MISSIONARY HOMECOMING (May 7, 2015)

One last email to complete our missionary adventures.  Please bear with me as I tie up all the lose ends of our arrival home and our homecoming.

We left Nauvoo on March 27th, Friday, and arrived home in Orem on March 31s, after spending a few days in Gillette, Wyoming with our daughter Tami, and her family.  What a wonderful experience to see them after 18 long months.  The kids had really grown up.  They have a beautiful apartment in a really nice area of Gillette.

We pulled into Orem around 5:00 p.m. after Rudi had to stop and wash the car before we could go to our place.  I about died with anticipation to see the rest of the family.  We were greeted with banners, balloons, posters and tons of hugs and kisses from all seventeen of our family.  Lots of tears of joy to see our dear family.

The next week was spent in St. George with all of them during spring break catching up on all we've missed while gone.  So much fun and noise.  We aren't use to the confusion that all the grandkids can make,  but it sounded wonderful to us.  We enjoyed swimming, hiking, playing games, putting puzzles together and just visiting.

Our homecoming was on April 26th.  After many hours of yard work and putting the house together, planning the food for a lot of people and preparing our talks we were tired and ready for some relaxation.  But we haven't stopped long enough to rest,YET!

We're trying to go to the temple every week.  So far we've been to the Ogden, St.George, Mount Timpanogoes, three times and the Provo Temples.  We are amazed at how crowded they are compared to the Nauvoo Temple.  What a wonderful problem!

We really are enjoying family and friends here at home but miss our beloved Nauvoo and dear missionary friends there.  Part of our hearts will always remain in Nauvoo.  We look forward to going back to visit, hopefully very soon!

We want our children and grandchildren to know how much we appreciate their support and love of us while we were gone.  They watched over our homes and yard with tender loving care.  It all looked so great when we arrived.  We couldn't ask for better kids with wonderful and adorable grandchildren.  We hope and pray that our example of serving a mission will encourage them to want to serve.  The blessings that come from service is hard to explain, but we know we were watched over and protected while we were gone.  Both Rudi and I received medical miracles while in Nauvoo.  We will remain grateful for our blessings of health and strength. We also know that our family was protected while we were gone.  There was never a day that all of their names were not put on the prayer rolls of the temple.  I have a strong testimony of the faith and prayers of all who attend the temple in blessing my family.  I continue to put their names on the prayer rolls of the temples that I attend.  Hopefully all my family will live up to that special blessing.

Well, dear family and friends it's been a joy to share our mission with you.  I hope in the near future all these emails will be compiled into a book that my family will treasure as much as we will.  Thanks to Tiffini, our daughter for her endless hours of effort to make sure this book is compiled.

Our love and appreciation to you all for your continued support of us.  We will remain forever, "The Nauvoo Missionaries".

Rudi and Kathy Diederich

Rudi and I after our homecoming talks.  So great to meet and greet our family and friends at our home.

Some of our special people enjoying the food  and fun.  Thanks Jacqueline and Aunt Arlene for coming so far to our homecoming.  Aunt Arlene it's all your fault my make-up was smeared!  You are such a special aunt to me and I love you dearly.

 More food pictures!  What's a party without food.

 So many people crowded into our kitchen and dining room.  Too bad the weather didn't cooperate so we could be out around the pool.  So good to see the Moller's from Idaho.

 Mark and Myrt Gehring came over to visit.  Thanks for your continued support on our mission.  What a great picture of a beautiful couple!

  Aunt Shirley even came from Bountiful to our meeting and over to the house.  So good to see her and Aunt Arlene and Uncle Don.  They made me cry when I saw them at the church, I had no idea they were coming.

Steve Halladay and Margarete Diamond.  Special family members who came to support us.

 My brother Ron and his wife Cindy and their daughter Tienna and her newest adorable kids along with Kristin who loves all children.

 Ethan our grandson and two of Paul and Linda Bingham's grandsons.

 Our  diva  granddaughters Ainsley and Addie.  Too cute and so grown up now.

 Four of our five granddaughters.  Addie, Ellie, Ainsley, and Tieler.  Too bad Callie couldn't be here with her family.  They live in Gillette, Wyoming.  Too far to come.  They were missed!

