A Small World

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Tonight was the Suitland Stake Auxiliary Training meeting.  Bro. Volk from the Stake Presidency asked us if we were going to attend.  We told him we had not heard about it.  It wasn't really for missionaries, but since it was for Ward Relief Society Presidencies, he thought it might give us the opportunity to meet more of the women who serve in the Stake.  But, Sister. Boone's daughter and granddaughter came for a visit this weekend and Sister Boone said she would not be attending.  Sister Ramon, the Stake RS President called and invited me to go to the meeting with her and her Secretary.  She said she would like to introduce me to the rest of the RS leaders in the Stake, and I would be able to listen to them discuss their concerns regarding Family History, Visiting Teaching, and the Stake activation plan called Focus Fifteen, all of which are a part of our focus as well.  I thought it was worthwhile to attend, and enjoyed the interaction with some of the sisters in the Stake. 

There was an added bonus after the meeting (besides the refreshments).  While we were driving to the meeting the topic came up that I had grown up in Montana.  Sister Ramon told me that there is a sister in her ward who is from Montana.  I mused how kids at college when I was attending Ricks College would say, "You're from Montana?  Do you know so-and-so?  They are from Montana."  I would say there is a fat chance of that happening since Montana is the 4th largest state.  And they were usually from clear across the state.

After the meeting was over, the sister that we were talking about introduced herself to me as Sister Edward.  She said, 'What part of Montana are you from?"  I told her the Billings Stake.  

She said, "We used to be in the Billings Stake."  

I said, "We lived about 80 miles east in the Musselshell Valley."  

She said "Lavina, Rygate…"

I said, "Those are towns in my school district [that we played ball against].  I went to Musselshell." 

She said, "I know Musselshell."  

I said, "We went to school in Musselshell and church in Melstone."  

She said, "I know Melstone."  

Then she asked if I knew Barr Edward or John and Donna Edward.  I told her I remembered them but was quite young when they moved away from our branch.  (It is coming back now.  I vaguely remember Barr and Darla but not the other kids, Brent, Annette, and Ross—names sound familiar.)  Then she asked me if I knew the Savages.  I said "My mom is Rose Savage, sister to Ven, and Bert, and Gil (and the rest)."  Then we made the connection.  Her husband is Ross Edward, the youngest son of John and Donna, the family that used to be in my home branch.  It was a fun discovery for me.  She wrote down my name and email address and my dad and mom's names so that she can tell Ross about us.  It is interesting how often people in this worldwide church make connections with others and especially here in the DC area where so many people from all over the country are brought together because of some connection with the military or federal government.  It really is a small world.

A quick search on the internet produced the obituary of John and Donna's oldest son, Barr who died in May 2011.  His dad died in 1989 and his mom in 1995—(they are buried in Ogden, Utah.)

Anniversary Week

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Sister Boone and I sat down Sunday afternoon and made a long list of sisters we could telephone and see if we can get a few appointments for this week.  We were successful in setting nine appointments and then planned a few cold calls to fill in the gaps.  A couple of the appointments canceled on us, but it turned out to be a good week in spite of that.  We are just trying to remain positive that we do have a purpose for being here.

Today, the 23rd is my 43rd wedding anniversary.  For the last six years I have been going to the temple on our anniversary, but did not do so today.  Still, it was a most wonderful day.   It was one of those "after the trial of your faith" experiences.  We started out in the middle of the trial phase.  Our first appointment was at 2:00 so we picked a few sisters to go to before that.  At the first house, a woman answered the door.  Her tirade went something like this.  "Oh, are you looking for Achia?  She is not here.  She is my daughter-in-law.  My husband is a police officer.  He works nights and you just woke him up AGAIN! (We have not been there before.)  If she is interested she will contact you so stop coming by." 

We left feeling rejected and a little offended (at least I did) by this seemingly personal attack.  I wondered if I even wanted to knock on another door, but we did.  It would be much safer to just call the sisters and see if we can come see them.  But from our experience, most of them do not answer their phone or return the call when we leave a message.  Two more sisters were not home.  And then it was time for our first appointment.  We had visited Nancy before and enjoyed this visit.  Sister Boone gave a little spiritual thought before we said a prayer together and left.  She picked the perfect message for such a day.  It was about pure charity.  It was a gentle reminder that helped me accept the harsh words we had received earlier this morning with forgiveness.

