Conference Weekend

For those of you who don't know, Sam was a missionary for our church from January 2007 to January 2009. He spent those two years serving in the Marshall Islands Majuro Mission. Nintey-nine percent of the time when people hear that the first thing they say is, "Oh wow! (pause) Where is that?!" The Marshall Islands are in the South Pacific, next to nothing. Here's a shot Sammy took flying in...

While Sam was on his mission I heard all about how he loved the people...
I heard about his new talent of climbing coconut trees...
I heard about him eating turtles...
(I chose this picture of a live turtle rather than a picture of one they were eating, you should thank me)

I heard about how they would "island hop" when the tide was low and hope to finish appointments and make it back home before it rose again...
And I also heard about "Air Marshall" The most non-trustworthy airline one could ever imagine. Here is a picture of cloud entering the plane through the door. This shot was taken mid-flight...

One thing I was not aware of was the take-off/landing conditions for Air Marshall. Well, here it is folks...

Nothing but a short, empty dirt field.

I took this picture of a picture that was up at Sam's mission reunion, which we attended Friday night. At the reunion Sam pointed this out to me and I was in total shock when he told me that it was the Majuro airport. I'm still having a hard time believing it!

Despite its flaws, I guess I should be grateful for Air Marshall because it did bring Elder Nielsen back to the states safe and sound. And now he's mine :)

Here's a shot of the former MIMM missionaries at the reunion. (All survivors of Air Marshall!)

It was great to get to meet President and Sister Bleak (Sam's mission president and his wife) and some of Sam's mission friends. They all loved Elder Nielsen and had great things to say about him. What a lucky girl I am!

Saturday morning we had the opportunity to attend the morning session of General Conference. We were in attendance with this lovely couple...

Ashley has been a best friend of mine for 2 years now. She and JD got engaged a couple weeks ago and will be getting married December 19 in the Newport Temple. I am so excited for them!!!

After the morning session we headed up to Bountiful where most of Sam's extended family lives. We enjoyed our time with good food and good people. Sam was worried about getting his clothes dirty before Priesthood session, but the problem was solved. I think the flower apron is a good look for him.
Little Ellie and Kennedy are adorable and they love cousin Sam.
We're not ready for kids, obviously.
After spending the night in Bountiful we attended Sunday morning session of Conference. We opted for a photo in the car this day since it was pouring rain outside.

We are blessed to live so close to the Conference Center, blessed to hear the words of our inspired church leaders, and blessed to be able to spend time with wonderful family. What a great weekend! We hope your weekend was good as well!