Friday, December 31, 2010

We had a great Christmas!



Our Christmas weekend started on Christmas eve when we had a nice dinner together. Then we all got to talk to Elder Daniel in the Philippines! He spoke some Tagalog for us along with some Illongo and some Kinaray a. He says they mix all three with some English which makes for some interesting lesson and conversations I daresay. He is doing really well and adjusting quickly to all things filipino. We opened some presents with the grandsons and the married children and then they all went home to have their own Christmas experiences. Robert, Stephanie and I went for a drive to see Christmas lights (there were not as many this year) and get some hot chocolate from the 7-11 (our favorite place for cocoa). Christmas morning was not as exciting with just the three of us, but we had fun anyway. We went to get Jessica and the boys because Cole had to work and then we talked to Elder Nathan in Africa! He is doing great and had three baptisms on Christmas day. He is very happy and says that he has an agreement with his companion that Elder Taylor cooks and Elder Nathan washes the clothes (by hand in a bucket). He says they eat well and the clothes are always clean! We went to Grandma and Grandpa Fernelius' house for the afternoon and had a wonderful time with siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins etc. Sunday we had a birthday party for Robert's mother in the afternoon and then went to his cousin's house in the evening to visit with cousins from out of town. One of them was the family who went off the freeway and rolled down a steep embankment in Nevada the Tuesday before Christmas (you may have seen it in the paper or on ksl.) It was a very tiring but happy weekend!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Daniel is in the Philippines!

Daniel arrived in the Philippines November 17th at about 6 pm there. Here it was November 17th at 3 am. He left with about 20 elders and sisters on Monday afternoon and they totally missed Tuesday! It is 15 hours ahead of us here. We talked to him on Monday night while he was waiting at the airport in Los Angeles. We got to talk for almost 2 hours! Then when he was in Taipei he called again for a short time. He said the airplane was really nice and everyone got slippers to wear, a down pillow and a blanket. Everyone had their own TV and remote (of course the missionaries didn't use them!) They even got two meals! Much nicer than flying in the states! After that they flew to Manila and split up to go to their respective mission. Daniel and 7 others were continuing to Iloilo. I am hoping that when they got there they were fed and put to bed! We should have an email on Monday and we will send it out!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Elder Kenner has left the building!

We had a lovely farewell weekend for Daniel. On the 11th we had a nice open house attended by a huge crowd of people - at least half were teenagers and most of them girls! Daniel is very popular. Sunday he gave a great talk and we had the family over. We also had a few ward members who could not make it Saturday night. Daniel had his last interview with President Teerlink. Monday we went out and got the few last minute things he needed, including flu shots for me and him. Tuesday he went to the temple with a couple of friends and then shut his phone off and cut off the rest of his friends for family time. All our kids (except the other Elder Kenner of course, and Brittany who was in Texas with her sister) came over for President Teerlink to set Daniel apart as a missionary. Then we had a pizza bar - some very yummy pizzas came out of that one. The kid played games and we made Begniets (sp) from the mix Daniel's friend brought him from Disneyland. We went to bed way too late ( 1am ). Wednesday I got up early and took Robert to the airport (he had to go to San Diego for a meeting). Cole got up and went to work (they stayed over). We had a panic because Daniel could not find his scriptures. We think he left them at church last Sunday. We did the rest of the packing (including the seminary scriptures since we couldn't find the others). So, it was just the girls, mommy and the little boys to take Daniel to Provo. We left with plenty of time so that we could take Daniel to the bank and also go to the BYU bookstore to look for a tie pin. We cannot find one for his mission or just for the Philipines - they are all out. Must be a run on those missions right now. Then we went to Red Robin for his last US restaurant meal. We had our first and only experience with the new "drop off" method of taking someone to the MTC. It was very organized and it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. The letter we got made it sound like we would barely have time to say goodbye. We all hugged him and mostly only got teary -no sobbing! He went into the building with his two missionary escorts and we drove off. It is a little empty without him here, but he is in the right place at the right time and we are happy he is serving. Good Luck Elder Kenner!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Daniel is Almost Ready to Leave!


