Aug. 16, 2015

We had another great week!  It rained 3 or 4 days this week and ended the drought.  (SERIOUSLY, things were getting brown)  It is fun to walk in the rain with an umbrella.  It is still warm outside, but with drops coming down.  We have had some thunder showers also. 

I miss having zucchini and cucumbers in the garden.  We have actually been buying zucchini.  I made some bread and it tasted so---good.  We took it into the office and a loaf was gone by the end of the day.  We always have missionaries in and out of the office and they are happy to have anything we offer them.

We had a young sister this week that had to have a serious surgery removing a malignant tumor along with her uterus.  She also had to have some lymph nodes removed and they are going to decide if she needs to have chemo or radiation now.  I feel so bad for her!  She was upset about not being able to have children, but saving her life at this time is more important.  She is from South American and her parents are not close to a large city and they wouldn’t have been able to get help for her and she would have died without treatment.  The Lord helped her by sending her where she is getting A+ treatment.  We have prayed for her as a mission for the past 2 weeks. 

Well, I did it this week!  My quest for a clean kitchen at the church DIDN”T pay off!  I am so glad that we have such strict rules in our kitchen at the Grant church.  We must leave it in better shape than what we found it—it must sparkle!  Well, here—they don’t seem to care as much and the 2 ovens at the church where the mission office is located had a thick coat of gunk everywhere.  They are self-cleaning ovens so I told Sister Kennedy that if someone from her ward didn’t want to clean them, I would.  She talked with the Relief Society President and she was all for them being cleaned.  So, Sister Kennedy and I took out the racks, turned them onto self-clean, locked them, and set the time for 3 ½ hours.  We went over to get gas for our car and Sister Kennedy called and said to hurry back—all the smoke alarms in the building were going off.  Dennis was just finishing with the gas when the city fire house rang their bell.  I screamed, “is that for our church?”  He called 911 and yes it was for the church.  He told them not to come that we were just cleaning the ovens.  We rushed back and the building was full of smoke.  We turned off the ovens, opened all the doors and windows, put out fans, and the FM (facilities management)  man just happened to be there to help.  He told us that he would have FM come and clean the ovens for us and not to try it again.  President Francis got a kick out of it, but I was mortified! 

We are so excited to come next week for our special day in the Temple as a family.  The endowment session starts at 3:00 and the sealing at 5:30.  We will have a pot luck dinner after in our yard.  Hope the weather is good.  I am really happy that I will be able to see my little ones again!  Dennis was talking on the phone with Joslyn last night and I could hear how excited they were to see each other again.  We feel that way about all of our family. 

After work we met the ladies for dinner at a place in Canandaigua that was supposed to be the best Mexican ever.  Well, it wasn’t! (they used that thick processed cheese (crap) instead of good cheese on their food)  We have only found 2 places here that serve good Mexican food.  One is called Moe’s and they are like Café Rio and the other one is in Webster and is similar to what we get in Idaho.  It’s funny how bad they can make Mexican food here.  But—Pizza is the best here!  They know Pizza!

One of President Francis’s sons did his Eagle project today and we went to help for a while.  He painted the fence of one of the cemeteries.  It turned out to be a good project and he had lots of his friends there to help with the project.  The weather was perfect! 

Today we had church and after church we had munch and mingle.  We made Chicken Waikiki (basically sweet and sour chicken) and it was a hit.  Every piece of it and the rice was eaten.  However, we made a lot of fresh salsa and very few were brave enough to try it.  Funny thing—this is pizza land!  I gave the rest to President Francis.  They are from California and are always looking for good Mexican food too.  He was happy to have it.  We went home teaching after church and didn’t get home very early. One of the sweet sisters in the branch brought me some crook neck squash, green beans, and cucumbers.  Her husband is such a nice, older guy that has a green thumb and doesn't want to know about the church.  Dennis and Howard have had good conversations about tractor work and that type of thing, I've let him know that my dad is also a master gardener and that it hasn't rubbed off on me yet.

Sister Stephenson died this afternoon at 5:00.  She had suffered a lot with cancer and had been very courageous.  She is 9 years older than her husband and he is going to be very lost.  He was crazy about her. 

As we were on the highway the other day a motorcycle came up to the side and passed us.  I had to take this picture.  I’m not sure that you can see if very good, but he has a Barbie on the back seat with her hair blowing in the wind.  It was so cute!

Hang on Barbie--You're too young to die!

We are not sure what this is growing on this tree--anyone?  Walnuts?  (Dennis says no)