I have been thinking for some weeks about a question that my Granddaughter Katie asked me. She said, "Grandma, why don't you live here any more? Why do you live in Utah so far away from us? It just about killed me!! I hugged her and tried to explain but I'm sure it didn't come out right. I miss them so much. I miss Clint dropping by to see if we're still alive. I miss the hot tub and the kids splashing around on Monday night after FHE. I miss going to their programs and seeing them play and perform. I miss Lukie and Megan. I love to open the Sant door and hear Luke say" Grandma!!! and come running for a hug. I love hearing Tom play the piano and see Will play soccer. I'd love to be the 4-H teacher for Tara and Savanna and teach them to sew. I MISS MY HOUSE.

So why am I here? Because I prayed to Heavenly Father about what HE wanted me to be doing RIGHT NOW!!! And the answer is...You need to be with Grandpa helping people who don't have schools and houses and moms and dads that love them...people who don't have schools with playgrounds and computers. Heavenly Father answered my prayer. I was angry when Grandpa wanted to leave Twin Falls!! But he asked me to pray about what we should do. This was the answer!! Although, Katie, this wasn't a mission call from President Monson, it was a mission call from his boss. It has been hard but we have been blessed. There have been some amazing miracles that have continued to confirm that our prayers were answered. So I hope you understand Katie, and all of you that I miss and love, that I'm trying to be obedient. Grandpa and I are on a mission that we feel is very important. One of these days, Heavenly Father will ask you to go on a mission or do some important thing he needs you to do. You can be brave and obedient too and say. "I will go, I will do, the thing the Lord commands" . I know He can count on the Carter Clan! (that includes all you Sants and Wights and Gremmerts and Hirschis) Please pray for us and help us as we do this work. Love, Grandma Nana

Grandkids

After leaving the DR, Gordon and I decided to visit Tiffany and Analee. It was so great to be with them and SO much fun to be with their families. We bought a little swing to put in Analee's $10,000/ one hundred year old oak tree. Eliza just loved it!! We would swing her across the yard and she would laugh and laugh. We helped David put the railing on the back deck so Eliza and Fenton could go out there and play and have some steps into the backyard from the dining room. We went to the beach but the fun was cut short because of the thousands of noseeums that bit us. I still am scratching those things.

We had Valentines Day with Tiffany. She was the roommother for Aidans class so we prepared some treats and games. I was astounded when they wouldn't let us use the candies we brought. They checked the label and they were processed in a plant that had milk, grain and nuts. So instead of cute sweet heart sugar cookies with frosting on top, they had string cheese, gogerts and animal crackers. How fun is that.

We watched the kids on Friday night so Ryan and Tiffany could go out on the town. That was so fun to snuggle the kids and watch a movie. We had great fun with them and left to come home on Sunday.

a Dominican Point of View

With bags packed, Gordon and I and Leon and Suzanne headed to the Dominican Republic on Feb. 1. We were to meet 3 NFL players and their wives for an Charity Anywhere Expedition. We stayed the first 2 nights at the temple hotel and were able to complete a temple session there. The temple is big and very beautiful. We went with Jessica as she showed us some poor schools in the capital city of Santo Domingo. The children came from very poor homes next to the river which flooded at least once a year. We were able to itemize some of their most critical needs. On Monday night we met the group from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Their group consisted of Brady and Brooke Poppinga. (1st String Linebacker for Green Bay Packers), Laura and AJ Hawk (1st. string Linebacker for Green Bay Packers), Brady Quinn (Quarterback for Cleveland Browns), Chris Hubbard, Brooks brother who works for a large non-profit endowment fund and his friend Srey Um who is involved in the health industry in LA.

Over the next few days we:

1. Visited El Ramon, a mountain community. The Playitforward group agreed to purchase supplies for a much needed water system for clean water for the community of about 800 families

2. Provided windows and doors for the San Francisco school allowing for many more students to attend school

3. Provided over 250 notebooks for school children

4. Taught class on Hygiene and gave out hygiene kits

5. Gave motivational talks about staying away from drugs and alcohol

6. Distributed toys at Boys orphanage in San Christobal. Asked about critical needs there

7. Visited a drug rehab program for women in San Christobal. Distributed Hygiene kits and assessed the needs of the women there.

