Dear Family,
It has been a couple of weeks since I wrote so I will take a few minutes tonight to catch up a bit. We have been visiting Jeff Wilson since we first came to Vancouver. He is in the middle of his chemo treatments now and is doing better than he did at first as far as handling them goes. He hasn't been able to come to church the last two Sundays, however, because of dehydration problems and needing blood transfusions--and these fell on Sundays. But, his attitude is tremendous and his desire to come back to church activity is great. His live-in girlfriend is leaving on the 17th so that problem in his life is being taken care of.
As I ponder each of our area assignments, I now realize that there was someone in each area that was ready and waiting for us that we were led to immediately upon arriving in our areas. It leaves little doubt about being where the Lord wants us to be and his direction in where we end up going when.
We are finding a different reception at a lot of the places we go to than we have had in our other areas. There are many people who do not open their doors to us. We can hear them moving around inside, some of them even start to turn the doorknobs and then change their minds. We arrived at one home to find the lady walking out of her house. When she saw us get out of the car, she hurriedly turned around and rushed back into her house saying, "Oh, no, Oh, no, Oh, no!" When we knocked on her door, she didn't answer. We came our closest this past week to having the door slammed in our faces as we have come thus far.
We are working with Jonathan and Serena Bunn. They are in their early twenties and have two small children. We have had three teaching visits with them. The first was really a challenge. We gave a first discussion. The next time we decided to try reading scriptures with them. This worked much, much better. We did it again the next week with the same positive result. We will continue this until the Spirit tells us it is time to teach another discussion.
We have been asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on the 25th. My topic is to be on re-activation: what we do and what the ward members can do to help. I am excited to tell of some of our experiences. I think the stories of the Jim Short's, the Ken Nurmi's, the Larene Beach's, the Tanner McGillivary's, and the now Jeff Wilson are each so unique and touching. I am a firm believer that Ammon gave us the key to all missionary service ( whether a full-time missionary or a ward member) when he said that he won the hearts of the people first so that they would listen to his message.
Our prayers are surely with our family members who are having difficulties, whether health related or otherwise. David is still not completely better, but does sound much better when we talk to him on the phone.
Uncle Don was hospitalized Friday night with a kidney infection that went into his bloodstream. He resisted going to the hospital but finally went. They were told that he would not have made it through the night if he had not come. He was terribly dehydrated along with the infection. He was still in the hospital as of last night but doing better.
We would really appreciate it if the rest of you would just stay well.
We have the District Meeting before transfers tomorrow and then we all go to a restruant for lunch. Then Tuesday we go to the Portland Temple as a District so the first part of the week is going to be pretty well taken up.
Dad and I went shopping this past week. Dad got some new socks that come up to his knees and a couple of pull-over sweaters to wear over his shirt and tie. He commented on being comfortably warm today. I bought another new outfit and was delighted to be in smaller sizes than I can ever remember being in. I came back from shopping and filled another sack with my old, too large clothes to go to the thrift stores.
Our house in Oxford is once again rented as of this past week. That will be a tremendous blessing to us financially. It looks like that trial is at an end. They should be there until we go back home. It is nice not to have the house sitting empty for the winter months.
I hope all is going well with each of you. I love you lots!
Mom
It has been a couple of weeks since I wrote so I will take a few minutes tonight to catch up a bit. We have been visiting Jeff Wilson since we first came to Vancouver. He is in the middle of his chemo treatments now and is doing better than he did at first as far as handling them goes. He hasn't been able to come to church the last two Sundays, however, because of dehydration problems and needing blood transfusions--and these fell on Sundays. But, his attitude is tremendous and his desire to come back to church activity is great. His live-in girlfriend is leaving on the 17th so that problem in his life is being taken care of.
As I ponder each of our area assignments, I now realize that there was someone in each area that was ready and waiting for us that we were led to immediately upon arriving in our areas. It leaves little doubt about being where the Lord wants us to be and his direction in where we end up going when.
We are finding a different reception at a lot of the places we go to than we have had in our other areas. There are many people who do not open their doors to us. We can hear them moving around inside, some of them even start to turn the doorknobs and then change their minds. We arrived at one home to find the lady walking out of her house. When she saw us get out of the car, she hurriedly turned around and rushed back into her house saying, "Oh, no, Oh, no, Oh, no!" When we knocked on her door, she didn't answer. We came our closest this past week to having the door slammed in our faces as we have come thus far.
We are working with Jonathan and Serena Bunn. They are in their early twenties and have two small children. We have had three teaching visits with them. The first was really a challenge. We gave a first discussion. The next time we decided to try reading scriptures with them. This worked much, much better. We did it again the next week with the same positive result. We will continue this until the Spirit tells us it is time to teach another discussion.
We have been asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting on the 25th. My topic is to be on re-activation: what we do and what the ward members can do to help. I am excited to tell of some of our experiences. I think the stories of the Jim Short's, the Ken Nurmi's, the Larene Beach's, the Tanner McGillivary's, and the now Jeff Wilson are each so unique and touching. I am a firm believer that Ammon gave us the key to all missionary service ( whether a full-time missionary or a ward member) when he said that he won the hearts of the people first so that they would listen to his message.
Our prayers are surely with our family members who are having difficulties, whether health related or otherwise. David is still not completely better, but does sound much better when we talk to him on the phone.
Uncle Don was hospitalized Friday night with a kidney infection that went into his bloodstream. He resisted going to the hospital but finally went. They were told that he would not have made it through the night if he had not come. He was terribly dehydrated along with the infection. He was still in the hospital as of last night but doing better.
We would really appreciate it if the rest of you would just stay well.
We have the District Meeting before transfers tomorrow and then we all go to a restruant for lunch. Then Tuesday we go to the Portland Temple as a District so the first part of the week is going to be pretty well taken up.