This post is just to let everyone know that we are having an open house for Daniel on Saturday, September 11 from 6-9 pm at our house. He will speak the next day at Sacrament Meeting which starts at 10:50 a.m. at the church on Viscounti Drive in Sandy. Also, the doctor is pretty sure that we have figured out the diagnosis on him. He is currently taking very strong antibiotics for an infection in his mesentary lymph nodes. This should clear up the problems he has been having. We are excited about that. Anyway, hope to see everyone next weekend for the Daniel Festivities~!

Monday, July 19, 2010

News from Africa


Yesterday we had the opportunity to meet Nathan's returning mission president when we attend Sacrment Meeting to hear President & Sister Squires give their "homecoming" talks. It was fun to meet them. Today the news is that Elder Nathan is being transferred to another area in Monrovia and he will be the SENIOR COMPANION! His new companion has been serving for 6 weeks and he is from Ghana. This will be a new experience for Elder Nathan and I am sure that he will learn a lot! We are proud of him.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

New Missionary News - A Call to Serve!







Hi everyone, most of you know that Daniel has received his mission call. He will be serving in the Philippines Iloilo mission and will report to the MTC in Provo on September 15. We think that this is a fairly new mission because the missionary package had a page that said "No map is currently available" and when Daniel look of Dearelder.com the mission was not listed. We found out that there are 16 missions in the Philippines. He is very excited about this and is anxious to learn a new language (tagalog). We will spend the summer getting him ready. Daniel received his call on May 5 and enjoyed toying with his friends about it. He actually saved it until Mothers Day last Sunday and opened it in the company of his whole family, including Nathan who was on the phone from Liberia! It was a great day. I am posting a map of the country, a flag and a picture of the city.



Friday, April 30, 2010

Facts about Liberia







Nathan is serving now in the city of Monrovia in the Republic of Liberia. This country was founded by freed slaves. They named the capital city of Monrovia after the 6th president of the US James Monroe. 40% of the people are christian, they have 85% unemployment and are one of the poorest countries in the world. There are over 3 million people in the country and 50% of them are under 18! I put map up, Monrovia is the red star, the flag and a small photo of the city. We are anxious to get his first letter from Liberia on Monday!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Mission News from the Kenners!







First of all, Daniel's news is that his papers have been submitted to the Missionary Department at the church office building. When we have the call and have opened it - we will phone call, send e-mails and blog, blog blog.






Next Nathan is being tranferred to the other country in his mission - Liberia. He will be in part of the capitol which is Monrovia. His area is called Gardnersville. He will have his first African companion who is from Sierra Leone. He is a little nervous but excited for a new adventure. Expect mail to take a week longer than it did from Freetown. He sent a few pictures, the first is Elder Kenner and Sister Momo and a bunch of kids, the second is Elder Kenner with his first African haircut and the last is Elder Hilton and Elder Kenner.



Thursday, April 8, 2010

News from Africa






We just received a camera card from Nathan! His trainer Elder Mills got home couple weeks ago and Nathan sent the card with him. We got ahold of his family and Rob picked it up in Bountiful yesterday. We have about 4 video clips and 281 photos! It was really fun to look at them and we can't wait to hear from him about all of the things they are doing in the pictures. I am going to post a bunch here and try to post a video too. Everything here is going well. Daniel has his interview with the bishop on Sunday and then he just has to see the stake president (hopefully he wont have to wait too long - that man is busy) and then the papers go in! Anyway - pictures of Nathan in Africa!


Saturday, March 20, 2010

Updates - Finally!



