Happy Mother's Day

First I want to say Happy Mother's Day to my three lovely daughters and two equally lovely daughters-in-law! Thank you for our 20 beautiful grandchildren. What a joy and blessing to have a quiver full of blessings.

Monday was a water aerobics day; I love the water and Elder Steffler puts up with it. After laundry, including the tablecloths used Sunday for break the fast, we went shopping for a new mattress. Found what we wanted in the first place; spendy but hopefully worth it. Had missionary correlation before FHE, then had to vacate the building because it was being used as a polling place on Tuesday, so everyone headed over to Pres. Lewis' home for snacks and games. The single adults are competitive even with guessing songs or who said it. One of the things that Elder Bednar promised senior missionaries was that our family would be safe and that they would follow our example of serving a mission. I was really worried about Deana, but she did the right thing by going to the ER and getting her blood clots taken care of. Thanks again, Ken, for insisting that she go.

Tuesday we walked and while I cleaned the apartment, Elder Steffler went shopping for a few groceries, all by himself! It was the first time that we had Sisters Jones and Griffin for a practice discussion and lunch. They wanted us to be investigators and we were pretty rough on them, but they kept going and did fine. Then had to go shopping – again, this time for water to take to the picnic on Saturday and to get some ingredients for stir fry.

Wednesday was hot and muggy – have told that this is just the beginning. The humidity sucks out any energy you might have. Had to text everyone for the institute potluck that was postponed last week to this week. I made Cheesy Frito salad (thanks Sylvia for sending the recipe) and cut up a pineapple. Got a call from YSA sisters to pick up an investigator, Josette, for institute. Told the GPS the wrong address and ended up across town and had to backtrack. Made it just in time for the lesson. Good lesson of Faith Hope and Charity.

Thursday another warm day, but a water aerobics day! We forgot our noodles, so had to make do without them. Had to pick up a Rx and fill gas tank again. Had an appointment with the Spanish elders to visit a sister that lived about 3 miles out of town. She lived in a trailer and had the door open and two fans going. She had a cute little girl aged 2 that reminded me so much of little Teezha; it made me homesick for her. We could not follow along very good because it was all in Spanish, but we still felt the spirit there. She is really hesitant to commit to baptism but feels really good when the elders come. Dan thawed out a steak and figured out the gas grill outside by our apartment, so we had steak and potatoes. Watched a church history video about John Turner who was converted in 1831 and was a rich man. He donated about $250 million (in today's money) to help build the Kirtland Temple and the saints as they were being persecuted. Amazing! Had never heard of this man before.

Friday was Zone leadership Kinston West. Went over the stake's mission initiatives and how to use the branch (ward) coulcil meetings to help with missionary work. Got a call from the mattress delivery guys in the middle of meeting, so we had to leave. The photo-taking lady was there to take pictures for the zone, so we got a copy, but we are not in it. The mattress guys were not there for very long, so we had lunch, a short nap, then took off. I wanted to go a different way, of course, so we went due east to the ocean! The scenery on the way was very green and we went through a town that had been hit by a tornado last week. Lots of trees cut down , tarps over roofs and a porch that had collapsed. Stopped for a "rest" at a NWR – Pocosin. Lots of lakes, maybe made when a fire burned in the peat (layers of organic material). One place they found peat 12 feet deep and figured it had taken 14,000 years to build. When we crossed over East Lake, we had to stop on the bridge while part of it swung open to let a ship through. It was kind of interesting. Took another long bridge to the Outer Banks and Nags Head (via Roanoke Island) and drove through lots of traffic. I caught glimpses of the ocean about 2 blocks away; lots of condos, very attractive resort-type. Drove past Kitty Hawk museum at 5 p.m., just as it closed. Then straight up the coast to Chesapeake. Stayed with Pres and Sis Baker in the Mission Home (slept in general authority room, again!). They were very busy with mission work and Sis Baker was the medical person on call and she got a lot of calls that evening and next morning. But they did feed us a piece of strawberry pie; yummy!

Next morning was pretty laid back; fixed ourselves a bowl of cereal and read a couple of conference talks. I changed the bedding and washed it and the towels that we had used. Tried to be of some use as both were on the phones most of the morning. It was about 10 miles to the Norfolk Botanical Garden. Picnic was set up of chicken, salads and dessert. The last couple brought containers of fruit – mangoes, pineapple, honeydew melon, berries and watermelon. Yummy. Got a tram that went around the garden with a very informative driver. Lots of beautiful azaleas; took lots of photos. Tour was 20-25 minutes, then watched a video of how the garden came to be. Then we headed home (a different way, again!). There was a message on my home cell phone that a delivery was trying to made Friday but no apt number had been given; they would try again Saturday. They left the bouquet at a neighbor's place and I got them when we got home. They are lovely; that DJ and family. I had picked up a couple of items that Elder Nielson had left behind on the last transfer and had brought them with us. He and Elder Geddes (yes, the one that is related to us about 5 generations back, a grandfather and his brother!) stopped by for them and we fed them the last of the strawberries (with Nutella, of course) then warmed up chicken enchiladas and chips and salsa. They were hungry! Elder Nielson was the one that downloaded the zone photo for us. A new challenge from Pres Baker: read 7 pages of the Book of Mormon daily; so we started; finally got to bed with our NEW mattress about 10:30.