 Our future missionary grandsons.  From left to right:  Carson, Caden, Ethan, Joshua, Logan and Jensen.  Missing one grandson, Brody who lives in Gillette.

More mingling and munching.  I think everyone got plenty to eat, I hope!

 Happy grandma with two of her daughters and one granddaughter.  Love them so much!  Addie, Tiffini, mom, and Traci.

 What a good looking son I have!  Kristin you will always be my favorite daughter-in-law.  Troy, thanks for marrying such a wonderful woman.

 Ellie and Traci, what would we do without you!  They make a great team!  So beautiful and always helping me stay on the right track.

 Grandpa and Grandma with Miss Sunshine, Ellie.  Thanks for all the cheer you brought us on our mission.

 Great friends, Ken and Donna Biberston.  They may live in Boise, Idaho now, but still will remain forever friends.

My favorite sister, Rosey , and her husband Steve.  Thank you for always being there to be my mom and confidant.  What would life be like without a wonderful sister like you?

 Tieler, our oldest grandchild found a place to curl up and crash after a day of festivities.  What a cutie, even when she's asleep.

 Jeff, our son-in-law finding a place to crash after chasing his three kids all day.  What a great sport he is, and so much fun!

 Ammon and Tienna at the homecoming.  So appreciate them coming to support us.

 Elfriede, and Laura catching up on the latest news.  Two special ladies who mean a lot to us.  Thanks for all your love and support of us.

ON OUR WAY HOME!!! (March 29, 2015)

Thoughts for the week: I got these from a fellow missionary in Nauvoo.

"I'm sorry I upset you for calling you stupid.  I thought you already knew."

"Those who think they are perfect are a nuisance to those of us who are."

Yes, we are finally on our way home!  We said our final goodbyes Friday morning after eating breakfast at the Terry's.  We couldn't resist having apple pancakes one last time.  The Terry's have been great friends to us and have made his famous pancakes many times for us.  They leave Nauvoo in May and live in St. George so I'm sure we'll see them again.

Just as we were locking the door to our cottage Sister Dalling came running up to give us a finally hug.  I'm so exhausted from the emotional feelings you have in saying goodbye. I needed to just get in the car and go before the flood gate of tears started all over again.  I love her so much and will miss her as my backdoor neighbor.  Her and her husband are moving into our cottage next week.

I best back track to Monday night.  We had a wonderful FHE with all the missionaries.  Bro. and Sis. Marriott told us about their trip to Israel.  He's a professional photographer so he took over 4,000 pictures and condensed them into a 45 minute video and narration.  It was so interesting and brought back many memories of our trip to the Holy Lands.

After the presentation Pres. McArthur called Rudi and I up to say a few words before we depart our mission.  It was so hard to look at all those dear missionaries who have become such close friends and say goodbye. Of course I sobbed and Rudi even choked up at the end of his remarks.  He really is a softy inside.  Then they all sang our mission song, 'Go Now In Peace', that's when the water works really broke.  It was tortuous, but special.  That was just the start of a week of goodbyes with the local missionaries.  They're the ones that we hate to say farewell to because we probably won't see them again.  I told Rudi I felt a road trip coming on to return in a year or so to see them.

Tuesday was a wonderful day in the temple.  I followed the 10:00 session. It was amazing to have 56 in the session and 20 more were asked to do sealings or initiatory.  Our endowment rooms only hold 48, so it was crowded but special to see so many patrons on a session before I go home.  It felt like summer!

On Wednesday Rudi and I got to officiate and follow two sessions that day.  It was so special to serve with Rudi one day a week.  All the shift coordinators wanted us to have one last chance to serve together.

Thursday was our final day in the temple.  Everyone was hugging us and wishing us a safe trip home.  As we left the temple for the last time I turned around and thought I hope I get to serve in another temple very soon.  I'll miss this special experience of serving in Joseph's Temple.

In between our morning and afternoon shifts on Wednesday Rudi and I had pictures taken of us around Nauvoo.  We decided to wear pioneer clothes to remind us of our pioneer heritage.  Tom Simpson, a local temple worker, and owner of a  photo studio took our pictures.  If I send another email I will include some of the pictures.  They turned out pretty good!

