Hello, Everyone,
It seems impossible all that has gone on since we left our mission on June 18th. I seriously didn’t know how difficult it would be to leave. I think it is much like a person who has been a Stake President or Bishop when you have been given the mantle over a certain area. Then to have it taken from you when we were released was actually very emotional for Gpa George and me. It hasn’t helped at all with so many of our co-workers and associates writing us telling us how much they have missed us. We truly LOVED our work and those we worked with! I thought I would put a little summary of our last ten months in Germany.
The Moscow Mission President and his wife, the McGhies, took us to lunch to say good-bye to them.
Then, for so many of you going to Idaho for my dad’s funeral was just so amazing! I know Grandpa and Grandma Rigby were so touched with how many family members were there from the entire Rigby Family of 182 in the posterity.
Since we have been back, we have been trying to get settled. Dear sweet Natalie (DIL) unpacked half our boxes and we came into beds made, kitchen utensils put away, and she even had purchased groceries to get us started until we could go to the store and baked George's favorite oatmeal raising cookies! We appreciated it so much!
We left one day after we got home with Natalie, the kids, and Brady for a basketball tournament for Ethan on the Oregon Coast. We had such a wonderful time! It reminded me of one of the most pleasant trips I ever had as a teen when I was in junior high. We had experiences that will last forever seeing all the sea life along the beach and staying in a beach house right there on the beach that we were afraid our dad paid way too much for! It cost $26 a night! 😂. That was a lot in those days!
I thought I would put our plans for the next little while, since so many of you have been asking.
Monday, July 8th- Gpa George and I will drive to Utah and will be staying with Kevin and Angie.
Tuesday, July 9th- Kade comes Home from his mission from Ecuador about 6:30 pm into Salt Lake, Utah. We are so excited we can hardly wait!!!
Saturday, July 13th- Attend Nate Critchfield’s wedding and reception in Springville. It will be beautiful, I’m sure!
Sunday, July 14th-Kade’s Homecoming. He has done absolutely a remarkable job as he has served the Lord and the people in Ecuador. We are so looking forward to hearing from him!
Monday, July 15th- We will drive back to Washington.
Sunday, July 21st- Gpa George and I will report our mission in the Badger Mountain Ward At 10:30 am. Since both Kade and Gpa George and I plan to do a little report at our Copeland Family Reunion, we certainly don’t expect anyone to be there, but I thought I would tell you all the date in case any of you did want to come—certainly not expected at all!
Monday, July 29th- Go back out to Utah, either drive or fly—not sure yet.
Tuesday, June 30th- August 2nd-COPELAND FAMILY REUNION!!! We can’t wait to party with everyone! We. can check in at 4:00 pm. on Tuesday. Checkout on Friday morning at 10:00 am. The address and itinerary will be sent out as soon as Alison gets back from Africa. You know it’s going to be fantastic because everyone has been putting in ideas. If you haven’t done so, please let Alison know things you’d like to do.
Saturday, August 3rd- Yes, another day we are all looking forward to—the marriage of Parker to Lauren in the Payson Temple and the reception that night in Provo.
Then, it’s back to Washington probably on Monday, August 5th.
Sunday, August 18th-Go to Danville, California, for Tyson’s farewell as he prepares to leave for Ukraine for his mission. Not sure the dates we will go and come, but really looking forward to that big event, too!
In between all those dates, there are lots of special birthdays and anniversaries. I will post them on my Instagram because this letter is already getting very long! 😂😂
By the way: Gpa George’s new email address is george.copeland@yahoo.com
He no longer wants to use his old email address on Yahoo, so please use that one in the future. Mine remains the same:
copemom7@hotmail.com
Again, thank you to all of you for your LOVE and kindness through the very emotional time of Grandpa Rigby’s passing and our returning from our mission! We LOVE you ❤️all so much!
Love, Gma Laura
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It seems impossible all that has gone on since we left our mission on June 18th. I seriously didn’t know how difficult it would be to leave. I think it is much like a person who has been a Stake President or Bishop when you have been given the mantle over a certain area. Then to have it taken from you when we were released was actually very emotional for Gpa George and me. It hasn’t helped at all with so many of our co-workers and associates writing us telling us how much they have missed us. We truly LOVED our work and those we worked with! I thought I would put a little summary of our last ten months in Germany.
