My New Companion is Divine

Sister Divine (in the red sweater) and her first companion, Sister Beckes

Friday, February 21, 2014

I have been on my mission now for 7 months (counting from July 22, 2013).  I have not had a transfer yet but have a new companion.  I have met Sister (Kendra) Divine at mission activities and zone conferences and am looking forward to being her companion.  She is from South Jordan, Utah and has been here since April 2013.  She is serving a one-year mission so will soon be going home.  I was surprised to hear that she is 70 years old.  She has a lot of energy.  She has three children, a set of twins (boy and girl) and a daughter who was adopted just a short while before she found out she was having the twins, so they are only 7 months apart.  They are now 41 years old (the twins' birthday was yesterday so they are all 41 for a few months).

Sister Divine is delightful, friendly, and very outgoing.  She has a great sense of humor and sees the good in everything and everybody (once she got over the disappointment of having to move for one month and then end her mission two weeks early).  She actually reminds me very much of my Grandma Savage as I remember her at about that age.  We are already sisters in the gospel and sisters at heart.  We are going to have a great time together.  Although I loved the time I spent with Sister Boone, we do more together than Sister Boone and I did so that has been fun.  We shop together, study together, plan more and talk more about our goals.  This will be great for us both.  And it has been so good to come back to a ward where I have already become acquainted with many of the active sisters and some of the less active sisters who are willing to have us visit with them.  The new Relief Society Presidents in both wards are very eager to put us to work.

We started right out having fun.  Two of the senior couples helped Sister Divine pack her car in Silver Spring and drove down with her to help unload it.  Then they took us out for a late lunch/early dinner.  Elder Sieg had heard about a popular seafood restaurant on Broomes Island in Southern Maryland called Stoney's Seafood House.  We drove an hour down there only to find out that the restaurant was closed for the season.  We looked on our phones to try and find another seafood restaurant since they kind of had their hearts set on some crab cakes.  All of the ones we found were also closed.  So we drove back towards Waldorf and looked for a seafood restaurant along the way.  We ended up in Waldorf at the Olive Garden and ate salmon instead.  It was so fun hanging out with the Siegs and Duttons.  Sister Dutton also has a very fun sense of humor and made us laugh a lot. 

On Tuesday, even though Sister Divine isn't really settled in yet, we went out and visited a couple of the less active sisters in White Plains 2nd Ward that I have been wanting to see since we were moved to Lexington Park.  They were both home and we had a good visit with Sister Bennion and a short visit with Sister Buckler as she was getting ready to leave when we arrived.  We will visit them again in a couple weeks.

Wednesday, the 19th, we drove to the Visitor's Center and attended the mission transfer meeting.  Several of the couples are leaving this transfer and they each bore there testimonies along with the young sisters and elders who are going home.  Sister Divine will not be here for the next transfer meeting so I thought she should also bear her testimony but she didn't want to.  She did get to say goodbye to a lot of friends young and old though that she won't see again before she goes home next month.  After the transfer meeting we attended a session at the temple and then drove home in decent traffic.  We arrived home about 4:30 just in time for our meeting with Sister Michela, 2nd Ward RS President.  She was late but we got to spend a couple hours talking about how we can help the sisters in 2nd Ward.

Sister Divine is driving this week, and then we will take turns a week at a time instead of a month at a time.  I think I will like that.  Sister Divine is not in any hurry when she drives so our trip was not stressful at all.  I am amazed when I realize how much more comfortable I am driving around town.  I have a pretty good idea of where we need to go and can help Sister Divine become familiar with the area.  In my experience, you learn your way around a lot better when you have to drive and pay attention to the street signs.

Sister Divine has a bucket list that she has been working on during their P-days, so we decided that we will take a couple of trips to D.C. to see some sights.  We drove to the Branch Ave. Metro station on Thursday, (not the scariest Metro station but also not the safest).  We rode the Metro to L'Enfant Plaza and walked a short distance to visit the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian.  Sister Divine had heard that they serve some good food at the Mitsitam Café inside the Museum.  It won the RAMMY Award (Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington) in 2012.  It is cafeteria style and serves food at different stations that are representative of the foods that are common to the Indian nations in different parts of the Americas (Canada, Alaska, South and Central America, Mexico, and the United States).  Although it is very casual, it is not a low budget diner.  We paid $10 for a small cup of soup and an even smaller portion of quinoa salad in the South America section, but it was delicious food and worth the experience.  We have been trying to find the salad recipe on the internet without luck, but I found out that they printed a cookbook of some of the restaurant recipes, and ordered a copy.  I am hoping that the quinoa recipe is included, but if not, I have a nice souvenir of our visit that was less expensive than the trinkets available in the museum shops.  Here are some pictures from the Museum.

This sculpture was crafted by a man from St. George.  It is called Allies in War and depicts the Oneida nation that helped the colonists during the Revolutionary War.

This little girl stands on the back side of the above sculpture.

This coat looked like it was made from a combination of animals

Coat made from fish skin

I am unsure of what animal provided the skins for this coat

Clothing from animal hides

Plains Indian clothing

 Ceremonial clothes South America

As we read about the various beliefs of the Indian people, I could see that their beliefs parallel Christian values in many ways.  I could feel their great reverence for the earth and the universe.

I find this quote most interesting.  The Creator of the Universe that this tribe honors is Ellam Yua, very similar to the name Elohim, the Hebrew name for God.

Picture of three different boats on the main floor taken from the third floor balcony.

A mural depicting the creation.

Thursday night we attended White Plains 2nd Ward's Relief Society meeting.  Sister Hayes taught a class on how to make sourdough bread.  She gave everyone some starter to take home besides the bread dough that they made during the demonstration.  We didn't get the email about bringing supplies to make bread for ourselves so we just observed.  I did take a sample of the starter home though.  I don't know if I will have the time it takes to take care of sourdough but we shall see.  This starter doesn't have any flour in it, only sugar, water and instant potato flakes.  It has to be fed more regularly though, but she said that it makes a lighter bread that rises more.  I think everyone had a fun time.

