6 years 6 months 23 days

Day 2398. This morning the kids were more considerate than yesterday. At 9:15 am my alarm went off, and at 9:30 we walked out the door, got into the car and drove the 5 minutes to church. We parked at a nearby parking lot and walked to church where they had a brunch for missionaries in the tent they had set up. We sat down at a table and soon a family walked in that we see here every year. They have a girl that's younger than Tammy, and they were both delighted to see each other and sat down next to each other.

As soon as they had spoken and prayed and opened the buffet, Emmy and I were there to get plates for us. The kids were hungry, not having had breakfast. I got four plates for the kids and me, then Randy got his plate. We had a good time eating but didn't get to talk to any adults. The kids then wanted to go to the baby room, and one of the parents of the little girl went there so our three kids went there as well. That gave Randy and me the opportunity to hear the speaker that was speaking for a short time at 11 am.

After it was over, we took our stuff and went to the car and drove back to our Airbnb for a break. It was 12 pm when we got there. The kids got on their tablets, and I was on my phone until turning it off, closing my eyes and taking a much-needed nap. At 2:15 pm my alarm went off, and at 2:30 pm we left the house and drove back to church. It was time to go to our table so we could talk to people. The kids were handing out brochures for us again, walking through the room which was great. Adults are more likely to take a brochure from a kid, and I got some compliments from people who said our kids were so cute.  Just before 3 pm Randy took them to the kids program, then the next conference session started.

A few minutes into the session I suggested to Randy we'd go have cake as we need to be at our table during break time. We went to the tent and got ourselves some cake and sat down. Then I decided to try to call a missionary friend I had texted with who was not at the conference. He picked up, and we ended up having a half hour video call with each other which was great. We hadn't seen him in years so it was good to catch up. After our call, we walked out the door when someone came up to us saying they had been looking for us as Sammy needed us. Randy then went to the kids' program while I returned to the sanctuary for the rest of the session and was then at our table for the half-hour break. At 5 pm the next workshop started, and Randy returned for it. It ended at 6 pm, and Randy picked up the kids while I manned the table. After most people had left for dinner and no more people were walking around, we also went to the tent to eat.

There were a lot of people there but we were able to find a table to sit at. I had four tickets for the chicken dish which was an Iranian dish with chicken, rice and sauce. I picked them up and put them on our table but the kids were not very excited about it. Thankfully they had all the leftovers from the brunch sitting there, and all three kids had some bread with salami each. Then they all got cake as dessert. We had a good time but didn't get to talk to anyone again.

After we were done eating, we went back inside the sanctuary to our table. The kids were handing out brochures again. Some people that know me came by to say hello. Just before the evening session started at 7:30 pm, Randy took the kids to the kids' program then returned to the sanctuary. 

The meeting started with 40 or so minutes of worship, then someone presented their ministry before the main speaker came up. It was in English so that Randy could understand everything. At 9:15 pm he started wrapping up so we left the sanctuary to pick up the kids and go home. By 9:40 pm we were back at the house. The kids got ready for bed and were in bed by 10 pm. Sammy was asleep first. I then turned my computer on to work on the pictures and write my report. I hope to get to bed earlier than last night.