Thursday we spent most of the afternoon packing the car.  Rudi really did a great job getting all our stuff into the back of the car.  Thanks to our new car top carrier we got all our clothes inside it and gave us enough room in back to get our other stuff in.
We couldn't fit a piece a paper inside after we closed the doors.

So many of our friends dropped by on Thursday afternoon and evening to bring us goodies to eat on the way.  I swear we're going to roll home if we don't stop eating.  Pres. and Sister McArthur came by and wished us well on our journey.  They said when we get feeling lonely for Nauvoo just think of our grandkids who are so excited to have us home.

Pres. McArthur gave us our exit interview on Wednesday night.  He was so complementary of us and all we accomplished while serving in Nauvoo.  He asked us to tell him what made our mission so special. He literally took notes and seemed so interested in all we said.  He finally closed the interview with a wonderful prayer.  He truly is an inspired man doing his very best to meet the needs of the Nauvoo Temple.  We will miss him and hope to see more of him in St. George when he gets home in 18 months.

We drove all the way from Nauvoo to Wall, South Dakota on Friday.  About 12 hours!  We were really tired when we arrived there.  The next morning we got up early and had breakfast at the Wall Drug Store.  It was great to check out the store, but excited to get on the road and get to Tami's in Gillette, Wyoming.

We arrived about 11:30 in Gillette on Saturday morning.  It was so great to see Tami's family and give them big hugs and kisses.

After lunch with them at Old Chicago Pizza we went to the store and bought all the makings for a roast beef dinner on Sunday.  Tami and the kids wanted some of their favorites.  That night Tami, Callie and I went to the Women's Conference.  We so enjoyed the meeting and then went to get frozen yogurt after.  Love being with my girls again.

Sunday morning we meet them to go to church.  They have a beautiful new building.  We meet the bishop and found out his parents are Del and Francis Anderson.  They were temple president in the Mount Timpanogoes Temple.  What a small world!  We attended all three meetings, which were very well prepared and then came home to fix our dinner.  It turned out pretty good.

Rudi and I are staying in the Arbuckle Lodge Hotel.  It's beautiful and it has a big bathtub.  I think I've died and gone to heaven!  I haven't had a soak in a tub for 18 months.  It felt so good, can't wait to get back to my tub at home.

I almost feel sad that this is my last missionary email.  I hope I haven't bored you too much with my rambling, but I'm glad I've saved some of my mission experiences.  I hope our grandchildren will remember our service and want to serve also someday.

Thank you for all your love and support throughout our mission.  We are so blessed to have such a great family and friends.  We love you all and look forward to seeing you soon.

Many of you have asked when we will be speaking in sacrament.  It's on April 26th at 9:00 a.m.  We'd love to see you all.  Sorry I haven't responded to your latest emails.  We've been very busy and we returned our modem to  Mediacom on Tuesday.  Thanks for all your sweet comments.  I'll miss getting them also.  Remember I love to talk on the phone, so call me often when we return.

With mixed emotions but a happy hearts we sign off.  We have no regrets, just a lot of wonderful memories of our experience in Nauvoo.

Rudi and Kathy (forever in love with Nauvoo)

Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota.

All the murals on the walls are made of corn cobs and husks.  Really interesting, too bad it was closed for repairs so we couldn't go inside.

Rudi with his new girlfriend at Wall's Drug Store.  Remember you're still a missionary Rudi!

Kathy's new love.  What's that hanging from his mouth?  Opps, I'm still a missionary too!

So much fun taking pictures in Wall's Drug Store.  It's the largest drug store in the world.

Hang on, the ride is a little bumpy.  Crazy people who wear those badges.

Finally with some of my grandkids.  We've waited a long time to see Callie and Brody, Tami's kids.  They've grown up so much!

So great to see Tami and Dan's apartment.  Really nice, but the people inside are the best thing.

Grandma needs lots of hugs from her family.  I've missed them so much!

At Sweet Frog's eating yogurt after the Women's Conference Saturday night.  Love being with the girls.  Great conference!

In front of Wall's Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota.  We spent the night there after traveling from Nauvoo that morning.