Over in the corner, Sister Divine, Sister Michela, and I tied a fleece blanket.  They did more of it than I did.  I mostly had fun taking pictures and watching the sisters make bread.

This dear sister needed a couple extra hands.  She had not had previous experience with kneading bread so we helped her out a little bit.

 The cinnamon rolls that she made for sampling were delicious!—and not too fat, so great for that.

Today, Friday, the 21st, we had planned another day of visiting and running a couple errands.  Just as we were starting to get ready to go out we received a callout from the APs about the tornado watch that was in effect in the region including St. Charles County where we live and Calvert County where Heidi lives.  We were told to go to the nearest chapel until 5:00 p.m. when the watch was expected to end.  It didn't really look that bad where we are except for heavy rain and wind, but we decided that we didn't want to be known as the missionaries who disregarded the instructions and ended up getting caught out in the storm.  When we called the elders in our district to see if they had received the same instructions, Elder Ekberg told us that they were actually with President Cooke in a training meeting in DC and that none of the elders in our area would be at the church.  I called Heidi to make sure she was safe.  We canceled our appointments and waited.  We weren't even sure that the church would be unlocked, so we chose to wait it out in our third-story apartment with the large patio doors in the living room.  (We weren't hanging out right by the windows, however.)  Maybe not the ideal place to survive a tornado, but we somehow felt we were okay, and we were.  The area with the greatest possibility of a tornado touching down was further south of us in Lexington Park Ward and Patuxent Ward boundaries and the southern part of Calvert.  The storm was moving very swiftly (about 60 miles an hour) so it pushed on out to sea much sooner than the 5:00 deadline that they National Weather Service had set for the tornado watch.  They lifted the watch at about 1:30 or so.  One thing about the weather here, if you don't like it, just wait a while and it will change.  After the watch was lifted, we went out and ran a couple of errands in only light wind and showers.  At least we had more time to study and catch up on our journal and letter writing.  Sister Divine baked a delicious chocolate cake in the morning to celebrate her twins' birthday and she frosted it this evening with caramel filling and fluffy chocolate frosting.  After dinner, we each enjoyed a piece of cake for them.  Now we need to spend some time preparing a 5-minute talk to share at a missionary meeting in Lexington Park this Sunday evening.

Last Week with Sister Boone

Sunday, February 9, 2014—Today Sister Boone and I attended meetings at White Plains 1st Ward.  They seemed excited to have us back in the ward.  When they asked us if we are moving back to their ward, we didn't have a clear answer as we are not yet certain where Sister Divine and I will end up.  Sister Boone told me she has a hard time with goodbyes.  She didn't exactly tell me not to tell anyone, but I let her be the one to speak up---and she didn't.  It will fall on me to let the sisters know that she is gone when I attend church next week.  It is kind of a quiet ending of the wonderful six months that I was privileged to work with her.

The pending snowstorm

Monday, February 10, 2014—Sister Boone and I watched the weather reports often as we anticipated another bunch of moisture in the form of rain/ice/snow moving across the country towards us.  We woke up to no internet connection, not because of the storm but because Sister Boone requested to terminate her service as of today.  I was going to have service started in my name, but I canceled a couple days ago when I thought I might not even be in Waldorf now.  Sister Boone has already packed a lot of her belongings in the trunk of her car over the past several weeks, and today she finished packing and rearranging things so that she can hopefully fit everything in her car.  I think she had to go ship a few more things home.  About all that is left to pack is her bedding and other items that she needed until just before she leaves.  I am beginning to miss her already.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014—I feel kind of lost today knowing that in a couple of hours Sister Boone will be on her way home and I will be here alone.  At least I don't have to think of the prospect of being alone until my companion comes in March.  Sister Divine and I had agreed to meet at the temple on Wednesday morning and attend a session and then talk about what our feelings and impressions were regarding President's counsel that we talk things over and decide which would be the best place for us to work for now-in Suitland Stake or in Silver Spring where Sister Divine has been working.  Monday, in a conversation with Elder Neibaur, I was told that he plans to close down one of the couples apartments and move another couple into Sister Divine's apartment, so she has to move out.  We were both a bit discouraged that our opinions didn't seem to matter in the end.  As a result, neither of us slept very much Monday night.  I was looking forward to the possibility of working closer to the Mission headquarters and closer to the temple if even for a short while.  Sister Divine was looking forward to working with the sisters that she had been newly assigned to in Seneca Stake.  As soon as I made sure that Sister Boone got off safely, I drove up to Silver Spring and visited with Sister Divine in her apartment.  After a couple of emotional days, we both came to accept that it was probably for the best to be down here in Waldorf.  It meant that she would end her mission two weeks earlier than her original release date of April 2nd, and she would leave on the 14th of March instead to make room for my new companion.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014—I drove up to Silver Spring today and went to the temple with Sister Divine.  After the session I came back to Waldorf and she began working on packing up her things.  She had a few commitments that she wanted to complete on Friday and Saturday, so we agreed that she would drive down on Monday, the 17th.  I told her to be sure and let me know if she wants me to drive up and help her move.  In the meantime, I spent a very quiet rest of the week in my apartment.

Thursday, February 13, 2014—And then the snow came.  I was worried that Sister Boone ran head on into the storm moving across the southern states and into the northeast, but I found out that they drove straight through and arrived in Mississippi with a problem.  Meanwhile we were hit with the biggest snow storm for us this whole winter.  From about midnight Wednesday until Friday morning we got about 10-12 inches of snow.  I know I have seen much more snow than this before, but it has been quite an unusual amount of snow for Maryland this winter.  The snow and overcast skies made the days a bit gloomier for me.  I finally got internet connected on Friday, so that made things a little better.

