Short & Sweet?

Sunday, 10 February, 2013

Quote for this week:  “Make up your minds to live humbly and in such a way that you will always have the  Spirit of the Lord to be your friend, to make such suggestions to you from time to time as shall be needed under the peculiar circumstances in which you may be placed..."

(Preident Lorenzo Snow, 1899 - but how much more needed in our day!)

Monday morning I was so saddened to read of a Sister missionary’s death in Oklahoma as her bicycle was hit by a truck and prayed for her family and for that mission president and that mission throughout the week.  Then, we had one of our missionaries go home Monday because of medical problems - so more sadness.

Tuesday was a normal day except that we went to a Tai Chai class together on Tuesday evening.  I was glad that Dad found it interesting and do-able.  It was really interesting to me to hear the explanations and history given and to see the differences from the little I learned in the past.  Hopefully we will continue going over the coming weeks and months...it is fun to foresee doing something together that we both might like:)  Probably now we need to sign up for some other kind of a class that is more oriented to Dad’s interests:)

The office continued as normal through the remainder of the week; we are trying to be prepared ahead for the incoming group of missionaries.  Instead of bringing them to the mission home as has been the practice, they will be brought to the Eugene stake center for their lunch, instructions and practice with the APs, interviews with the president and pairing of trainers and companions.  Since there will be a total of 58 elders and sisters, not counting people like us - office folk, the president and his wife, maybe a counselor or two - it is quite understandable that the mission home will not accomodate the numbers.  I’m not sure what other missions do; I know Seth said in his mission the trainers just met the arriving missionaries that they were assigned, so ours is quite different from that.  I heard today from a returned sister missionary who is now married and a mom, about a senior couple assigned to Russia a few years back who did not speak the language and were assigned as humanitarian missionaries to a town 12 hours south of Moscow and told to do whatever they could.  Makes me repent of any complaints of lack of direction for us and resolve to work harder at relying upon the Spirit (see quote at the beginning) to know what is expected of me!

Saturday the office couples and the couple at Camp Alpine met at the Conger Street Clock Shop and Museum and had a fun time looking at everything there - it is so amazing!  Afterwards we went to a restaurant called “Hole in the Wall BBQ” which was a fairly small restaurant not too far from the clock shop.  It was amazingly full of people but we were lucky to arrive at a time when there was a table available to seat us all and the food was great.  We had a good time and plan to get together in March, 2nd Saturday, to do something similar.  We’ve decided to assign one couple to be in charge each time to decide where we’re going and what we’re doing.  Should be fun.

Church today was wonderful as always; although I wish so very much I knew people by name, I love feeling the Spirit there and hearing the different stories and talks.  I always find myself thinking of how amazing and wonderful it is that similar things are happening all over the earth:).

We’re thinking we may go down to Roseburg next weekend, but haven’t set that in concrete as of yet.  Oh yes...I talked with Mary and learned that she is headed for San Diego area tomorrow for a week of working with the Operations Manager who is leaving.  When she talked with me she said something along the lines of “I’ve learned more about business in the past two days that I ever expected to learn in my lifetime!” Or very close to that.  She’s been getting a ton of instruction on things that are happening at Sub Zero:)

I will probably have pictures of our Saturday experience to post next week, but nothing really today...except I thought I might include my mystery plant.  It was given to me as a baby plant by Valerie Beckenhauer a goodly number of years ago and had been given to her by Shirley Neal, my friend and visiting teaching sister.  Unfortunately she lost the name of it...but you can see from the picture it is no longer a baby plant (it is actually about 30% taller than the picture shows) and is making babies of its own (down at the bottom)!  Oh well...maybe something more interesting next week:)!  Love to all!!!