Our next appointment was with a wonderful sister of German descent.  She was born in Bavaria, joined the church as a teenager, and met an American student about a year later at a combined ward New Year's Eve party.  They were married in the Provo temple.  She was an only child as her father died young, and she is the mother of four children.  She studied Comparative Literature and her husband studied Slavic Linguistics.  Their children are all well-educated.  It is so refreshing to converse with her.  She talked about the differences she has noticed between Americans and Germans but it was not in a derogatory way.  In her experience, Germans are not as open with others, especially strangers, but their families are very close.  She has a wonderful relationship with her children and is such a positive person.  She has great spiritual insights.  It was just delightful to spend an hour with her.  As usual, we ended our visit with a spiritual thought and prayer.  After the thought, she asked us another question:  "In your experience here, why do you think people leave the church or become inactive?"  We said that is the question we have asked ourselves on several occasions.  She told us that her interest rises from the fact that she works with the Seminary program for the youth on a Stake level and visits the various seminary classes to observe and guide the teachers (some of which are not trained as teachers, just called to those positions as their ward calling).  When our discussion suggested in many cases the youth (investigators) just do not gain a testimony that will sustain them through this experience we call life, she shared her interesting insight regarding the matter of helping the youth (and those whom the missionaries teach) to gain a testimony outside of the connection they may or may not have with the teacher (or missionary).  They must not just be converted to the teacher but rather to the Savior.  She believes that sometimes the teacher expresses a lesson in such a way that it becomes rather theatrical, a performance.  It can be very moving, and the student may be touched by the message but does not recognize that as the Spirit or the Holy Ghost.  Unless the teacher can step back in a sense and let the student feel the true influence of the Spirit and be taught by the Holy Ghost they may come away with a false testimony, one that is dependent on that teacher and not on the true source of light, Jesus Christ.

This is the same basic concept that is often discussed about missionary work.  The missionaries come with a special message about Jesus Christ and the listeners hear and feel a special feeling that they have not felt before.  This is the Light of Christ that is available to all men.  They associate this wonderful feeling with the missionaries.  They feel the Spirit and are baptized.  But if they do not develop a relationship with the Savior, their activity in the Church and their testimony dims when the missionaries are gone.

After we talked about this principle, this good sister offered a beautiful, heartfelt prayer that was just what our spirits needed this day.  I felt my heart swell within me as we visited.  Her prayer was an expression of the message that Heavenly Father wanted us to hear this day.  We stood to leave.  She said " and now you give hugs" as if to ask that is just what you do, right?  Sister Boone hugged her and said "Thank you.  I feel like I know you now."  Then I hugged her and said "I feel like I knew you before."

Connections With the Past

Sunday, October 20, 2013

I think it is only natural that I have been thinking a little more of Verlin this week.  Today is our 43rd wedding anniversary.  Though we will never celebrate our 50th or 60th or 65th anniversary together as some couples are fortunate enough to do, I will still always celebrate that special day in my life when we began our eternal family. 

As I was thinking about him a few days ago, I thought back on his mission and how much he loved it.  I thought again about the Shumate family that he was able to baptize while he was on Prince Edward Island.  I wondered if they were still around, so I checked on the internet and came across Bro. Shumate's obituary (2009).  It mentioned that he was survived by his wife and son and daughter.  I decided that maybe a gift I could give to Verlin for this anniversary would be to make contact with the Shumate family that he had loved so much.  I thought it would be easiest to find Michael, so I looked for him on the internet.  His name came up fairly easily because he is an artist and was a college art professor for many years in Ontario.  One of his websites had his contact info (including picture) so I decided I would write and see if Sis. Shumate is still living.  I did not have their contact information when Verlin died, so I was not able to tell them about his death.  I emailed Mike on the 19th.  Surprisingly, I received a reply from him the next day.  He seemed very surprised that I had found him.  He asked me "how did you ever get my email and track me down?"  I told him that among the several internet sites about his art and his teaching career there was contact information, so I just took a chance and emailed.  I was pretty certain I had the right Michael Shumate because although people change over the years, the eyes don't change very much (just a few added wrinkles and bags sometimes).  We exchanged a couple comments as I answered a few questions that he had, and he had a couple questions for me.  I asked him to say hello to his mom for me.  I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email the following day from Verlin's favorite mission companion, the one who was with him on Prince Edward Island when the Shumates were baptized.  We had lost contact with Elder Keyworth several years after we were married and I have often wondered where they are.  They have seven children, one of them living in the Washington, D.C. South Mission.  Mike forwarded my emails to him, so he wrote to say hi and give his condolences.  I sent him a picture of Verlin and he sent me a picture of his children and a picture of him and his wife.  It is wonderful to hear from them after all of these years.

"Go Ye Into All the World..."

October 14-18, 2013

It seems like we didn't get to visit with very many sisters this week.  Monday the 14th was spent visiting active sisters that we had not had a chance to visit yet.  After we visited our three appointments we just stopped by the other houses to see if we could catch the sisters at home, but none of them were home.

Tuesday morning we took a sister to a doctor appointment in Bowie.  She was being evaluated for an application for Social Security Disability benefits.  We drove an hour to the appointment only to find out that the doctor was out due to a death in the family.  We will try again another day.  In the afternoon we saw only one out of seven sisters that we attempted to visit.

Wednesday we saw only two sisters, but they were both good visits.  In the evening we met for another mission correlation meeting.  Only one more meeting and we should make it through all of the ward directory trying to identify the ones the Ward leaders would like us to see.

Thursday we went to the temple.

