Beginning of Mission to Colorado

In 2000, Gina retired from her work and wanted to have Mom live with her and John. They already had John’s mother living with them. We drove down to Mesa in the camper thinking Mom might want to stretch out and rest but she sat up in the back all the way. Gina and John have a nice big condo with two bedrooms upstairs, one for each mother, and bedrooms downstairs. Also two bathrooms upstairs and one down.
Leon and I were feeling quite free and decided to send in our papers for another mission. We requested the Family History Center in SLC but our call was to the Colorado Denver South Mission with headquarters in Denver. We found a woman who signed a lease to rent our house for the 18 months we would be gone. I didn’t want Sylvia to have to worry about our house. We spent a few weeks living with Alan and Peggy while we attended the classes at the MTC. reporting December 12. Lauren very kindly gave up her room, which had its own bathroom. We had to be in Denver just before Christmas so we loaded up our car with computer, printer, small TV (David traded our larger TV for a smaller one with video player) and kitchen things and our clothes. We were really loaded down.
Our Mission President really didn’t know what to do with us at first. For two weeks we stayed in an apartment some missionaries had used in Englewood, a suburb of Denver. The financial secretary, he and his wife were senior missionaries, got sick and we thought we would take their place but it didn’t work out. Then in the new year, we were sent to live in Woodland Park, a city about 18 miles west of Colorado Springs. Way up in the mountains, elevation about 8,000 feet. We were surrounded by beautiful pine trees with a view of Pike’s Peak.
Our first apartment was upstairs in a four-plex. It had two bedrooms. After one night in the first bedroom we moved to the second as you could smell the cooking from the oriental family living right under us. We had a washer and drier just outside our door, coin-operated of course. The back of the apartment overlooked the football field of the local high school. We noticed a kitchen chair in a tree in the back yard. Leon got it down and we used it in our apartment.
The Woodland Park Ward welcomed us very warmly. The Bishop was Gary Hasson who had a beautiful wife Melissa. He had filled his mission in Brazil. Her father is Iranian and her children and she have beautiful black eyes. The Second Counselor was Gordon Reynolds. He and his wife Janis had a beautiful home he built out in the pines outside the town of Lake George. Our ward extended over a large part of the country. It took an hour to drive to the fartherest member’s home. We had many wonderful ward members; they were very kind to us.