Sunshine - Snow - Rain - Sunshine

 Elder Kinney and Elder Hurd, two of the 4 missionaries that we serve with.  They are so cute.. Elder Kinney is from Prescott, Arizona and Elder Hurd is from California.  We really love having them live in the same apartment complex as us.  They are so helpful and will come to give us a hand when ever we call for a helping hand.

We drove through beautiful farm land on Friday as we were out visiting.

We have had a great week here in Maryland..Mostly sunny weather, that is except on Wednesday's when we have to drive intoDC to go to the temple.. each of the 3 weeks that we have gone to the temple it has rained.. so when we get out at 7:30, we have black sky, rain, wall to wall traffic ... just looked at the weather for the up-coming week and guess what it's NOT suppose to rain on Weds.. all I can say is yeah!!!

On Monday, my companion was suffering a migraine, so while she rested I outlined our week,  & who we would call on, got the addresses and directions and mileage down and charts ready to head out and visit. Monday evening we were invited to an empty Nester's family home evening.. It was really fun, we had a potluck dinner and great conversation around the table. One of the empty Nester's just had a double knee replacement and so we made a huge card for her, from all of us. 

     On Tuesday we visited some of the empty Nester's that we met the night before in their homes and had a great time. On the drive we noticed a sign for Goose Bay Marina, so after our visit we drove down that road to a great big marina and lots of huge boats.. We walked out on the pier and I loved it.. We are in-between the Potomac river and the Chesapeake bay, so I really love to see the water.  It was a very neat marina and a great surprise for our afternoon. That evening we had one of the Relief Society Presidents, Roz over for dinner and a review meeting on our progress so far.  She is such a sweetheart and we just love spending time with her.  She is an administrative assistant to a large energy department and we made plans with her to visit DC. She said since she has worked in DC for many years she knows the in's and out's of all of DC..

Weds. was temple day and we needed to be at the visitors center to have pictures taken for a Christmas gift for President Matsumori.When we arrived at the temple and picked up our schedules I was so excited to see I had been given the assignment as the director of the baptistery. I love working in the baptistery, that was one of the best assignments I had when I worked at the Mesa Arizona Temple. We had a youth group come in and they were so cute and I loved working with them. The baptistery at the DC temple is so beautiful and one wall is all glass, so guests can view the baptisms. We stopped for dinner at a really cool restaurant on our way home that evening. Bonefish Grille.. wonderful food and great service and really close to our apartment.

Thursday we were invited to dinner at the home of the Primary President of the 2nd ward. Her husband is an engineer and is deployed to UAE.. She has 3 cute kids and they loved having us there, kind of like substitute grams. That evening Sister Brown and I were part of the Relief Society program on Missionary Work. We love to share any information about our mission and it was really fun.

      Friday we set out to visit 3 sisters that we hadn't been able to get to before. Kristi is the mom of 3 boys that are 14, 12 & 10. Her husband is deployed to Iraq and this is his 3rd deployment. We have gotten to know her at church and really want to friendship her and get to know her better. We had a really great visit. Then we headed out to visit a sister who had been on bed rest for 6 weeks and had  just given birth 2 weeks ago.. So it was fun to hold Hannah, her new baby girl. Her husband is a diplomat for the dept. of agriculture and they have lived in Brazil and in India & hoping to serve in South Africa in about a year.  They live way out in the country with horse property so we drove by gorgeous landscape and several fields of sorgum, which is really cool, (I included a picture of it today).  Our third visit of the day was a sweet sister that just moved her family here from Colorado and we just knew we needed to visit her that day. She was so excited to see us and wanted us to help here in deciding where to hang pictures and help her choose some details indecorating her beautiful new house. She has 3 boys at home & 2 older sons who are working and in school back in Colorado. Here husband is in DC now, but just got back from being deployed for 2 years, he is away from home all week on secret missions that he can't discuss. He is an attorney for the government. When we were there she started to cry and said she was so lonesome and really needed someone to come to see her and then we showed up on her doorstep.. Prayers are answered with inspiration.. We were so glad that we listened to that inspiration Friday and visited those three sisters.
     We are making great friends in both wards and look so forward to seeing them each week

Sorgum fields, dotted the fields that we were driving by on Friday and they are really cool looking. 

