty. 

A view of the vineyards. There are quite a few wineries in the Eugene area.

Pretty view.

A great time was had by all.

Voodoo Doughnuts

I have already devoted a blog post to Dave's Killer Bread so it seems only appropriate to devote another one to Voodoo Doughnuts! We are lucky to live close to one of the three locations in the United States. Two are in Portland and the other is in downtown Eugene.

The bright pink on the building makes it stand out and sometimes you can even smell the icing as you walk by!

It's hard to see in the picture above, but you can have your picture taken in a big voodoo doll that stands in front of the window.

Let's not leave out Elder Terry!

Elder Terry's favorite... Bacon Maple.

Sister Terry's favorite. The Voodoo Doll. Note the pretzel "pin." Inside the stomach is raspberry filling.

Last time we went we went all out and got fritters. Elder Terry chose a peach with cream cheese frosting. Sister Terry chose a Memphis Mafia fritter with chocolate, peanut butter and banana. It took us three days to eat them!

 

Besides buying doughnuts, Voodoo also sells t shirts, hats, underwear and if you are really inclined, you can actually get married! We have no idea who this couple is and didn't see this wedding, but it is too bizarre not to include!

Hendricks Park

On one of our couple outings the Routs invited us to visit Hendricks Park which has a beautiful garden full of rhododendrons. The first time was pretty, but we went back on our own a few weeks later and it was even more beautiful.

 It was a little chilly the first time we visited.

Elder and Sister Rout, Sister Terry, Elder and Sister Oliphant, Elder and Sister Mangun, Elder Caldwell and Elder Terry.

Pretty purple with the sun shining through the trees.

Up close and personal.

My favorite picture.

Afterwards we had lunch at Café 440. Delicious food and good company!

Camp Alpine

Part of our mission includes a girls' camp. Elder and Sister Caldwell and Elder and Sister Mangun are the two couples who serve there and keep the camp running. One of our monthly activities was a barbeque at the camp.

A nice group shot of all of us except Sister Caldwell behind the camera.

Elder Caldwell, Elder Mangun, Sister Mangun, Sister Oliphant, Elder Oliphant, Sister Terry, Elder Terry, Sister Rout, Elder Rout

Visiting while waiting for the food to finish cooking.

It's always nice when the men do the cooking!

 

What a pretty view!