January 8, 2012
New Years Day was spent at the Visitor's Center; the last day it was open for the holidays. It was really slow there, so when Sister Allen, a sister from Gilbert, AZ, asked if we could go with her to the church next door to hear her speak in Sacramet meeting, we quickly agreed. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that it was the ward for the temple missionaries, so we knew the members from working at the temple on Wednesdays.
Sister Harper and I have been fighting off colds and coughs for the past two weeks; during the month of December, there were over 90,000 at the Visitor's Center~I'm sure that one of them must have been carrying a bug or two!
Tuesday night, Elders Hurd and Nielson and we were invited to dinner at the home of Janice and Dave Gardner. She is the Sec. in the RS Pres. of the 2nd Ward, and he is on "watch" for the government/military by watching computer screens and newscasts to see what is going on all over the world and reporting anything important or threatening to the U.S. They have five sons, three that are here with them, and two older sons in Denver. We had such a fun night; great food, lots of good conversation, and wonderful friends...
We have been asked to be part of the RS evening meeting once a month. We will be in charge of the snack or tasting table, or the dinner if it is a special occasion. We will make things that you can use ingredients from your food storage from the church cannery (this month we are using refried beans). We will pass out a number of recipes each month, so that by the end of the year they will have a great start of ideas of food they can make for very little cost. Sister Harper has a program on her computer called Memory Makers; she has made a darling 4x6 cover (front and back) for the recipes, then they will be held together with a ring in the corner.
Now that December at the Visitor's Center is over, it's great to get back to our regular schedule of calling on sisters in the wards and helping wherever we can. This week we were able to call on six special sisters; some were friends we had made in the past, the others are new friends to us:
*Elsie is our friend in her late 80's who is a die-hard Redskins fan. She keeps her mind sharp by doing Sudoko, cross-word puzzles, reading the scriptures daily, and reading books by Cleon Skousen,etc. She is so sharp and delightful to visit, we enjoy going to see her as often as we can. When we ask her if there is anything we can do for her, she always says, "Oh, no, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you"~~such a sweetheart!!!
*Ethel is another favorite senior sister. She was a high school physics and chemistry teacher and went to Bolivia on a mission in 2005. She has a very dry sense of humor, which we love, and would give you her last dollar or the shirt off of her back, if you needed it.
*Carol is a sister we have been trying to go visit for quite awhile, but she has been in poor health most of the winter. We are glad that she is now able to see us, as was very happy today. Carol is very talented in scrapbooking and card club, so she and Sister Harper have a lot in common. Her husband is an aeronautical engineer for the military.
*Jane offered to give us some dishes that actually match and there are more than four of a kind. She also gave me some fabric to practice sewing on my new machine (Merry Christmas to me from me!!!) She is so much fun!!! I can't believe we've been here this long without knowing her~~she's so full of life~~they have five children; two married (a son and a daughter), with two grandchildren, and three sons still at home. Her husband is also in the military, and travels all over the world difusing all different types of bombs.
*Lou is a sister that we haven't been able to figure out or get close to, but felt inspired that we should go visit her. We found that she is delightful, just quiet and shy. It's so nice to meet sisters outside the realms of church, when we have time to sit and visit and have time to really get to know them deep down, not just on the surface.
*Our last visit was with Stephanie and Arik Drake, the couple who are both in the military. She just home from Afganistan, where she repaired medical machines, and he is in the Army's special forces. He checks to make sure every-thing is safe and in order before the President travels or if something does happen, anthrax, etc., he would be called to action to take care of it. They are going to help us activate, Stephanie Long and her husband, that we met just before Christmas at the National Harbor.
Thursday night was RS night meeting for the 1st ward. They talked about "bucket lists" and had everyone put something from their list into a bucket and then we guessed whose item went with which person. We also talked about goals: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, etc. Elizabeth read from
Eccl 3:1-8: "For everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven". I know that this is the right time and season of my life for me to be serving my Heavenly Father on my mission. The way things fell into shape for me to go, and the wondrous things that have happened to me, leave no doubt in my mind that this is the place where I am to be at this time. Words cannot adequately express how grateful I am for the love and support that my family gives me.
