February 19 - 26, 2012
This week has certainly
been a lot better than last one was…last Sunday, I went to ward council and
Sacrament Meeting, and Elizabeth, one of the sisters from the 1st
ward brought chicken parmesan to us for dinner. I am overwhelmed by the love
and support that has been shown to us while I have been down. Thanks to all of
you who have called or emailed this week with your love and concern—I am doing
just great now. Heavenly Father has really watched over and blessed me.
Monday I started back to
physical therapy for my back and we spent the rest of the day making calls and
planning out this week and part of next. We made thirteen phone calls, and from
this, made nine appointments, including a luncheon appointment and two dinner
appointments. When we first arrived here, at one time we made eighteen calls
and made two appointments, so you can see how things are changing as the
sisters are beginning to know us more and more and know that we aren’t a
threat, but just want to be friends and a help to them.
Tuesday morning I went to
my orthopedic doctor for my back. He seems to feel that things are getting
better, but that I should continue with physical therapy for a while longer.
After that we attended the funeral of Virginia Redding, a sister in the 1st
ward who passed away of breast cancer. This is the seventh funeral we’ve had
since the first of December. Her daughter, Tammy lives in the 2nd
ward and we go visiting teaching to her, but haven’t been able to contact her
before this time. We met her at the funeral, and she was very accepting of us
and wants us to come and visit her at any time. Another example that we are not
here to preach, just to friendship and help…
Tuesday evening we went to Lin’s home for a visit and dinner. She works in the temple, yet has major issues at home. She can only have association with the church outside of the home or when her husband is out of town. She has a beautiful home on an acre of land with woods in the back. She is multi-talented; she’s a master gardener, plays the clarinet in the city band, and plays the guitar. She wants to have a beautiful yard, but everything gets eaten by the deer, squirrels, raccoons, etc., so she has started taking after them with a pellet gun. They basically just bounce off the deer, but opossum and red-tailed hawks take care of the other things she gets. To look at her, you would never guess that she’s a ‘sharp-shooter’.
Tuesday evening we went to Lin’s home for a visit and dinner. She works in the temple, yet has major issues at home. She can only have association with the church outside of the home or when her husband is out of town. She has a beautiful home on an acre of land with woods in the back. She is multi-talented; she’s a master gardener, plays the clarinet in the city band, and plays the guitar. She wants to have a beautiful yard, but everything gets eaten by the deer, squirrels, raccoons, etc., so she has started taking after them with a pellet gun. They basically just bounce off the deer, but opossum and red-tailed hawks take care of the other things she gets. To look at her, you would never guess that she’s a ‘sharp-shooter’.
Lin & Sister Brown
Lin's Backyard Where the Critters Hang Out
I loved going back to the temple after missing last week. It seems like each week you miss is a month, so I was really happy to be there. I have so many friends who are ordinance workers with me, and I love the peaceful, wonderful feeling that is always within the walls of the temple, whenever you go.
Thursday after my physical
therapy, our first stop was at Linda’s. She’s the sister who we helped decorate
her house for Christmas. Since that time, she has been very stand-offish and
didn’t want us to come by. Last Sunday she finally agreed that it would be okay
if we came by, but when we arrived her soap opera was on and she said we would
have to let her finish watching it before we could talk to her. We sat there
for 30 minutes before it was over, but we did get to visit with her, so I guess
that is something. From Linda’s we went to Elaine and Heather’s (Elaine’s
daughter). They live on Dr. Samuel Mudd’s Rd. (Dr. Mudd is the doctor who hid John
Wilkes Booth after he shot Pres. Abe Lincoln) When we got there, Elaine had
gone to Fredericksburg, VA. to a quilt show, so we visited with Heather. She
has four children and home-schools the oldest three. Adrian, the youngest, took
right to me and sat on my lap the whole time we were there.
As a thank-you for us
taking her to the temple each week, Kathleen invited us to dinner Thursday
night. On our way there, we roundeda corner and there were nine deer in the front yard of someone’s house. After a delicious salmon dinner, we stayed to visit for a while… Kathleen’s mother-in-law, Mattie, who is 92 and suffers from Alzheimer’s, came out to join us. She would interact with her grandson, Roy, then laugh, and laugh, and we would too. It was like watching a comedy skit that went on and on…she is such a sweetheart and we had such an enjoyable time! Can’t wait to go back again…
We have been trying to get down to Pat’s since we came to Maryland, but something always comes up either for us or her. Friday we finally made it! She lives down on the Patuxent River, about 35 miles from us in a little house that the Amish made for her and her first husband in 1977. He passed away in 2001 and she married Doug in 2003. They are the cutest couple ever! They are both 80, but have more energy than most 40 year olds!!! She said to come for lunch, and had a great spread out for us; afterward, we went down to the beach for about an hour and a half enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful view. Pat is an ccomplished artist who has had over 200 paintings commissioned
On the way home we stopped in to
check on Dorothy, the grandmother who has a 30 year-old son that is autistic
and two young grandsons that she is raising. Jahare’, 10, plays the piano,
clarinet, and violin, is a crossing guard and gets straight A’s at school, and
Jared 4, is in Pre-K and is just as cute as a bug. We try to check on Dorothy
as often as we can; she has so much on her plate and really needs all the support
she can get.
Saturday we went to the
Stake Conference Adult Meeting. We talked to Pres. Sakai, and he mentioned that
they want us to expand our work to cover the entire stake instead of just the
two wards that we have been in. I’ll fill you in as it happens…It was so great
to hear all of the Stake Presidency speak. They had sections reserved for the
missionaries, so it was really great that we didn’t have to get there early
(too bad we didn’t know that until after we got there an hour early so
we could get good seats!).
One of the Presidency
shared this thought:
“When you
feel like you’re drowning in life, don’t worry, your
Lifeguard
walks on water”