Daniel was cleared with the chest x-ray -(we all knew he didn't have TB anyway) He is halfway through his dental work and then he will have the wisdom teeth removed. The dentist (we have a new one who is awesome) already sent the papers to the bishop because he knows we are finishing the work. The bishop also has the medical papers. We just need to mark those two items on the papers and upload a photo and submit to the bishop (which we we do this weekend) we are on track for getting the interviews and submitting the papers by the end of April at latest. (he can officially submit April 19) Everyone is excited!

We have planned a family vacation for a week starting May 7. It will be Daniel's trip before he leaves (The one to Colorado last year was Nathan's) We will be going to Myrtle Beach SC. We are really looking forward to it.

In other news, Rob finished his work year in an awesome fashion. Out of over 200 reps in the country HE WAS NUMBER 5! We are very proud of him and he also was awarded the VPC (Vice Presidents Cabinet) award for the fourth time in his career! One of the things this means is that he gets to take me to Bermuda for a week - all paid for! If he can win two more times before he retires - he will be in the Hall of Fame! That has been one of his goals his whole career. We are very blessed in our lives and we know we owe everything to our Father in Heaven.

It will be different to have two missionaries out at the same time, but exciting. Nathan's trainer just came home to Bountiful about a week ago. We are waiting for a call from him because Nathan sent a camera card with him that has about 270 pictures on it along with some video. We can't wait to see it and share it with everyone. Nathan continues to serve in a joyful way and not be bothered by the small things like no running water. He still has some investigators who are progressing.

At the end of this semester Stephanie will take one class either on line or at the Salt Lake Center and provided she can get the three classes she needs in the fall, she will be graduating in December at the end of Fall semester - she is very excited to graduate. She has been writing with Ian on a friendly basis and he is doing very well and maturing nicely.

Cole and Jessica and Kyle are settled in their home and the family will get to go there for birthdays this month. Chris and Brittany are also settled and everything in their home has come together nicely. They are all very happy to have homes - every time Kyle comes back to his house he says "Oh, our house". he is very happy with his big backyard and with the recent nice weather so that he can go out. The last time it snowed his dad helped him make a snowman!\

We will try to keep updated on this blog a little better.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

A bump in the Road


Well, we had Daniel in for his mission physical last week. He had a small wartlike growth taken off from over his eyebrow and when he went back on Friday to have the stitches out they looked at his TB test and said it was Positive! Now we have no idea why it would come out that way, but the way the nurse panicked and got the doctor (not his, but another at the clinic) and the way the doctor kind of panicked, it got Daniel upset. He is having a chest x-ray tomorow. They did not tell him what the possibilities are - we are going to check online for any information about whether these tests can come back with a positive that is false. So, for now, we have to wait and see if and when he is cleared medically. Cole and Jessica got moved into their house yesterday.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Time has passed


It has been a while since we have posted. We had a great Christmas and had the opportunity to talk with Elder Nathan for a whole hour on Christmas day. He is so happy and excited and in love with his mission. He is teaching piano lessons to the branch president's wife and to another lady in the branch. He is busy working with investigators as well as helping with re-activation and retention of members. He has an American companion who is letting him lead the day at least once a week, I know this is teaching him a lot of great lessons. He has two baptisms this coming weekend and will have more in the coming weeks. We love to hear from him and feel his love and excitement for missionary work in Sierra Leone. The little kids call him "Apoto" which means "white guy". The rest of us are doing well, looking forward to the birth of our second granson in June. Cole and Jessica have a new house and Chris and Brittany are getting a house soon. Stephanie and Daniel are doing well in school. Cole works in Park City at the Waldorf Astoria at the Canyons and is in the midst of Sundance Film Festival. He got to meet Sienna Miller and James Franco and walked Katie Holmes to her room. He is busy and enjoying his job a lot! Jessica is loving being a stay at home mom and Kyle loves it that she is with him all the time. Stephanie is moving back with us when Cole and Jessica move into their house this week. it will be fun to have her here. Daniel is working on mission papers and hopes to submit them in April! Rob is doing great and is have success in his job. We are all happy and healthy and loving life!