Dad and I went shopping this past week. Dad got some new socks that come up to his knees and a couple of pull-over sweaters to wear over his shirt and tie. He commented on being comfortably warm today. I bought another new outfit and was delighted to be in smaller sizes than I can ever remember being in. I came back from shopping and filled another sack with my old, too large clothes to go to the thrift stores.
Our house in Oxford is once again rented as of this past week. That will be a tremendous blessing to us financially. It looks like that trial is at an end. They should be there until we go back home. It is nice not to have the house sitting empty for the winter months.
I hope all is going well with each of you. I love you lots!
Mom
Dear Family and friends,
Here we are another week and we have made it thru one more. However, it all started with Zone Conference the week before last. We arrived at the conference just on time, as usual, when what to our surprise, we were met at the door by President Belnap himself, and we found that it was no casual meeting, but that he had something for us to do. He informed us that we were the unexpected recipents of another set of senior missionaires and he wondered if we would schedule some time to come to Kennewick to meet them and train them. What a shock. Shouldn't have been since he has demonstrated time and again his style of letting his leadership teach and then he would step in before they could sit down and talk about the good points of their presentation, and be very generous.
Well, that certainly gave us something to think about since we have no guidelines for what we do. Didn't really think to much about it right away because the end of the week is our busy time anyway and that was on a thursday. Sunday bring folks to Church and all of that sort of thing, you know.
Anyway, the short of it is that we finally scheduled this past Thursday and Friday, then proceeded with our week. Tuesday taught at the Bunn home 2 1/2 hours for a first discussion. Now that isn't our record time but close. Then Wednesday we took some time in the afternoon to jot down a few things we thought we should cover. Then the strangest thing happened. I was the one writing, and the ideas came so fast that I couldn't even keep up. It just got crazy for about an hour, which by the end of we had listed over 40 ideas to talk about from how to begin, to how to proceed, to record keeping, to personal fitness. It was just amazing, but that wasn't to be the end of it. Well, that evening we went with a member to visit his home teaching families and really had a great time.
Then Thursday morning we left for Kennewich about eight and arrived there an hour early for our one o'clock appointment, thinking they were an hour ahead of us. They used to be. Anyway, the meeting started on time with President Belnap stepping in once about 3:30 to make sure we were going to dinner with he and his wife. At 4:00 we took a moment break and still had one page of notes to go. When we finished the Taylors said that they wanted a copy of our notes even though they had been taking notes. There was some hesitation on my part since some of my notes aren't exactly in the Kings English. However, my hesitation was just for a moment since I reasoned that if they couldn't read it they wouldn't know it was just misspelled, right? so I gave them.
We then stayed the night in the Mission Home with President Belnap and his wife and during the morning breakfast Sister Belnap told me that the President wanted a copy of the notes as well. Of course, I told them that I would clean them up and e-mail them a copy, which I did. Took me another afternoon to type it up to presentable! Anyway, that was our high point for the week.
Arrived back in Vancouver and discovered that we were extreamly tired so took the rest of the day off. Saturday back to visits. Jeff Wilson wanted to come to Church on Sunday so we picked him up and took him. He is starting to look a bit different with the shaved head but only some hair in patches. That Chemo seems to pick and choose which hairs to let go of first.
So Sunday the Bunn family came to Church, as well as Jeff and one of the families we had visited on Wednesday night. Of course, it was the Primary Sacrament Meeting and that involves some of them.
Well, that is about all for this week. It has been good for us except for fighting something like a cold, first myself and now Sister Mihu.
Just one other thing, I did go to the eye Clinic this week and found that the mountain in my eye is now gone, so they lasered my eye again and told me that they would probably get me new glasses about January. This is really good since I haven't been able to see hardly at all out of the eye. Another blessing of the Lord coming to pass.When I tested I could read the first page of the vision chart and before all I could really see was the E and that not very well. Progress!
Love you all, Elder and Sister Mihu
Here we are another week and we have made it thru one more. However, it all started with Zone Conference the week before last. We arrived at the conference just on time, as usual, when what to our surprise, we were met at the door by President Belnap himself, and we found that it was no casual meeting, but that he had something for us to do. He informed us that we were the unexpected recipents of another set of senior missionaires and he wondered if we would schedule some time to come to Kennewick to meet them and train them. What a shock. Shouldn't have been since he has demonstrated time and again his style of letting his leadership teach and then he would step in before they could sit down and talk about the good points of their presentation, and be very generous.
Well, that certainly gave us something to think about since we have no guidelines for what we do. Didn't really think to much about it right away because the end of the week is our busy time anyway and that was on a thursday. Sunday bring folks to Church and all of that sort of thing, you know.
Anyway, the short of it is that we finally scheduled this past Thursday and Friday, then proceeded with our week. Tuesday taught at the Bunn home 2 1/2 hours for a first discussion. Now that isn't our record time but close. Then Wednesday we took some time in the afternoon to jot down a few things we thought we should cover. Then the strangest thing happened. I was the one writing, and the ideas came so fast that I couldn't even keep up. It just got crazy for about an hour, which by the end of we had listed over 40 ideas to talk about from how to begin, to how to proceed, to record keeping, to personal fitness. It was just amazing, but that wasn't to be the end of it. Well, that evening we went with a member to visit his home teaching families and really had a great time.
Then Thursday morning we left for Kennewich about eight and arrived there an hour early for our one o'clock appointment, thinking they were an hour ahead of us. They used to be. Anyway, the meeting started on time with President Belnap stepping in once about 3:30 to make sure we were going to dinner with he and his wife. At 4:00 we took a moment break and still had one page of notes to go. When we finished the Taylors said that they wanted a copy of our notes even though they had been taking notes. There was some hesitation on my part since some of my notes aren't exactly in the Kings English. However, my hesitation was just for a moment since I reasoned that if they couldn't read it they wouldn't know it was just misspelled, right? so I gave them.
We then stayed the night in the Mission Home with President Belnap and his wife and during the morning breakfast Sister Belnap told me that the President wanted a copy of the notes as well. Of course, I told them that I would clean them up and e-mail them a copy, which I did. Took me another afternoon to type it up to presentable! Anyway, that was our high point for the week.