Have a good week..

Kent

Seven years ago today Kent left this earthly life for his eternal mission. I miss him each day and know that one day we will be together again. Today was my day to work at the DC temple, I thought that it was the perfect place to spend the day remembering Kent. I know that he watches over me and my family and that is a comfort to each of us. He was such a sweet man and always there for me and for his family. I want you all to know just how much I love him and know that as I serve my mission, he too is serving on the other side.

Together we are giving service to those who need our help.

"I will always keep the memories of the special joys we shared close to my heart."

Fall is beautiful in the Northeast !

This week we drove the highways and byways of southern Maryland.. we were in Mechanicsville when we were driving through an Amish community. We saw the Yoder furniture store and a quilt shop, that we are definitely going back to.

Beautiful farms dotted the landscape

Driving through tall trees that form an umbrella over the road. So beautiful and colorful. In two weeks they say the trees will be at their prime fall coloration's.

On Saturday our group of Senior Missionaries went on a field trip to the Luray Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. It was 1 1/2 hour drive through the gorgeous Virginia countryside. The mountains had a lot more color than we have in Maryland.

Lots of large farms and rolling hills.

The Luray Caverns are a national landmark and the largest caverns on the east coast. They go 10 stories under ground and were amazing. They are still growing and so it was cool and damp down there. Some of the locations ceilings are 9 stories high. I thought I might have claustrophobia but I didn't, which was good. After our tour we all had lunch at this cute diner then drove home.

This week we will get to see more sights as we travel to see these sweet sisters that we get to visit.

BE

When I saw this sign, I knew I wanted to post it on my blog..

I have the 6 Be's hanging on my wall;

Be grateful, smart, clean, true humble prayerful,

but this one is more focused on all the things we want to "BE".

First two weeks. . . .

My companion Sister Kathy Brown and I arrived at our mission presidents home on Weds. Sept. 21st. We stayed at the mission home that evening with our daughters, who had been our driving companions as we drove from SLC to DC. Our mission president James Matsomuri is such a wonderful compassionate man and we had such a fun evening with him and his darling wife. The next morning we drove through Washington DC to our apartment located in Waldorf, Maryland about 90 minutes south of the mission home. We passed many historic sites on our drive like the Washington monument, the Jefferson memorial. We will be serving in two wards that comprise the southern half of Maryland from the Potomac River to Chesapeake Bay.. We attended church that first Sunday in both wards, so we could meet the wards. We were warmly greeted and welcomed into both wards and felt love for those we met instantly.

The next Weds. my sister Judy and her husband arrived in DC to attend a football game in Virginia between the University of Idaho and the University of Virginia. Sister Brown and I ventured out and took the "Metro" to downtown DC's Union Station to meet Judy and Jim. We visited and ate lunch at Pizza Uno and then walked over to the capitol building and took a tour. It was wonderful to learn about the history of the government and the building and our tour guide Jamie was so knowledgeable, and knew the answer to every question asked. We had a great time together and I was sad to see them go.

Sister Brown and I will be working in the Washington DC Temple each Wednesday while on our mission. We met with Temple President Tingey this Tuesday and were set apart as temple workers and got to have a tour of the temple. It is so beautiful, it took us over 2 hours to tour the 7 story temple and I am sure we didn't get to see it all.. I know that I will get lost many times.

We have been driving around our area and noticing the beautiful landscape with tall trees, beautiful flowers and even quaint farm stands selling local fruits and vegetables. Drives down 2 lane country roads and beautiful homes.

Everyone we have met has been delightful and so helpful in helping us learn about our new surroundings. I know that I will have an amazing 18 months here and will hate to leave when my time is up. Looking forward to the trees changing into their vibrant fall colors..