  

You can see my 3rd story balcony from this vantage point near some of the plowed snow.  Makes it look like more than there actually was, but it was still quite a bit of snow for here.  It didn't melt in just a day or two as with previous storms.

Sunday, February 16, 2014—I was tired of sitting here alone so I drove over to Heidi's after church and had dinner with them.  And thus I survived the first week without my dear companion, Sister Boone.

A Time For Change

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Friday when we were at Zone Conference, we had the opportunity to sit down and visit with the Stake RS President, Sister Ramon, and Sister Michela, the newly called Relief Society President of White Plains 2nd Ward.  The previous week Sister Ramon had called and told us that she would like us to move back up to White Plains 2nd Ward beginning in February.  Sister Michela would like some help with visiting teaching in her ward.  This would also help me to work closer to home after Sister Boone leaves so I won't have to drive as long by myself like Sister Boone did.  Sister Ramon said she feels guilty about that every time she thinks about Sister Boone being by herself for such a long time.  Before going back to White Plains 2nd Ward, we decided to go ahead and attend the Lexington Park Sunday meetings on February 2nd and start back in White Plains 2nd Ward today, the 9th.  We had a good drive to Lexington Park and enjoyed meeting with the good sisters in this ward one last time.  Today, we actually attended White Plains 1st Ward and visited with the lovely sisters that we have not seen since October.  One thing we can be sure of is change.  Nothing stays the same.  When we went to church today, there was a remembrance book on the foyer table from the funeral of 88-year-old Elsie Palmer, one of the sisters we had the privilege of serving while we were in 2nd Ward.  On a happier note, we saw a less active sister, her husband, daughter, and daughter-in-law in church.  They are still struggling greatly with finances.  She is still looking for a job, and now her son and his wife and kids have moved in with her.  Sometimes the Lord brings us to our knees in despair so that we will be in the position to pray and seek His will for us.

To go back a week, last Sunday evening as I was preparing to set up my computer for a video chat with my children, I received a phone call from Heidi.  I thought she had a question about our video chat.  I asked her how she was doing.  She said, "not so well."  That surprised me.  I asked what was going on and then I could sense her tears.  She told me that she thought she might be miscarrying again.  Bryce was going to take her to the hospital, but it was going to be tricky to do that and have the two boys, so I told her not to worry, I am sure Sister Boone would understand if I took a day or two to help out.  If Heidi had to have this disruption of their plans, it couldn't have come at a better time.  Monday is our P-Day, and Tuesday we had plans to tour the White House.  I could easily miss those two days.  We had not yet made any appointments for Wednesday, and I knew that Sister Boone wanted to attend the temple as much as possible this last week of her mission, so that would give her the chance to go again.  I said I could throw some things in a bag and leave right away.  Heidi told me that Bryce would take the boys with him and drive her to the hospital and then go back home, and I could sit with them while he returned to be with her.  This worked very well.  I arrived only minutes before he brought the boys back, we put them to bed, and he returned to the hospital.  Although it was a heartbreaking experience for all of us, I feel that the Lord's timing was perfect as far as giving me the opportunity to serve her family and be there for her even for only a few days.

Just a little trivia--pictures of bushes in Heidi's front yard after another ice storm while I was there.

Meeting with President Cooke

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Tuesday afternoon, I received a phone call from President Cooke's office assistant, Sister Connell.  She said that President Cooke would like Sister Divine and I to join him and Sister Cooke and Sisters Beckes and Boone for lunch on Thursday, February 6th.   I called Sister Boone and let her know that I would plan on coming home sometime Wednesday evening so she would know I was planning on going with her to Potomac Thursday.

At the end of our meeting with Sister Ramon at Zone Conference, she said that she was going to talk to President Cooke about my being alone when Sister Boone leaves.  She thought since Sister Divine will be alone also (having her companion going home the same day as Sister Boone), maybe we could be together for a while.  I don't know if she really did talk to him or not, but when we were invited to lunch also, I suspected that there might be more changes in store.

Sister Boone, Sister Cooke, President Cooke, Sister Beckes and me and Sister Divine

We drove to Potomac Thursday morning and arrived at 11:15.  We went to a very nice little Italian restaurant called Gregorio's Trattoria.  As I suspected, during the course of the meal Elder Cooke talked to us a bit about the women auxiliary specialists in the Washington D.C. North Mission, of whom there would only be two by next week.  There is another sister coming in March who would have originally been replacing Sister Boone, as Sister Beckes was called to be here until August but is going home early because of health problems.  Last week Pres. Cooke told me that he had not yet heard about additional sisters coming.  At lunch today, he told us that he has requested to have six more women auxiliary specialists assigned to this mission so that there will be four companionships; so Sister Moraga who is coming March 17, and me, plus six others.  Sister Divine is going home soon.  He said that he has now heard of two that will come July 2nd, but he couldn't remember their names.

Sister Boone, Sister and President Cooke, and Sister Beckes

Sister Boone holding her Challenge Coin that Pres. Cooke presented to her.

After lunch, President Cooke presented Sister Boone and Sister Beckes their challenge coins that will serve to remind them of their commitment of serving a mission.  He told us that the military units often have challenge coins that they carry with them at all times.  They are a symbol of unity, identity, and brotherhood. If they are asked to show their coins and they don't have them with them, then they have to buy a drink for the other person.

As of Tuesday, Sister Divine will be alone in Silver Spring and I will be alone down in Waldorf.  However, President Cooke stated that he wants Sister Divine and I to be together until more sisters come.  He does not want us to live alone.  He did not make an executive decision but rather told us to discuss our options and agree where we would like to stay until more single sisters arrive. He discussed things with Elder Neibaur briefly during lunch and told us to talk to him later.  Sister Boone and I decided to just call on the phone, but Sister Beckes and Sister Divine went to the mission office following our lunch.  She hasn't told me yet what they talked about.

