We are all enlisted.........

We began June in Sibu, Romania for a Senior Couples Conference. This was our last chance to go to Romania without needed permission because it is in our Hungary Romania Mission. It was a 6-hour drive through beautiful fields of farmland. The countryside is spectacular with its many colors of growing fields.

Our Drive included Don and Rayann DeCamp from Vernal Utah. They are serving an MLS mission in Hungary. Our experiences are similar, but they have more interaction with the local membership than we do. Our association with other Senior Couples is one of the best gifts of mission life. We were at the base of the Transylvanian basin, we could see the dark mountains of Transylvania, some with snow still on it. It seemed every little village we would drive through had beautiful steeples topping the trees.

Romania was fun. We visited a 3 walled fortress shaped like a 7-point star. It was built up in the center of the valley, with an outer wall, and inner wall, a mote, and castle walls. It made the fortifications of Captain Moroni come to life as we saw what measures they took to protect the Kingdom.

June was time to catch up on current projects. We have had two new projects approved and waiting on four more to be approved. We have made friends with a wonderful people who just serve others and work hard to help those in the poverty villages. Attila Toth and Richard Titko have become very good friends. Richard speaks very good English and has volunteered to translate for us for any meetings in his area. We could not do our work without these translators, and he is a great blessing.

On our P-Day two of the Young Elders, Kyle Carson, and Tyson Mellor took us on a train ride to Esztergom.

It is a beautiful city on the banks of the Danube River with Slovakia on the other side. It also is the home of the Catholic Church Archdiocese and the Esztergom Basilica. We walked around this lovely city, enjoyed lunch, then rode the train back to Budapest. It is always a good day to spend time with the young missionaries.

Summer is upon us, and the heat has turned up. We join the thousands of tourists in Budapest for some of the extra summer activities. This was a beautiful fountain show, put to music with lights and video.

In the same park is a large Lion made of 100's of thousands of Legos. It is like the ones flanking the famous Chain Bridge that were removed for renovation for the past 2 years. Hungary loves their Lions. And of course the night lights always amaze us. This is a beautiful City.

We had the honor of welcoming Sister Beth Hill to our Mission. She will be serving as the medical advisor for all the missionaries in Hungary and Romania. She is from Michigan and will be a great blessing for our mission.

Clark received phone calls from all the children for Fathers day. We are so proud of all of our children. These are pictures of the things we missed happening in Missouri and Oklahoma. We do miss our BBQ, and appreciate the photos of meat the boys send when they are cooking. We do not miss the weather alerts.

We celebrated across the miles the birthdays of our Grandson, Bennett Ayres who is now 6 years old. He celebrated a Minecraft birthday complete with a homemade pinata. His father David Ayres who is now “Older", celebrated with all his boys while he supported his wife who was serving at girls camp that week.

At the end of the month will be Annie J Ayres 8th Birthday. Our first Granddaughter and a beautiful young lady. In July, she is excited to be baptized by her father, Christopher. We will be there in spirit and honored that she will join the ranks of a follower of Jesus Christ. Oh, how we love family.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a living thing. We see the Lord’s hand in our work and in the lives of those we are honored to serve with and help. We know we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, and we love him. His Son, Jesus Christ provided a beautiful gift of forgiveness, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, so we can live with them again, and feel worthy to be in their presences. Christ is our example; He is our friend. We know he lives today, and desires to bless us in so many ways. We are preparing to welcome him again. You are part of His blessing to us. Thank you!