for posterity...: February 2015

HISTORY

A Little History:

Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.

From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.

In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.

Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.

So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.

Our Mission Statement:

This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.

We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.

As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.

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Saturday, February 28, 2015

Photos

The hotel we stayed our first 10 days in Canada, Executive Airport Plaza.

Our District:) at the MTC. Next to us the Hansens from Gresham, Oregon, going to the Philippines, the Clarks, from Salt Lake, going to Chile, the Dohlberg's, from Salt Lake, Church and Family History in SLC. Cute sister teachers.

Not in chronological order, 2 sisters going home: Sister Dahl and Sister Facer on the right, both went home a week ago Wednesday. These girls were both leaders. Sister Burns, who I replaced is now on Vancouver Island in Nanaimo.

Colby and Lilia waiting for Elder and Sister Croshaw to be set apart.

More sisters who are awesome. Sister Allen, Sister Gamble, Sister Burns, Sister Tsai, Sister Yeung (from Taiwan and Hong Kong, respectively.) Last two sisters are Mandarin and Cantonese (and English) speaking. These missionaries are beyond remarkable.

Richmond Center Mall. It is gigantic. The sisters tell me there is a bigger mall in Burnaby, that takes all day to go through. The Korean Branch meets in Burnaby--NE Vancouver. Burnaby is the Hollywood of Canada.

Burt Brothers Tires--our first introduction to our Mission President. He and his brother own these Utah based tire stores.

My sweet Mom. Just wanted to throw that one in.

Another one for me--some of our beautiful grandchildren at Cascade for the 4th of July.

Two weeks before we moved we met Verna Lee in Salt Lake City for our annual Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. Verna Lee used her connections to get us the tickets. Wonderful night.

Our farewell at the Cascade. These dear friends showed up and surprised us. Larry and Syndee Kemp and Syd and Barb Wood. They have been an integral part of our lives for so many years. We are so grateful for the many friends who have blessed our lives.

With Dana when we were set apart. There is a story behind David's attire.

So glad he is my mission and eternal companion.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Good Morning

Just getting ready for the office. Going to the temple tonight with the Korean Branch. We are speaking (in English) next week, briefly. I wanted to share this picture which always brightens my day, and makes me feel at home. Love all of you.

Some Canadian information. Bathrooms are washrooms. Eggs and chicken are highly regulated. Neither can be brought into the country. The eggs I bought at Costco each have a little pink 'Robin 3' I think it is on them, life the more expensive eggs in the states. We live in the Lower Mainland.

I love the missionaries so much. They have such a loving, strong spirit about them. We love our life right now. The gospel of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ particularly, provide the only way back to our heavenly home. Love you all.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

BORDER CROSSING

After a tearful departure from the Delgadillos in Boise on Monday, Feb 9, we traveled northwest through Oregon-Washington to Yakima for an afternoon/evening with Matt, (dinner at Abby's Pizzeria and building bed frame and shelves in his room.) As in Boise, it was very sad to leave Matt that night, but somehow we tore ourselves away and traveled to Ellensberg for the night. Arising early the next morning, we continued north to through Seattle and on to the Canadian border - road signs are self explanatory.

We were pleasantly surprised that the lines at the border were less than 5 minutes wait, and no car inspection necessary for us. Then the immigration process (obtaining visas, etc.) took less than 45 minutes, a process which can take up to 3 hours. We think our agent was LDS. At least he told us he had history and family in Arizona and Utah, so somehow he knew we were not terrorists or smugglers, up to no good. Whatever it takes, we are grateful for the perks. Now we are all "established" in a hotel room while we await clearance of our apartment. We love the young missionaries here and the other senior couples in our mission office. More about that and all our new responsibilities on a later post.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

MTC Buddies

These guys were Mom and Dad's teachers for their week at the MTC.

Day Two

We went to a zone meeting this morning. These missionaries are incredible. We gave them our number if they need our help.

Living in the Executive Airport Plaza, in Richmond, BC for the next week. We'll be helping the missionaries get to the airport as they are returning home next Wednesday. We'll also help with their farewell dinner the night before. They go to the temple the day before as well. I think it is a sister temple to Twin Falls.

David will be helping with the cars. I believe there are over 100 cars in the mission. I'll update the number later. He'll be trained officially next week. We think we will have a place to move into next Wednesday. The couple in it now will be transferring to a place on Vancouver island.

President Burt keeps saying how much he loves us and how much he needs us and how happy he is that we are here. He told us they prayed us here. He jokingly told us he told them in Salt Lake he would give any couple who would come a new set of tires. He is a bit ovewhelmed with all his responsibilities. It took them 35 days to meet all the elders after they arrived in July. This province is either 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 times the size of Texas. It's a beautiful place. We're glad to be here with over 241 missionaries. We feel loved and needed.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Welcome to the MTC

We arrived at 10:19 a.m. on Monday morning. In our first group meeting we saw a couple from the old sixth ward-Keith and Carol Kendall. They are going to SLC for the family history mission. A member of the presidency has the last name Bertasso. I talked to him and Millie is his grandmother. Small world. A lady came up to David and told him she had been baptized by a Croshaw. Turns out it was David's uncle, Harry.

We are studying Preach My Gospel. It's been great as we are taught by young return missionaries, who are so capable. Devotional tonight by Elder Schwitzer. Beautiful music by the junior missionaries, as they are called here. Met a couple from Vancouver, BC. Very nice people. They tell us we will love our mission president. Just about everyone oohs and aahs every time we tell them where we are going. We feel so blessed to be able to do this right now. Lots of latitude for the Senior Missionaries. We can leave the campus if we want, and go to the front of the line in the cafeteria. We can even go to special rooms to nap if we need. Haven't needed that yet. It costs $2.16 to dry clean a tie and $1.44 for shirts. No idea how they came up with those figures. Everything there is rushed for Senior Missionaries. The food is pretty good, but way too much of it.

David will add some photos when he writes. On to day three.