Steve & Liz McAllister

  Written October 17 th , 2021 "Dessert for dinner"    This is what 115 missionary-sized pieces of chocolate cake looks like The week before last was very busy with transfers, missionaries being released, and a large group of new missionaries arriving.  This past week was perhaps even busier as we prepared for a “mission tour” by Elder Pingree of the Seventy from Salt Lake City.  It was a great experience.  We had 2 days of zone conferences where he inspired and trained the missionaries. Elder Pingree share an experience he had early in his tenure as a General Authority.  He said he was in the church administration building eating lunch at a table by himself when Pres. Nelson came over and asked if he could sit with him.  He thought to himself, “what question do you ask the Prophet?” so Elder Pingree said, “What is it like being the prophet?”  President Nelson’s response was fascinating.  He said, “I just didn’t know….the revelat...

  Glasspacks and Skunks Entrance to the mission office and former stake center building I have concluded that I am a Spoiled Vancouver-onian.   At home, we live between two cities, in an unincorporated area.   The city limits of Vancouver end on 172 nd Ave., and the city limits of Camas begin on 192 nd Ave.   That’s about a 1-mile swath of land.   I’m not complaining that no city wants to claim us.   When we moved into our home, we were living out in the country!   There was one grocery store about 2 miles away.   Now we have a Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, and many fast-food restaurants within 2 miles. Living here in Riverside isn’t quite the same.   We see and hear things that I am not accustomed to.   Here are a few observations. “Skunks.”   When we were driving to Riverside and would stop along the way, we smelled a faint odor that we concluded was skunk. We knew what that smelled like because we’ve driven through Idaho a...

    October 3 rd , 2021 We moved into our very comfortable apartment near the end of April.   It is just about 2 years old, so it’s clean and damage-free!   The only real complaint is parking.   There isn’t enough, and what little there is, is more suited for narrower vehicles like a motorcycle or bicycle.   When I park into our assigned parking garage, I have Liz step out of the car to watch the corners of our car and make certain I don’t scrape anything. We often need to pull in the mirrors.   Most of the cars in our complex have scrapes on the corners of the front and back bumpers.   So far, we are free from scratches! In August we started noticing a few bugs in our apartment, mostly silverfish.   No, these are not the aquatic creatures.   These guys are mostly just a nuisance.   One morning my eye was drawn to movement on the kitchen counter.   After a brief battle as it tried to outmaneuver my blows, the bug stoppe...