Friday we had one appointment at noon.  We spent the rest of the day looking for the sisters that the ward leaders had asked us to help with.  They were all marked as less active sisters who were either "do not contact" or "moved" status, and they wanted us to confirm the information.  I don't mind too much going to a house and asking if someone lives there or has moved, but it is another thing to go to a house where representatives from the church are not welcome.  We were ignored at one house and treated rather rudely at another, but the rest were not home.  Like the song goes, "Mama said there'll be days like this…"

I have spent a lot of time this weekend pondering my mission, my purpose, and my goals.  I guess I have been feeling a little down because it doesn't seem like we are making much progress.  This week we visited with five active sisters and three less active sisters.  The rest were not home when we stopped by.  Sis. Boone and I have talked about how we can be more effective and what we can do now that we have stopped by every house in the ward at least once, sometimes two or three times.  We are going to continue to try and set visits during the day, but additionally we will start doing some evening visits.  It may be only a couple houses a night, because it is kind of hard to find some of the houses in the daytime, let alone after dark.

As I have thought about whether we are making a difference with the sisters we visit, the Lord reminded me that everyone can benefit from a friendly smile and a kind word.  There is not one sister here or anywhere for that matter who has not had their own set of trials, some of them extremely difficult ones.  Just this week we have visited with sisters with health problems, mental problems, financial difficulties, or problems with their family relationships.  (One sister found out at about age 70 that she was adopted as an infant.  She was able to find and meet her biological mother and siblings that she didn't know she had.)  Some have strong testimonies and others have forgotten what led them to be baptized.  Some have had family members who have strayed from the church.  Some are widows who have been alone for a long time and others for only a year or two.  It never gets easier.  One sister's husband has terminal cancer and is in hospice care right now.  I know the Lord is mindful of each of these sisters, and I also know that He is mindful of my needs. 

Just Friday morning when I was seeking for guidance and direction, I found a quote by Pres. Uchtdorf speaking at a German Mission Reunion.  He said, "We never know when we do a good deed for someone or say a word of comfort or uplift someone if that person, at that time, needed that heavenly blessing."  I will try to remember his words regarding our commission as missionaries.  "The missionaries are an essential extension of the Quorum of the Twelve who were first commissioned by the Savior 'to teach every creature'…wherever the missionaries share the gospel, they are teaching sons and daughters of the same Heavenly Father."

Highlights of the Year 2012

(The next entries may seem completely out of place, but this is old news that I have been working on for quite some time to catch up on events of 2012.  I will start with the end of 2011 when I had to find new employment after my previous "boss" closed her business.  Lots of news in 2012!)

December 21, 2011

Merry Christmas to me…

Just before Christmas 2011, I received an email message from Angie Rice, for whom I had done transcription work for the last 11 years.  She had been struggling to make payments the last few months and regretfully sold her transcription company and let us all know that as of December 31, 2011 she would be closing her business.  A day or two later, she sent me an email telling me that there was a company in California who actually wanted to buy her business but she had already agreed to sell to someone else.  They were looking to expand their business and were looking for more subcontractors.  She gave me their contact information and I emailed them.  They asked me if I would be interested in doing some trial work for a urology center to see if I would be a fit for their company.  Things worked out favorably, and within a week I had another job.  I should know by now that Heavenly Father will always take care of my needs and then some.

Coast Transcription Plus owners, Holly and Dana Drake, for whom I work now.

February 11, 2012

Wood Badge Bead Ceremony

February 11, 2012 was the date set for the Bead Ceremony for our May 2011 Wood Badge course.  Every patrol had several participants who had completed their tickets and were ready to receive their beads and certificates of completion.  Six out of seven of my Owl patrol received their beads that evening.  All seven of Ammon's patrol, the Beaver Patrol, received their beads.  I can't remember how many of Brian's patrol were in attendance, but Brian received his beads as well.  Even though I may not see many of these scouters again, I will always cherish the memories of all three Wood Badge courses I was privileged to attend.  I especially appreciate feeling more confident standing in front of a group of people sharing the principles of Scouting that can change people's lives.  I am hopeful that this experience will strengthen me and give me courage to fulfill my long-time desire to serve a mission and share similar principles of the gospel with others.

Ammon's Beaver Patrol at the Wood Badge Bead Ceremony

March 22, 2012

Pre-Easter Family Time

Alex and Laura knew that Alex's summer research for medical school would not allow them to come from Ohio to Utah for the 4th of July, so they came in March instead.  This would allow them to share Reed's blessing day with family.  On Saturday, the 24th, we had a family gathering at the Single Adult Ward's church on 1100 East.  We played games, did crafts, and had an Easter egg hunt.

Easter 2012 Gathering Fun

The grandkids who were in attendance for the "Eastering" activities

On Sunday, the 24th, family from both the Hendersons and the Hatches came to my house, and Alex was able to give Reed his baby blessing.

