We had a fantastic week. . . . It started on Sunday as we attended 2nd ward correlation meeting at 7:30 before church at 9:00.  I love to attend these meetings and help plan the activities that are taking place in the ward and to talk about what we can all do to help the members of our ward in their daily lives. Sister Brown was exhausted and didn't feel up to attending church, so she went home and rested.
      Monday is the day we plan our weeks activities and call sisters to set up appointments. We knew that we wanted to concentrate on visiting as many sisters as possible since we didn't get to visit last week. We made 13 phone calls and were so excited to make 9 appointments for visits including 2 dinner visits and one lunch visit..
      Tuesday we attended the funeral of Virginia Redding who passed away from breast cancer.  She was in the 1st ward and her daughter Tammy lives in 2nd ward and we are her visiting teachers.. We had been calling Tammy for several months trying to set up an appointment to visit with her, so we were so happy to finally meet her and talk to her.  We asked if we could come visit her and she said she would be happy to have us come over. 
      After the funeral we had lunch at Panera and then went to our appointment to have our hair cut.  We just love the girls at the salon and feel so lucky to have found the perfect place.

 Megan

Amber

     That evening we went to dinner at Lyn's home.  She is such a special lady and it was really nice to spend the evening with her. We want to support her not only at church but in the community activities she participates in also, like the Renaissance Festival.  She lives on an acre lot and is bordered in the back by woods.. she is in the community garden care group and wants her yard to be perfect and gets so upset with the various critters that come into her yard and eat the things she plants.. so she has a pellet gun and shoots those troublesome squirrels and deer and rabbits.. she said the deer just jump and run off.  Those left behind are carried off by the red hawks and the opossums.. to look at her you would never think she was "Annie Oakley"..

 Lyn's beautiful home

 Lyn & me

The back yard where the critters better watch out!

     Wednesday we along with Kathleen headed to the temple.. When I was at one assignment I met a sister who was coming back to the temple after 10 years.. It was so wonderful, to see the smile on her face and the joy she had as she served in the temple.  We also work with a husband and wife who bring their son Bill who is 29 and has downs syndrome to the temple each week. He has the sweetest spirit as he works in his various assignments each week.  I was talking to him and to his mom at the end of our shift and he told me his birthday was next week and he would be 30 and then we need to call him William not Bill because he will be all grown up.. and that he is suppose to get married when he is 30.. his mom said last year he said he was suppose to be dating when he was 29, and that hasn't happened.. so she hopes he forgets the marriage idea also.

      On Thursday we started out at Linda's home, she finally let us come back over for a visit.. She is the sister that we helped decorate her house for Christmas and we have been trying to get back over for a visit and she wouldn't even talk about it until this last Sunday and she asked if we could come over on Thursday.  When we arrived she was watching her soap opera and wouldn't turn it off.  She said if we wanted to visit we had to watch that with her.. so we waited about 15 minutes to talk when it was over.. but we did get in to see her.. so that's a positive..  
     After our visit with Linda we were off on a little drive to visit Elaine and her daughter Heather.. We couldn't get the address to come up on our GPS.. we knew kind of where she lived so we headed out and got to their road the Dr. Mudd House Road, (this is the road that Doctor Samuel Mudd's house is on. His (family retains much of the original ambiance. You can see the red settee upon which John Wilkes Booth rested while Dr. Mudd examined his broken leg, and the bedroom in which John slept before he fled the authorities). We arrived at Heathers house & her mom and dad had gone to Fredericksburg and so we just got to visit with Heather & had a nice visit with her and her children. She home schools the 4 older ones and has a little boy 3 1/2 also.
      Thursday evening we were invited to dinner at Kathleen's home, as a thank you for taking her to the temple each week.  They live out a ways and it was like driving around Flagstaff in a way.. Just before we turned on to their road we saw 9 deer standing in a yard just looking at us.  We had a wonderful dinner and then spent some time talking afterwards.. Kathleen's 92 year old mother-in-law Mattie lives with them and she is suffering from Alzheimer's. She was so fun to talk to.. she would say something and laugh and laugh and we laughed too.. It was like watching a comedy show as she interacted with her grandson.. She was so sweet and we loved being with their family.. can't wait to go again..
       Friday we had made an appointment to go out to Pat's house, we had been trying to get down there for a long time and finally we were going.. They live on the Patuxent river waterfront 35 miles down the road from us .. She invited us to lunch and had a delicious spread laid out for us. Pat is 80 years old and became a widow in 2001 and remarried in 2003.. She has lived in her little Amish home since 1977. After lunch we went down to the beach and spent about an hour and a half just relaxing and taking in the sunshine and enjoying the beautiful view.   Pat is a very talented painter. She has over 200 commissioned works of art.  She also plays the piano beautifully and leads the music at church. She has the energy of a woman half her age and is always on the go.