Arrived back in Vancouver and discovered that we were extreamly tired so took the rest of the day off. Saturday back to visits. Jeff Wilson wanted to come to Church on Sunday so we picked him up and took him. He is starting to look a bit different with the shaved head but only some hair in patches. That Chemo seems to pick and choose which hairs to let go of first.
So Sunday the Bunn family came to Church, as well as Jeff and one of the families we had visited on Wednesday night. Of course, it was the Primary Sacrament Meeting and that involves some of them.
Well, that is about all for this week. It has been good for us except for fighting something like a cold, first myself and now Sister Mihu.
Just one other thing, I did go to the eye Clinic this week and found that the mountain in my eye is now gone, so they lasered my eye again and told me that they would probably get me new glasses about January. This is really good since I haven't been able to see hardly at all out of the eye. Another blessing of the Lord coming to pass.When I tested I could read the first page of the vision chart and before all I could really see was the E and that not very well. Progress!
Love you all, Elder and Sister Mihu
Dear Family,
This last week has been a week filled with missionary experiences. They have ranged from a very good, uplifting Zone Conference, to days of rain and colder weather, to good visits, to the other kind (visits frustrating with animals just being around causing alergy reactions and worse yet, to them crawling on me with licky tongues ready to do their work.)
We have had some incidents where we could see the hand of the Lord at work in our visits with Jeff W. We met Jeff right after we moved here. He had just had surgery because of cancer. They had decided they couldn't do the surgery to remove the cancer because of it's location, so he started chemo treatments as an out patient. This last week he couldn't keep any food down and ended up in the hospital. We have visited him several times. The first time we went, he was sleeping and looked very, very sick. We went back later that night and as we were approaching the elevator in the hospital, a group of older people entered the elevator with us. They had started talking to us before we actually entered the elevator. (Name tags open the way for conversations. They were members of the church and one of the couples had served a mission three years ago. They were there to visit a family member on the same floor that Jeff was on. We parted in different directions when we reached the third floor. We found Jeff awake and desiring a blessing. We figured the Lord had put the 'elevator' people there at the same time as us for this purpose and went to find them. We knew it would be 'iffy' to find them in that large of a hospital, but it didn't take us long. The couple who had served the mission weren't in the room visiting the brother-in-law. They were out in the hall sitting on a couch. What could be the odds of this happening? Wow! Jeff got his blessing within a few minutes of requesting it. It isn't hard to see the hand of the Lord in a lot of our experiences.
Today, we found Jeff in good spirits and wanting to go for a walk around the hospital with us. He is very appreciative of all that people do for him. He says his relationship with his friend is coming to an end and he hopes she will be in a position to move out of his apartment soon. He seems to be very receptive to the idea of coming back to activity in the church.
We met with a married couple who have two children, and have a return appointment to start teaching the discussions this Tuesday. We have also met a lot of other people. Some of them are elderly, some of them are active members with serious health problems who can't come to church at the present time, and some of them are less-active with no intentions of coming back and they don't want us to come again, and others are less-active with no intentions of coming back who don't mind us coming.
I thought I was getting so that I tolerated animals better, but I shot that down in just one visit this week. We went into a home with low couches and a lively dog. It had been a long time since I hadn't wanted to sit down in a home because of the pets, but I sure had to force myself to do it. Down I went and up came the dog and kept licking my clothes. Dad talked to the elderly brother for quite awhile, and I talked to his not quite so elderly daughter. By the time we left my eyes, which had been giving me problems with a feeling of 'sand' in them, felt like it was now 'gravel.' I was not a happy camper. We came home and I washed up and changed clothes.
I had a sister at another place (this one has cats, but they weren't in the same room as we were) tell me that animals go right for the person who has allergies. She said that they can somehow tell and are attracted to them. This may not be the way it is, but they sure come to me.
Well, other than pets, we are doing quite well. We love working with the people who will let us in. We love the things we learn and the way we feel at Zone Conferences.
Dad goes to the eye doctors this coming P-Day for a follow-up check to see what effects the shot has had. Then Thursday we are to drive to Kennewick to meet with the new missionary couple that has just come to the mission. Now there are two of us! Then we will stay the night with President and Sister Belnap and travel back here on Friday.
We were in a home this past week that was simply beautiful. An elderly sister and her daughter live in it. It is one that is around the $500,000 range and it was simply beautiful. I loved the kitchen!!
We got an e-mail from an LDS travel agency this past week. Most of the time we delete unsolicited mail, but we opened this one up. This sight had a lot of trips listed with LDS guides. Dad and I were attracted by a Humanitarian tour to Africa. You go over and spend about a week doing service projects in one of the villages in Ethiopia and then spend the next few days in Kenya doing sight seeing and short safari's. We are a bit fascinated with that idea. They mentioned other places--South America, etc. So, that might be our "mission work abroad". It doesn't look like being away from VA hospitals and doctors is something Dad will be able to do. Anyway, it is something to think about. I guess we have the missionary work in our now. We find ourselves looking at the senior couple opportunities on the church bulletin boards now and we aren't even finished with this one.
Hope everything is going well with all of you. It is nice to hear David's voice sounding better. Love you all!!
Mom
This last week has been a week filled with missionary experiences. They have ranged from a very good, uplifting Zone Conference, to days of rain and colder weather, to good visits, to the other kind (visits frustrating with animals just being around causing alergy reactions and worse yet, to them crawling on me with licky tongues ready to do their work.)