Reed Clark Hatch

April 2, 2012

Trip to Tracy, California—another grandchild

On April 2nd, I flew to California to spend a few weeks with Anson's family to help out when Lora had their third child.  I thought I was arriving a week early, but Ruby thought otherwise.  She was born on April 5th.  Lora had to have a C-section this time, and post-delivery was a very long, rather frightening wait for Anson as he watched the doctors and nurses scurrying around caring for her.  After many liters of blood and plasma, they got things under control and by late evening, Sydney, Camden, and I were allowed to come for a visit to see their new baby sister.  At this point, we didn't even know what their baby sister's name was.  After almost a week of recovery, Anson, Lora, and baby Ruby Stella Hatch came home on the 11th to the welcoming arms of a very excited brother and sister.

Miss Ruby Stella Hatch

April 7, 2012

Easter Weekend

Since Anson and Lora were at the hospital on Easter weekend, I tried to help the kids have a fun time.  We went out to eat at Panda Express one day and we made sure we colored plenty of Easter eggs.  Keeping with tradition, the kids were able to have a scavenger hunt that led them to their Easter baskets full of goodies.

Lora's mom, Kay Lyn Shaw, arrived a few days later and was able to spend some time with the kids.  She planned fun activities to do while they were not in school.  April 13th was Camden's birthday.  He chose where he wanted the family to go for dinner that night.  We dined at Golden Corral and all had a good time.

April 26, 2012

On to Dallas, Oregon to See my Mom

I stayed with Anson and Lora until April 26th and then I flew to Portland, Oregon to spend a few days with Dick and Trish and my mom.  Trish picked me up at the airport in Portland and we met Denise at Olive Garden for lunch.  I enjoyed my visit and being able to spend a few days with mom.  I helped feed Mom and another lady who sat next to her at the table who also needed to be fed.  Mom is still in pretty good health.  It is so hard though to see her just sitting in her chair all day seeing nothing and remembering nothing.  It makes me wonder about the final part of Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness which is to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent, be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, make and keep sacred temple covenants, and endure to the end.  That enduring to the end part just might be the hardest for me to comprehend.

On May 1, 2012

Home Again in Time for another Grandchild

Vivian Kylie Hatch

I flew home from Portland, Oregon.  I began my weekly stays with Katrina's girls when I

got home.  Abby had her baby on Father's Day, June 17, 2012.  They chose the name Vivian Kelly Hatch.  Kelly is Abby's mom's name.  But when they prepared to give her a baby blessing, they changed it to Vivian Kylie Hatch, Kylie being the name of Abby's sister who died as an infant.

June 30, 2012

Carter's Baptism

Andrew and Melissa's oldest child, Carter, wanted to be baptized in Utah.  Their family drove here, and Carter was baptized on June 30, 2012 at Grandpa and Grandma Gunderson's Stake baptism.  We went to Gunderson's for lunch afterwards.  Though I was not able to get any pictures of Carter, I am glad that I was able to be a part of this important day for Carter.

Things I watched during the summer

 Summer wild fires along I-15

Rough city streets...

 ...finally repaired

New construction at the High School

Renovation of Mt Timpanogos Temple

Late summer double rainbow along I-15

(The right arc is a little hard to see)

August 2012

Yet Another Grandbaby

Joshua Caleb Poole

Heidi was due to have her baby around the first of September, 2012, but she gave me notice that she didn't think this little guy was going to wait that long.  When she said she was having contractions about one week into August, I begged her to wait until after I had the chance to conduct Roundtable on the 9th.  Joshua had other plans, though and he was born on August 7th.  I went to Clearfield to help out for a couple days and then drove to American Fork to conduct Roundtable and then went back to Heidi's, so everything worked out okay.  On August 12th, I went back to American Fork for Vivian Kylie's baby blessing.

Vivian Kylie Hatch with Grandma Hatch on her blessing day

September 2012

Fourth Grandchild of 2012

Adam Franklin Hardy

One more baby was born in 2012.  This was Teresa's third boy, born on September 19th, 2012 (the same day as my sister Lori Ann's birthday and his cousin, Maddy's birthday as well).  They named him Adam Franklin Hardy.  Why that name?  Well, when they were trying to decide on a name, their oldest boy, 4-year-old Brigham had watched a kids movie about Franklin the turtle.  He felt that would be a great name for his baby brother.  Brian and Teresa said no way, but after they found out that Brian actually had a distant grandfather named Franklin, they decided that it could work as a middle name.  Not too many people hear a person's middle name anyway, right?  I never knew Brian's "grandpa" Franklin, but I do remember the cute little green turtle named Franklin.

Sale of Duchesne Property

Negotiations

In early September, 2012 I received a letter from a representative of Integrated Water Management out in the Uintah Basin.  They were looking for more property near Duchesne that they could use for storage and expansion of their business.  They were curious whether I was interested in selling my 40 acres near Starvation Reservoir.  My first instinct was to say no, my husband said to never sell this place, it is going to be a place of refuge for my family someday.  As I looked at the increased activity in the oil industry and how many wells and oil tanks were situated around my property now, it no longer seemed like such a great place of refuge.  So I told them that I might consider an offer.  When they wondered what I might want to ask for all 40 acres, I said at least $150,000.  So that is the offer I received and accepted.

