Here it is Saturday again. Boy, did this week go fast. We've been told that transfer week is always the busiest week, and it's living up to it's reputation. We had a long list of Baptisms for today and most of them fell at 5:00. We attended one at 11:30 in the Annandale Stake,Springfield ward. This was for a Bro. David Young. This sweet gentleman is a very special person. He and his wife are really wonderful together and take care of each other's special needs. He was so excited to be baptized. He said he had never been under water before and so he was a bit nervous about that, but did great. Elders Gannaway and Gifford taught the lessons to him and Elder Gifford performed the baptism. This was fun for us because both speakers, Clark Cordner and David Tyler were sons of friends of ours from Las Vegas. It really is a small world in the church. Elder Robbins and Elder Hill were the witnesses.
We had a couple of hours between baptisms and got President to run me over to the church book store here. It is a couple of blocks from the temple and the drive is really pretty. It is a nice bookstore and has all the great Deseret Book materials. Yeah! good to know there is one here.
We then went to a baptism for Sister Donna Sun. This was a youngChinese girl. She came to America to work for a Chinese family as a nanny. When the Elders were tracting, the family was not interested but she was. This was really one of the tenderest girls I have ever met. She came an hour early and started crying with excitement and emotion. She cried through the whole thing and was just overwhelmed with the spirit. What a wonderful thing to witness. Elder Lieppman performed the baptism and Elder Tye gave a great talk on the Holy Ghost. When explaining about when and where the Holy Ghost stays with you, he said, "The Holy Ghost is a perfect gentleman". What a great description. They are really exceptional Elders. It was obvious that she loved them and they her.
On Sunday we attended the Annandale Ward for church. We are trying to get around and visit as many wards as we can so we can meet all the leaders and offer our assistance in anyway they would like us to assist. This is a very special ward. President Albright"s Executive Sec and Stake Clerk (who were the Jorgenson Brothers) grew up in this ward. And our dear friends, Mike and Sara Newman have a brother in the ward. Again, what a small world.
After the baptism, we drove to Annandale for a dinner appointment at the Ward's home. Their home is in a lovely town home. It is the beautiful old town style with the colonial architecture that is so beautiful. They are such a classy couple and their home reflected their style and grace. We had a lovely time. We enjoyed the company of Pres. Burton, (Winnie is out of town), Elder and Sister Rich (who serve over the temple visitor center), The Wards, and us. We laughed and talked from 6:30 to 10:00 and really enjoyed a relaxing evening together.
Brandon and Kelly loved our back yard (their sitting on the railing in the picture). We saw Arlington Cemetary, the lovely bus station saying goodbye again. Brandon and Kelly have a beautiful yard in Las Vegas that they have to work very hard to keep that way. And they loved the flowers and Gardina trees here.
We had a change in our office elders with this transfer. Elder Brunstad went back out to work in the field and Elder Hill became Elder Robbins new companion in the office. 
On Friday evening, we drove to Alexandria, which is near the Old Town area of McLean. Four of our Elders live together in a big highrise apartment building. Elders Newton and Cuevas have been assigned as the new Spanish Assistants. They will travel the whole mission meeting with the Spanish missionaries and helping them with their work. We surprized them with a GPS since they have to drive all over. They were very happy about it. But I think they were just as happy about the brownie cheesecake I brought them. Really great young men and great leaders for our Spanish work. 
On Friday August20, President and I had to go to Woodbridge Zone and took the opportunity to visit with two of our special sisters. Sister Capps and Sister Ferry are a dynamite companionship. Sister Ferry has just been reassigned as a Spanish speaking missionary. She is really excited about it and working really hard to learn the language. Sister Capps is really fluent in Spanish and will teach a great teacher for her. We visited their apartment and were very impressed with how clean and organized it was. And since we were there, we took them out for a Mexican lunch, El Charro. It was nice to visit and get to know them both better. 
The kids we have "adopted" while we are here came over for lunch today. It was fun to visit with Ryan and Crystal. They are a beautiful family and their children are precious. Ryan is an attorney here in the area and Crystal starts nursing school in the morning. It was fun to get the toys out and use the swing set. Max has a fun personality and Elle is just a little angel. Rhonda and Larry--Thanks for letting us adopt. 
