Fall has arrived.

 Some fun pictures we took one night after we had been out visiting.  We can still have fun, be silly and love this work.

The Denver Temple one night when I arrived.  Right after I took this picture, there was a streak of lightning right behind the Temple - amazing.

The beautiful bear creek along the trail that I walk every day.  So peaceful.
















Today is the first day of Fall and the trees have already starting changing colors.  This is definitely my favorite time of the year.  We are still enjoying beautiful weather and some days I have to turn on my air-conditioning.
A week and 1/2 ago, Elder DeCoria and I drove the mission van across the state to Grand Junction.  We started out with light snow here in Lakewood and by the time we were half way there, it was beautiful with sunshine and 70 degree temperatures.  We stopped in Gypsum and picked up a couple of sisters who followed us in their car to Grand Junction.   There we picked up 4 elders in Grand Junction that we were bringing back to Denver Metro.  On the way, we were to also inspect the sisters and elders apartments.  Fred and I were both disappointed in how dirty their apartments were and I know this is a huge concern for President and Sister Murdock.  The drive over was lots of fun as you see such beautiful scenery.  However, the drive home was not so fun because we were so tired and it was dark by the time we got to the mission office to drop off the elders.  That was a very long 13 hour day.

Elder DeCoria is now assisting with the mission cars and also with the housing for the missionaries. He is working quite hard to clean the mission cars up and get them ready for the church to sell.   We are also continuing to work with our small branch and getting to know and love these members more every week.  We have had some amazing Sacrament meetings where the Holy Ghost has been poured out in abundance and have heard some of the best talks @ Sacrament meetings that I've every heard. I have thought about why the spirit is so strong here and I think it is because we focus so intently on pure doctrine and the foundation and the basics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We have had some disappointments but I think that is normal.  We were suppose to go to dinner with Wayne and Cindy Rambo last Thursday and they stood us up.  We still want to encourage them and be their friends but sometimes you come up against lack of commitment. Last Sunday, we had a special "Come and See" @ our branch.  We brought a sister and her boyfriend with us to church.  They are an interesting couple.  She is a member but mainly less active and struggling with so many issues in life that chaos reigns in her world.  Her boyfriend Brian was close to getting baptized a while back but never came to church because he is a chef and worked every Sunday.  When he was told he couldn't get baptized until he came to church, he got very angry and basically asked the missionaries to go.  Even in his telling us the story, he still had a lot of passion about the whole situation.  We tried to explain to him that he needed to know about the church that he was getting baptized into and he couldn't know it if he never came.  He also believes in re-incarnation and I don't think he really believes the church is the true church of Jesus Christ.  BUT we are going to pick them up again next week and bring them to church.
I am continuing to work with these amazing sisters and elders and helping them with all their health concerns.  I have even typed up a menu of healthy diet options for an elder who wants to feel better so he knows he needs to eat healthier.  Along with the menu of breakfast and lunch options, I also typed up a shopping list for him and mailed both of those items to the missionary.   Maybe some good will come from that.  The number one health issue out here continues to be depression and anxiety and we have a lot of missionaries seeing counselors and also on medications.  There is also dental issues, orthopedic problems, headaches, stomach aches, we have one missionary who is a diabetic and on an insulin pump, we have another sister who had a kidney transplant, we have eye and ear issues and of course allergies and colds.   I am learning a lot!!!!!
Elder DeCoria and I are planning on taking a trip to Estes Park to see the Elk on our anniversary in October.  I am excitedly looking forward to that outing.  Life continues to be good here @ our small apartment in Lakewood, CO.and we love the Lord and the work we have been called to do.

Branch Camp out

At our branch campout in August 2014.  

This is some of the beautiful scenery here in Colorado.  Fred and I went to a branch camp out in the mountains in August 2014.  We didn't get to spend the night because I have to take phone calls and there was no service up there.  So we went up on Friday night and stayed for several hours.  It brought back lots of memories of camping with our family over the years.  We also met several new members of the branch and then had s'mores and popped popcorn over the fire.  

Branch camp-out @ Bear Creek Campground on August 15, 2014

Amazing sunsets here in Colorado

Fred relaxing by the campfire.

Pike's Peak

On September 1st, 2014, Elder DeCoria and I decided to take a break and drive to Colorado Springs and find Pike's Peak.  It ended up being about a 2 hour drive.  The drive up the mountain was 19 slow miles filled with curvy hair pin turns and amazing scenery.  There are parts that are even dangerous because you are on the edge of the road and there are no guard rails.  You have to turn off your air-conditioning and on the way back down, there is a brake check and if your brakes are hot, you have to park your car for 30 minutes so the brakes will cool down.  The elevation @ the top of Pike's Peak is 14, 110 feet and the air is mighty thin.  I have never been that high before other than in an airplane that's pressurized.  When we got out to walk around, we had to breathe shallow because our lungs couldn't take a deep breath and it was very windy and chilly.  We were both rather dizzy and you feel weird and even when you walk, it feels like you can't walk a straight line.  It was a very interesting experience feeling a bit of altitude sickness.  They have signs stating that babies under 6 months should not be there and also anyone with a breathing disorder or heart disease.  You were so rewarded when you finally reached the summit that it was worth the effort.  We were as highs as the hawks and higher than all the mountains around us.  I felt like I was on top of the world and I like that feeling.  We took several pictures to remind us of this amazing experience.  And I still love Colorado....The woman who wrote the words to American the Beautiful had just visited Pike's Peak in the late 1800's and then wrote the inspiring words to that great song.

At the very top - 14,000+ feet

What a View.....

At the lodge where you let your brakes cool off

September 2014

Wow I can't believe that we have been out in Colorado for 6 1/2 weeks and I still love this place. I am still working hard and many days I think I should get paid for this (ha, ha, ha).  I am getting paid big time in blessings and I love these sweet sisters and elders that I get to serve.  They are so kind to me and the sisters tell me all the time that they love me.
Some thing dramatic has happened in my life the past 2 weeks and it has rei
nforced my belief of what we are doing here on earth and why we are here.  My sweet mother, Alice Griffeth Hansen passed on to a new experience on August 21, 2014 on the day of her 64th anniversary.  I had a feeling that when I told her good-bye prior to our entering the MTC, that it would be the last time that I would see her alive in mortality.  My mother had been given a blessing prior to her heart by pass surgery in November 2013 that she could live as long as she desired.  My sister Diane flew to Rigby and brought my mom home to her house on August 16th so that she could die @ home.  And my sweet sisters sat by her bedside night and day in shifts ministering to mom the last 5 days of her life.  She had gotten weaker and weaker from not desiring to eat and she was also not taking many fluids before she came home so in my opinion, mom was choosing to move on.  My sisters and I had the privilege of dressing mom in her Temple clothes and that experience was sacred and tender.  Her funeral services were held on Saturday, August 23rd for family members that couldn't be there for the public funeral which was held on August 25th.  The funeral services were amazing and filled with a lot of music which was what mom wanted.  It was a memorable and beautiful tribute to a much loved woman and there were many people from all walks of life that came to pay their respects.  Fred and I loved visiting with many old friends, family and of course our children and grandchildren but were excited to get back to our mission and doing the things we were called to do.

Flowers from my good friends, Debbie, Kay, Judy and Stephanie.

My five sisters and me after we had dressed our mom and were spending some sacred time with her.