We started out our week with our Monday morning office staff
meeting. We had a lengthy conversation
on the need to be accountable for our actions and the need for making that
accounting to someone. It’s nice to
allow others the autonomy to make choices and follow through with assignments,
but there also needs to be an accounting of that. We all brought thoughts to the conversation
and it was a very good discussion. My
thought is that even Jesus Christ was asked to ‘return and report’—why should we
not be asked to do the same?
A little girls was having a baptism party in the gym during our meeting. (the kids were out for a week of school here) They asked us to come to the party. The theme was Alice in Wonderland and we are dressed for the party.
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| This takes 'extreme' balance |
On Tuesday we woke to lots of new snow. Really this was the first snow of the
winter. Dennis was like a man with a
mission (different than a man on a mission).
He went right out and fired up the snow blower and had such a good time
using that machine. It really did a good
job and he cleaned up our walks and the Spencer’s also.
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| Our car in the office parking lot |
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| This is the day after the storm--this little machine does the sidewalks around town |
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| Sister Spencer and Sister Merrill on our way to work |
Elder Spencer had a cornea transplant a few
weeks ago and he can’t lift, bend or do anything strenuous for a few more
weeks. He finished the walks and we were
ready to go to the office. There were
all kinds of people that had slid off the road and we stuck in the
gutters. The news reported accidents on
almost every major street and in the afternoon they shut down some of the big
roads that move traffic around Rochester.
The church has someone hired to keep the parking lot cleaned out and
they had been there before we arrived, but it had snowed quite a bit more and
we got stuck in the parking lot. Elder
Merrill was able to get unstuck and park.
It kept snowing and at noon we talked with President Frances and asked
if he thought we should go home. He said
that would be alright (if we had our work done—just like what we tell our kids,
right?) We decided that Elder Spencer
would lead because his Pathfinder is a little heavier and he might be able to
create a path for us to follow. He is
from Arizona and was doing well until his wife told him to stop at the opening
to the street because the city had plowed a large drift into the entrance. He stopped and then he was stuck. Elder Merrill was able to help them get out
and we followed directly in their tracks.
(it was a little tricky) It
snowed about 18 inches in less than 12 hours.
It was really beautiful and we enjoyed watching it from our warm, little
home. I kept thinking about the winds of
Idaho and how much of a mess that would have made here. However, we were lucky and it didn’t cause
too many problems and the next morning was beautiful and all the roads were
clear.
We went over to Palmyra to the Temple on Thursday night and
enjoyed our time there. It has been nice
to attend the Temple weekly. We haven’t attended
weekly together during our marriage.
Elder Merrill tried to go to the 5:00 a.m. session every Friday when he
was the Bishop, but I didn’t accompany him.
I’m anxious to see the changes to the Idaho Falls Temple and hope it
will be ready to open again soon after we return home.
We were able to go over to Palmyra on Saturday and went to
see Sister Nalder, one of our senior missionaries that had back surgery 2 weeks
ago. They weren’t home, but we left a
little gift for her inside their door.
We then went out to the Palmyra Inn and looked at the artifacts there from
the ancient people that inhabited this land.
(Nephites and Lamanites) They had a very nice display. We then went over to the Hill Cumorah Visitor’s
Center and viewed the art display of Liz Lemon Swindle. We loved them! Each picture depicts something from the life
of Christ. I will add a couple of the
pictures each week on the blog. (We were
able to take pictures of each painting—yes, we asked for permission)
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| Mary and Elizabeth greeting |
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| When did He know? |
After we returned home we took a big pot of beef stroganoff
and went over to Batavia to their monthly pot luck. We haven’t been attending the pot luck
because they usually have much and mingle the Sunday following. This month we are having fast Sunday on the 3rd
Sunday because next Sunday will be our branch conference and the following
Sunday will be Stake Conference.
What a Sunday we have had.
We left home at 7:45 and attended our branch. It was a nice Sunday and I was able to bare
my testimony. After church we went over to
the Haggerty’s and did home teaching, then we drove out to Albion and did home
teaching with the Long’s. After we home
taught them we drove back to Batavia and went out to Warsaw. We had to pick up a vehicle from the Elders
there and bring it back to the office.
We went to the Dieu’s (senior couple) and they wanted us to stay and
visit and have dinner with them. It was
great to visit with them, but I kept looking out the window and worrying about
driving home in the dark. (I’m not too
anxious to drive in the dark anymore)
Well, we drove home in the dark.
It wasn’t too bad and I just followed Elder Merrill. We got home at 7:30 p.m. PHEW!
What a day—I’m ready to kick off my shoes!
I wanted to add a sweet story that the Sister Bradford sent
to us for our monthly newsletter:
Frozen tidings from
Cumorah
Sunday night we were
serving at the Visitors' Center, it was a quiet night with few guests. It
was cold and dark outside, but warm and bright inside. A little family
came through the doors, Dad, Mom, little boy, new baby. As we always do,
we try to get to know them a little at the beginning. I met the parents,
LDS who had driven from Connecticut that day and then turned my attention to
the little boy; 6 years old, Jonathan. It was obvious that Jonathan had
some disabilities, he kind of looked sideways through his glasses and drug his
left foot. I asked him if he would like to see a movie or go learn about
the Helaman's warriors or we could go into the room where we have a statue of
Jesus. He looked up at me and said, "I want to go see my friend
Jesus." We went in and listened to the recording of Christ's words,
then I turned on the music, "A Child's Prayer," then "Come Thou
Font of Every Blessing." Through the recording and the music, I
watched as these two good parents surrounded this little boy in love and I
watched as Jonathan looked up at Jesus in awe and love. He had come to
see his friend. We were in a holy place, the spirit filled the room and
all of us were crying.
I wasn't sure what
their story was, but I knew that Jonathan and Jesus were intimate
friends. We walked into the gallery and Jonathan went to the kiosk about
Helaman's warriors and listened to every one of the stories. As he was
doing that, his mother told me of his premature 25-week delivery, of the brain
trauma he had, of the multiple surgeries, of the 5 months in the NICU, of the
priesthood blessings that he had been given many times that pulled him through,
of the struggle to walk at 3 years old, and the time he went into have another
eye surgery and was given a blessing and as a result of that surgery and
blessing how he went from being non-verbal to speaking sentences in 2
weeks. This dear little child had been through so much, it was obvious
that the separation between earth and heaven is very thin for this child.
They stayed for about
an hour and in that time, another couple and one of our Senior couples came
in. She came with her flute and he came with his piano skills. She
serenaded us in the Christus room on her flute. The echo from the rotunda
magnified her sound and skills. It was magical. Eventually,
Jonathan and family came back to the Christus room to hear the music. We
all went into the auditorium where she played primary songs on her flute and he
played piano accompaniment, and Jonathan led the singing for all the adults in
the room. I thought what a magical place to be where a disabled child can
be loved and cherished and a very accomplished flutist can play purely for the
enjoyment of others and the two of them can be joined in an overwashing of the
spirit.
The work
here is so sweet.
Happy Birthday Brytlee Ann Harris—9 years old! So proud of her and what a sweet young lady
she is!