The Cleanup

Ammon, Alvin, Shane, and Sonia all came out at different times to help me clean up the shop and grounds.  It was an emotional time for me as we went through Verlin's possessions one by one and decided whether they went to the dump, to one of the kids, or would be sold.  It turned out that a few loads went to the dump and a little was sold, but mostly things were just crowded into Ammon's garage.  He said that he would sort through it and see what was worth keeping or selling and get rid of the rest.  It has been a very difficult time for him also.  I really appreciated his help with this endeavor.  It took a couple months but by the closing deadline we had cleaned up everything and locked the doors there for the last time.  The transfer of title was made on December 7, 2012.  The new owners thanked us for doing such a good job of cleaning it up and said I might be interested in knowing that they had named that location "The Stella."  Maybe someday I will go out there again…maybe.

December 2012

Last Roundtable of Silver Lake District

December was my last time to conduct Cub Scout Roundtable for Silver Lake District.  The district was dissolved as of January 1, 2013 and  combined with the east part of Lehi District to form a new district called the Iron Horse District.  I let the District know that this would be the last meeting I would conduct.  It was very stressful each month to plan, prepare, and conduct Roundtable, but I actually kind of miss it.  I especially miss all of my Scouter friends.

Thinking About a Mission and Moving

Now that the property in Duchesne was sold, I started thinking about when I should put in my papers to go on a mission.  On December 12th, 2012—after the American Fork Relief Society Social I met with Bishop Merrill to begin my mission recommendation forms.  About a week later, Brian and Teresa told me that they had found a house to rent and were moving to Lindon.  So when we had our family Christmas party on the 22nd, I told everyone that I had begun my mission recommendation form and was planning on setting a July 1, 2013 availability date.  I would also be selling our house of 27 years.  In the first two weeks of January, 2013 I was able to have my medical and dental checkups and met with the Bishop on January 13, 2013 to turn in my paperwork and physical and dental forms.

Hatch Christmas Gathering 2012

We had our annual Christmas party on December 22nd.  We missed seeing Anson's family, Aaron and Mason, Shane and Kaden, and Bryce, but the rest of the families were there.  We thought Alex and his family would not attend either but they decided to come.  They headed out and were caught in a terrible snowstorm and turned around to go back to Columbus.  When they reached the I-70 junction, they made the choice to try and come after all and turned Westward again on I-70 instead of I-80.  They drove without stopping and arrived a short while before the party was to start.  I was so grateful to see them, and to see them arrive safely.  We had an enjoyable party.  I spent several weeks before the party making Christmas ornaments for everyone as we had decided that each family would make 11 ornaments that represent their family and give each household one.  That way, each family had a set of 11 ornaments to remind them of the Hatch family.

I made two sets of ornaments.  They were round wooden disks that had pictures on each side and a ribbon to hang it on the tree.  For my children the ornaments had pictures of the Logan temple at day and at night to remind us of the blessings of the temple that give us the promise of a forever family and an influence always--day and night.  The other set of ornaments were for the grandchildren.  Each child was given a wooden disk with a picture of the baby blanket I made for them on one side and their baby picture on the other side.

There are just too many pictures to post, but we sure had fun.  We enjoyed good food, fun crafts (making candy sleighs and foam snowmen), the talent show, and the traditional nativity play.

Boy cousins waiting to make their snowmen

 Snowmen in progress

Shelem and Kylie working on their sleighs

 Kadance working on a sleigh

And the finished projects

 Graham

 Brigham, Hyrum, Taylor, and Allie

 Cody

 Allie

 Sleigh

Kasidy's finished sleigh

The Nativity Play--Onstage

Take a Bow--well done!

The Nativity Play--In the Background

What wonderful memories we are making!  I hope the family will continue the Christmas gathering while I am gone.

January 13th, 2013

Submitting my Mission Papers

I met with the Bishop again and submitted my recommendation form and medical forms.  We also began the chore of packing up the house and cleaning it so that we could put it up for sale.  It took quite a few weeks of trips by Heidi and me to go down and pack things, and clean.

On January 29th, I met with Pres. Ivins for my mission interview.  When I got up that morning, I thought I was going to have to cancel because of another snowstorm.  When the weather cleared a little in the afternoon, I decided to go anyway.  If I hurried, I would be able to get home before it got bad again.  When I got to American Fork, I drove by the house and found several inches of snow in the driveway.  Since I was
a bit early, I thought I would work on shoveling snow for a bit before going to the Stake President's office, but I decided that it wouldn't be that great shoveling snow in a dress.  I met with President Ivins, and he told me he would write his recommendation and submit it that same evening and I should receive my call in two to three weeks.  I then went back to the house for something that I wanted to do there.  When I got there, my neighbor, Russ Davis, and my home teacher, Wayne Hunsaker, were shoveling my driveway.  This was after dark, by the way.  I was sure surprised  by their dedication in serving me that night but it was so typical of the kind of men they are.   