8. Went to girls orphanage at La Ramana. Distributed 150 book bags and lots of gifts and toys

9. Went to boys orphanage at La Raman. Distributed baseballs, mitts, toys and blankets for the small children

10. Provided 150 school kits for the 2 schools in Santo Domingo and provided $120 for urgent supplies and food there.

All these people were amazing and very people oriented. We worked with 2 Peace Corps volunteers, Kaitlin Kubinsky and Anthon, and Jessica Burkovich, a person who was working for an NGO from Canada. Beside those, we had 3 other Spanish speakers.

It was a wonderful experience to watch the group interact with the people and to respond so generously to their needs. I hope that we can connect with them again and share another opportunity to offer help in that country. I feel that we have made some good friends along the way.

quirks

I have been tagged about my quirks. I have so many that I'm not sure I can stop at 6. Here goes:

1. I hate to eat on a table with no cloth or placemat. I'm not sure if I hate the idea of a sticky table or if I like the color and display of the cloth or placemat. Hence, I have lots of both.

2.

New Career

Since the economy has slumped, Gordon and I have decided to get a new vocation. We are going to be OTR truckers. We had our first experience when we drove a sewer truck from SLC to Houston, TX this week. It was a 15,000 mile trek and it took us two-15 hour days. Actually, the city of Otovalo, Ecuador, worked with Charity Anywhere Foundation to buy the truck and we helped deliver it to the dock in Texas so it could be shipped to the port in Ecuador. What an experience. I want you to know that I can hold my road with the rest of the big rigs. We traveled about 70 mph and were in some heavy traffic in Albaquerque and Amarillo, Ft. Worth and Houston. Texas. I tried to drive a lot during the day so that Gordon could rest and drive the more difficult times at night. It was so noisy in the truck that we couldn't hear each other and I couldn't even hear my ipod either. We tried to read but it was so bumpy that it made our eyes tired. There was a "air ride" feature in the driver's seat to make it more comfortable, but as I was stretching my legs it would touch a button that would shoot me to the top of the truck cab. We couldn't get the air conditioning to work and the floor of the cab was as hot as an oven...really. We had to keep the windows open all the time or we would have been dry roasted. We had some VERY interesting experiences along the way. By the time we got the truck at the dock and scheduled on the ship, Gordon and I were exhausted. We had missed our flight home, hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch and felt like we could hardly walk because we have sat so long. Gordon is an amazing person!!! No one will ever know the hours of hard physical work, the stress, the ingenuity that he has that has made the accomplishments of Charity Anywhere happen. This was an example. What a guy!!

Just a note about Friends. They are people that know you well and like you anyway. This week my two dear friends came to visit. I have been gone from Twin Falls about 9 months now and haven't found a "bosoom" friend here. So you can imagine the excitement I felt when my great friends from Idaho came to visit for two days. I looked forward to their visit for a month. I was NOT disappointed with our time together. We talked and shopped and ate and laughed!!!!! It was wonderful. They are such dear friends. We have children about the same ages and have shared the ups and downs of motherhood. We have cried together, taken care of each others children, cleaned each others houses and bore testimonies of Christ to each other. I know that they were sent here to be part of my guardian angels and I love them dearly. I can't wait for our next f"party" together!!!

Sidney B. Sperry Symposium

This weekend Gordon and I went to the Sidney B. sperry Symposium. The theme this year was the D&C: Revelations in Context. Of the15 different presentations we had to choose just 6. They were all so good. It was interesting as they each talked about the new Joseph Smith papers and the impact that has had on the lessons of the D&C. I learned that the tune to the Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief that John Taylor sang for Joseph in the Carthage Jail was not the tune we sing. You can get a copy of the actual tune by going to mormontimes.com/APoorWayfaring Man.pdf. This is in the Church News.