Temples and Tempests

Temples, Typhoons and swollen feet !! 

Last week we were able to take Sarah to the Newport Beach Temple for the first time. It was a precious day filled with many special memories.  One of the most emotional moments in a parents life is when they see their children in the temple, and as you can imagine there were some tears of joy shed on this special day.
Just a few months earlier we were there with our daughter AJ as she prepared to leave for her mission in the Philippines. 
This time we were there for our daughter Sarah as she prepares to leave for her mission in Mexico. She will enter the MTC in Utah in October. 

We enjoyed a few hours with Sarah in the temple and then was joined by Sarah's best friend Jocelyn, who is leaving next week to serve a mission in Atlanta, Georgia.  It was great to see both girls together in the temple.

Sarah is getting more and more excited for her mission. It has been a relaxed process getting her prepared. We've had much more time with her than we did with AJ.  From the day AJ got her call to the time she left we only had 6 weeks, with Sarah we will have had 3 1/2 months. 

We are leaving for Utah this week to visit some friends and do some shopping for Sarah's mission. It'll be a mother- daughter weekend and I'm looking forward to spending some time with Sarah and her twin sister Katie. 

Newport Beach Temple August 8, 2013

Best friends at the temple. Sister Carr will be serving her mission in Mexico and Sister Smith will be serving her mission in Georgia.

Sarah's mission call

Update on Sister Carr in the Pines

We wait each week with anticipation to receive our weekly email from our missionary in the Philippines. This week was filled with more anticipation than usual as we anxiously waited to hear if our daughter made it safely through her first typhoon. 
It's typhoon season in the Philippines and Typhoon Utor swept through bringing torrential rain and winds in excess of 120mph.  The storm was scheduled to make land fall this past Sunday night, Monday in the Philippines.   We weren't sure if Sister Carr would be able to send us an email due to the many power outages there, but after waiting all day Sunday we finally received an email from our baby girl around midnight Sunday night (Monday afternoon in the Pines).


Hey Mom and Dad!!

Yes, I am safe and fine here! We did get hit pretty good with the storm...it's actually going on right now, so we have been inside all morning and were finally given permission to leave the house to shop and email. 

This past week has been an alright one.  I woke up Wednesday morning at 3 am with 102 degree fever, body aches and a massive headache.  It sucked. Then 2 days ago I found out that I am allergic to the body soap I bought, so  now I have this rash all over my body.  And to top it all off my feet are taking a beating.  They are SOOOO swollen!!! Like they are huge and hurt from walking so much and on unleveled rocky ground. But don't worry about me, I am happy, loving it here in the Philippines! My companion is awesome! we have so much fun together! I am eating well! I miss American food but I do really love the foods here!! We found a place that sells Magnum Bars so I was pretty happy and think I can survive (: 

Let's see what else...OH Yea!! My bag has been found!! I was so relieved! Everything is inside!!!

I am so excited for Sarah!! That's awesome! I wish I could have been there!!! All of you look so great in the photo! Thanks for sending that to me!!! She is going to be an amazing missionary!!

The language is coming along really well. Sister Merrill and I speak in Tagalog as much as we can and that is a huge help. Pero still I have a lot to learn. But I love the language and oh the dialect here is Ilicano so I am learning and using both!!!

Mom and Dad I love you guys and the rest of the family so much.  Please be careful all day/ everyday and pray that Heavenly Father will keep you safe!! Mom be safe when you drive to Utah! Please Please Please!! Have a great last couple of nights both of you at the fair and working concerts! It will be that time again before you know it! Be safe driving to and from LA tomorrow but have fun!!! Be safe driving always. That's my biggest worry!!

Please give everyone a huge hug and kiss from me. Tell Gpa I say hello and that I love him.  

Thank you mom and dad for all your love and support. I miss you guys like no other. I hope you know that I send my love to you guys and the family daily and multiple times during the day. My family is the world to me and it's very hard being away. I took a lot of my time with you guys for granted.  Now that is all want, more time with you guys. So please be safe so that I can have that. You are the best parents and I have the best family. I love you I love you I love you. 

Mahal Kita!

Mahal,

Sister Carr 

P.S. I will try to send pictures next week, I just don't have enough time! Sorry!

Love you. Be safe. 

What a relief!! Our daughter was safe, she had made it through her first typhoon. We were relieved until we found out that the Philippines get about 20 typhoons a year. This was the first for our daughter, but it most certainly won't be the last this season. 

 I was able to find out that days before the storm was scheduled to hit, the Philippine mission presidents (there are 21 missions in the Philippines each one with its own mission president) were tracking the storm and were taking precautionary measures to keep all missionaries safe. 

Our daughters mission president, President Monahan, gave all missionaries instructions to stay inside their apartments until the storm safely passed. They were at no time supposed to go outside for any reason until it was safe.  Luckily our daughter's area wasn't in the direct path of the storm, but had there been a threat of serious danger all the missionaries would've been evacuated. 

 I will probably continue to worry about our daughter, knowing that she will most likely go through more storms. The one good thing is that after the storm passes there are many opportunities for AJ and her fellow missionaries to roll up their sleeves and go to work providing service to those in need. 

I hated reading that she was sick with such a high fever and that her feet were swollen and hurting. I found it funny that she says as long as she has her Magnum Bars (her favorite ice cream bars) that she will survive. 

Hahaha!! That sounds like our daughter!!

While we'll continue to worry about the challenges that our daughter will face, we're grateful to know that she is being watched over and cared for by her church leaders and by her Heavenly Father.