 Pat's beautiful art work.. She is truly talented

 Lunch

 Pat and I standing on the dock, the Chesapeake in the background

The beachfront, so beautiful

     After Pat's we drove a short distance to Tanya's.. What a fun time we had visiting with her.. She and her husband Todd have one daughter, he works for the Government in the US Census Dept. Tanya is very talented musically. She and Todd met at the MTC and both served in the Swiss mission.  They reconnected about a year after Tanya got home at BYU and have been together ever since.  While we were there the heavens opened and we had a torrential rain storm with lightening and thunder.  It lasted about an hour and then the sun came out again..

     On our way home we stopped at Dorothy's.. she is the grandmother who is raising her two grandsons and her 29 year old son who suffers from severe autism. She has so much on her plate, but is doing a fantastic job.. her grandsons are so great, the oldest grandson  Jahari is a straight A student, he plays the piano, the violin, and the clarinet. He is on the safety patrol at school.  Her youngest grandson Jaden is in pre-K and so cute.. We do love to visit them and check up on Dorothy, to make sure she is doing well. Since they live right in our neighborhood we can check on her often.
      Saturday, was our day off and we did things around our apartment and then went to the Saturday evening meeting of stake conference.  We were privileged to hear from all three members of our stake presidency..  I loved this thought that was shared " If you feel like you are drowning remember your life saver walks on water".. As I sat there in the stake center I had the warmest feeling that this was where I was suppose to be at this time in my life.  It was so much fun to see so many people that I knew.. It really feels like home. We also talked to Stake President Sakai and he told us how happy he was with our success in our mission and that he wants to utilize us in the entire stake.. not just in our 2 wards.. so we are excited to know what new things we will be doing.   
     Sunday was our regional televised stake conference.. I love to hear the words of counsel from our general authorities, and feel their love and devotion to the Lord.  It was so neat to think that Kelly was listening to the same talks as me.. It was an East coast conference.. Richard G. Scott was the presiding authority. Sister Allred from the general RS presidency & Presiding Bishop Burton & Elder Paul Pieper also spoke.  These are a couple of the thoughts from the conference that I want to share.  "The quality of your future depends on you not on the world around you" &  "Your I Will is more important than your IQ". 
     Two of our good friends were given new callings in the stake.  Bonnie Ramon is the RS President and Becky Nichols is a counselor in the Young Women. 
     This evening we were invited over to Gary & Rebekah Greismeyer's for dinner.. We love to go to their house and spend time with them and their cute family.

 "We can ask ourselves, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” There are so many good things to do, but we can’t do all of them. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective."
--President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

What a week ! ! ! !