We have had some incidents where we could see the hand of the Lord at work in our visits with Jeff W. We met Jeff right after we moved here. He had just had surgery because of cancer. They had decided they couldn't do the surgery to remove the cancer because of it's location, so he started chemo treatments as an out patient. This last week he couldn't keep any food down and ended up in the hospital. We have visited him several times. The first time we went, he was sleeping and looked very, very sick. We went back later that night and as we were approaching the elevator in the hospital, a group of older people entered the elevator with us. They had started talking to us before we actually entered the elevator. (Name tags open the way for conversations. They were members of the church and one of the couples had served a mission three years ago. They were there to visit a family member on the same floor that Jeff was on. We parted in different directions when we reached the third floor. We found Jeff awake and desiring a blessing. We figured the Lord had put the 'elevator' people there at the same time as us for this purpose and went to find them. We knew it would be 'iffy' to find them in that large of a hospital, but it didn't take us long. The couple who had served the mission weren't in the room visiting the brother-in-law. They were out in the hall sitting on a couch. What could be the odds of this happening? Wow! Jeff got his blessing within a few minutes of requesting it. It isn't hard to see the hand of the Lord in a lot of our experiences.
Today, we found Jeff in good spirits and wanting to go for a walk around the hospital with us. He is very appreciative of all that people do for him. He says his relationship with his friend is coming to an end and he hopes she will be in a position to move out of his apartment soon. He seems to be very receptive to the idea of coming back to activity in the church.
We met with a married couple who have two children, and have a return appointment to start teaching the discussions this Tuesday. We have also met a lot of other people. Some of them are elderly, some of them are active members with serious health problems who can't come to church at the present time, and some of them are less-active with no intentions of coming back and they don't want us to come again, and others are less-active with no intentions of coming back who don't mind us coming.
I thought I was getting so that I tolerated animals better, but I shot that down in just one visit this week. We went into a home with low couches and a lively dog. It had been a long time since I hadn't wanted to sit down in a home because of the pets, but I sure had to force myself to do it. Down I went and up came the dog and kept licking my clothes. Dad talked to the elderly brother for quite awhile, and I talked to his not quite so elderly daughter. By the time we left my eyes, which had been giving me problems with a feeling of 'sand' in them, felt like it was now 'gravel.' I was not a happy camper. We came home and I washed up and changed clothes.
I had a sister at another place (this one has cats, but they weren't in the same room as we were) tell me that animals go right for the person who has allergies. She said that they can somehow tell and are attracted to them. This may not be the way it is, but they sure come to me.
Well, other than pets, we are doing quite well. We love working with the people who will let us in. We love the things we learn and the way we feel at Zone Conferences.
Dad goes to the eye doctors this coming P-Day for a follow-up check to see what effects the shot has had. Then Thursday we are to drive to Kennewick to meet with the new missionary couple that has just come to the mission. Now there are two of us! Then we will stay the night with President and Sister Belnap and travel back here on Friday.
We were in a home this past week that was simply beautiful. An elderly sister and her daughter live in it. It is one that is around the $500,000 range and it was simply beautiful. I loved the kitchen!!
We got an e-mail from an LDS travel agency this past week. Most of the time we delete unsolicited mail, but we opened this one up. This sight had a lot of trips listed with LDS guides. Dad and I were attracted by a Humanitarian tour to Africa. You go over and spend about a week doing service projects in one of the villages in Ethiopia and then spend the next few days in Kenya doing sight seeing and short safari's. We are a bit fascinated with that idea. They mentioned other places--South America, etc. So, that might be our "mission work abroad". It doesn't look like being away from VA hospitals and doctors is something Dad will be able to do. Anyway, it is something to think about. I guess we have the missionary work in our now. We find ourselves looking at the senior couple opportunities on the church bulletin boards now and we aren't even finished with this one.
Hope everything is going well with all of you. It is nice to hear David's voice sounding better. Love you all!!
Mom
10/14: Need Help
Hi!
I need input on how to put pictures with my blogs. We have had wonderful visits from family members and would like to share some of the photos but don't know how to do it.
Elena and Wayne came and spent a couple of days with us. We were able to visit with the McGlinchy's, and tour Longview and the Columbia River Gorge. We had a very enjoyable time and were sad to see them leave.
We really enjoyed conference and were blessed to have Robert and Tina and girls with us for part of the sessions. Robert and Ron attended the Priesthood session together right after their arrival.
I was especially impressed with President Eyring's address on recognizing the hand of the Lord in our lives. It has been a lot of fun and very impressive to think about this at the end of the day and see how many times during the day, I can pinpoint his hand. Even MaKayla was very receptive to this and could point out things in the days we spent where she saw his hand in our activities. What a wonderful experience to have with a grandchild.
Some of the highlights of Robert and Tina's visit with us were visiting a Lavendar Farm in Hood River. The 'grandma' of the owners came out when she saw that we were there and opened their shop for us and explained the distilling process to us. She was a delightful lady and as we were leaving told us that the pear harvest had just been completed and we would be welcome to go through the orchard to glean what was left. We had an amazing activity with the little girls doing this. We would locate the pears on the trees and Robert would lift them to his shoulders and they would pick them. It was a delight to take part of their delight in this activity. We all loved the waterfalls and the views of the beautiful Gorge. We took them to Starvation Creek on one of the days to see the waterfalls there. We found that the moss covered 'everything' was a real 'hit' for Tina and we took pictures of the girls sitting in moss-covered trees and on moss-covered rocks.
We tried to find our Indian "grandma" for Robert to get some smoked salmon and couldn't find her. We finally located a lady who told us to go across the river for smoked salmon and we would find a van and a pickup at CharBurger. We crossed the Bridge of the Gods and there were no such vehicles there. We kept driving to see the paddle-boats and discovered signs for fresh salmon in that area. We followed the signs and were able to get the salmon. When Wayne and Elena were with us, we were able to meet our Indian 'grandma' in her location by chance. I was delighted to have Elena meet her.
Rob and Tina met Denise Tippery in Longview and then on their way back home, we went in our car as far as Lyle and we all had a good visit with Larene Beach. One of the real highlights of the trip was going back to our home in Mill-A and meeting with the Zaugg's. They were the people who owned the house and they live in a new house they had built close by. Ron had called ahead and told them we were coming to visit. They surprised us with having dinner ready for us. We had a delightful visit with them and they so graciously welcomed Rob and Tina and the girls. They are a neat couple.
