TRIP TO VIRGINIA

Dear Family,

Last week, we traveled back to Warren County Virginia to visit our friends Larry and Madeline M. in their home and farm. I love it back there and love visiting with them. We have so much in common and just chat away constantly. He was Mission President in Frankfurt, Germany when we were in Munich.

We talked at length during our missions as well and one time we discussed the athletes in our mission. I don't know who said it first but somehow the comment was made that "Our missionaries could beat yours at basketball".

So we had a little secret game in our mission on our Preparation day. We had to return about four cars to the European Area Office in Frankfurt . I asked the fleet director how we could get these extra cars up there and he suggested that someone might come down from the Frankfurt Mission and drive the vehicles back to Frankfurt. "Well,I 'll chat with President Manwaring and maybe we can work something out" was my reply.

This was a great chance and we decided to meet in Wurzberg, Germany, which was close to his mission (he always wanted that city). It turns out that there is a big US Army base there and I called the Chaplain who was one of our good members in the ward there to see if the gym was available. He secured the gym and The Frankfurters came down with a van load of missionaries who would drive the extra cars back. He brought a ringer; one of his missionaries was a college player in Southern Utah. We put a team together of missionaries to drive the extra cars up there, some of whom promised they could actually play basketball.

Somehow shirts were made. The sisters in Wurzburg were recruited as coach and referee. John was there coming through after his mission in Taiwan and he was recruited as team manager. Even my German AP played and he made a basket.

Well I will not say much about this legal preparation day game in our mission but we almost won. I did not know about a three point shooter I had in the mission; if he had played, we could have almost won better. A great time was had by all and I treated the entire group to American Pizza at the base commissary. Tasted so good for a change.

So Larry never lets me forget about this game we almost won. The other thing he stresses in Virginia is all the battlefields we drove around where the Union troops lost. "Didn't the North win any battles around here?" I asked, "Not that they taught us in school" was the reply.

Well anyway we had a great time. Larry also likes upland bird hunting and is a great shot. We used his dogs which are highly trained Brittany Spaniels and it was fun to watch them work as a group. I have done a lot of bird hunting and these were the best dogs ever!

Larry is also a good cook and we ate pheasant for two days and it was the best ever!

We tried deer hunting as well. He set up a blind in his backyard where deer were spotted each day. They did not come out while we were there; it was very cold but when we returned at night, deer were almost jumping over our car, the cheeky little devils. And we get home in Salt Lake to find three deer walking down our street as we pulled in the driveway at night.

Well we are home and preparing for Xmas. Smaller group for Xmas Eve this time as many families travel to other parts. We will make the rounds on Xmas Day.

Alles Gute und Schoene Weihnachten wuenschen wir allen.

Love Opa and Oma