Life moved so quickly when we received our call from the church to become the Area Auditors for the Europe Area and would be moving from Moscow, Russia, to Frankfurt, Germany. We said good-bye to the Europe East Area Presidency.
The Moscow Mission President and his wife, the McGhies, took us to lunch to say good-bye to them. 
I truly don't know what we would have done without the help of the Jeneusse people in Moscow who work for our son, Kyle. Vlad and his team were there to help us pack things, ship things for us, and take us to the airport to start our journey in Germany. We will never forget these wonderful people!
We were greeted at the Frankfurt Airport by Elders Harris, Skoubye, and Thornock, as well as Sister Skoubye. They all made sure we were well take care of as we began our new role in the Europe Area.
Our apartment was located at 6 Im Dammwald in Friedrichsdorf, about 25 minutes outside of Frankfurt, on the fourth floor.
Our apartment was located at 6 Im Dammwald in Friedrichsdorf, about 25 minutes outside of Frankfurt, on the fourth floor.
It wasn't nearly as large as our apartment in Moscow, but after we de-cluttered it quite a bit, it became very comfortable.
George eating his daily yogurt on the back porch.
The picture in our living room behind me reminded us of the Sacred Grove. Also, the little curio cabinet in the corner was the perfect place for little souvenirs that we collected from some of the countries we visited.
George refusing to give up his "Grandpa Jeans" that everyone in the family has requested.
Two-bedroom apartment.
We couldn't believe that we now had a car with an under-ground garage.
George was such a good sport and went down to the get the car while I waited up by the apartment house door each day.
We kidded with our Moscow Senior friends that we now had a BMW that looked like this. But, really, this was what our car looked like below! Still pretty nice, huh?! George always had a car when he was on his mission in the Western States Mission back in the 60s, so he was delighted that we had a car again!
Our little town of Friedrichsdorf was just a perfect place to live--not crowded and looking like it had been untouched for a couple hundred years!
Just as in Moscow, you had to bring your own cloth bags to take your grocery items home with. One thing for sure, there were definitely more choices of food in Germany than in Russia. Thank goodness, the grocery store, Rewe, was just across the street from our apartment house.
The Frankfurt Temple was under renovation, and had been for nearly three years with structural and roofing problems. Sadly, it wouldn't be open again until a few months after we returned home and it was seriously three and a half minutes from where we lived!
Our route to the Area Office.
Each day, we passed fields and pastures where we loved to see the cows and calves.
The Area Office for the church included the huge warehouse, which shipped church supplies all over Europe and Europe East Areas.
We were greeted with flowers on our desk as we arrived our first day.
The magnet board where we could keep track of the 38 countries and 29 AAAs we were over.
Our corner of the office. We actually really enjoyed working together each day! It was such a positive experience to have a goal that we were working together for as we would approach our callings. We, also, worked with the Director of Finance and the analysts from various countries who helped us so much with the many languages that were spoken.
Our first day at the office, the Director of Finance took us to the Chinese Buffet for lunch. We loved it!
Ten months later, our co-workers absolutely insisted that they take us on our last day in Germany to the Chinese restaurant we had visited so often this last year. They were all so kind and made us feel so happy that they wanted to let us know of their love for us, and definitely vice-versa! (Keiver from Portugal is another analyst we worked with very often. He is second from the right on the back.)
Caroline, from Germany.
The group I worked with from the Finance Department who planned the Christmas party in Frankfurt.
Viv and Liz from UK.
Eric from Belgium/France
Michaele from Italy
Director of Finance - Jeanclaude VanTonder from South Africa
Jeanclaude and his wife, Carol, who is from England
J.J. from Philippines and Eric, the Frenchman
Sergio from Portugal
Caroline from Germany, Liz and Viv from U.K.
Jeanclaude knew I loved licorice. He was so kind to occasionally put a package on my desk! So thoughtful!
We found lots of reasons to celebrate in the office!
Cristian from Italy.
We really loved Cristian, his wife from China, and their two children,
When we left Germany, I felt really prompted that we should leave our television for them. Little did we know, their family only had a tiny computer t.v. and had written that as a goal they wanted to work for, along with their spiritual goals, after watching October Conference. They were absolutely thrilled!
Although we only worked with him for just a couple of months in the finance office and enjoyed him being our bishop, this wonderful Italian man was called by the church to be the temple recorder in the new Rome, Italy Temple. We were blessed to see him again when we visited Rome.