I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about the pros and cons of living in both areas.  One of the tricky parts of a new companionship with either Sister Divine or me having to move is impacted even more by a "threesome" arrangement for a couple of weeks in March.  Sister Divine will be leaving to go home on April 2nd.  Sister Moraga arrives March 17--a two-week overlap.  President Cooke wants us to try and arrange things so that all three of us can live together for those two weeks before Sister Divine goes home.  That sounds pretty easy, right?  That is three grown women who have moved their entire house with them (almost) trying to live in space that is comfortable for two but with not much extra space.  She asked if it would be easier if she just left early.  President Cooke didn't want her to do that.  

This whole moving thing has caused me to lose a little bit of sleep.  I slept fitfully Thursday night but was up Friday morning and ready by 9:15 to attend the temple one more time with Sister Boone.  We had a safe trip and a good visit during the drive.  Friday night I slept even less.  I woke at about 3:00 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep.  It is a good thing that I didn't have to go anywhere Saturday except out to Walmart to get a mouse trap.  I have seen signs of a mouse under the stove and want to see if I can eliminate it before it becomes a problem.  There is no sense worrying about the change that is coming.  This is the Lord's work, and everything will work out just fine.

Contemplation

I was talking to Andrew yesterday afternoon and briefly mentioned a thought that went through my mind as I was reading.  Talking to him made me think about it a little more.  In a way it has to do with making decisions.  I will preface my thoughts with a comment about my scripture study of this past week.  I was reading about Solomon in 1 Kings. He received a great blessing from the Lord and that was to be wise and have an understanding heart.  He was a very wise leader, until he let three temptations get the better of him—pride, misuse of wealth, and lust for the world's esteem.  The Old Testament Student Manual stressed that "because Solomon forgot his blessing, he lost it". 

At the end of the chapter in the student manual, it suggested that I review my Patriarchal Blessing and write down some observations.  On a piece of paper make three columns.  The heading for the first column is Who Am I? (Statements about me, my potential, my destiny, my relationship with God).  The second column is for Promises (Those things the Lord promises on condition of your faithfulness).  The last column is entitled Admonitions (Counsel, warnings, and reminders to you).  It is interesting how these fit together to give inspired direction for us. 

Here is one example of an attribute (followed by my comments on the subject), with the promise and counsel associated with it.

The Attribute:  Intelligence and having an understanding of true intelligence.

My thoughts--I have often pondered to know what this meant.  I know that D&C 93:6 says "The glory of God is intelligence, or light and truth."  When I was reading a book by Gerald N. Lund, there was a statement that reminded me of this quote.  It said "intelligence is the ability to make choices that determine outcomes."  This is very similar to the definition found in Webster's Dictionary:  "The ability to learn or understand from experiences or to respond successfully to new experiences."  Intelligence is more than having knowledge, it is the proper use of that knowledge.

The Promise:  Apply knowledge properly to do good and blessings shall follow that cannot be numbered, but Heavenly Father can number them.  Through application of knowledge to do good you shall cause much happiness among the children of men.

The Admonition:  Trust in Heavenly Father, be faithful, and blessings will follow your obedience, faithfulness, and diligence.   Tread the path of truth and light by faith and diligent obedience.

I love how all of the scriptures work together (even our own personal scriptures—Patriarchal Blessing), and they all point to Christ and Heavenly Father and guide us back to them.  Through the power of the Holy Ghost I can testify that this is true.

Another Week of Snow

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Well, this week was much the same as the last, maybe not quite as cold but more snow that curtailed our visits down south.  We drove down to Lexington Park on Tuesday and visited four sisters.  We had planned to visit more on Wednesday beginning at 4:00 p.m. delivering a meal to Sister Jones and then going to visit Sister Trainor and the other ladies who attend her knitting class.  Wednesday morning we noticed that we had received a few inches of snow, but the weather didn't look too bad, and we thought it would be fine by afternoon to drive down.  However, we received a call from the Zone Leader letting us know that the Lexington Park missionaries were to remain in their apartments due to the heavy snow they had received in Lexington Park, so we put the meal on hold and made plans with the Relief Society President to take the meal on Sunday instead.

Thursday we drove to Kensington and attended two temple sessions.  It was another chilly day, but the roads were clear and the sun was shining.  The traffic moved pretty well most of the commute.  At one point there was a sudden slowdown in traffic, and we found ourselves getting an extra close view of the bumper on the car in front of us; a little too close for comfort, but I was trying my best to gauge the best stopping point without getting hit by the car closing the gap behind us.  I would say it definitely fit the definition of a complete stop that my brother's friend gave to the officer that gave him his driving test for his driver's license.  Question:  How would you describe a 'complete stop'?'"  Reply:  "When the head goes forward and then back?"  I was grateful that we got out of that one without a crash.

We encountered the aftermath of the snowstorm in a couple of ways.  I saw or heard a report about the traffic on the beltway that indicated approximately 225,000 cars travel those roads every day.  That is one reason why they salt the roads so heavily.  There was a heavy layer of salt along the sides of the road that has lingered since the last snow storm.  I don't know whether it is because the snowplows then push the snow and salt to the side of the road or whether they sometimes just dump too much out in one spot, but when I turned off at the temple exit, I had to go through a pretty good-sized pile of salt that looked at first like a chunk of crusted snow/ice.  The dust that it kicked up reminded me of when I used to drive on the dusty county roads of Montana (and Sevier County, Utah).  On Friday as I was driving back from Zone Conference I drove on the Maryland Route 4 over to Heidi's to spend the evening with her boys while she and Bryce went to a J. Ruben Clark Society fireside in Alexandria, VA.  Along one stretch of road the trees are pretty close to the road.  It appeared that the trees had frost on them similar to what you would see on a cold, frosty morning.  The odd part about it was that the temperature was several degrees above freezing.  Upon closer inspection, I noted that the frost was only on the bottom 10 or 15 feet of the trees.  I then realized that it was not frost but salt brine that was kicked up by the passing cars and then dried.  Oh yes, another thing.  There are sure a lot of very dirty cars traveling the highways after a storm.  They all look the same---white---just different shapes.  (That is a slight exaggeration.)  They aren't actually all that bad, but some are pretty dirty.  There are some clean cars that did not happen to travel out during or shortly after the storm or else they sat in very, very, very long lines at the car washes removing the layers of salt.  I know because I sat in one.  It is a real moneymaker season for car washes.  The other annoying road condition that we are experiencing more as the season progresses is potholes developing in the highly-traveled roads.  I hope my tires survive.  I hit one big hole Friday that was too big to straddle without swerving into the next lane of traffic, so I just had to hit it.  We almost disappeared in that one (another tiny exaggeration).