     On Sunday we arrived at the church at 7:30 a.m. for our monthly correlation meeting with the Bishopric, and the leaders of the different organizations in the 2nd ward.  It had snowed during the night and there was ice on the sidewalks.  When we arrived at the church, we were the first ones there so we sat in our warm car and waited for someone to come and unlock the doors.. well no one came, it was 7:45 and not a soul arriving for the meeting.. so we decided to go back home (5 minutes away) and call someone and find out what the deal was.  We called a couple numbers and didn't get an answer and then on the third call we talked to Gary Ramon and found out the meeting was changed to the following week.. we had been left out of the loop.. no worries.. we will be ready for the meeting next week.. Sister Brown stayed home from church because her back was really hurting, so I ventured out in the snowy weather.. the roads were clear by then and it was no problem driving to church.  I attended 2nd ward and was lifted and inspired with the talks and lessons.. I just love the people in our wards.. That evening we had invited Roz over for dinner..to discuss the needs and concerns of the sisters in the first ward.  We fixed chicken pot pies, and salad.. Roz brought dessert.. it was a great evening and we shared our success stories with her on some of the sisters we have been visiting.. It really is so much fun to just visit these wonderful women in their homes and get to know them a little better..
     Monday we planned our week and decided who we would visit and called to make appointments.  We also worked on the recipe books for the tasting table on Thursday evenings relief society that we were in charge of.  Sister Brown had chosen soups for this time of year and had put together 6 wonderful recipes for soups. Corn chowder, chicken noodle, minestrone, clam chowder, potato cheese soup and her Dad's stew. 
      Tuesday we had made arrangements to visit Dedria and her beautiful new baby girl Gretchen.. Since we didn't make it to her baby shower we wanted to take our gift over and see them.  It was a beautiful drive and the weather was warm and sunny.  Dedria is a counselor in the RS and such a fun person.  She has 5 older children, 4 girls and 1 son.. It was so much fun to visit and the first thing she asked us was " if we wanted to hold the baby?".... YES we did.. such an angel, we were there for an hour and she was just sleeping and so happy the entire time..

Deidra's beautiful home

 What a fun backyard.. great place to play in the trees.

 What fun to hold such a sweet baby girl

                                                 Opening our gift for her new baby girl

Diedra & Gretchen

   

  On the drive home Sister Brown said she was so tired, really exhausted and worn out..

we stopped by Costco to pick up the prints for the covers of the recipe books and then stopped at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for the soups we would be tasting on Thursday evening.. Sister Brown took and nap and I worked on some projects and in the evening I was getting dinner and Sister Brown got up to come in the kitchen and get a glass of water.. All of a sudden she started shaking and grabbed the counter and it looked like she was having a seizure.. She looked panicked and I was too.  I helped her to a chair to sit down and she said she was fine.. but that it was a really weird feeling.. We had dinner and I noticed she was moving really slow and didn't eat hardly anything.  Her grandaughter called and as she was talking to her it looked like she was having trouble carrying on a conversation in her usual up-beat manner.  We then started working on putting together the recipe books and she was having a very hard time figuring out what to do.. I was very concerned and said that I thought we should call the Bishop and get a blessing for her. Bishop Vance and our visiting teacher Brother Michela came right over and gave her a wonderful blessing and suggested we go to the hospital and have her checked out.  It was around 9:00 pm & we didn't really know where the hospital was, so Bishop Vance drove my car and Brother Michela followed in his.  After getting her settled into a wheelchair they called her up to the desk to check in and asked her to fill out the forms.  She took the clipboard and tried to write and couldn't.. it looked like a first grader and the look in her eyes was fear.. I offered to help her fill out the paperwork and when we finished it they took her into triage and checked her vitals.  We told Bishop Vance and Brother Michela to go home to their families, we would keep them updated on the progress. I called President Matuomori and let him know what was going on and he asked to keep him updated.   Then about 20 minutes later Bishop Martin and his wife Suz walked into the ER.. and said they were there to be with us for the night.. They are so fun.. we talked and talked and talked and then about 3:30 a.m. they finally put Sister Brown into a room in the ER. (after waiting for 6 hours in the waiting room) The first thing they did was a cat scan on her brain..to see if that was the problem. It came back clear and then they took her to get x-rays of her lungs.. I told Bishop Martin and Suz to please go on home and I would let them know how things were progressing.. The doctors said they wanted to keep her overnight for observation and would move her upstairs to a room as soon as one was available.  I finally decided to go home around 6:00 a.m. to see if I could get some rest.  Sister Brown was sleeping and I knew she would be watched over by the amazing staff at the hospital.  We live about 20 minutes from the hospital so by the time I got to bed it was 6:30.. I set my alarm for 8:30 so I could get up and make some important phone calls. The temple to let them know we wouldn't be there for our shift, Pres. Matsumori, and our District leader Elder Noel and both Bishops..After I called and talked to everyone I got ready and returned to the hospital to find out that Sister Brown was still in the ER.. asleep..  They had run blood tests and everything came back good except that she was dehydrated and her blood showed a virus in her system. They still wanted to run a electrocardiogram on her heart and a Doppler radar test on her carotid arteries to rule out any complications in that area.  They finally came to do the heart procedure and when that was over she was taken to do the test on the carotid arteries and then she was finally moved to a room up on the 3rd floor at 3:30, after spending 18 hours in the ER.  Several people from the ward came to visit, Bishop Vance and Kelley Cheney the RS president and the Sponaughle's.  The nurses and CNA's were so nice and gentle.  We finally got the news that the tests had all come back clear and the only thing they found was that she was dehydrated and her blood work showed a virus so they were starting the release paperwork.. We left the hospital at 11:00 p.m. so happy that all the tests were clear and we were ready to head to bed for a good nights sleep.  Sister Brown is resting and getting her strength back and drinking a lot more water..  We have been the blessed recipients of wonderful service by those in our wards, they have been bringing over meals and what a blessing they are.

