Another Great Week. . . . .

Monday we started out our week by going to the National ZOO.. with the Larsen's.  It was a beautiful day, in the mid 50's and sunny.  It was so fun to walk around the zoo and watch the children as they saw the many animals.. It is a huge facility, but missing so many of the animals that I think of when I think of a zoo. But we did get to see - the pandas, lions, cheetahs, elephant, apes and orangutans, zebras & lots of  animals in the small mammal exhibit.  It is a teaching zoo so we got to see a presentation of the research they are doing with the orangutans. They are studying their habits and behaviors in many areas. We spent 5 hours at the zoo and had a great time. 

 Sister Wege & I

 

 The Panda's were inside eating

 

 I felt like he was saying "you looking at me?"

 

The lion was very cool

 

We were all caught up working on the nativity display at the VC, so we had several days that we could visit sisters and get a lot of other chores taken care of.

         Tuesday:

·       We took Darlene to the dentist.

·       Went to Costco to pick up pictures for our Christmas project & some special treats for the missionaries.

·       Visited Joyce to go over the biography we are helping her with.

·       Went to Michaels and picked out a frame and matting for special picture.

·       Went to $$ store and got Christmas bags

·       Went to grocery store and picked up some needed items.

·       Went to "A Night of Music and Inspiration" at the visitors center.

Wednesday:

·       We worked at the Family History Center. I was anxious to try some of the things I had learned at the training workshop. Took pictures of all the elders and sisters that were there, e-mailing letters home.. plus some choice ones of the sisters outside.

 

 Sending those weekly e-mails home

·       Picked up some Festival of Lights schedules from the VC  to hand out while we visited.

·       Went to the distribution center to get some thermal un-mentionables.

·       Visited with Lois. So happy all her tests are coming back cancer free. I saw this quote and it fits Lois.."Some of the sweetest spirits are housed in frail bodies" Elder Rasband

·       Had a wonderful dinner and Family Home Evening with Annecia and her daughters, Annona & Aphina. What a delightful evening.. great dinner and charming girls.  Our lesson was on Thanksgiving & the girls had a lot of fun with us talking about things they were thankful for. We gave them a challenge to write something they were thankful for each day until Thanksgiving, on a special sheet we had designed for them.

 

Annecia & her daughters

Thursday:

·       We visited with Fannie. She had just moved in with her daughter after her apartment was condemned by the health dept.  She is such an upbeat lady with a very positive attitude.  She is looking for another apartment that she and her grandaughter can live in. She is suffering with severe issues with her thyroid and adrenal glands.  She is now retired, but served as a clinical social worker, working with boys 12 -20 who were VERY BAD.. She was so funny and told us so many great stories of her early childhood. We had a wonderful visit with her.

·       Visited with Christine and her husband George. They are a retired couple from England. Christine is quite a talker, not a woman of few words.. So we listened and listened and she told one story after another. A very sweet couple..

·       We then had our wonderful Thursday visit with Barbara. She had told us that her roommate kept taking  her picture of Jesus and putting it on her dresser. So we brought her a new one in a nice frame that she can have and her roommate can keep her old one. She was so excited and pleased that we would do that for her. We then read scriptures and talked. A great day as always.

·       We then took Tigi's glasses to a repair shop to see if we could get them fixed, but the repair was almost as much as new frames would be..so we decided that wasn't a smart thing to do, since Tigi said she needs a new prescription anyway.

·       We had an evening at home to catch up on much needed activities.

Friday:

·       We worked in the visitors center all day, finishing up the room with the nativity displays..

·       We have 89 nativity sets displayed.

·       We cleared all the totes full of fabric back to the upstairs storage room

·       We broke down tons of boxes and got them to the trash

·       We cleaned and vacuumed and organized and cleaned and vacuumed again.

·       Put up the security rails and the skirts on them to keep little hands off the beautiful nativities.

·       Broke down the tables and put them away..