Now we are alone again. We had a neat experience yesterday in being able to see one of the young returned missionaries that we had associated with who was back to tour the mission. We felt the hand of the Lord in being able to see and visit with him. Through this visit I was able to come to understand the dealings of the Lord in our association with him. What a neat experience that was.
Now, Elder and Sister Mihu need to slip back into their role as missionaries and carry on. It is hard to believe that we are down to five months left to serve.
We send our love to all of you!
I need input on how to put pictures with my blogs. We have had wonderful visits from family members and would like to share some of the photos but don't know how to do it.
Elena and Wayne came and spent a couple of days with us. We were able to visit with the McGlinchy's, and tour Longview and the Columbia River Gorge. We had a very enjoyable time and were sad to see them leave.
We really enjoyed conference and were blessed to have Robert and Tina and girls with us for part of the sessions. Robert and Ron attended the Priesthood session together right after their arrival.
I was especially impressed with President Eyring's address on recognizing the hand of the Lord in our lives. It has been a lot of fun and very impressive to think about this at the end of the day and see how many times during the day, I can pinpoint his hand. Even MaKayla was very receptive to this and could point out things in the days we spent where she saw his hand in our activities. What a wonderful experience to have with a grandchild.
Some of the highlights of Robert and Tina's visit with us were visiting a Lavendar Farm in Hood River. The 'grandma' of the owners came out when she saw that we were there and opened their shop for us and explained the distilling process to us. She was a delightful lady and as we were leaving told us that the pear harvest had just been completed and we would be welcome to go through the orchard to glean what was left. We had an amazing activity with the little girls doing this. We would locate the pears on the trees and Robert would lift them to his shoulders and they would pick them. It was a delight to take part of their delight in this activity. We all loved the waterfalls and the views of the beautiful Gorge. We took them to Starvation Creek on one of the days to see the waterfalls there. We found that the moss covered 'everything' was a real 'hit' for Tina and we took pictures of the girls sitting in moss-covered trees and on moss-covered rocks.
We tried to find our Indian "grandma" for Robert to get some smoked salmon and couldn't find her. We finally located a lady who told us to go across the river for smoked salmon and we would find a van and a pickup at CharBurger. We crossed the Bridge of the Gods and there were no such vehicles there. We kept driving to see the paddle-boats and discovered signs for fresh salmon in that area. We followed the signs and were able to get the salmon. When Wayne and Elena were with us, we were able to meet our Indian 'grandma' in her location by chance. I was delighted to have Elena meet her.
Rob and Tina met Denise Tippery in Longview and then on their way back home, we went in our car as far as Lyle and we all had a good visit with Larene Beach. One of the real highlights of the trip was going back to our home in Mill-A and meeting with the Zaugg's. They were the people who owned the house and they live in a new house they had built close by. Ron had called ahead and told them we were coming to visit. They surprised us with having dinner ready for us. We had a delightful visit with them and they so graciously welcomed Rob and Tina and the girls. They are a neat couple.
Now we are alone again. We had a neat experience yesterday in being able to see one of the young returned missionaries that we had associated with who was back to tour the mission. We felt the hand of the Lord in being able to see and visit with him. Through this visit I was able to come to understand the dealings of the Lord in our association with him. What a neat experience that was.
Now, Elder and Sister Mihu need to slip back into their role as missionaries and carry on. It is hard to believe that we are down to five months left to serve.
We send our love to all of you!
Hello Everone! I am grateful for Elena and Wayne's visit to help get me up and going. Thanks to Maren and Jeff, also. And, a special thanks to LouAnn for taking the time to post our e-mails on the blog for us! What a wonderful family we have!!!!
We have so enjoyed the visits from family members this year. We have had a great time with Elena and Wayne. Tuesday, we made arrangements to go to Longview and meet Jim and Helen McGlinchy at the Pancake House for breakfast. We had a wonderful visit with them--going to their home after eating. I was so grateful to have some of our family members meet these good, dear friends of ours.
Wednesday, we took a drive through the Gorge driving on the Washington side. We stopped at the famous overlook and Beacon Rock along the way. Then had a good stop at the Glass Shop in White Salmon. Then we crossed the Bridge to Hood River, visited a couple of sites along the fruit loop, but it was too cold and rainy and some of them were not open during the weekdays any longer. Then we took the scenic highway on the Oregon side to visit some of the beautiful waterfalls.
I forgot to mention one of the highlights on the Washington side. We stopped at the site where some of the Indians camp for the summer to catch salmon and sell it. We found my favorite Indian grandma there and bought some smoked salmon from her. She gave us a bag of the bones with meat still on them of the smoked salmon, also, to bring back and make soups out of. I was glad that Elena was able to meet this dear, sweet lady. (I had given her a copy of the Book of Mormon the last time we had stopped by to purchase some salmon from her. I hope that someday she will take the time to read it.)
All in all, we have had a wonderful time having them here. They are leaving for Seattle today.
I hope you are all well and happy. I send my love to each and everyone.
We have so enjoyed the visits from family members this year. We have had a great time with Elena and Wayne. Tuesday, we made arrangements to go to Longview and meet Jim and Helen McGlinchy at the Pancake House for breakfast. We had a wonderful visit with them--going to their home after eating. I was so grateful to have some of our family members meet these good, dear friends of ours.
Wednesday, we took a drive through the Gorge driving on the Washington side. We stopped at the famous overlook and Beacon Rock along the way. Then had a good stop at the Glass Shop in White Salmon. Then we crossed the Bridge to Hood River, visited a couple of sites along the fruit loop, but it was too cold and rainy and some of them were not open during the weekdays any longer. Then we took the scenic highway on the Oregon side to visit some of the beautiful waterfalls.