February 2013

Beginning To Move

By the 1st of February, we had nearly everything packed up in the house.  On Feb 2nd, Ammon borrowed Wayne Hunsaker's trailer and they helped me load household items, some furniture, and at least a ton of food storage into the trailer to haul to Katrina's.  They were gracious enough to offer me Kylie's room in their basement to store my belongings while I am gone.  I hope they don't regret tying up that space for that long.  Kylie moved upstairs to the room next to Kasidy where I used to stay during the summer.  (See blog entry about moving for more details.)

February 28, 2013

My Call is Here!!

Thursday, February 28th, my call came.  I planned to read my letter when I could share it with the family, and Thursday was not a good night, so we waited until the next day and Heidi and I went to Brian and Teresa's house in Lindon.  Ammon and Abby came over and we set up the television and computer so we could do a "Google Hangout" with the rest of the kids.  Six people were on their computers in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Wellsville, Columbus, and Annabella, and I was on my computer at Teresa's.  Alvin was listening in on his phone since he didn't have access to a computer at the time.  At the designated hour of 9:00 p.m. we all joined the hangout and began chatting.  It was great!  Just as noisy as our Christmas parties.  I opened my letter and began to read, "Dear Sister Hatch.  You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."  My eye involuntarily jumped down to the place, and I stifled a gasp and kept reading…"You are assigned to labor in the Washington DC North Mission."  This, of course, elicited laughter from Heidi, who will be moving with her family back to Andrews Air Force Base in Washington DC in July of this year.  I will enter the MTC on July 1, 2013.  I will serve for a period of 23 months.  My primary assignment will be as a women's auxiliary specialist, which is basically a full-time visiting teacher.  If my responsibilities are similar to the sisters who have served there before me, I will have the opportunity to serve in the Washington DC Temple one day a week, sometimes in the Family History Center, and do lots of visiting, service, and fellowshipping among the sisters in our mission area.  I won't be serving outside of the U.S. like my children, but I am very excited about this assignment.

March 2013

Cleaning Up the House

March 2013 was spent cleaning my house while at the same time dreaming about my mission.  I did some minor repairs, paint touch up, and basic cleaning and window washing over the next couple of weeks.  By March most of the work was done, and after a few last minute items, we locked up the doors on March 16th.  Now it was time to contact the real estate agent and hope that there is someone out there who likes our house enough to purchase it.

Rainy Days

Week of October 7-13, 2013

This has been the wettest week I have experienced since I arrived in Maryland.  There was reportedly more rainfall this week than in all of August and September.  On Monday, we were able to visit three homes before the rain began.  At the first home, the sister was "under the weather" and couldn't come to the door.  At the next house, we found out that the sister had gone on a trip to Florida with her mother, whom we had also planned to visit that day.  The last house was a sister we had visited before in August so we decided to try and catch her at home again.  Fortunately she was at home and invited us in.  While we were visiting, the rain really set in and we got pretty wet just running back to our car at the end of the visit because we didn't take our umbrellas in with us.  It was worth it though, because we enjoyed our visit very much.  She is not an active sister, but she has very good visiting teachers who keep in touch with her.  In fact she was going to go to lunch with one of them that day.  On Sunday, Sister Paoule stopped us for a minute after church to tell us that Sis. Henthorn told her we had stopped by and she really enjoyed our visit.  She said, "the dog didn't even bark at them."  I guess if the dog liked us we couldn't be that bad.  The dog barks at everyone, even the visiting teacher, which kind of hurt her when she heard that the dog didn't bark at us.  We told her that Sis. Henthorn probably didn't notice that the dog did come out towards the car barking when we arrived.  I reminded Sis. Boone that her name was Emma and she rolled down her window and talked to her while we drove up and parked.  The dog seemed satisfied and ran into the house to wait for us.

After getting semi-drenched leaving Sis. Henthorn's, we decided that the rest of the visits, which were all cold calls, could wait until tomorrow.  The rain had abated a bit by Tuesday morning, so we went out.  Of those visits, only one sister was home, Sis. Nelia Gaspar from the Philippines.  We were really there to try and meet her daughter who is not active.  Nelia and her husband attend church and are a very nice couple.  Nelia invited us in and we had an enjoyable visit.  She asked if we would like a little ice cream before we left.  Although we try not to accept meals from the members because they are often called upon to feed the young elders, we accepted her offer.  She brought out a couple containers of ice cream that she bought at an Asian market.  One was mango flavor and the other was ube flavor.  The ube ice cream is very bright purple.  I thought it might be some kind of berry, but chose instead to sample the mango ice cream.  It was very good.  She said "you have to try the ube too" so we sampled that also.  I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor.  It is kind of hard to describe the flavor, but I would say it tasted similar to toasted coconut.  She told us ube is a root plant.  Some people call it a yam, but it is a purple variety.  We then presented a short spiritual thought and had a prayer.  She asked if we would please come back.  She called out as we got in the car "call first".  I think she wants to make sure she has time to cook something for us when we come again.  She is a dear sister.

