Scorching the World

I think I've figured out why so many senior couples don't go on missions: it is just too much work at a time of your life when you're ready to just calm down and take it easy. Since deciding to move in with Tanya, I've been cleaning and packing. (Well, mostly packing. I haven't started cleaning yet.) I've worked for a couple of weeks to get things sorted and ready to go out to the garage. Tanya has come over almost every day and helped for many hours. Without her, I'd be dead by now. This week I'm trying to finish. I'm trying to get everything out of our house and either tossed, packed, given away, or recycled. I've sold some things on Craig's list and given away quite a few things. But in a house that has 9 rooms, 7 closets, 2 garages, and 2 back patios full of stuff, it is overwhelming, to say the least. I am so tired. Yesterday, a neighbor came over and bought some padded, folding chairs. There were 6, and 3 adults came over to carr...

Tom and I are now seriously preparing to leave on our mission in 18 months (or so). We've been looking at our finances now that we're close enough to see how they will be, and we've been looking at our possessions and responsibilities to arrange all things for us to be gone for 2 years - out of the country. We are so excited! I have begun to dream that I'm in Chile again, and I'm so happy to be there. We loved it so much the first time and really can't wait to get back. We already know the people are wonderful, the country is beautiful, the food is great, and we'll be by the ocean breezes. One of the biggest concerns is what to do with our house and its expenses while we are away. The plan from the time we got married was to have our house paid off by the time we retired. Unfortunately, we got old faster than we had planned, and we missed that goal by about 15 years. So we need to have someone rent our house while we're gone and pay all of our bill...