The Transition

It was kind of a hard week for both Sister Divine and I.  She was not ready to have her mission end already, and I was not ready to have her go home.  We both knew that it must be, though, and we made the most of our time.  We went to the church for our final District meeting with brownies as a going away treat for the elders.  When we arrived, we found out that they had planned a little party of their own.  They decorated the hall and classroom and brought cookies.  We didn't let the fun get in the way of having a meaningful meeting, and Sister Divine was given the opportunity to bear her testimony at the end.  It was a good day.

The Elders decorated the hall and classroom for our final district meeting for Sister Divine.

Interior design is not the Elders' strong point, but they are amazing missionaries!

 

Thursday afternoon, after we had filled Sister Divine's gas tank and run our final errands, the elders came over to the apartment and helped her carry her belongings down to her car and pack them in preparation of her departure the next morning.

I think Sister Divine felt kind of bad that she did not get to attend a final mission transfer meeting and bear her testimony in front of the entire mission, so it was great that the elders invited her to do so at our meeting. She also did not get to have a final meeting with President Cooke where he presents the departing missionaries with a Mission Coin.  A few days before she was to leave, Pres. Cooke's office assistant emailed us to set up interviews with the President, but they were to be held after Sister Divine went home.  I mentioned to Sister Connell that I really thought Sister Divine would be honored if she could get a chance to meet with or talk to President Cooke before she left.  It just didn't seem like she had closure in light of the fact that her mission ended three weeks early because she had no companion for the last three weeks that she should have been here.  On Thursday evening, the 12th, we received a phone call from President Cooke that he was in Bowie doing interviews and he wanted to meet with us.  He wondered if we could meet him halfway.  The Stake Center happened to be about 30 minutes from each of us, so we met there.  Sister Divine felt a little embarrassed at first, because she felt that President was too busy to take time out for her.  I was so glad that he did that.  We drove up and met him at about 8:00 p.m.  He presented her with her Mission Coin, gave her some instructions about meeting with the Stake Presidency when she arrived in Utah to be released.  Then he went north to the Mission Home and we went south to our apartment.  I am so glad that we did this for Sister Divine.

 Sister Divine receiving her coin from President Cooke

The following morning, Friday, the 14th, Sister Divine threw in the last of her luggage and headed to the airport to pick up Josh, who was arriving about 9:30.  They had a few fun days traveling home, seeing a few sights and driving in some yucky, snowy weather to reach their home in Utah.

 Sister Divine is nearly ready to leave.

Sister Divine headed for the airport to meet her son, Josh.  

See you in 2015, Sister Divine!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Mission Office contacted me and told me that President Cooke had asked me if I could pick up Sister Moraga at Ronald Reagan Airport on Saturday.  Her plane arrived at about 3:45.  I told him on Thursday night that I would be happy to pick her up if I needed to, but I also was hoping that she wouldn't be too tired to attend the Evening session of Stake Conference in Camp Springs.  She was flying here and buying one of the mission cars, so they made arrangements to have one of the APs drive the car to Suitland Stake Center where we were holding the conference.  President Cooke was speaking at the Saturday night session and the missionaries in the Suitland Zone were going to sing our Mission Song in the meeting.  He wanted to make sure we got to do that too, so it was great that things worked out for us to be able to do that, and Sister Moraga was able to meet President Cooke right away and meet some of the missionaries and members in the stake.

It was a bit tricky making connections with Sister Moraga, but we made it.  She doesn't have a cell phone but she has an iPad with siri so we communicated by email.  I turned on the hotspot on my Verizon phone so that I could use it as an internet connection to email her when I got to the airport.  Low and behold, the phone and iPad wouldn't link so I just sat at the cell phone lot until about 15 minutes after her plane was due to arrive.  Then I drove around and around the loop from the cell phone lot, past the passenger pick-up zone, and back to the cell phone lot.  I only had to do that three times and there she was waiting at the curb the last time.  It worked great.  From there we drove to Camp Springs for the Stake Conference.  Pres. Cooke asked me to just take her there, and Elder Miyasaki drove her car down and delivered the keys to her after the conference.  She doesn't have GPS either, so I gave her my Garmin to use and she followed me all the way home.  She stuck to my taillights like glue, and we made it without anyone cutting in between us for the 30 minute drive.  It was a miracle!  We got home about 10:00 p.m. and hauled her luggage up the three flights.  Fortunately because she flew, she did not have that much, but they were big and awkward. We went to Stake Conference on Sunday morning and then sat with Sister Michela for about 1 1/2 hours afterward talking about how we can help the sisters in White Plains 2nd Ward with their visiting teaching.