Friday, January 31st, we drove up to the Suitland Stake Center for a combined zone conference of Suitland Zone and Anacostia Zone.  As I was observing the various sessions of the day, I felt like I was back working with Boy Scouts, just better behaved than the 11-16-year-old boys and with more knowledge of the scriptures but still a lot of enthusiasm.  The breakout sessions before lunch covered four topics.  These are pretty much the same for every conference.  The first three are about care of the apartments and cleanliness, care of the mission cars and driver safety, and health and hygiene.  I guess I would call the last and most important session about character development.  The Mission President's wife led this session, and she talked about their family's hunting dog, Sierra, who is a very smart, mostly obedient dog.  She talked about how hard the dog tries to obey her commands when they are out on their runs, but when she sees birds, squirrels, deer, etc. it is very hard for her to resist the pull of what she calls "the natural dog".  She compared this dog's desire to do and be good being in conflict with her natural instincts to be similar to our own earthly experience that places our "natural man" feelings at odds with the laws of Heavenly Father at times.  To train the dog, Sister Cooke had to let the dog experience some unpleasantness when it didn't obey her commands just as we sometimes have to learn "the hard way" to quote a phrase that is used in our family.  I really enjoyed her lesson, and I think it gave the elders a good picture of how their obedience to mission rules will help them avoid some painful experiences.

I think the session on obedience was in preparation for their afternoon training.  The first part of the afternoon was spent distributing their new iPads, getting them signed in to use the mission-related apps, and teaching them how to set up the online area books.  President Cooke talked first about the changes that are being made to allow each of the missionaries to have iPads for use in doing missionary work.  It will be such a great blessing for them but requires a new level of trust on the part of the leaders to put these wonderful tools in the hands of these young men when they know fully the temptations that it presents for them to become distracted and "chase after squirrels" instead of pursuing their duty as personal representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is a program that has been carefully thought out by the brethren in Salt Lake City, and certain safeguards have been established to help them be successful.  I could see the military side of President Cooke when he talked to them.  He told them in a very matter of fact way that he was placing all his trust in their character and expected them to not abuse the use of these online tools.  Just don't do it.

The Area Book app is going to be so helpful when they get all the information about their teaching contacts entered into the iPad and work out the bugs.  They will also be able to use their iPads to teach lessons, show videos, or even on occasion (with prior permission) use Skype or Face Time to allow a family member at home to join in a teaching event and share their testimony with the investigator.  I am excited that the Women Auxiliary Specialists may also be given permission to access the program so we can access the ward members' information from the digital area books.  That will be so helpful for us in planning visits with the less active sisters in the wards we visit.  We are witnesses of the hastening of the work of the Lord that was described in scripture as a "marvelous work and wonder."  I am grateful to be a part of this wonderful work.

More Record Cold Temperatures

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Last Sunday was quite cold, but that was only the beginning of another cold, wet week.  On Monday, we made phone calls and planned out our week, hoping for the best but expecting to have to go to plan B, which was to sit in the apartment another day or two.  In light of the weather forecast of about 4-6 inches of snow in this part of Maryland, we canceled a couple of appointments for Tuesday and decided to stay home.  As the morning progressed, we wondered if we were just being overly cautious.  About mid morning Tuesday the snowstorm moved in.  North of us they got around a foot of new snow, north being Pennsylvania and points north.  Washington D.C. received about 10 inches.  I began to take some pictures of the snow as we sat in our apartment and watched it accumulate.  I took a few pictures during the day Tuesday, and planned to finish up with an impressive picture at the end of the storm, but the impressive end never came.  Here is what I got:

Tuesday about 1:30 p.m.

 4:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m. 

  7:00 p.m.

 8:45 p.m.

Wednesday morning 7:15 a.m.

Only a few inches on the ground.  This is the storm that disrupted traffic and closed schools for three days.  The first day government offices were closed also.  The following day, schools were closed and government offices had a two hour delay before opening.  Thursday, some schools opened but started late and others remained closed.

Here is my favorite image of this storm.

After the last storm my windshield wipers were stuck fast to the windshield, and when I was scraping the ice, one of the wiper blades was damaged.  It still did just an okay job of clearing the windshield but the other one was horrible.  The technician at the Subaru dealership suggested that I lift the wiper blades away from the windshield when I park the car outdoors in this type of weather.  I thought it looked so strange that I did not want to do it.  When I looked out the window Tuesday morning and saw the scene below me, I had to laugh and then I went down and did likewise.  I have to admit, my windshield wipers were happy this time!!

We may have received 4-5 inches of snow, but in the beginning it was still warm enough that it took a while before it was sticking on the ground.  The snow quit falling sometime Wednesday morning, but it was too icy to go anywhere that day either.

While I was sitting in my apartment missing another knitting class, I decided that I would just knit at home.  I continued to work on my current project, which was a pair of wool socks.  I completed them in time to make good use of them this week.