I forgot to mention one of the highlights on the Washington side. We stopped at the site where some of the Indians camp for the summer to catch salmon and sell it. We found my favorite Indian grandma there and bought some smoked salmon from her. She gave us a bag of the bones with meat still on them of the smoked salmon, also, to bring back and make soups out of. I was glad that Elena was able to meet this dear, sweet lady. (I had given her a copy of the Book of Mormon the last time we had stopped by to purchase some salmon from her. I hope that someday she will take the time to read it.)
All in all, we have had a wonderful time having them here. They are leaving for Seattle today.
I hope you are all well and happy. I send my love to each and everyone.
10/03: October 2, 2007
Dear Family,
It has been awhile since I have written. Life got a bit hectic with the transfer and lack of communcation via e-mail and phone reception problems. I must admit that it has been a bit tiring, also. I am very grateful when I can crawl into bed and call it a day.
Some simple, fun things have come to pass with this move. Dad had his eye injection during this time and since then at times it has been like being with a little child. He will say, "Look at this," and then begin reading signs. The first time I didn't know why he was saying, "limes," "lemons", "oranges," as we went down the aisle at the grocery store, until I looked over and saw that he had his right eye closed and was reading them with his left eye. It has brought great joy into both of our lives.
There is an incline to get to our house from the road. Another simple thing that brings amusement is that Dad has started coasting the last little way home instead of applying gas. He tries to see how far he can make it.
We have had many frustrating experiences in connection with our living arrangements. The owner of the place is definately not a fix-it man. He has put bandaids on many things that need major surgery. I think that Dad has taken care of most of them now.
We have been able to get a bit of missionary work done as well. We met a young man, nearing forty, who has been among the less active for a good mn'any years. He didn't marry after his mission and felt out of place and unwanted in his ward so he stopped going. Then he moved to Washington. He has been in Seattle and then here. He has recently been diagnosed with cancer and is presently recouperating from exploratory surgery so that he can start chemo treatments. He said he wanted to attend church again so we picked him up and took him this morning. You could tell that he didn't feel well and that sitting so long was hard for him, but he didn't want to go back to his apartment before the meetings were over. What a brave young man!
We also met a young sister whose husband left her when she became pregnant with her baby that is now several months old. She has seizures and doesn't drive and sometimes can't leave the apartment. She expressed a desire to go to the Women's Conference so we told her we would pick her up. When we called before going, she said that her mother wanted to go too, so her mother was coming to pick her up. We saw her across the chapel, so was glad that she was there. I volunteered Dad to help in the kitchen with me for the R.S. luncheon held before the broadcast so we both were able to be there and enjoy it.
We were saddened to meet with a 30 year old sister who had been on a mission and now believes in the philosophies of men and has lost her testimony of the restored gospel and even of the mission of the Savior. We have met too many in this condition over the months of our mission.
We are looking forward to the visites of Elena and Wayne, and Bob and Tina and family. Our weather has turned wet so hope they don't have any trouble with the roads traveling here and back.
We love you all and hope all is going well with you.
Mom
It has been awhile since I have written. Life got a bit hectic with the transfer and lack of communcation via e-mail and phone reception problems. I must admit that it has been a bit tiring, also. I am very grateful when I can crawl into bed and call it a day.
Some simple, fun things have come to pass with this move. Dad had his eye injection during this time and since then at times it has been like being with a little child. He will say, "Look at this," and then begin reading signs. The first time I didn't know why he was saying, "limes," "lemons", "oranges," as we went down the aisle at the grocery store, until I looked over and saw that he had his right eye closed and was reading them with his left eye. It has brought great joy into both of our lives.
There is an incline to get to our house from the road. Another simple thing that brings amusement is that Dad has started coasting the last little way home instead of applying gas. He tries to see how far he can make it.
We have had many frustrating experiences in connection with our living arrangements. The owner of the place is definately not a fix-it man. He has put bandaids on many things that need major surgery. I think that Dad has taken care of most of them now.
We have been able to get a bit of missionary work done as well. We met a young man, nearing forty, who has been among the less active for a good mn'any years. He didn't marry after his mission and felt out of place and unwanted in his ward so he stopped going. Then he moved to Washington. He has been in Seattle and then here. He has recently been diagnosed with cancer and is presently recouperating from exploratory surgery so that he can start chemo treatments. He said he wanted to attend church again so we picked him up and took him this morning. You could tell that he didn't feel well and that sitting so long was hard for him, but he didn't want to go back to his apartment before the meetings were over. What a brave young man!
We also met a young sister whose husband left her when she became pregnant with her baby that is now several months old. She has seizures and doesn't drive and sometimes can't leave the apartment. She expressed a desire to go to the Women's Conference so we told her we would pick her up. When we called before going, she said that her mother wanted to go too, so her mother was coming to pick her up. We saw her across the chapel, so was glad that she was there. I volunteered Dad to help in the kitchen with me for the R.S. luncheon held before the broadcast so we both were able to be there and enjoy it.
We were saddened to meet with a 30 year old sister who had been on a mission and now believes in the philosophies of men and has lost her testimony of the restored gospel and even of the mission of the Savior. We have met too many in this condition over the months of our mission.
We are looking forward to the visites of Elena and Wayne, and Bob and Tina and family. Our weather has turned wet so hope they don't have any trouble with the roads traveling here and back.
We love you all and hope all is going well with you.
Mom
Dear Family and Friends,
Well it does seem as if it has been a while since I have done the e-mail thing. Problems with phone lines and then getting the time. Seems to have been busy for quite a while. We seem to have made the transition from Mill-A to Vancouver with remarkable ease. Moves are always wearing but then there is time to get organized again since it can be a while to get the info that you need to start working again, and for us this time lengthened because of conference schedules. However, that is now past and we have accually begun to work with the Ward list that we have been given.
Had to modify the area map just a little bit since it was so small that we needed a magnifier to read it. Went to Office Depot and enlarged the ward part of the map so that we now have a working map that is easier to read. We spend time during the day finding the homes and then when there isn't anyone home we return after dinner to them. Seems to be working pretty well.