Elder Cotteral & Elder Shurleff

     The Elders have been keeping track of us and we so appreciate them and their concern. They have made visits and checking on us this week.  We have 2 new elders in our wards and they are such great young men.. It is really fun to get to know them..

      We will rest this weekend and then be ready to get back to work on Monday.. Thanks to those of you who sent wishes and offered prayers. . . I love you all..

"Our lives should be examples of goodness and virtue as we try to emulate His example to the world. Good works by each of us can do credit both to the Savior and His Church. As you are engaged in doing good, being honorable and upright men and women, the Light of Christ will be reflected by your lives."  --L. Tom Perry

      Winter has arrived here in the DC area. . . . . we have highs in the 30's and lows in the teens and fierce winds that have hit us this week.. so the thermal's and gloves and my new heavy coat have come out of hiding. 
It was a fun and very busy week:

    Monday I went visiting teaching with my new companion Kristi Hoefferle. We have the cutest mom Nicole that we get to visit each month. She has 3 of the sweetest kids and we really had a wonderful visit with her. 

 Nicole and her children CJ, her neice, Zander and Paula

Paula is 4 years old and knows the "Pledge of Allegiance"

     In the afternoon Sister Brown and I visited with Eileen, who has just returned to church.  She was the one who approached me at the bank a week or so ago and talked to me. She has been coming to church each week and it was really fun to get to know her.
     Monday evening we had our monthly "Empty Nester's Family Home Evening".. it was at the Kirby's home and there was a great group attending.  We have dinner and then we had an activity using scriptures to talk about the various kinds of love.. We read the scripture and then told how the scripture related to love in our life.  It was a very fun evening.  We are really getting to know everyone in the group and making such wonderful friends.

Our Empty Nesters Family Home Evening Group

     Tuesday we visited with Bonnie and who is the young women's president in the 1st ward and we really wanted to get to know her and had a great visit. Our next visit was with a very sweet sister Kristine who lives in Indian Head.  She lives with her family and always loves to have us visit with her.  Sister Brown has also altered some of her clothes for her.  It was a great visit 
     Tuesday evening I went to the monthly card club.. Out theme was using the color red in our cards.  We each make a card to share with everyone.. So we not only get to have class from Tina and make 2 cards while we are there, but we also get to take home all of the cards we swap with each other..

Tina is our instructor.. She is a Stampin Up rep

The card I designed to take part in the swap

Wednesday was our district meeting before our temple shift. 

I was asked to give the thought. 
I shared this thought by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet."

Our day at the temple was wonderful, I really love the time I get to spend each week helping thise who come to serve in the temple.

  On Thursday Sister Brown had PT in the morning and her new doctor is putting her on a very aggressive routine in therapy.. so she was wiped out when she returned she rested for the afternoon.

      Friday we drove out to see Tamara, She lives out in Mechanicsville and we love the drive out there.  We didn't know Tamara, she hasn't been able to come to church often because of health issues.  We were told that she only wanted one visit per quarter so we were a little leery to call her, but she was so receptive and warm to us as we visited.  She is a private consultant for the dept. of defense of the US.  Such a smart woman, who just happened to be working from home on Friday. It was so nice to get to know such an amazing woman. She lived about a mile from the Patuxent River, so of course we had to drive down to the water. The river is one of the tributaries of the Chesapeake.

