The year I was 10 years old, Lisa and I made a "May Basket" and took it full of flowers to the neighbor lady on the next farm. That was when we lived on Linder Road on a 40 acre farm we called "The McKay Place." I loved living where we had neighbors and could walk to the little schoolhouse church where the Eagle Branch met!
I meant to write shorter reports more often this week, but here I am at 10:20 pm on Sunday evening. My good intentions are hard to follow through on when my eyes keep closing!
Sunday, April 26th was Molly's confirmation. She wanted Elder Walker to confirm her and he was so pleased to do so. He gave her a beautiful blessing and a sweet sister in the ward wrote it for her. She loved Church, going this time to Relief Society. The sisters there were very friendly to her and she really appreciated it.
(It is so important for us to notice people and to give whatever love we have to them--and it is so easy to miss seeing them when we are caught up with our assignment or sitting by and visiting with our friends. There are people who are in agony and are hungry to feel that they matter, and we might not see the need at all because most everyone puts on their cheerful face when they go to Church, but a kind word and handshake can make such a difference! I don't know why it seems so much easier wearing a name tag, but I am learning to look and to speak to everyone I can!)
After Church I hurriedly made a batch of bread because the Bahrts thanked me for a loaf I had given them with such enthusiasm and then a little old lady (maybe she was only a year older than me--who knows!) said, "Homemade bread! I would love a loaf!" So we took bread around to 4 people and then had Molly over for a movie night! We watched "How Rare a Possession." We love that movie!
Monday was Preparation Day for the Elders and Sisters so the Elders came over in the morning to email, print off a booklet Elder Sommercorn had made for his end of mission report, (They give a copy to all their old companions and special people in the mission) and continue the ongoing chess competition. Oh, and play the piano! So far the games have gone in Elder Wilson's favor!
In the evening we gave Sis Naupoto, our Tongan Sister, a birthday party! (Can you believe--we forgot to take pictures!) We served her favorite meal! It was grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup! ;)
Jerry, their convert, came over to share the evening with us too. It was fun! After the Sisters left Jerry stayed and visited about his concerns. He wanted to be baptized and comes to Church every week, but still doesn't have a testimony of Jesus Christ! We had a good visit and I gave him The Testimony of the Apostles. He loves the members and they love him. Hope he can soften his heart to feel the Spirit testify!
Later in the evening the Sister's came back and Elder Walker gave Sister Naupoto a blessing.
Tuesday morning we checked the Elder's and Sister's apartments in Port Angeles. The Elders had moved most of their stuff into the new apartment we got them but I could see that they weren't going to be able to get the old one cleaned properly by their deadline and the Church wanted the deposit back, so we offered to help them clean Wednesday afternoon. They thought that was a grand idea!
At 11:00 am we went to visit Herb and June for our now every other week lunch and visit together. Elder Walker always takes some pictures or something to start a conversation and make Herb laugh--he has a wonderful laugh-- so this time it was the picture of Michael when he was a year old, sitting in the garden, covered with mud from head to toe, and drinking out of the hose Bruce had put in the furrow to water the seeds. Both Herb and June laughed and laughed, so the picture started our visit off just right! They always have Bruce pray before we serve the meal and his prayer was so heartfelt and beautiful this time that they both remarked on it.
Sister Blatter, the Mission President's wife, called and asked if we would take Sister Naupoto to the doctor to have an A1c test to check her glucose levels because she is diabetic and Mission Medical wanted it done today. We had to try 3 doctors before we finally found one who would take her in Port Townsend, 50 minutes away! By the time we got through with that it was 6:15 pm and the Sisters had a teaching appointment at 7 pm, so we took them to dinner at the 101 Diner on the way home.
Wednesday was District Meeting where Elder Walker gave an inspiring spiritual thought after which we gathered cleaning supplies and hurried to Port Townsend to clean the Elder's apartment. They got permission to stay there and help us--I wasn't about to just clean it for them! It took the four of us 4 1/2 hours! And they were good help!
Elder Lacasse from Florida.
