Cousins Are Forever

Dear Family and Loved Ones,

     Our computer crashed this week and I am not getting along very well with Ted's laptop . . . so this letter will be short.

     We had a wonderful week. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at the mission offices training our mission leaders (zone leaders and district leaders) and some of our newest missionaries. I'm still getting used to cooking for large numbers of "growing" young men and young women (I've observed the sisters eat as much as the Elders). I've discovered the typical portion sizes don't apply to missionaries. We try to instruct them to start out with one serving of each item and then come back for seconds if they are available. This past week we were concerned about running out of food so Ted and a couple of the missionaries served the food and everyone got fed. I was also caught off guard when someone had borrowed every cooking pot in the kitchen except a huge, industrial sized stock pot. It took almost 30 minutes to get the water to come to a boil so I could cook the spaghetti noodles and it was so heavy I needed two of the Elders to empty for me. Somehow it all worked out

     Thursday the 25th was our 31st wedding anniversary. We exchanged cards (Ted’s letters are always the best!) and went to training. I mentioned that it was our anniversary to one of the sisters so she decided to organize all of the missionaries to sing to us following lunch. In the meantime Ted had slipped away to get ready for the next half of training and I was left to stand all alone in front of 60 missionaries while they sang “As I have Loved You”. When I told Ben and Mari about it later they asked, “What did you do?” I told them, “I cried.” It always makes me emotional to hear our missionaries sing that beautiful hymn but it is overwhelming to be looking at each one with their shining faces and kind eyes directed straight at me! I wish Ted could have been there to share that moment.

     Thursday two of my sisters and three of our nieces arrived in Long Beach for a weekend getaway. We had a great time! We were able to go to the LA temple and they relaxed at the pool and the beach (there were a few sunburns to prove it). They spoiled me with a pedicure and dinner at Dukes in Huntington Beach. We are so blessed to have such great families.

     Friday Shelly, Shalane and I went to Costa Mesa for an amazing concert put on by a choral organization called OCMCO. It was incredible to see so much local talent all organized and directed by a member of the Church from Huntington Beach. The choir and orchestra put on several performances each year and also have a couple of CD’s.

    While we were relaxing Ted was busy with missionaries who needed a little TLC. The  newest missionaries can be very tender and fragile and need some encouragement as they make the big adjustment to mission life. 

     Shelly, Ben and Mari loved having their cousins visit. I walked into the den where we store our whiteboard and saw that someone had written in big bubble letters “Cousins are Forever”. I’ve always appreciated our extended family and grew up enjoying my cousins. I appreciate those relationships even more now since Ted’s parents were both the only child in each of their families which means Ted didn’t have any aunts, uncles or first cousins! Hopefully we don’t overwhelm him too much with our big, tight-knit family. I’m grateful we have such a close association, each of our children love that their cousins are also some of their best friends. Many other friends will come and go but over the years they will find just how true their insight was “Cousins are Forever”.

We love and appreciate each of you,

The Long Beach Buberts