Celebrating Freedoms

July 8, 2017

July 4th was our P-day, it was a Tuesday.  P-day is normally Monday but with Zone Conference on Monday we were able to save P-day for Tuesday which meant we could celebrate America's birthday on the actual day!  We felt lucky.

Front Roll: Me, Sorelle Acerson, Ricks, Groll, Macdonald, Anziani Anderson, Garrett, Dickey, MacDonald, Moscan, Gunnell, Wright, Bardsley, Hansen, Bently - Back row: Anziani Stout, Oswald, Drenk, Stratton, Battaglia, Albright, Christensen, Anderton, Misa, and Campbell

And to celebrate Anziano Garrett and I hosted a missionary BBQ at our home. We felt extremely blessed to invite our whole Palermo Zone to our home.  We love our missionaries and we love each moment with them.  They love being together too.

We ate lots of food.  Each companionship brought something to share from fruit, chips, salad, appetizers, drinks, and desserts. And they all pitched in to help either with preparation or clean up at the end.

These beautiful sorelle know how to carve a watermelon

Anziano Bardsley on hamburger bun control

Frosting cookies

I think there is a little food stupor going on

Anziano Garrett fired up the bbq grill, so luckily provided by our homeowners on our lovely courtyard, and grilled up about 40 hamburgers.  There was also hot dogs, pasta salad, corn on the cob, bbq beans, and watermelon.

Anziano Anderson and Anziano Campbell overseeing the grilling

Hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, green and pasta salad, bbq beans

Anziano MacDonald and Anziano Christensen give their thumbs up

Oh, and those desserts! S'mores dip, candy bar brownies, sugar cookie flag, and cake.  The graham crackers came all the way from Utah brought by our bishop and his wife special order for us.

Happy 4th of July

So creative of Sorella Macdonald and Sorella Groll

A lot of chatter, emails home, movie line quotes, and a silly wet rock, paper, scissors game created by Anziano Battaglia.

Anziani Drenk, Stratton, Moscan, Oswald, Hansen, and Gunnell

Still friends even though Anziano Campbell slaughtered Anziano Dickey in the game

A wet rock, paper, scissors game

But mostly we recognize the blessing of a free country where the gospel could be restored bringing back all the blessings of Christ's church on earth today!


We love America!