A Different Point of View

As you can see, our horizon is changing...

This picture was taken the first month I was here.  Sister Boone loves flowers and filled the deck with them. Notice the trees in the background.  You can't really see the hilly area in front of the trees, but it was just grass and trees that provide a nice background for our balcony.  Over the months as Sister Boone and I sat in our apartment we noticed that a change was coming.  Excavators came in and began knocking down the trees and hills and hauling them away.  There were more apartments behind those trees.

By late fall, we knew they were building more apartments.  This picture was taken in April, a little over two months ago.

The builders have been busy, and those apartments are hidden again--not by the trees but by more apartment buildings.

We have been very busy too.  June 7th, we enjoyed a great day at the Stake Center next door to the Washington D.C. temple attending our first annual Washington D.C. North Mission Super Seasoned Senior Missionary Conference.  This came at the suggestion of one of the senior missionaries who has participated in some of our telephone conference calls with President Cooke.  It is good to be able to talk together this way but sometimes it is difficult to hear who is talking and what is being said.  And besides, it is always more fun to see and visit with each other in person.  So President Cooke decided that we would give it a try and hold a day-long conference.  It was a very long day, starting at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m.  We had a good time and learned a lot about each other and what our various assignments are.

We haven't gone up to Anacostia and Capitol Hill wards for a few weeks now.  We did attend Anacostia's weeknight RS meeting on the 11th.  I sat in on the demonstration about how to make healthy fruit smoothies, and Sister Moraga took the opportunity to meet with young Ada and give her a piano lesson.  She will be able to teach her about three times a month, twice when we attend their Sunday meetings, and on the night of their Wednesday night meeting.  I am glad that she gets to render this service for Ada, who is so excited and eager to learn to play so she can begin playing the organ in meetings.

Last Sunday we were supposed to teach a lesson to young Belinda to prepare her for baptism, but the family was not home when we arrived, so we drove to the Visitor's Center instead to attend the monthly Why I Believe fireside.  Brian, a recent convert from White Plains shared his conversion story and testimony of Jesus Christ.  Charity Tillemann-Dick from Capitol Hill Ward also told her miraculous story, not of conversion but of how her life has been preserved.  She is a renowned opera singer who has survived two double-lung transplants, and she continues to perform still.  She told how being offered not one but two lung transplants has given her a second chance at life.  What she does with that gift is up to her.  She made the comparison to the most marvelous gift of all that each of us has been given, and that is the gift of the Atonement that Jesus Christ offered each of us.  It is up to us to accept his offering and do all things that are necessary to have the atonement work in our lives.

Other activities of the past weeks included visiting sisters, helping with household chores, helping sisters with family history research, and helping out at the weekly Shepherd's Table.

Last week, we attended a health and wellness conference for the young sister missionaries (we drove a couple of sisters up to the conference, which was held in the Kentland's chapel near the Mission Home, and helped prepare and serve lunch).  

Foyer of the Kentlands chapel

It is an older chapel, but it is beautiful and elegant.

Today would have been our day to go back and attend church with the members in Anacostia, but it was Stake Conference this weekend.  We had excellent meetings last night and this morning.  Last night was two wonderful hours of beautiful musical numbers by talented members in the Stake and the talks, which again focused on the marvelous hastening of the work of salvation.  We came away spiritually filled.  This morning we listened to the conference from our own White Plains chapel.

Just as I realized the view is changing from our patio, my view about life and my approach in living it is changing.  I view my church attendance quite differently since I no longer have to spend my energy on keeping young children quiet and reverent while at the same time trying to help them develop habits of Sunday worship and build their own testimonies of Jesus Christ.  I am reminded of this as I watch the young mothers in the congregation go in and out of the chapel with their fussy babies and distracting children.  Because I know this is where they should be, I do not let their distractions bother me.  I am capable of staying focused on what the speaker is saying and contemplate how I can apply it to my life as well as gleaning thoughts and principles that I can share with my family and those whom we serve here.  I am grateful for this opportunity to improve my relationship with the Savior.  That is what this life is all about.