Elder Haney from Utah.
We stopped at Goodwill on the way home and bought an office chair for them which they really appreciated! They also need a mattress, but we have to wait until we go to Tacoma to get one for them. (We will charge it to the Mission.)
We had had a nice conversation that morning about spending less money, but we were so tired that we bought a Papa Murphy's pizza on the way home.
The next morning, Thursday, we went to Port Townsend again. We had gone to inspect apartments the week before and had fond them in such a mess that I would not even fill out the papers! It was an apartment with a bad reputation and these Elders were moved in to replace some who couldn't function. They needed a fresh start--a total dejunking, a thorough cleaning and organizing, and a dresser, some chairs and some lamps to light the darkness! We started at 7:45 with 4 Elders helping and got the job done in only 4 hours! :0 It was a mess!
One of the Elders loves to cook. He prepared a quiche for lunch. It was really good! He sent us home with some chocolate chip cookies. I wonder how he finds the time!
Just mopping out! We are almost finished!
This Elder nobly helped Elder Walker in the bathroom!
We were so tired from two days of scrubbing, but Elder Walker knew they needed some better furniture so we went shopping for some. We found a very nice dresser at a consignment shop for a good price--well, it was a little high but the only thing we could find--and it was nice! We bought two lamps at Walmart and chairs at Costco.
These are the kind Bruce wanted to buy but we didn't have time to joke around!
Friday was our P-day! Bruce did mission reports, worked on his journal and took a few minutes to play the piano! It was so fun to hear him and he could be so good if his fingers would just fit between some of the keys!
I played with house plans! It is creative and fun to me! And we started on a TTBB arrangement one of the Bishops wants sung in his ward on Mother's Day.
Saturday we took all the furniture we had purchased to the Elders in Port Townsend and got them set up in their apartment. They were proud of the progress they had made in organizing things. Then we stopped at the Goodwill in that town and found a dresser for the Port Ludlow Elders! They were trying to get by with only one dresser between them.
(Isn't life interesting? In so many missions it would be a luxury to have anything to put your clothes in, but necessities are counted according to where we are.)
In the afternoon on Saturday I had a haircut and touchup. The Bishop's wife had made an appointment for me with the young mother who does her hair. She is a born-again Christian and Sister Cain wanted me to get to visit with her. It didn't work out quite like we hoped because one of her friends came in and hung around, but she gave me a good hair cut without complaining about how I had chopped it off in spots and evened it up very nicely! I was proud of her! She even told me I had thick hair! Now, who wouldn't pay for someone to say that!
Today was the Sabbath. The Bishopric was changed in the Dungeness Ward. The Stake President apologized for "high-jacking" Fast and Testimony meeting. It was a very sweet meeting. I went to the Gospel Essentials class until Dad came and got me out to meet someone. That instructor is a woman lawyer and teaches very well.
I bore my testimony in the Happy Valley Sacrament meeting. It was Molly's first testimony meeting. I don't know what she thought about it because she doesn't say much, but she came fasting even though her mother tried to talk her out of it! Bruce sent me with her to SS class. In that ward they don't have a Gospel Essentials class--they just send everyone to Gospel Doctrine. It was a good class--far deeper than Gospel Essentials would have been, but good. Their RS meeting was good also so I felt good about Molly being there.
To be in those meetings I had to miss Sequim Bay Sacrament Mtg, but Elder Walker went and then I went to Primary to play. The Bishop and his wife were both home sick today, but they came to our house this evening and she hugged me three times. I love her too! Hope I don't get what she has!
We love you all. We fasted for you, prayed for you, and thought of you all day. We pray that you will be blessed for any good we do, and that the Lord will strengthen, protect, guide and comfort you. We know the Gospel of Jesus Christ is truly the great Plan of Happiness! We know that putting our trust in Him and keeping His commandments will bring the sweetest blessings imaginable into our lives. We know that our growth and eventual glory is His only concern. We know that we can accomplish all we were sent here to do through His redeeming and enabling power. We can be together FOREVER!
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