My letter home this week:

Sunday November 6, 2011
Hi all,
We had a great week this week. Lots of different things dotted our days. 
·      My companion  hurt her back and she is in great pain. She was able to get into a doctor 2 days for treatment and going again tomorrow,she is feeling a lot better.  The elders gave her a blessing, which was so beautiful and tender.  It was Elder Kinne from Prescott, Arizona.
·      We drove down to Indian Head(about 45 minutes south west), for our monthly "card club".  We are instructed by a Stampin Up rep. we made two cards  and then we exchanged the cards that we each prepared.  There were12 there, so we got some very cute cards.. We make 12 to trade and take 12 home..
·      We were able to help a sister out this week that can't drive.  We took her on her errands to the bank and grocery store.  She was so grateful for the help.. she was having to take taxi's to do these errands and she is on welfare and really couldn't afford that. So we are glad we can be of service to her. We will pick her up each month on the 3rd, the day she gets her check and drive her where she needs to go.
·      Our two wards take in the southern 1/3 of Maryland, so we drive a lot each week.. It really is beautiful and we love the drives.  On Thursday, we drove down to a small town called Mechanicsville to visit some sisters. It is a beautiful drive down.. We saw a sign that was something like"admiral way - water drive". So we knew we had to take that road to see where it led.. We drove by beautiful homes that each had their own docks and at the end of the road, a beautiful park with a long pier that stretched out into the water about 2 blocks.. There was a fisherman down at the end of the pier, so we walked to the end of the pier and I asked him "what body of water it was" he said "it is the Wicomico River and it empties into the Chesapeake right around that bend"  it was so peaceful out there and I loved it.  This Arizona girl loves to be near the water..
       We visited several sisters this week and loved each and every one. Each one is so different and their needs are different.. Some have illness, some are lonely, some just need a friend, some need service rendered.. We love to sit and visit with each one.  This week at church we met some of the sisters that we will be visiting this week.. One sister has stage 4 lung cancer, we went to her home last week but she wasn't feeling well so we will try again this week.  Several of our sisters have husbands who are in the armed services and are deployed and need all kinds of help. 
·      We drove up north of DC on Friday to meet with our mission president. President Matsumori is such an amazing man.  He gives such wise counsel and we really do enjoy our meeting with him always. He is very pleased with the success of our pilot program and the progress we are making in our two wards..
·      When you drive around DC, unlike Arizona or Utah, they don't have frontage roads beside their freeways.  We were driving along and our GPS said to stay left at the next fork in the freeway and then to take the next left, which was about 1/2 block away and across 6 lane of traffic.. Needless to say we missed that turn.. which then resulted in our drive through Bethesda, Dupont  Circle and downtown DC.. wow the traffic here is crazy.. They drive so FAST. . . weaving in and out of traffic at speeds of about 80 mph. 
·      The weather has been beautiful. .. I have my window open at night and sleep under the covers and during the day,it has been in the high 60's and low 70's.. just wonderful.
·      Found a fantastic salon upon the recommendation of a few cute sisters in our ward and were so pleased.  The best haircut I have had in a long time..Love it so much.
·      We were invited to dinner tonight at the Hoeffelies.. Kristi and her 3 boys have adopted us and we just love them.  Her husband is deployed, he is an officer in the Airforce. He is stationed in an un-disclosed area and cannot tell anyone where he is stationed.   The Elders were also invited along with a family from our ward.  It was really a fun evening.
·      This week is transfers for the elders and we know that we are going to lose two of the great missionaries that we have in our wards.  We have been close and developed a great friendship.. It is always tough when transfers come and missionaries are shipped to new areas.. Sister Brown and I are very lucky, we will be together the entire time and we will be in this area. 
We are loving it here and making many friends, each week just gets better than the last.  I hope you all have a great week..