Elder and Sister Mini join the Adventure

Hmm... don't they remind you of... well never mind! These two little missionaries will be traveling with us for the next two years and will frequently be featured in this blog. This picture is Elder and Sister at the Cardston temple on August 21, 2008. We took them with our friends, Mel & Arlene Green, Nancy Lealos & Lola Tracy. We had a wonderful trip. Our good friend Sue is the master mind behind the world of the mini's. It all began when she made Mini Mark, years ago. Mini Mark traveled with Sue's husband Mark all over the globe. When Fred took his troops to Saudi Arabia in 2002- he met Mini Mark. So he decided all of our girls needed Mini's also. He contacted Sue via email and ordered dolls for our girls for Christmas that year.

One of our sweet girls is missing from this picture- that's Kindra. She joined our family later, and she received a mini-bride doll! We LOVE our friend Sue- she so generously shares her talents. And now we are the proud owners of our own Mini's. On another topic, here is some interesting "distance information" for those families who may be remotely interested in visiting us on our mission:

--Colorado Springs to Provo, UT: 550 miles

--Colorado Springs to Billings, MT: 624 miles

--Colorado Springs to Boise, ID: 901 miles

--Colorado Springs to Gt. Falls, MT: 842 miles

--Colo Springs to Spokane Valley, WA: 1154 miles

--Colo Springs to Portland, OR: 1328 miles

Mission Wardrobe

One black suit from JC Penny- $175.00
Two ladies' blazers -Herberger's yellow dot sale-$45
Three skirts from Sears clearance rack- $20 TOTAL!

Having your sweetheart for a mission companion and reluctant shopping partner... PRICELESS.

Mission Boundaries

Do you want to know where we will spend our time for the next 18 plus months? The yellow portion of this map shows the Colorado Springs Mission boundaries. Just in case it's hard to see... it includes significant areas of southern Colorado and western Kansas. It also includes a little piece of New Mexico and the pan handle of Oklahoma. I am sure my father is looking down from heaven smiling- knowing that we are serving in a mission that includes a portion of his beloved Oklahoma.

We aren't sure how much, if any, we will travel, but we will certainy spend a great deal of our time right in Colorado Springs, which happens to be my mother's home town. Didn't I say that this mission was just made for us? Also, our good friends Tom and Patty live in the portion of Kansas that is included in our mission. We hope to reconnect with them during our time there.

Today we spoke in our home ward. I guess you could call it a mission farewell- even though they don't technically exist. My talk was entitled "These Things I Believe". I testified to these 5 gospel principles.

1. We are children of Heavenly Father and He knows and loves each one of us.
2. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer -Through his Atonement we can be forgiven of our sins.
3. After his crucifixion, Christ rose from the dead- breaking the bonds of death for all mankind.
4. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and contains truths unto salvation and guidance for our life on earth.
5. Our Prayers are answered.

Fred took his talk from the war chapters of the book of Alma. He talked about "Strongholds", both in the Book of Mormon times and in our day. He warned that leaving our strongholds places us in danger, but staying within them provides us protection. We should cling to such strongholds as prayer, scripture study, following the Prophet- and so on. He shared his personal experience in Afghanistan and how he lost one of his troops who removed his body armor. He did such a good job of reminding us to hold to our strongholds.

Today I felt the reality of our mission call stronger than ever- and that it is so very close.

Why F-Squad?

My husband LOVES cars. Not the shiny new models with the bells and whistles. Not the custom ordered top of the line just came out this year status symbols. No... he loves the fixer upper hobby type of cars. The kind you find in an alley or in someone's barn. One that hasn't been started or driven for a decade or more. The kind of cars that have "potential". We have had more than our share. Granted he has made some great finds- like our 1956 Chevy Bel Air or our cute white 1965 Mustang. Then again there have been a few lemons. Like the car that the previous owner left running while he sat in the garage and inhaled the fumes- too morbid to go into more detail. Or the huge Highway Patrol reject Fred had our teenagers driving because it was "safe". They loved the spotlights mounted on the outside of the car.

What does that have to do with F-Squad? Well these pictures are of the 12 passenger van we owned in the early 1980's. Fred bought it from a group home. The kids had a nickname the two-toned brown van with the footprints on the interior headliner- but it would not be considered very PC today so I will spare you that bit of info. (hint- it had to do with the fact that it came from a group home for adult DD clients and it wasn't a swear word- but would be considered offensive now).

Fred was so proud of this find that he promptly went to get personalized plates. He intended to get F-Troop, after an old tv comedy we watched when television was first invented. Of course the "F" would stand for Fairhurst. Unfortunately, that was taken. So he quickly came up with F-Squad as the alternative. From that day forward our family became known as the F-Sqaud. And there you have it. I hope that gives you some insight into our family nickname and to the wonderful man I married.

Military...what?

We received a very interesting call on Thursday! Before I tell you more about that- let me give you a little background.

We are a military family. Although, I think sometimes we didn't think of ourselves that way. Fred joined the army in 1972. I will probably post more about Fred's career in the future but for now just know that he loved his military career. He retired as an Air Force Colonel on May 31st 2008.

I have had several jobs since I graduated with a degree in Sociology (that was in 1991- but that is another story altogether). Not all were a good fit. The best job ever was my last job, running the Montana Air National Guard family program. I have no doubt that this job was an answer to a prayer. I learned so much about the military during my four plus years in that position. Fred and I had a blast working together. He loves to tell everyone that he was my boss.

So what does that have to do with our phone call? When I answered the phone on Thursday, the man on the other end asked if this was the Fairhurst home. For a minute I thought it was a telemarketer. I almost hung up...YIKES. I confirmed and the caller identified himself as Elder Hancock from the Church Offices. YIKES again. A few thoughts ran through my head- like maybe we weren't going on a mission after all. Then he asked if we received our mission call yet. When I said we had, he then explained the purpose of his call. He works in the Military Relations program and he was so happy to have us serve a Military Relations Mission. WHAT?? We are serving a military relations mission?? Yep- we are. He told both of us all about it and we could not possibly be more excited. We will still fulfill other duties assigned by our mission president, Brian Pfile. But our primary responsibility is to work with young Airmen and Soldiers in training (including FHE and Institute) and families experiencing deployments. Can you believe it? This mission really was made for us.

When Heavenly Father answered my prayers by helping me to get the job as the guard family program coordinator, I had no idea that he had a very specific purpose for me to gain that experience. I am so grateful and SO excited.

Elder and Sister Fairhurst

We received some great news about our first big retirement adventure! After weeks and weeks of waiting and hoping, our mission call arrived in the mail on Saturday! Although it wasn't a big surprise, we were elated to see that we will be serving in the Colorado Springs mission for a period of 18 months. With a special assignment to serve on military bases. Signed by our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson.

WOW! This mission was made just for us and we are ready to go. We will share many of our experiences in this Blog.