Sunday night winter storm Wiley moved in and we got about another 8 inches of snow by noon Monday. Sister Divine thought that she had taken all of the snow back to Utah with her, but I assured her that she left plenty of it in Maryland.  We were still able to go out and run a few errands Monday afternoon in spite of the snow and visited with Pat Rock, a sister that we have not been able to visit in her home before now, so that was great.  She is the good friend of Chris Emerson (the one who had breast cancer) and Sharon Hendricks who just moved to Virginia on Saturday.   Pat told us that Chris felt pretty good the first couple of days after surgery, but over the weekend she began to feel more pain.  Today we took her some flowers, and she was actually feeling even worse so we just gave the flowers to her husband and didn't get to say hi.  Today when we talked to her she seemed to be in better spirits.  We offered to help her with her laundry.

Sister Moraga is going to be just wonderful.  She is an educator also.  She taught English, French, and Spanish to high school students in Paso Robles, California before she retired and moved to St. George.  She served a mission in French Polynesia as a young woman, and then served a one-year mission as a CES missionary in France in 2012.  I know that I will learn a lot from her.

We have kept really busy this week.  We visited the visiting teachers that Sister Michela wanted us to talk to. Then we started going down the ward lists again to try and make contact with many of the sisters that we have never met.  We went to 34 homes and either talked to someone or actually had a visit with 19 of them.  

We have also had time to run several errands to get Sister Moraga settled in--shopping for food, household items, etc.  We got her parking permit taken care of.  Sister Moraga is not used to using a cell phone and would much prefer a "land line" so we went to Comcast and added a phone plan to my account.  Her phone just plugs into the internet modem.  She is happy with it.  We also bought a C02 monitor because there was not one in the apartment and bought a cordless phone for Sister Moraga to use.

Sister Moraga is allergic to cats, and the first couple days, we went to several houses where they have cats and dogs.  We were covered with pet hair when we went home.  We put a lint brush in each car and then decided that we didn't want to transfer tons of cat hair to Sister Moraga's car so we went to Ross and bought some towels to put on the seats.  They are less expensive than seat covers and are easily washable. Since we bought them, we have not been to one house that has cats, but I am pretty sure that we will be in the future.

Sister Moraga loves to leave note cards and little gifts at the houses we visit, so we have also been out shopping for items that we can give.  We got a cake mix, frosting, and candles and some gift bags that we can use to leave cupcakes when the less active sisters have birthdays or when we just want to say "you're special".  We looked for some little potted plants today but it is a bit early for that, so we bought a starter kit and some seeds to plant our own.  They should be ready to present at least as soon as we could have found anything in the nurseries in town.  All in all it has been a fun, tiring, getting-to-know-you kind of week with Sister Moraga, and I have loved it!

A Great Last Week With Sister Divine

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

We visited with three sisters on Wednesday.  Thursday we attended the temple.  Friday we went to Camp Springs for Suitland Zone Training Meeting.  The Elders are starting to get used to the fact that two Senior Sisters are joining with them regularly in their district and zone meetings.  It has helped us feel more focused on serving the sisters in White Plains and finding ways that we can help the less active come closer to Christ as we serve them.  After zone training we planned to visit two more sisters but one of them was not home.  I really wanted Sister Divine to meet Sharon Hendricks, so we called and made an appointment to see her Monday morning along with three other sisters.

Saturday we ran a couple of errands, and then we visited a couple of places that we have driven by many times and talked about seeing them even though they have not opened for the public and won't be open for a couple weeks.  First we went to Dr. Mudd's house and then we went to Mary Surratt's house.  This is in the reverse order that John Wilkes Booth traveled on the night that he shot President Abraham Lincoln.

Booth went first to Mary Surratt's (an accomplice in crime) house about 11 miles from the Ford Theater and got a rifle.  He had hidden two rifles there inside a wall, but one of them dropped out of reach so he was only able to get one of them.   

Surratt's Tavern

Then he went to Dr. Mudd's house another 13.6 miles away (by today's route).  There he had Dr. Mudd take care of his broken leg.  John Wilkes run from the law ended a few days later when he was shot at the Garrett Farm.  Mary Surratt was hung along with three other conspirators for their parts in the Lincoln kidnapping that turned into an assassination.  Dr. Mudd was sent to prison for life, but was pardoned in 1869 and died at his home in 1883.

Dr. Samuel Mudd's House

This week so far we have visited some more sisters, including dear Sister Hendricks who won my heart at our very first visit.  She is moving to Virginia this week, so I was glad that we got to visit her and get a picture with her.  

Sharon Hendricks was kind enough to stop her packing so I could get a picture of her.