     Friday evening we had been invited to 2 different events; 1st ward was having a Valentines dinner and dance and Kristi was having an at home party.  Sister Brown went to the church to the Valentines dinner and I went to Kristi's.  We each had a fun time and were so glad that we could split up and attend each event..

At Kristi's party with her neighbor

     Saturday, I worked on taxes all day.. almost finished putting my spread sheet together, waiting for the tax documents to include in my package to my fabulous brother in law who so graciously does my taxes for me each year.. In the evening, we were invited to a going away party for the Greismeyer family, who are moving to North Carolina due to his duty re-assignment in the Air Force. They are the cutest family and we will miss them.  They have 3 girls and one boy.. who are very generous with hugs for these Gramas far from home. 

"So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment."
--President Thomas S. Monson.

Have a great week everyone..

Whoever is happy will make others happy too. 

Mark Twain

 I love this quote that I read the other day.. I always love to smile with everyone I see and hope they smile back.. I love to talk to everyone and get in to so many fun conversations as a result of just wanting to meet people.

This past week I talked with friends and with those that I wanted to be friends with..

• We met with Linda and her daughter Rachel.  Linda has been having health problems which keep her from coming to church so we wanted to make sure we met her and offered to help in any way we could.. She is so positive and upbeat and it was a wonderful visit.  She has a daughter who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome. She was a delight to visit with also.  She is attending college and has her bachelors degree and is working on a master's degree in computer science.  Linda is the VT supervisor in one of our wards and was happy to hear of our visits and that we would be able to give her a report each month on our progress. She and Rachel put together the weekly program for church.
• Our next visit was with Chris.. she is the sister that is so talented in quilting and painting and basket making.  Sister Brown was borrowing her light box to help with her project she is working on. Chris & her husband are working on their food storage in the basement and she was excited to show us their progress.  They had ordered the metal food storage racks that automatically rotate the canned goods and they look fantastic.  We love to visit with Chris and support her.
• We have been trying to get an appointment to visit with Shirley for a few weeks. We were at her house a few weeks back and she was in Spokane for the birth of a grandaughter, and had a great visit with her husband.  Shirley is such a fun lady, she is in her 70's and dances with a group that entertains across Maryland.  She performs in hula, line dancing and clogging.. She is a tiny little lady about 4' 9" and so full of energy.  She also is a reflexologist, a mother of 10 and grandmother of 65 and 14 great grandchildren.. We had such a fun visit.
• Brother Ramon of the 2nd ward put together a interactive map of the ward with it divided into 17 zones and little flags where each family lives in the ward.. What a blessing this is for us.  Since our wards comprise the southern 3rd of Maryland.. It helps us know how we can consolidate visits, by grouping them by zone.  We put together all the charts and lists in a notebook so that we can take it with us each day on our visits. 
• This week was transfers for the missionaries.. Elder Hurd and Goodman both were transferred to the DC area.  Elder Hurd was made a Zone leader and Elder Goodman a District Leader.  It is hard to see them go, we really do get close to them while they serve in our two wards. I'm sure we will soon grow to love the 2 new Elders that will be serving here.  Sister Brown hurried and finished the alterations on the pants for the elders before they left..

Kathleen 

• Wednesday was our temple day and Kathleen rode up with us again this week.  I love my new assignment at the temple that I have each week from 1 to 4:30 and it really went smooth this week.. two of the areas I worked later in the afternoon were in the office, as the receptionist and as the greeter when patrons enter the temple. 
• It is so beautiful in the temple and so peaceful.. I love it. 
• Thursday we drove 90 miles round trip to visit 2 wonderful sisters.  Joyce lives in Nanjemoy, at the southern tip of Maryland right on the Potomac river.  It was 35 miles to get to her house and when the GPS said we had arrived all we saw was a long road with tall trees on each side, then we saw the sign for the entrance their place..  As we drove a mile down the gravel road, we saw a beaver dam in a small stream.. we then turned the bend in the road & there it was, the river and the cutest house.. They have over 100 acres from the main road and so you don't see any other homes while you are there.  The river is about 4 miles wide..the other side of the river is Virginia. Joyce & her husband are in the empty nester's family home evening group that we meet with each month.  They are parents to 10 and grandparents to 61 and great grandparents to 5.  Both of Joyce's parents were born just north and south on the river in the same area where she now lives, so she had some great stories to share with us. We spent the morning visiting with Joyce and then she fixed us lunch before we headed on our way to our next visit. 

