"Guess Who's Coming...or Going to Dinner"

I had invited the four sister missionaries in our area to dinner for Tuesday, April 28 at 5:00 pm. It had been on the calendar for about a week.

Unbeknown to me, just this morning, Elder de Paula told the Rivas family to be ready at 4:00pm and we would take them out to dinner.

Oops!

Isn't there something in the missionary handbook about communicating with your companion. Oh, that may just be for those young, pliable, communicative elders?

The Rivas family is on the left - Frank holding Frankie & Marlene (behind), Sisters Frodsham and Mullens; (back) Elder de Paula, Sisters Burton, Brimhall and de Paula.

It all worked our just fine. We invited them to come to our apartment. I marinated chicken and steak and cooked up loads of stir fry loads vegetables and served it with spinach salad with Mandarin oranges, crusty sesame bread and lemon bars for dessert. The Rivas' also brought beautiful Colombian pastries.

We all had an enjoyable time together and Frank's wife, Marlene, seemed pleased that the Brentwood Spanish-speaking sisters were here since she's still working on her English. Three-year-old Frankie communicates in both languages, and was, of course, the center of attention.

The evening couldn't have turned out any better.