 Outfitted with thermals, wool socks, snow boots, and a neck scarf, I was prepared to be comfortable while we worked.  I had a choice of several scarves that I have made, but my very favorite is the red one that Katrina made me for Christmas :)

We finally drove to Lexington Park on Thursday and visited 11 sisters—almost as many as we visit in a normal week down there.  We found several at home who would not normally have been there, but they were home with their children because school was canceled again.  We had one appointment and the rest were short drop-in visits.

Most of the roads were pretty clear, but some of the less traveled streets were kind of messy and slippery.  I saw why it is a good idea not to venture out without good reason.  There are a lot of people here who haven't had much experience driving in snow.  As we turned on one less-traveled street that had not received the heavy dosing of salt that the main thoroughfares receive, we encountered a car ahead of us trying to drive up a snow-covered hill, but he was driving on the wrong side of the street.  I approached slowly as I expected he would soon move over in front of me on the right side of the road.  I think he was driving on that side of the road because it had less snow on it; never mind that he might be in the way of cars coming down the hill.  First he went slower and slower, and then he began to slide backwards and to the right side.  At this point, I decided that I would stop and back up a bit to avoid a collision.  He tried to accelerate in an effort to get to the top of the hill but he wasn't really moving, just spinning his tires as snow flipped up behind him.  Finally I decided it would be best if I tried to get around him so that at least one side of the road would be clear in case someone approached from the other direction.  I don't know if Sister Boone was nervous or not, but I just accelerated gently and my little front-wheel-drive Subaru went up the hill without a problem.  Even though I don't especially like driving in snow, I was thankful for the years of experience that I have had driving in Montana and Utah winters, but even more so for the extra help that the Lord provided us so that we would be safe that day.

By Friday the roads were decent and we drove to the Temple and enjoyed two sessions.  It was not a very fun week for us, but looking on the bright side, each passing week brings us closer to the warmer temperatures of springtime.  I am grateful for safety and protection and the blessing of good health as we were on the Lord's errand this week.

It Could Be Worse

Sunday, January 19, 2014

As I think back on this past week, I am grateful I live in this time in the history of the world.  We enjoy so many blessings as a result of technological advancements in our day.  There are a few inconveniences and discomforts, but we have it pretty good, especially in this part of the world.  The weather can be extremely cold or hot, but I have a comfortable apartment to live in.  We experience wind and rain a lot, but we have a comfortable car to drive in as we drive to our appointments.  Granted, it was frustrating when the windshield wipers weren't working properly or when the tail light connection came loose and my turn signal didn't work properly, but it could be a lot worse.  I could be without a GPS!  That would be a worst case scenario.  It is bad enough sometimes even with the GPS when we get in areas that the GPS doesn't recognize.

At 8:00 a.m. this morning when we were getting ready to leave for church, Sister Boone said, "Aren't you going to wear a coat?"  I said, I have this blazer on.  I think I will be okay."

She said, "Okay.  Well if you are going to be tough, so will I."  It was actually only about 29 degrees outside, but I was counting on the car being warm enough to make up the difference.  It was a bit more uncomfortable than I thought it would be at first, but I didn't want to admit it.  I asked Sister Boone if she was sure she didn't want to go back in and get a coat as I was getting the car started. 

Again she said, "Do you want one?"

I said, "No.  I am okay."  So she said she would be alright too.  She is always the one that takes off her coat as soon as we get going because it is too hot for her.  The worst part was the cold steering wheel and gearshift, but we were only uncomfortable for a few miles before the car warmed up.

I felt to give thanks for our comfortable transportation later in the day when we saw an Amish buggy on the highway.  We don't often see them on the main highway.  I am sure he was not quite as comfortable as we were, but I discovered that they do have buggies that are enclosed and thus a little more comfortable in adverse weather conditions.

(Not the buggy we saw, but similar)

We saw a farmhouse today that had an outdoor clothesline, and what is more, there were actually clothes hung out to dry.  You don't see that very often anymore.  We talked about the fun part of having outdoor clothes lines when we were young, that being climbing on said clothes lines.  We used to hang from the T-posts as though they were put their expressly for our gymnastic entertainment.

Then we talked about the not so fun part of having to hang the clothes on the line.  I loved the smell of air-dried linens but didn't exactly love the process of achieving it.  Denise and I had to hang out laundry from a very young age.  We had to stand on a chair to even reach the lines, so it took twice as long to do the job.  We were constantly climbing on and off of the chair to drag it across the yard as we went along.  Mom's clothespin apron was too long for us to reach the pockets if we tied it around our waists, so we tied the apron strings in a bow and hung it around our necks.  It wasn't extremely fun, but it was satisfying to see the lines finally filled with clean clothes.  It was equally disappointing when an unexpected rainstorm caught us unawares and we would have to run out and grab the clothes off the line in an attempt to gather them in before they got too wet.

Sister Boone and I then had a conversation about our experiences with washing machines and clothes dryers, cook stoves and ovens, and refrigerators and freezers over the years.  How blessed we are to have these conveniences.  Just the other day, we had an opportunity to help one of the ward sisters because of the very fact that we have a washer and dryer in our apartment.  One of the sisters recently had shoulder surgery and is not able to use her right arm.  At the end of our visit we asked if there was anything that we could do to help her.  She said it has been hard for her to keep up with the laundry.  Sister Boone offered to help start a batch of laundry.  Then it dawned on her that we could be a lot more helpful if we just took her clothes home with us and washed them at home and returned them the next day.  That way we could do a lot more than just start a batch and leave.  This we were able to do and she was grateful for the help.  This week we are going to stop by and leave a meal for her and her husband so that he doesn't have to eat oatmeal and peanut butter for every meal.  I guess that has been his meal of choice lately.