 Joyce and Hershey with me

 Her darling living room

 The view of the Potomac from the deck

A picture of their immediate family

• Our next visit was with Vivian, she is just returning to church after a long absence from activity.  (I mentioned her in last weeks blog)  She lived about 26 miles from Joyce in a little town called Marbury.  When arrived at her home, she was so excited to see us.. As we sat down I asked her to tell us about herself.. As we listened to the very hard life Vivian has had, I was overwhelmed with the love that she has for her Savior.  She shared very personal things with us about herself and her family.  She is divorced and the mother of 5 and grandmother of 15.  We laughed and cried and grew to love this woman who touched our hearts in a most profound way.  She is excited to be coming back to church and shared with us how much her life improves when she attends church and follows the teachings of the Savior.  She is nervous  about being there when we aren't there, but we assured her that she would be looked after and loved by all those at church.  I got in touch with Roz our RS president and shared Vivian's concern and she told me that she would take her under her wing and keep an eye out for her.  Vivian shared her conversion story with us and we laughed and laughed with her as she explained her interaction with the missionaries who showed up at her door with her copy of the book she had ordered on line.. She is a very special person and we are going to make sure she is welcomed into the ward.      

• Sister Brown has started PT, under the guidance of her orthopedic doctor.  She loves the therapist she is working with.  Now that she knows that she doesn't have to have surgery her spirits are soaring. 
• Selena lives on the Indian Head Naval Base and we made arrangements to have lunch with her on Friday.. Her husband is the Air Force officer liaison with the Navy at the base.  He is involved in overseeing the production of the injector seats for the Air Force.  They are the only family living on the base that are not in the Navy.  Tim is attached to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah.  Selena called as we were about to leave for Indian Head & said she had some other things to do up near here and could we meet her for lunch at Marie's Diner in La Plata.. We were so sad that we wouldn't see the Naval base, but she promised we would do it soon.  We met with her and her youngest son Jace who is 4. It was packed and the food was delicious.. Selena's husband serves in the bishopric and she is the compassionate service coordinator in the ward.  She is so sweet and gives so much service and asks for nothing in return. She really is fantastic in her calling.  We had a great visit and can't wait to meet with her again.  She is the mother of 6, her oldest is 16.. They are such an amazing family. 

 Selena & Jace

( he had been playing with a marker and decorated his forehead)

• That afternoon we prepared bag lunches for the "Safe Home", a shelter program for the homeless.  The different churches in the area take turns preparing lunches for those who stay at the shelters.  The people arrive in the evening for a safe place to sleep and then they are given breakfast in the morning and handed a bag lunch as they leave each day.  It was such a good feeling to know that we are helping in some way, those who are living on the streets.  We have a man who attends both of our wards that is homeless.  It is of his own choosing that he lives this way.  He was given a suit of  clothes that he wears each Sunday, he is always clean and shaved and his hair is cut short. He sings in the choir in both wards and has a great bass voice.  He is very friendly but doesn't get to close anyone, he is definitely a loner in every sense of the word.   He has a brother who lives in the area and spends holidays with them. 

We saw this church on our way from Joyce's house on our way to Vivian's
The Durham Parish was established in 1661 and chartered in 1692. The original church building was a log structure, which was replaced with the current brick church building in 1732; the 1732 building was enlarged and renovated in 1791. Durham Parish is one of the oldest surviving Episcopal church buildings in the U.S. state of Maryland.  Revolutionary War General William Smallwood and colonial Governor William Stone are buried in the churchyard.

"Faith Overcomes"

If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain. Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  Matthew 17:20

There is no obstacle too great, no challenge too difficult, if we have faith.

Have a wonderful week and smile at everyone you see!