An update from the Little Old Lady in the middle of the woods

Dear friends and family
It's a clear, cold day here in the woods. It's been a good week - all my food turned out good and the natives are happy. (It's not always perfect.) One time I got the beef stroganoff too salty and twice the beans (dry-not canned) were crunchy- that is not good. I thought I had used up all the real beans so I wouldn't feel obligated to use them, but then our young Elder found a whole bunch more at the back of the top shelf in the pantry (rats!). This week their favorites were chicken pillows and quiche.

Our duties at home are pretty defined - dad vacuums and takes out the trash and I clean the rest and do the laundry. We don't have very many dishes but Dad does have cereal often. He called to my attention yesterday that Dixie doesn't live here, so I really needed to do the dishes because he was needing to eat his cereal in a Cool Whip bowl with a fork. (At home, Dixie did all our dishes.)


One of the pictures is dad's birdhouse with a "vacancy" sign.

 The picture of apples are quilt blocks for the world's cutest, but hardest quilt. I'm actually doing very well with it. I only have three rows of blocks to do and then the edges, back, binding, etc......... I work on it for a while in the afternoons and on my day off.

In the evenings I read and play Spyder Solitaire. I still have my various beauty vices that I go in to town for Every other week.

I think people up here have given up on there being any snow - flowers are coming up and the orchards are starting to blossom. 

Dad lost his patience last night with elder reed when playing runs and bunches! I mentioned that I hadn't had one single wild card the whole game and Dad noted he hadn't either. Elder Reed started to laugh and said he wondered how long it would take us to notice. Sure enough, he had taken them all out while he was getting the cards out and ready to play. Not funny! Dad has been a good sport about playing - but he does it for me because I want to play and we're including the elder. We are getting another elder March 1st so that will help.

Love keeping up with people on Facebook and texting pics etc.

Good night from the little old lady, in the middle of the woods. Love, Mom

Still no snow -

Still no snow - today they asked us to fast and pray for snow. I guess I really didn't need the Iditarod  snowsuit or the two cases of hand and foot warmer inserts or the insulated coveralls, not even Mom's

fancy rain boots.

Just thought I'd catch you up on some of the projects I've been working on the past two weeks:

I finished up my sign project of routering and painting  about a dozen signs and then posting them on the property.

My next project that I think I haven't  mentioned is the refurbishment of a 28 foot high climbing wall. My assignment was to put three coats of paint on 21 sheets of plywood that will replace all the old ones. This involved three coats of paint, with a lot of lifting and "grunting".

And I finally completed four birdhouses and got them placed around the pond that is just outside our little house in the middle of the woods.

After two months we are feeling more comfortable with our mission. We had another weekend of boy scouts and a family reunion because tomorrow  is a holiday and kids are out of school.

Mom is doing good too. She is feeding me too good. I love being her driver/helper to go grocery shopping every Tuesday morning.

Love, Dad

Still no "real" snow....

Still no "real" snow....

To the point that it will be disastrous for the fruit industry of Washington.

Today was our Branch Conference (like ward conference) and we were asked to include the need for snow in our prayers. We do have "moisture" - in the form of rain nearly every day. The ground is soggy!  We did have our first Elk visits to our front yard however, by the time we got to them to take a picture they had meandered a hundred yards down the road to what we call the ballpark. The picture looks like they were far away, but they weren't. The full group was about 12 cows and one bull.

I'm still cookin'. Today, after church was our official "zone conference" . It was the stake presidency that has the current stewardship for Ensign Ranch and us, the missionaries serving there. They served us dinner and then a talk and discussion about the mission. It was interesting to get more info and see the ranch as an entity, from a different perspective.

I have started listening to the book on CD of John Adams. I have really enjoyed learning and relearning about the history of our country. I have also read a book since I've been here called "The Bible in America".  There is a lot of history there also and I have decided that I want to be an American History teacher when I grow up.

All is well here in the little house in the middle of the woods. The little old man rarely stands by the window, but I sew every afternoon for a while in front of the windows. Have seen no rabbits hopping by, but did see a squirrel or two and the elk....and a whole lot of little boy scouts here to have a Klondike derby with wheels on their sleds.

Love you all - Mom

Dad as my "Hair Dresser" photo as by popular request

Feelings of Great Joy

This has been a week of great reflection.  Reflection on my wonderful children, the great challenges they face and the powerful spiritual families they have all become. The past two weeks, since it was my turn to write, much has happened within our family unit. Over two weeks ago Ben called to say that the big projects for his future work had either been put off or evaporated altogether and that his enthusiasm for his work and future there had diminished. Therefore, he and Katherine were in discussions of whether it was time to move back home. Mom and I indicated we wanted to support them in any way we could so keep us posted.

One week later I called him to see if there were further updates and he surprised us by saying that they were 95% sure they were coming home, but asked us not to say anything as yet as they needed to talk it over with their kids.  Several days later, along with all of you we received his text that he had an important message he wanted to share and it was posted on the "Return with Honor" blog.  I was thrilled with their decision, but of course concerned about the challenges their family would face. Certainly the big one was financial, but knew that there will be others with the whole process of moving. Therefore, last week I found myself conflicted with the emotions of both great joy as well as concerns as to the "how's" of their making this transition work in their lives.

Even though I was concerned, I found myself continually feeling this overwhelming great joy. Knowing that it would be my turn to give a spiritual thought in our daily scripture study at the end of the week, I knew that I wanted to express these feelings of "great joy".  So, I started searching the scriptures and conference talks for more information on this "great joy" I was feeling. I came across this talk by President  Eyring from the April 2012 general conference titled "Mountains to Climb".

He said in part "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest, as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. And with prophets revealing to us our place in the plan of salvation, we can live with perfect hope and a feeling of peace. We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord's service because we never are. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right to bear us up. And He always keeps his word."

I think I am beginning to understand a little better who some of these "angels on our left and right" might be and how significant their influence in our day to day lives really are.

The last time I talked with Ben I told him that because of the righteousness of his family I expect great miracles to begin to take place. In reflection, I used the word "expect" not as a demand, but of a realization that his family deserves them.  In fact,  a great miracle has taken place in his life this past week that he has told us about, but is hesitating to share with others at this time.  But know this - a great miracle has come about because of his and Katherine's faith and continual service in the lord's ways.

It's been a great week filled with joy not only because I am serving on this mission but because I have had opportunities to reflect on my children and their wonderful families. Let me end with a scriptural reference from 3 John v.4:

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."

Love, Dad