Another marvel that I thought about with gratitude today is improved communication.  The internet is a wonderful source of learning that I am grateful to have access to while I am on my mission.  Since Sister Boone will be leaving soon, I have been researching to see what I want to do about my internet service when she is gone; whether to keep Verizon or get another service and whether to get a TV plan or not for my next companion.

I love talking with my children on the phone.  It helps me feel a little closer to them and get a glimpse at their daily activities.  I even got to view over the internet as my granddaughter, Shelem, participated in a drill team competition yesterday at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah.  Alvin was filming it and it was broadcast over a local television channel that is available via internet.  At one point, he sent a text that said the music was so loud it was vibrating the platform that he was on and making the picture blurry.  I could only smile as I turned down the volume on my computer.  How convenient!

It was fun to see a few close ups of Shelem and see the excitement of their team when they were announced as 5th place, 5th place, and 1st place winners in the three categories.  I also got to see a picture of Kasidy via cellphone as she attended her first cheerleading competition in Salt Lake City.  I also had the opportunity to talk on the phone with little Emma Rose who turned four years old yesterday.

I like to listen to the background noise when I talk on the phone with the kids.  I picture in my mind what else might be going on beyond what is being said.  For instance, today it was Alex that I was talking to.  It was something like this:

Me:  "Blah, blah, blah, blah."

Alex:  "Blah, blah, blah…Graham, please get down from there."

Me:  "Blah, blah, blah, blah."

Alex:  Blah, blah, blah…Reed, be careful."

I wondered what they were doing, but though I was enjoying our conversation, I thought at that point it might be a good idea to let Alex turn his full attention to his family.  For sure we will talk later.  Great for technology!

I would like to close this epistle on technology to express my gratitude for my Savior.  I am grateful to be his personal representative in Maryland for the time being.  All that we are and all that we have are a gift from God.  I bear witness that Jesus Christ lives and loves us enough to die for us.  May we love him enough to live for him.

Passage of Time or Passing the Time of Day

Sunday, January 12, 2014

I am beginning to get nervous about having Sister Boone leave me next month.  She is the one who keeps the conversations going when we visit the sisters.  I am not sure what I will do without her.  I guess when I am at a loss for words I can always pass the time of day by striking up a conversation about the weather.  The weather around here has given me plenty to think about.  Back in December we had almost a record high temperature for the first day of winter—over 70 degrees, and this past week we had extreme cold that they have not seen in Maryland in about 20 years (at least for that particular January day which was either Monday night or early Tuesday morning).  Temperatures were in the single digits—about 7 degrees here.  They have risen gradually again, reaching about 55 degrees here today.  Friday and Saturday were very, very rainy and foggy and today was warm and sunny.

Most of our time this past week was spent visiting with active sisters in the ward.  It has helped me to get acquainted with them and feel more at home when I attend meetings on Sunday.  This coming week we are going to try and see more of the less active sisters.

When I heard about the extreme cold temperatures that were forecast for Monday night/Tuesday morning, I was concerned about Rosie, our little Vietnamese sister who has no heat in her house.  For some reason way back in October when it came time for General Conference, I thought about all of the conference sessions that I watched while I was knitting or crocheting.  I decided to get some yarn and start an afghan.  It usually takes me quite a while to finish one because I don't often have much spare time to just sit and do needlework.  I figured this project would last most of my mission.  Here though I have found I can pass the time of day during the quiet evening hours by listening to recorded church messages, audio scriptures, or even Netflix movies, and do a little crocheting.  I was pretty close to finishing the afghan last weekend when I heard the forecast of the "arctic vortex" that was moving our way.  I made a concerted effort to complete the afghan so that I could give it to Rosie.  But I wasn't able to see her until after the worst of the cold had already arrived.  First chance we got on Tuesday we dropped by her house so I could give it to her.  She wasn't home, or at least was not answering the door.  Sister Boone remembered that the Relief Society President, Sister McGhee, works at the Family History Center on Tuesday mornings and sometimes takes Rosie there to sit in a warm place for a while.  We went to the church and were relieved to see that Rosie was passing the time of day in a warm place.  I gave her the afghan so that she can be a little warmer on a cold day.  Sister McGhee had thought about her sitting in the cold and went by and picked her up so she could spend the morning at the church.  In addition, she went out and bought some hot food for Rosie so she could have a hot meal because I don't think she cooks much if at all.  Sister McGhee is a wonderful example of one who heeds the Savior's plea both temporally and spiritually to "feed His sheep".

Friday I had the opportunity to pass the time of day doing one of the things I like most, visiting with family.  Anson came to Bethesda MD for a conference last week and finished up around noon Friday.  His homeward bound flight was Saturday afternoon, so we talked about trying to meet up for a visit.  Since we expected that Sister Boone would be going to the Mission Office to see President Cooke on Friday, it worked best in our schedules to get together Friday evening for dinner.  I drove to Heidi's and we drove up and met Anson who was passing the time of day in an Einstein Bros. Bagels shop next to the Silver Spring Metro stop.  He was actually standing in the rain just outside the entrance when we arrived.  He said the air was fresher out there.  After finally deciding on a Chinese restaurant nearby we decided when we got there that it wasn't really the atmosphere we were looking for to pass the next couple hours, so we went to a diner across the street and enjoyed a couple of hours together.

Even though it was quite rainy, we were able to drive to Silver Spring in about an hour.  The time we spent together over dinner seemed to pass too quickly, but that was about the only thing that went quickly that evening.  The "15 minute drive" to the hotel was much longer than anticipated but it was after all still rush hour I guess.  At one point an impatient or bold driver suddenly made a U-turn in the lane just to the left of us.  One second all lanes of traffic were completely stopped.  The next instant there was an imperceptible movement in the lane next to us and this man darted into the lane seemingly from nowhere.  He was just suddenly there, t-boned into the lane with his front bumper within inches of touching the door of the van in front of us.  And then he crept forward even more!  At that moment, time seemed to be standing still.  He just sat there trying not to look anyone in the eye.  Everyone else sat there and stared at him as if to say "what in the world do you think you are doing, buddy!?"  At least that is what we were saying.  Eventually traffic moved and the show ended as we all moved forward.  It was pretty entertaining.