Today we went to the temple again.  Tomorrow is district meeting again and then we will try to see some more sisters for whom we do not have appointments.  Thursday we will get some flowers to take to one of our friends in White Plains 1st Ward, Rita Logalbo whose birthday is Thursday the 13th.  Then Sister Divine will do some shopping and get her car washed and cleaned before we pack her belongings for her trip Friday morning.  We have had such a wonderful four weeks together!

Waiting Out Storm Titan

March 4, 2014

We were grateful to have a whole week of visits and meetings last week before the next ice/snowstorm caught up with us.  Last Wednesday, for the first time, we attended district meeting with the elders of White Plains District.  It was good to spend time with them and learn from them.  I am glad that we have been included in their meetings so that we can coordinate our work a little better and also get to know them better and see them in action as missionaries.  They take their work very seriously as far as training and preparing to go forth and serve each week but they still have fun while doing it.

We visited with some of the sisters that Sister Boone and I had met when we were serving in White Plains before, and it was great to see them again.  Each time we meet with them my love for them increases.  Sister Emerson is a sister who loves quilting.  Another of the sisters that we have wanted to visit but have not been able to get an appointment with just happens to be her best quilting buddy and she just happened to be there when we went for our appointment with Chris.  They are working on a "Chicken & Stars" quilt together, which is a block of the month quilt pattern that they found.  I have expressed interest in this quilt in the past and told her that I couldn't find it online when I searched for it.  I discovered that the pattern has been discontinued.  She was kind enough to loan the pattern to me so that I could make a copy.  Since the author of the pattern no longer offers it for sale, I hope I am not infringing on the copyright.  I hope that I will have some time in the future to make this quilt because it is awesome.

Pat and Chris holding a cute wall hanging they are making.

"1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Quilters"

These three ladies represent Pat, her daughter, and Chris

On Thursday, we attended the temple and took Sister Ren and Sister March with us.  On our way home we stopped at Chick-fil-A to eat a late lunch.  We arrived home about 4:30.

I wasn't sure how long it would take us to pick up the sisters and make it to the temple in the current traffic, so we gave ourselves plenty of time to make it to the 12:00 session.  We decided that if we got stuck in traffic and couldn't make the 12:00 session we would just enjoy the peace and joy of being in the House of the Lord while we waited for the 1:00 session.  Well, we were able to pick up both sisters and get on the road by 9:30, which is about 15 minutes later than Sister Boone and I left when we went alone to the 11:00 session.  The traffic was perfect and we arrived at the temple by 10:30 so we were there in time for the 11:00 session.  What a surprise.  We have never made the trip in that short a time.

It was a very nice session.  Every seat was taken because there was a busload of members that came up from the Richmond, Virginia Stake.  They usually drive about 2 hours to get to the temple and stay for two or three sessions.  This puts them back on the road during the evening rush hour traffic, so it generally takes them 6 hours to drive back home.  Doesn't sound like fun to me, but they keep doing it.  My parents traveled 8-10 hours to go to the Idaho Falls Temple when I was younger, and before the Idaho Falls Temple was built, they traveled all the way to Alberta, Canada to the Cardston Temple.  We are fortunate that there are so many temples in Utah and more being built throughout the world so that more and more members of the church can enjoy the blessings of having a temple nearby.  Just this past Sunday, Andrew and Melissa were able to attend the dedication of the Church's 142nd temple, which is in Gilbert, Arizona where they live.  Additionally there are 13 more under construction and 16 that have been announced but not started yet.  I love being able to go frequently to the Washington D.C. Temple while I am here.

WP 1st Ward Missionary Correlation Meeting

Sunday we had a full day of meetings.  We started at 9:30 a.m. with correlation meeting with White Plains 1st Ward elders and their Ward Mission Leader.  10:30-12:00 we attended 2nd Ward Primary Sharing Time and shared our testimonies with Senior and Junior Primaries.  12:15-1:00 we attended 2nd Ward correlation meeting with the White Plains 2nd Ward elders and their Ward Mission Leader.  We received information about the sisters in both wards that they have been visiting to help us coordinate our visits with the same sisters.  I sure wish we could have access to the area book and other information that the elders have on their iPads.  I think I will go ahead and break down and buy a tablet so that if Pres. Cooke gets us cleared to do that I will be ready.  1:00 to 4:00 we attended 1st Ward's block of meetings.  We were invited to offer the opening and closing prayers in Sunday School.  Then we were invited to offer the opening and closing prayers in Relief Society.  We felt spiritually filled when we finally got home at 4:30.  It was great.