Bishop's Storehouse

On Wednesday, the 9th, we had made a commitment to help out at the Bishop's Storehouse in Upper Marlboro, about an hour away.  The rain was back in full force.  We were happy to be doing service of some sort that would keep us out of the rain.  We enjoyed the time we spent there helping sort and bag produce, stock shelves, and help patrons who came to fill food orders from their Bishops.  We also helped put tags by all of the commodities so that they could conduct inventory the next morning.  We told them that we had enjoyed our day very much and would be willing to come and help out again, even with inventory the next day if they needed more help.  Before we left, they said they would like to take us up on our offer to help with inventory, so we drove back in the rain on Thursday and did that.  On Wednesday we were there from 8:30 until about 2:30 so we thought it would be a long day Thursday also, but we were only there from 8:00 until about 11:00.

We concluded Wednesday with a telephone conference call with the Mission President and most of the senior missionaries who joined in.  Most of the conversation really didn't have much to do with our work in the southern part of Maryland, but we stayed on until the end anyway, about an hour.  They discussed having another outing for the senior missionaries soon.  So far we have only been to one of the activities, the getting-to-know-you barbecue at the Mission Home.  They have also had an activity to attend a Washington Nationals baseball game.  We didn't go because baseball isn't really that fun for us unless we are watching our own boys and it is also at night.  They next had a sailing activity on the Chesapeake.  Neither of us are big on boating, so we didn't go to that either.  Part of the reason is that we have to drive so much farther to all of those activities than everyone else and then we end up getting home very late.  I know the social gatherings are important to help us find fellowship with the other missionaries, but we choose safety first.  Next weekend they are meeting at the Mission Home again (over an hour away) at 9:30 in the morning to car pool out to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, which is another hour drive.  Then we would have the two-hour drive home.  This one is earlier in the day and sounds like fun.  They are going to just drive around and see the beautiful fall foliage and then have lunch together at the Town's Inn in Harper's Ferry.  Some of the places are currently shut down because of the government fiasco in Congress but the town is so anxious to have visitors and the business they generate that they said they will be more lenient with parking in areas that are normally not allowed to get people to come into town.  Sis. Boone's daughter is coming on the 24th to visit for a few days, so I don't think we will be going.

Because we worked at the Storehouse on Thursday, we determined to go to the Temple on Friday as long as the traffic wouldn't be horrible.  The only problem is there is really no way to know until you get in it.  There is a radio station that reports the traffic conditions several times an hour and alerts the public if there have been any accidents.  I was more interested in finding out if the trucker demonstration was actually going to take place.  There had been conversations going around on Facebook and on some websites about the "Truckers to Shut Down America" drive that truckers were talking about doing on October 11 through the 13th.  When we mentioned our concern at the Storehouse on Thursday, Bro. Bryson said "oh no, I heard that was only a hoax."  So we decided to try to go to the Temple.  

Friday morning news reports from the radio station were that the truckers were starting out on the Virginia side of the Washington Beltway and would be looping around in waves on the inner loop throughout the day.  Earlier reports said something like 10,000 truckers were going to be involved.  Even though Saturday reportedly had more participation, it turned out that only about 30 truckers were driving around Friday displaying the signs and flashing lights to indicate their support of the complaints against the way Congress and the White House were handling the government shutdown and other public concerns.  They tried to slow traffic by driving together in all lanes of traffic but decided they had better not go in the fast lane that they were not legally allowed to be in.  Just the fact that they only drove the speed limit was probably hindrance enough, and of course the rain also helped their cause.  Most people go 10 miles over and a lot go at least 15 miles over the speed limit.  We drove to the temple without too much delay and attended the 11:00 and 1:00 sessions.  This time we ran into Bro. Adams (Lamar).  He said he is in good health and doing well. 

Going back home was slower going.  It was raining really hard and we encountered more truckers, but we made it home safely.

Sunday night we had to drive over to Indian Head (about 30 minutes away) to meet with the Elders, the 1st Counselor in the Bishopric, the Relief Society President, and the High Priest Group Leader.  We discussed the members of the ward who need more help and received another list, AAARGH.  In two and a half hours we only made it through the letter G, not even halfway through the list.  We are going to meet again Wednesday night to discuss the rest.  This has been somewhat helpful in identifying some more members who have moved or are not interested in our visits.  By the time we left to come home, it was dark.  I was very nervous because we were in a less populated, densely forested area of Maryland where deer love to hang out.  There were a few who watched us through the living room window from the front yard while we were having our meeting.  I reminded Sis. Boone that I am very nervous about traveling at night especially since Verlin's accident.  I am glad that she was the driver.  I just prayed that we would not encounter any deer and was grateful that we did not.