The GPS was set to avoid traffic delays so it would not route us back to the Beltway.  Instead it took us almost into downtown D.C. with frequent stops and bumper to bumper traffic until we were nearly to the Suitland Parkway.  I don't know how it determined that this would be the better choice.  The drive home was over two hours.  I expressed my thanks once more that I have not been called to serve in the north part of the mission to experience that traffic on a daily basis.

Saturday we celebrated more passage of time, not just a day but an entire year that has passed since Isaiah's last birthday.  Saturday, January 11th, he turned six years old.  He had a super hero party and invited seven little super heroes to help him celebrate.  The cake was an Ironman cake, and the games all had to do with the Avenger heroes, Captain America, The Hulk, Ironman, and Thor.  The boys all came in super hero costumes.  My favorite was Max in his awesome Luigi costumeJ.  After all of their "training exercises" they had a true-life mission to save humanity.  They had to destroy a meteor (pinata) before it destroyed the earth.  While Heidi and Bryce were still staging for the event Isaiah approached the meteor, and with his Thor hammer in hand and with the speed of light he broke the pinata with one heroic blow.  Just one more illustration that you "never go in against a Sicilian (or Ironman) when death is on the line!"  I think the boys all had a good time.  They went home powered up on pizza and enough sugar to fuel a rocket, anxious to go home and play with their pinata prizes.  What a fun way to pass a rainy Saturday!

Today after Sacrament meeting I passed the time of day (actually only a few minutes) with Brother and Sister Fillmore, Bishop Lowe's aunt and uncle, who are serving as temple missionaries at the Washington D.C. Temple.  We visited a few minutes and brother Fillmore asked me where I was from.  I told him I grew up in Montana but have lived in Utah ever since I got married.  He said that he had relatives in Sidney, Montana, which is near the northeastern border about two hours away from my birthplace.  He asked if I live in Salt Lake City now.  I said "no we lived mostly in Utah County.  I have lived the last 28 years in American Fork."  He said "Oh, I lived in Spanish Fork."  I told him that we lived in Spanish Fork for about eight years on the "bench".  (We actually owned the property for about ten years, but didn't have the house there the first 3 years.)  He asked me who lived across the road from us and I tried to remember some of our neighbors' names.  I said, "Steve Hunter was right next to us and then across the highway there were the Halls, and…"  No more came to mind just then.  When I mentioned that we were in the cherry orchard he started to say something about his parents, and then it clicked as I looked at his name tag once more.  He bore a heavy resemblance to his father.  "Oh, yes, Elmer Fillmore!  We lived right across the road from them.  Are you Bruce?"  He said, "no, I am Edgar."  I was really thinking of their older son, Barry, whom we had met before, but they did have a son named Bruce as well.  Once again I discovered that I have come clear across the country to meet up with people who have connections to people in our past who were very dear to us.  I also met a new missionary this week who is from Corvallis, Oregon and knows my nephew Darren Dye's son, Devon, who is about the same age.

Anyway, Brother Fillmore told me how much he loved that big apricot tree we had in our cherry orchard.  It had the best apricots he had ever tasted.  My children loved passing the time of day sitting in that tree, especially when the apricots were ripe.  I told Brother Fillmore how much his parents had helped us over the years.  When we first moved there, we brought a milk cow with us (Red by name) which we had bought from our neighbor in Ferron.  We didn't have a barn or stanchion when we first got her and she was not easy to milk without locking her up.  Elmer offered to let us use his corral.  I would lead her to his place and tie her up in the corner of his corral, hobble her legs, and milk her and then lead her home again.  I told him how much we loved his mother, Gwen.  The kids loved to pass the time of day at Fillmore's.  I didn't tell him that usually the kids had ulterior motives when they went down the lane and across the road to visit.  She always had a treat for them when the visit was over.  She was a little perturbed when they began asking for a treat as soon as they stepped in the door.  She told them she thought they had come to visit her, so she made them wait and visit before she would give them anything.

And now, one last thought on passing time.  Today our Sacrament Meeting was about accepting callings in the church and how we can grow from the service opportunities that we are given.  The former bishop's wife talked about how their family was blessed when her husband was the bishop, and as she talked I began a trip down Pity Lane.  Sister Boone's husband was a bishop.  She has a couple of sons who are her bishop and Stake President now.  I have a couple of brothers who have been bishops.  I have sons who may someday be called to serve as bishops or stake presidents, but I personally will not know what it is like to be the wife of a bishop or stake president or mission president.  The reminder that all callings we receive in the church are given to us not only because of the service we may render to others but more importantly because of the blessings and training that they will provide to us and our families brought me back to a position of grateful contemplation.  It made me think about all of the callings I had over the years and how they helped me in raising my children.  I am grateful for the many, many years I invested in serving the Young Women (about 14 years) and Scouting (about 21 years) programs of the church.  I use the term "invested" as opposed to "spent" because spent seems to indicate something that is used up and no longer available, whereas an investment is something that is still available for future benefit.  As a leader of youth I became aware of how much Heavenly Father loves all of his children, and I am also more aware of how much I love my own children as I have had the privilege to serve them in the church and in my home.  It has been said that with every calling extended to us to serve in the church comes an automatic release.  At some point down the road, whether it is one year or ten, when we have fulfilled the calling, we will be released.  I feel blessed to be called as a missionary at this point in my life, but this will end in another 17 months.  The calling of Mother will always be the greatest calling I will ever receive, and if we all do our part, it is the one calling from which I will never be released.  I give thanks to Heavenly Father for this great privilege in both time and eternity.