Friday we attended the final district meeting before the upcoming transfers.  These young men are fine missionaries and it is uplifting to be able to meet together and learn from their good examples.

At the last district meeting before transfers, our meeting is a little different.  We don't do the usual role play activities.  Instead, we each get to share our testimonies.  Then we had a little activity called Comp Unity. Each companionship was asked a few questions and we had to say whether the question applied more to us or to our companion.  The winning companionship was the team who agreed on their answers the most without being able to see the other's answers.  Sister Moraga and I came in second place.

 The winners, Elder Harston and Elder Ng.

The Elders respond to one of their answers.

After the closing song and prayer, the Elders had some time to play a game of 

Ninja Attack.  

I won't try to explain the rules except that players take turns making one move at a time, and then they freeze until it is their turn again.  A player is out when someone else strikes their hand during an attack.  Elder Harston put Elder Mecham, our District Leader, in a vulnerable situation when he placed his hand over Elder Mecham's face.  Of course no one would strike (which was the hope of both of them at this point). Everyone had a good laugh and we had to pause and get it on camera.

White Plains District:

Elder Tilby, Elder Collins, Elder Ng, Elder Harston, Elder Mecham, Elder Zollinger, and Sister Moraga.  The Zone Leaders are in our district also, but they had commitments to attend two other district meetings.

I love these missionaries!!!

Senior Missionaries Activity

A Visit to Ford's Theater

This past week of contacting and teaching opportunities ended with a trip to Washington, D.C. to tour Ford's Theater with some of the senior missionaries.  We browsed the museum and gift shop and then sat in the theater while a tour director recited the events of the evening of April 14, 1865 when Abraham Lincoln was shot by a famous actor, John Wilkes Booth.

 The theater was closed after Lincoln's assassination and then was renovated and reopened in 1968 as a national historic site.  This picture shows the theater box where President and Mrs. Lincoln and their guests sat that evening.

 After he was shot, President Lincoln was moved to a boarding house across the street from the theater.  He died from his gunshot wound the next morning.

 The room where Mrs. Lincoln and others waited through that night.

 The bed upon which President Lincoln was placed was too short for his tall frame, so he was placed diagonally on the bed.  Here he lay until his death the next morning.

This monument is located in the Center for Education and Leadership, which is connected to the Petersen House and displays more memorabilia about Lincoln's last days, his funeral, and the impact that his life and death have had on this nation.  This tower of books (three stories high) represents some of the more than 15,000 books that have been written about Abraham Lincoln.  He was a lover of books.

I like the quote by Abraham Lincoln on the plaque by this monument of books:
"Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all."

*******

The rest of our week was filled with lots of driving, finding a few sisters at home, and teaching three discussions.  We gave the lesson on the Plan of Salvation to Kristin and John.  Kristin told us she wants to be baptized, but her husband said they cannot commit to a date because they will "have to check their calendar".  That was a little discouraging for us because I think Kristin would have set a date otherwise.

This week we had our third discussion with Kristin but her husband was not able to be there.  Kristin is excited about receiving answers to many of her questions about the church.  She has enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon.  This time we talked about The Gospel of Jesus Christ and discussed a couple of the commandments including keeping the Sabbath Day holy and tithing.  She committed to start coming to church and said she can accept the law of tithing.  I hope that John will start coming to church so that they can attend together.  This seems to be very important to her as she has expressed that she is looking for the right church with the doctrine that she wants for her family as they raise their new son, Gavin.  Kristin told us again that she wants to be baptized, but she needs more time to work through how it will affect her relationship with her family members who are Episcopalian.  She has told her mom that she is investigating other churches and the LDS church specifically, but has not had the courage to tell the others.  She said this decision is too important to rush into and she needs to take it very seriously and very carefully.