We will miss our weekly newsletter that kept all the Seniors in touch and knowing what was going on.
Christmas party in Friedrichsdorf.
I was asked to read a Christmas story at our Christmas party at the office.
Food at parties was always divided between "sweet" and "savory." You never mixed the two on the serving tables.
We were thrilled to attend the International Ward and not have to wear headphones anymore, although we wouldn't have traded that experience in Moscow for anything.
Imagine our surprise when we met George's cousin when we attended church the first week. Her husband works for the church and they have moved around quite a bit in his working career. She is actually the Relief Society President in the ward.
Imagine our surprise when we met George's cousin when we attended church the first week. Her husband works for the church and they have moved around quite a bit in his working career. She is actually the Relief Society President in the ward.
We loved our Senior couples and especially got to know the couples who lived in Friedrichsdorf.
We had fun going to dinners--especially at the Berliner, which was very near our apartments in Friedrichsdorf.
In addition, we had a Fast Sunday dinner each month and rotated between the Conrad's home and ours. We ate some great meals planned by different couples each month, which we all assisted with. We, also, were fed spiritually by the wonderful lessons and discussions we had.
We will miss Zone Conferences--I will never forget when all the Elders sang--even George! It was great!
The Senior Couples who we worked with from the States, as well as all the AAAs from the countries we were over, will always have a special place in our hearts.
We will never forget our conference in Madrid where we met with many of our AAAs and did training with them.
We will definitely miss the drives through the beautiful countryside, especially on our P-day adventures that we took most every Saturday.
As we walked down the stairs in the Area Office for the last time, we left so many memories and wonderful people behind. Throughout our last nearly 21 1/2 months, we have visited ten temples and 24 countries.
TEMPLES VISITED WHILE ON OUR MISSION:
Finland Helsinki
Sweden Stockholm
Switzerland
Spain Madrid
Portugal, Lisbon
Freiburg, East Germany
Frankfurt Germany
The Hague, Netherlands
England, London
Italy, Rome
COUNTRIES VISITED WHILE ON OUR MISSION:
Finland
Sweden
Russia
Turkey
Armenia
Bulgaria
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Germany
France
Switzerland
Italy
England
Scotland
Ireland
Albania
Austria
Belgium
Poland
Netherlands
Portugal
Spain
Luxembourg
We sincerely hope we accomplished the counsel Elder Bednar exhorted to anyone who is in a leadership position:
TEMPLES VISITED WHILE ON OUR MISSION:
Finland Helsinki
Sweden Stockholm
Switzerland
Spain Madrid
Portugal, Lisbon
Freiburg, East Germany
Frankfurt Germany
The Hague, Netherlands
England, London
Italy, Rome
COUNTRIES VISITED WHILE ON OUR MISSION:
Finland
Sweden
Russia
Turkey
Armenia
Bulgaria
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Germany
France
Switzerland
Italy
England
Scotland
Ireland
Albania
Austria
Belgium
Poland
Netherlands
Portugal
Spain
Luxembourg
We sincerely hope we accomplished the counsel Elder Bednar exhorted to anyone who is in a leadership position:
"I think leadership includes both what you do and what you leave. What you do is necessary but not sufficient; it's not enough. The most important thing is what you leave when you're not there, and the most important thing you can leave are people who have increased in capacity and confidence."
Getting ready to leave was a marathon--we still needed to get home to our apartment, clean it, and pack up all our items--oh, yes, and be ready by 5:00 a.m. the next morning when the taxi would come. We couldn't start on that until we cleared out our space at the Area Office and do the final training of the Senior Couple that was taking our place--the Snows. It seemed almost impossible, but with the Lord's help, we finished at 4:00 a.m. and had just enough time to have about an hour rest before we walked out the door to the taxi at 5:00 a.m.
Flying home seemed surreal--I couldn't believe we were actually going home! Going into the Utah Valley and seeing the Great Salt Lake, however, started making it real that we were coming home!
I got tears seeing the Wasatch Front and Salt Lake Valley!
I can’t tell you how emotional it was for us to get off that plane after we got back to the states and see so many beautiful faces of our family greeting us! That meant so much to us! I never realized how much that means after you have been gone so long!
