Last Friday we met in a special senior couples conference.  It will be the last time we will meet with Pres. and Sister McKee.  They will be going home next week and we will be getting a new Mission President.  It was a great meeting and training.  There are 13 senior couples in our mission, which is the most there have ever been in the mission.  We met at the Mission Home and it is in the background.

One last picture with President and Sister McKee.  They are being released one year early because of Sister McKee's health issues.  She is much better but still weak and struggles with her heart working properly.  Recently she fainted and hit her head and had to have a pacemaker put in so she could keep going.  She is a wonderful lady and is truly a miracle in that she has progressed to be this well.

This week we took our district missionaries to Mammoth Caves for a district outing.  We had a great time and all of them enjoyed it even though 2 of them are challenged by claustraphobia like I am.  We went on a different tour that included the Fat Man's nightmare, where you have to squeeze side-ways through a narrow opening and an area where you have to bend way over to not hit your head.  We all made it, including Sister Peterson, even though it was a 2 hour tour and we had to climb 300 stairs!

Sister Peterson in one of the passages that was going to get low.  (Notice the look of anxiety on her face!)

Our group on one of the stair landings on the climb out.  Our tour took us down over 400 feet in some of the large rooms in the cave but the descent was fairly gradual.  Then we had to climb back out by way of all of those stairs through a narrow vertical shaft.  But you can tell by the smiles that we made it even though Sister Peterson and I had to take our time and many passed us as we stopped for breathers.

Proof that I was actually there.  The picture was taken in one of the larger areas where we had stopped to listen to information from our guide.  At one point during the tour, The guide shut all the lights off to show us what complete absence of light means.  You couldn't even see your hand held right in front of your eyes.  Then he had us all remain perfectly quiet so we could understand what perfect silence was.  He said that the complete absence of sound would get to us quicker than the blackness if we were left alone in the cave.  After that he lit a small bic lighter and it surprisingly lit up a the cave in big way in the perfect absence of other light.
Elder and Sister Peterson - Enjoying P-day in the largest cave in the world - over 400 miles long!