We had an interesting experience Sunday evening.  Sister Divine put some salmon and rice in the oven for dinner.  She lined one Pyrex dish with foil and put the rice in it and covered it to cook while the salmon was baking in another piece of foil.  I was in the bedroom reading when I heard a crash and exclamation from Sister Divine.  It sounded like she had dropped the casserole dish.  We were both shocked to see that a few seconds after she moved the Pyrex dish from the oven to the stovetop it just exploded.  She had placed it on a burner that we had used earlier, but it should have been cooled down by then.  I don't think it was because the burner was either too cold or too hot.  We couldn't figure out why it broke, but it sure caused a mess to clean up.  At least the foil in the dish contained a lot of the rice.  After looking on the internet about exploding Pyrex, I discovered that we can add one more story to the long thread of people who have had glass cookware explode randomly, one time when it was just stored in a cupboard.  Either Pyrex is not as good as it used to be, or they have changed the materials they use, or it was not really Pyrex but another brand altogether.  Sister Divine is known for taking a lot of pictures, but unfortunately picture taking was not on her mind after seeing the mess that she had to clean up in the kitchen.  Later she said she was sad that she did not get a picture of it.

Sunday night the newest snowstorm (Titan by name) moved into our area.  It started out as usual as rain, turned to ice, and then dumped another 6-8 inches of snow probably (not quite as much as the last one, but it is so hard to tell when it melts quickly when it first changes to snow).

Monday morning, we received a call out from the APs that President Cooke didn't want the missionaries to drive anywhere but could work if we were able to walk to visits.  That left us in our apartment all day.  We don't usually plan visits for Monday anyway because that is when we try to make appointments for the week.  When we were at district meeting last week the elders were talking about how they go out and visit and meet people every day, but they haven't been diligent in meeting their neighbors.  The same is true for us, so we decided that we would step out of our comfort zone and make an effort to get to know our neighbors.

Since we knew we would be in the apartment all day Monday and couldn't go to the store or sightseeing, Sister Divine made a batch of cookies.  (I had the most important part of making the cookies—sampling the dough).  We then bagged some up to take to the neighbors.  It felt like Christmastime all over again.  I had to hunt for the bags and ribbon that I had put away a mere two months ago.  We put our names and phone number on mormon.org pass along cards and tied them to the bags.  We were both nervous about approaching the neighbors but we carried out the plan.  I was surprised to hear Sister Divine say that this was way beyond her normal self, because she is so bubbly and outgoing when she calls people on the phone and when we are talking to people.  Anyway, our apartment complex has several buildings, each one with about 28 apartments, so we chose to limit our first outreach to the three apartments on the same landing as ours.  One of those is vacant, though, so we took a bag to an apartment downstairs that we thought had a few children.  We chose an apartment that had a child's toy by the front door, but we didn't see any children when the woman answered the door.  We were okay with that.  At least we made an effort to introduce ourselves to the neighbors and told them that if they need anything, give us a call.  They seemed surprised and didn't quite know what to say but they smiled, thanked us and took the cookies.

We didn't want to go out in the cold yesterday evening to clean the snow and ice from our cars.  We just hoped that it wouldn't be too miserable doing it before we left Tuesday morning.  At 10:27 p.m. Monday we got another call out with a message from President Cooke's assistants that we were not to use our cars again Tuesday.  We used the morning to do companion study and family history work in the apartment.  We waited for the weather to warm up and until this afternoon, hoping that some of the snow would have melted and then we went out and cleaned off our cars.

I shoveled the snow off with the brush end of my ice scraper.  I was wishing I had one of the heavy duty scrapers but it actually wasn't that bad to clean off.  After I used the brush I turned the scraper around and scraped off the ice.  I had to take a few pictures first, though because I have not seen ice build up like this on a car before.

There was about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice below the snow that I removed, but some of that was a result of snow freezing onto the ice and not part of the original "ice storm" that preceded the snowfall--if that makes sense.

The windshield wipers embedded in ice

I didn't bother to lift my windshield wipers away from the windshield before the storm this time because I didn't anticipate having to drive.  (It is Sister Divine's turn this week.)  I think everyone here is hoping this will be the last snowstorm this winter.  You wouldn't know it from the looks of things, but we aren't very far away from the first day of spring.

We ended this evening with a telephone conference call with President Cooke and the other senior missionaries.  I was told that my new companion will be coming March 15, so I won't have much time by myself after Sister Divine leaves, which is Friday morning the 14th.  It is hard to believe that Sister Boone has been gone almost a month now.  Sister Divine and I have just kept ourselves so busy that time is flying by.  I hate to see her go but as with Sister Boone, there is not much chance that I can change her mind.  So we will just enjoy the next ten days and fill them with fun and love.