I had two appointments with Doctors this past week and one of them was the result of going the previous week and getting an injection in my eye. Tuesday was the eye Dr. so we were dialated and then peaked into and with the machines they showed an amazing result. But let me explain first what a good eye is like. The back of the eye is simillar to a basement floor drain in that everything is smooth and kind of slopes to the optic nerve which is in a little hollow on the back of the eye. With your eye like this the cornea focuses what you see to the optic nerve and you can see images well. Well my one eys is like that but the left eye has had a small volcano where the optic nerve is so the whole thing is closer to the cornea and that makes things out of focus. To make matters worse, the back of the eye is wrinkled rather than smooth so it is a mess. Well, the injection was to try to help the volcano part and see what else happened. So Tuesday we measured again and the volcano had reduced from over 500 down to 263 in just one week. What a pleasant surprise! The Dr. also informed us that the most change would continue for the next several weeks, so we are quite encouraged. Our next appointment is the 23rd of October and we expect to see just where we will be then with this part of the body.
Of course, what caused it was my sugars out of control. When we left for Kansas City we both got a physical and I found out later that my sugar reading was a 10! When we got to Kansas City I began working at a job that was more physical that mental and when we put our paper in for our mission it had come down to 8.9. The missionary committee didn't like that so we were put on hold till it was reading 8.1 and then our paperwork was released. However, we still didn't know how to correct the problem! In our setting apart we were told that our bodies would be rejuvenated and we keep looking for that to happen.
However, as we left Longview we got a different perspective and determined that maybe if the waiting wasn't working perhaps we needed to do something to make it happen. Well, we were guided to a book that talked about calories, carbs, and fats, and told how much was in almost all of the foods we eat, so we began selecting and limitting what we eat on that basis. The book said that I could have 265 carbs per day but we found that 100 was my best limit, so we keep my carb intake there and my sugar readings are between 110 and 90 which is just wonderful. We now have the formula for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that really works for me.
Sister Mihu has done the same but different. Carbs don't bother her at all, but she didn't want to be at all over weight so worked out foods and portions that meet her goals, and has lost over 25 pounds in the last six to seven months. She has pancakes and syrup for breakfast, but I don't so we get seperate plates for our meals and sure it is more trouble to go through, but I couldn't do it by myself, and it works. I am convinced that it is because of this that we have seen such great progress with the treatment in the eye. Keeping this way of eating is pretty easy once you are on to it and tracking how you do.
Well, enough of that. Love you all, and miss not seeing you all the time, but perhaps that time will come.
Elder and Sister Mihu
Well it does seem as if it has been a while since I have done the e-mail thing. Problems with phone lines and then getting the time. Seems to have been busy for quite a while. We seem to have made the transition from Mill-A to Vancouver with remarkable ease. Moves are always wearing but then there is time to get organized again since it can be a while to get the info that you need to start working again, and for us this time lengthened because of conference schedules. However, that is now past and we have accually begun to work with the Ward list that we have been given.
Had to modify the area map just a little bit since it was so small that we needed a magnifier to read it. Went to Office Depot and enlarged the ward part of the map so that we now have a working map that is easier to read. We spend time during the day finding the homes and then when there isn't anyone home we return after dinner to them. Seems to be working pretty well.
I had two appointments with Doctors this past week and one of them was the result of going the previous week and getting an injection in my eye. Tuesday was the eye Dr. so we were dialated and then peaked into and with the machines they showed an amazing result. But let me explain first what a good eye is like. The back of the eye is simillar to a basement floor drain in that everything is smooth and kind of slopes to the optic nerve which is in a little hollow on the back of the eye. With your eye like this the cornea focuses what you see to the optic nerve and you can see images well. Well my one eys is like that but the left eye has had a small volcano where the optic nerve is so the whole thing is closer to the cornea and that makes things out of focus. To make matters worse, the back of the eye is wrinkled rather than smooth so it is a mess. Well, the injection was to try to help the volcano part and see what else happened. So Tuesday we measured again and the volcano had reduced from over 500 down to 263 in just one week. What a pleasant surprise! The Dr. also informed us that the most change would continue for the next several weeks, so we are quite encouraged. Our next appointment is the 23rd of October and we expect to see just where we will be then with this part of the body.
Of course, what caused it was my sugars out of control. When we left for Kansas City we both got a physical and I found out later that my sugar reading was a 10! When we got to Kansas City I began working at a job that was more physical that mental and when we put our paper in for our mission it had come down to 8.9. The missionary committee didn't like that so we were put on hold till it was reading 8.1 and then our paperwork was released. However, we still didn't know how to correct the problem! In our setting apart we were told that our bodies would be rejuvenated and we keep looking for that to happen.
However, as we left Longview we got a different perspective and determined that maybe if the waiting wasn't working perhaps we needed to do something to make it happen. Well, we were guided to a book that talked about calories, carbs, and fats, and told how much was in almost all of the foods we eat, so we began selecting and limitting what we eat on that basis. The book said that I could have 265 carbs per day but we found that 100 was my best limit, so we keep my carb intake there and my sugar readings are between 110 and 90 which is just wonderful. We now have the formula for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that really works for me.
Sister Mihu has done the same but different. Carbs don't bother her at all, but she didn't want to be at all over weight so worked out foods and portions that meet her goals, and has lost over 25 pounds in the last six to seven months. She has pancakes and syrup for breakfast, but I don't so we get seperate plates for our meals and sure it is more trouble to go through, but I couldn't do it by myself, and it works. I am convinced that it is because of this that we have seen such great progress with the treatment in the eye. Keeping this way of eating is pretty easy once you are on to it and tracking how you do.
Well, enough of that. Love you all, and miss not seeing you all the time, but perhaps that time will come.