My dad's surviving sisters: Merle and Mary Jean
Our daughter, Amy, and three of her children: Isaac, Copeland, and Lola
The song from the grandchildren and great-grandchildren was so touching and everyone felt the Spirit as it was presented. Thanks to Natalie and Beverly for working with everyone so hard to prepare the song, and for Amy’s inspiration in suggesting this would be a perfect song as a tribute to Grandpa Rigby. The funeral was so wonderful, the military cemetery presentation, flag presentation, and dedication of the grave was so emotional, and the wonderful family dinner afterwards was perfect—especially with the fantastic meat that Ted prepared!
The mealtime afterward was a great time to see cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. My dad and mother must be so happy seeing their family enjoying being with each other so much.
Natalie found a VRBO house a little outside of Rexburg where most of us stayed. It worked great and we all enjoyed being together at this time.
Since we have been back, we have been trying to get settled. Dear sweet Natalie (DIL) unpacked half our boxes and we came into beds made, kitchen utensils put away, and she even had purchased groceries to get us started until we could go to the store and baked George's favorite oatmeal raising cookies! We appreciated it so much!
We left one day after we got home with Natalie, the kids, and Brady for a basketball tournament for Ethan on the Oregon Coast. We had such a wonderful time! It reminded me of one of the most pleasant trips I ever had as a teen when I was in junior high. We had experiences that will last forever seeing all the sea life along the beach and staying in a beach house right there on the beach that we were afraid our dad paid way too much for! It cost $26 a night! 😂. That was a lot in those days!
I thought I would put our plans for the next little while, since so many of you have been asking.
Monday, July 8th- Gpa George and I will drive to Utah and will be staying with Kevin and Angie.
Tuesday, July 9th- Kade comes Home from his mission from Ecuador about 6:30 pm into Salt Lake, Utah. We are so excited we can hardly wait!!!
Saturday, July 13th- Attend Nate Critchfield’s wedding and reception in Springville. It will be beautiful, I’m sure!
Sunday, July 14th-Kade’s Homecoming. He has done absolutely a remarkable job as he has served the Lord and the people in Ecuador. We are so looking forward to hearing from him!
Monday, July 15th- We will drive back to Washington.
Sunday, July 21st- Gpa George and I will report our mission in the Badger Mountain Ward At 10:30 am. Since both Kade and Gpa George and I plan to do a little report at our Copeland Family Reunion, we certainly don’t expect anyone to be there, but I thought I would tell you all the date in case any of you did want to come—certainly not expected at all!
We were blessed to have Kent, Natalie, and Ella (Ethan was in Dallas with his cousin) attend our homecoming, along with Jory and Kathy Anderson's family. We had a fun breakfast brunch afterwards at our home.
Monday, July 29th- Go back out to Utah, either drive or fly—not sure yet.
Tuesday, June 30th- August 2nd-COPELAND FAMILY REUNION!!! We can’t wait to party with everyone! We. can check in at 4:00 pm. on Tuesday. Checkout on Friday morning at 10:00 am. The address and itinerary will be sent out as soon as Alison gets back from Africa. You know it’s going to be fantastic because everyone has been putting in ideas. If you haven’t done so, please let Alison know things you’d like to do.
Saturday, August 3rd- Yes, another day we are all looking forward to—the marriage of Parker to Lauren in the Payson Temple and the reception that night in Provo.
Then, it’s back to Washington probably on Monday, August 5th.
Sunday, August 18th-Go to Danville, California, for Tyson’s farewell as he prepares to leave for Ukraine for his mission. Not sure the dates we will go and come, but really looking forward to that big event, too!
In between all those dates, there are lots of special birthdays and anniversaries. I will post them on my Instagram because this letter is already getting very long! 😂😂
By the way: Gpa George’s new email address is george.copeland@yahoo.com
He no longer wants to use his old email address on Yahoo, so please use that one in the future. Mine remains the same:
copemom7@hotmail.com
Again, thank you to all of you for your LOVE and kindness through the very emotional time of Grandpa Rigby’s passing and our returning from our mission! We LOVE you ❤️all so much!
Love, Gma Laura
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This is the end of our amazing 21 1/2 month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel we had one of the most unique missions anyone could ever have! We are so appreciative to our family and friends for their fantastic support--and to our Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, for entrusting us with this amazing assignment. We truly have testimonies of the importance of the missionary work--and even more now that we have seen what Senior Missionaries are capable of doing as we have seen them come from all over the world and help out in so many capacities. May we always be examples of the gospel in all we do and say. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true restored church in these latter-days. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