·       In all we spent a very busy 6 hours finishing up the room !!!!

It is so pretty in there and we had so many people come and ooh and aah over the entire setup.

 Some of the sisters

 

 Julia, the creative genius for the Nativity display

 

 getting the security skirting set up

 

Sister Wege cleaning

 The visitors center has been undergoing a massive renovation and it is really coming along and their goal is to have it completed by Thanksgiving.. Busy bees working everywhere.. Many high tech displays and interactive displays. The huge Christmas trees are starting to be decorated and they are beautiful.. Can't wait to share some pictures with you.

 Big things happening at the visitors center

cannot wait until it is all finished.. Very high tech.

 

 

President Matsumori called us a couple weeks ago and gave us the name of a lady he wanted us to contact. She had just moved here from California and he had been contacted and asked that some "senior" missionaries call her. Her name is Faith, and we called her and have been trying to help her. She wanted us to find her a new place to live in Virginia, since she was disowned by her son who lives around DC. So Sister Wege researched and found several places and when she told Faith, she had changed her mind and then wanted us to find a home that she could live in as a "substitute grama", but she couldn't cook, or clean, or do laundry and the floor had to be smooth and on one level. She wanted them to cook for her, but she had very detailed diet and couldn't eat what they would eat. She doesn't drive, so she needs someone to drive her around. She couldn't be expected to watch the children, but would read to them on occasion. We asked if we could come to visit her and she said "oh no, that's not possible". After many, many, many phone calls and her changing her mind every other day on what she wanted us to do..today she said that she found a place to live, an assisted living facility that would take care of her needs. But she still wants to be a part of a community of friends and wanted us to find them for her. We told her the best way to meet friends was to come to church and that is where she would meet the people who lived around her. She said "she wasn't interested in coming to church", that she couldn't be expected to get up and be at a church at 9:00 or 10:00. But we needed to find people who were willing to help her anyway.. We explained about our visiting teachers and home teachers in the church, that reach out to help.  No Way, she says.. that is not for me.. We are at our wits end.. GEEZE.. LOUISE. . . .

 

Saturday:

·       We picked up Darlene and took her to the temple with us. She is so happy when she is able to go with us.. and we love taking her.

·       We had an "International" Thanksgiving party at church that evening. They asked everyone to bring a main dish or a dessert from the country of their origin. When we arrived it was bustling and packed.. A very long line of tables loaded with food and everyone having a wonderful time.  Many were dressed in their native clothing and I got some fun pictures.

Elder Matahele

Elder Snow & Elder Watts

 





·       When we got home I finished some picture layouts that I needed to send to Costco to have printed for some of my Christmas projects..

Sunday:

·       We attended the College Park Ward today and left home at 6:45 to get to our first meeting.. I sat by Bella who is from Nigeria. She studied clothing design in London for 3 years and then worked as an apprentice for a manufacturer that sold to Harrods in London.  She said she has several small dress shops in Nigeria that her family is taking care for her. Such a neat lady. 

·       After church we went to visit Sharon in the hospital. She is very sick and we just stayed a few minutes, we could tell she was really tired.  We are so worried about her.. We could tell she is frightened also.

·       This evening we attended the "Holiday Devotional" at the temple. We picked up Eva who works at the temple to go with us.  It was held on the 7th floor in the HUGE beautiful priesthood room. All the temple workers and bishops and stake presidents and senior missionaries are invited. It was so wonderful. They had a choir of about 200 people that were amazing and the music was so beautiful. We heard talks from President and sister Swinton the temple president. Also Elder Lansing and Elder Gerrard of the Seventy. All the talks were so inspirational and I loved each one more than the last. It was so neat to see many of my good friends from the area I served in Southern Maryland for a year .. A great evening.

 I want to wish each of you a wonderful Thanksgiving.. and hope you are able to be with family or friends and will take time this week to count your blessings and remember those things you are thankful for.  I know I am thankful for each of you and your support.