November 27, 2011
As my mission goes, this has been a strange week as far as being normal (making visits, giving service, etc). Monday, Sister Harper was ill, so I went to my back drs. appointment, and to the post office for her, then spent most of the day relaxing, trying to get my back into some type of order.
Tuesday, we took Marci March, a sister in the White Plains 1st Ward on her errands and had planned to go visiting. It was raining so hard that we couldn't see the lines on the road and the windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the water, so we decided it would be safer to stay in. Sister Harper took the 1st Ward list and I took the 2nd Ward and we began to call. We each called about thirty sisters to wish them a "Happy Thanksgiving" and express our love for them and let them know that we care about them. They were so happy to think that we would think of them and take the time to call.
We went to the home of Gary and Bonnie Ramon for Thanksgiving dinner. They live in the White Plains 2nd Ward; he is the High Priest Group Leader and she is a counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. They also had her son and daughter-in-law, daughter and her boyfriend, and friend of the family. There were also six darling little kids under the age of five, so it was easy to get my "grandma-fix". We offered to take our favorite dishes for dinner, so Sister Harper took dressing and I took Grandma's macaroni and cheese; we also picked up a pumpkin pie at Costco and cinnamon pinecones as a thank-you gift. All-in-all it was a fun day--they told us they were our adopted family, which made us feel really good!
Friday, the Ramon's invited us to go with their family to the Chesapeake Bay shore to look for shark's teeth. It is about forty-five minutes southeast of our apartment. It is so relaxing to hear the waves lap on the rocks--we didn't find any shark's teeth, but did find some different shells. It was a really great day--one that we will do again.
We put a turkey breast in the oven before we left, so when we returned home, it smelled like Thanksgiving all over again. We added the turkey to our left-overs from the day before, and had a fabulous feast!
After church today we had a "munch and mingle" in the 2nd Ward. Tons of sandwiches, chips, dips, and pie for dessert. The best part was, guess who got the left-overs? You got it--the MISSIONARIES!!! Whoot-whoo!!! They do this once a quarter, but since they move to the early time next year, this was the last one for awhile--hmmm...maybe the 1st Ward will do it next year???
It's so fun starting to really know the brothers and sisters in the wards and those we work with in the temple. They're not just people we see or visit, they're good friends; people and personalities I will never forget!