Missionary Work and Homes Full of Love

Sunday, October 6, 2013

  We are starting to see fall leaves

Even though last Monday was technically still September, we started visiting the sisters of White Plains 1st Ward again and Sister Boone resumed the job of driver.  I now have the ward list for 1st Ward divided up so that they are in neighborhoods as I had previously done for 2nd Ward.  We have probably been to more than half of the houses in this ward so far, and based on what we had done in the past, it looked like it would take another two weeks to visit the rest of the homes.  But because we had them grouped a little better, we were able to go to quite a few in one day.  Part of that also stemmed from the fact that we found very few women at home.  Our first two visits of the day on Monday were scheduled appointments.  The first one was Sister Emerson, a sister we had visited previously.  She seemed so much more comfortable with us this time and we enjoyed our visit very much.  The second sister, Sister Ucles, just recently moved to this area with her family from Italy.  She and her husband are originally from Honduras, and he is in the military.  She speaks English quite well but sometimes struggles to call to mind the word she wants to use.  We enjoyed our visit with her as well.

 I love to see the geese take off from the lakes when I walk by

Tuesday was the first day of the "government shutdown".  We saw a few more people at home today because they were told not to report for work.  We went to 13 homes but found only two sisters at home.  We visited briefly with each of them.

Shot a picture of this squirrel who froze in a very awkward position while I passed by.

Wednesday we only found one out of 17 sisters home, but we still considered it a successful day.  The one sister we visited is Sister Logalbo, whom we had visited in August seemingly by chance, but we felt the Lord had a hand in helping us find her and being invited in.  She is disabled and doesn't get many visitors.  We enjoyed an hour together and she let us present a spiritual thought and have prayer with her.  She said she has started reading the Bible.  We left with a promise to return.  We will give her a Book of Mormon next time.

Thursday we again attended the temple and had fairly good traffic going in both directions.  We attended two sessions.  It may not sound like a lot, but it takes us about 7 1/2 to 8 hours from the time we leave home until we return.  We are physically exhausted by the time we get home but spiritually uplifted by the experience.

Friday we had two appointments again.  The first one was Sister Hendricks who we thought was active, but she does not attend church all that often.  Her children have all left the church.  She has been a widow since 2004.  She heard that we had stopped by her daughter-in-law's home about the first week we got here.  (Her daughter-in-law told us that they have home teachers, but she was not really interested in having us return for another visit.)  Evidently she told her mother-in-law that there are sister missionaries in the area now.  Sis. Hendricks wondered why she hadn't seen us yet.  Then she asked why we had chosen to visit her.  We said, "Well, we just wanted to meet you and get to know you."  She asked how we knew about her.  We told her we had a ward list of all of the members in the Ward.  She wondered what was on the list about her.  We said we didn't know anything about her.  That is why we came to see her.  She was actually very nice and we had a good visit.  She put some cinnamon rolls in the oven and invited us to sit down and have one with her before we left.  This put us late for our next appointment, but we felt it was important to accept her invitation.  We will for sure return and visit her again.

After our next appointment with one of the active sisters, we went to a few more houses all of which were "not home."  We were very surprised at the end of the day to receive a call from Sister Eckloff, one of the sisters who was gone when we stopped by earlier.  We had stuck our card in the door with our names and phone number as we do with all of the houses we visit.  We were happy that she had actually looked at the card and called us.  She is one that we visited in August who gave us a very skeptical reception at that time.  She acted a bit unusual, like she was actually afraid of us.  She was afraid that something bad was going to happen to her now because we had stopped by.  She told us that something bad always happens after someone from the Church stops by.  She seemed more alert when she phoned us and asked if we would mind taking her to a doctor's appointment on the 15th.  This is our second opportunity to help a sister get to a doctor's appointment.  It is nice that we are getting more opportunities to serve.

Sister Boone loves to point out the beautiful flowers and plants and large homes that we drive by every day.  I was surprised today when she had to stop and get a picture of a couple of things we saw.  One was this very interesting mailbox.  

A big cuddly teddy bear?

Our last visit of the day was a model home that we passed by in one of the new housing developments that we visited.  She decided that we just had to see the inside of these fancy homes, so she jumped at the chance to go into the model home.  It was kind of an awkward situation for me, but I walked along with her as she admired the furnishings of the home. 

 It was a very beautiful house—one of the smaller designs of less than 2,000 square feet for only $350,000, probably not the best choice for us, but lovely nonetheless.

A very rosy sunset after a rainshower

Saturday and today we have had the opportunity to watch all of the sessions of General Conference on TV.  I have thought about how conference talks have changed over the years.  When I was younger, it seemed like most of the talks were about specific basic principles of the gospel like faith, repentance, scripture study, the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the gospel, the Atonement, having Family Home Evening, prayer, chastity, paying tithing, keeping the Sabbath Day holy, the Word of Wisdom, and food storage to name a few.  These are all great principles to be reminded of but can be easily covered in Sunday School or other Sunday lessons.  At this General Conference, we were encouraged to be obedient, but I felt that there was a lot more emphasis on our relationship with our families, with our neighbors, and with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and keeping the commandments out of love.  When Pres. Monson gave his closing address, I got my pencil and paper ready to write down everything that the Lord wants us to focus on for the next six months.  This is what I wrote:  "Homes full of love.  Nourish testimonies.  Show increased kindness.  Ever be found doing the work of the Lord."  Pretty simple isn't it?