The phone lines were buzzing this week asking us if we had seen the sun. So we rushed out to see something that we had NEVER seen before. It was a rainbow that completely encircled the sun. Sister Oei, our resident last days warning voice, called and asked us what it meant. Was it an OMEN? Was it a sign? Elder Johnsen calmly explained that it meant that earth wasn’t going to be destroyed by flood, nor would the second coming occur in 2012. The Elders told us that everyone in town was either taking pictures or pointing their fingers into the sky. It was quite the sight, and lasted for over 30 minutes.
Our APPARITION appeared as we led our 60 6th graders into creating and acting out their own skits on Friday. In one of the skits the group created a 6 legged monster covered with a sheet that was terrorizing the neighborhood. (It was our painting drop cloth). Scooby-doo and his faithful human companion came up with a plan to lure the monster into a trap where other members wrapped a 100 foot rope around the monster and saved the day. You should have heard the kids yell with delight when the monster was finally subdued. Next week we actually start working on “real drama”. Elder Johnsen’s favorite is “12 Angry Pigs” a parody of “12 Angry Men”.
Our big event this past Friday was our Branch OPEN HOUSE. For the past 3 weeks we’ve had advertisements running on the local radio station. The missionaries and members have been passing out invitations for the past month and during priesthood service night on Tuesday we distributed over 100 open house invitations along with the first presidency message from the Ensign. We have worked very hard to prepare and present how the family is the focus of the church. Elder Johnsen worked on a presentation about the new family history library, and Sister Johnsen was in charge of the food, but had lots and lots of help from Elder Johnsen. We only had 8 nonmembers there, but it was a very good program. Elder Gubler, Elder Adams, Elder Wright, and Elder Early did a wonderful job talking about “The Proclamation on the Family”, and our four little Palauan girls sang, “The Family is of God.” We don’t count our success in numbers because we have learned from reading D&C 138: 26 that the Savior understands, and we feel grateful to know that our sacrifices for the gospel places us in good company (D&C 138: 13). We press forward with the work and look forward to our next big event in October.
What amazing events will follow the interesting and exciting wonders that we have witnessed? We can hardly wait to see! 
Wow, time is flying. We have such different missions but I feel like nothing has changed and we are still part of your lives there as much as you are part of ours here. We are so glad to be serving a mission now (http://meehansinchina.blogspot.com) and we really encourage other couples to do likewise. Who knows what is in store for you?
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