Elder and Sister Mihu
09/24: Move to Vancouver
Well, here we are again finally. No time is a good time to move but when the call came from President Belnap to get out of Dodge we began moving the next day. That was on Monday that we got the call. That night we came to Vancouver to check with the people that were putting us up and looked the place over. Then after doing what we needed to Tuesday morning we loaded up a car load and brought it to Vancouver. Wednesday Brother Snow from Stevenson brought a trailor which we loaded along with his pickup and our car and moved all the rest of things to Vancouver. Then we needed to get things put together here.
Seems that the Baardson's were in a hurry to get to Washington D.C. but then things got in the way and they weren't able to leave until this past Friday. By then we didn't have any phone or internet access so we ordered the phone line and Qwest finally called today and said that someone would be out today which he was within about a half hour. We then found that the line was to noisy so all that he would do was bring the dial tone to the outside of the house. Well, I called Baardson's and their IT guy but got no response during the day so went down to Wal-Mart and bought some wire and hooked us up. Looks a little messy but who is complaining?
Funny how things worked out for us after we arrived. We had been told that we would be working in Vancouver West Stake but that the Stake President would tell us where he wanted us to work. Then on Thursday night there was a Stake Priesthood Leadership trainning and we were invited. That is always just a little scary since Sister Mihu goes everywhere with me. Anyway, they were trainning the Ward Mission Leaders and wanted our imput. Had a great time. Met the Stake President and he was too busy with Stake Conference on the weekend to devote much time to us.
In conjunction with Stake Conference we went to the Saturday evening meeting and it was awesome. Really enjoyed both it and the special State Stake Conference on Sunday. Noticed that President Hinkley just seems to be getting older and older. (Of course, we aren't.)
Anyway, this last Sunday we went to the Hazel Dell Ward which we have been assigned to and did all of the usual things that you do when starting up in a new area, meet with the Bishop, High Priest Group Leader, Elders Quorum President, and go over the membership list and get direction from the group as to where we should begin our labors.
We then began with the first person on our list today who is a 39 year old male with Cancer and is waiting for just a few weeks to begin Chemo. They operated on him a few weeks ago to see what they were up against but the mass that they had previously found was so wrapped around things that they decided that they would only make matters worse so sewed him back up and now he is just trying to gain some strength before starting the Chemo. Anyway we will pick him up for Church on Sunday if he feels up to it, and he thinks that he will.
Looks as if there is plenty of work to do here even though there are a lot of folks at church. We tend to go after the one. We attended the Temple with one of ours before we left White Salmon and that is such good pay off.
Anyway, we are back on line again and that feel really good. Love you all, Elder and Sister Mihu
Seems that the Baardson's were in a hurry to get to Washington D.C. but then things got in the way and they weren't able to leave until this past Friday. By then we didn't have any phone or internet access so we ordered the phone line and Qwest finally called today and said that someone would be out today which he was within about a half hour. We then found that the line was to noisy so all that he would do was bring the dial tone to the outside of the house. Well, I called Baardson's and their IT guy but got no response during the day so went down to Wal-Mart and bought some wire and hooked us up. Looks a little messy but who is complaining?
Funny how things worked out for us after we arrived. We had been told that we would be working in Vancouver West Stake but that the Stake President would tell us where he wanted us to work. Then on Thursday night there was a Stake Priesthood Leadership trainning and we were invited. That is always just a little scary since Sister Mihu goes everywhere with me. Anyway, they were trainning the Ward Mission Leaders and wanted our imput. Had a great time. Met the Stake President and he was too busy with Stake Conference on the weekend to devote much time to us.
In conjunction with Stake Conference we went to the Saturday evening meeting and it was awesome. Really enjoyed both it and the special State Stake Conference on Sunday. Noticed that President Hinkley just seems to be getting older and older. (Of course, we aren't.)
Anyway, this last Sunday we went to the Hazel Dell Ward which we have been assigned to and did all of the usual things that you do when starting up in a new area, meet with the Bishop, High Priest Group Leader, Elders Quorum President, and go over the membership list and get direction from the group as to where we should begin our labors.
We then began with the first person on our list today who is a 39 year old male with Cancer and is waiting for just a few weeks to begin Chemo. They operated on him a few weeks ago to see what they were up against but the mass that they had previously found was so wrapped around things that they decided that they would only make matters worse so sewed him back up and now he is just trying to gain some strength before starting the Chemo. Anyway we will pick him up for Church on Sunday if he feels up to it, and he thinks that he will.
Looks as if there is plenty of work to do here even though there are a lot of folks at church. We tend to go after the one. We attended the Temple with one of ours before we left White Salmon and that is such good pay off.
Anyway, we are back on line again and that feel really good. Love you all, Elder and Sister Mihu
08/26: A Long Week
Hello everyone. Well, here we are on a Sunday evening and time almost to start another week.
We did something unusual for us last week in that we drove to the end of the Earth just to visit a couple that reciently moved in to the Ward. We knew that the sister had been coming to Church but that the husband wasn't so thought that we'd get some background about them. We were able to set up discussions starting tomorrow evening, so we will see how it goes. He says that he will be one tough customer, and will argue most everything from an 'enlightened or educated' perspective. We are going to surprise him a lot since we don't argue. How can you do that and have the Spirit with you? Crazy ideas that some people have, I think. Found that they have never really been active since getting married, nor do they understand the purpose of the Gospel, nor do they realize the role of the Church in their lives. Looks like fun to me when we reveal the role of the Church. He sees it as something huge on the horizon, somehow. Responsible for a lot of bad feelings having to do with his life. Anyway, here we go. Sometimes wish that I had gone to Divinity School!
Tuesday we went to Portland Veterans Hospital to see the eye people and was told that they want to stick a needle in my bad eye, so we said that we would think about it. At least it wasn't my good one! What's wrong with people? It used to just be fingers. Once again we saved the day by slipping by the Temple and picking up Sister Mihu's Temple clothes that I had somehow left. Fortunately they were still in good shape.
The rest of the week was a blur with visits and exercise and eating right (what a pain), and all that jazz. Sugars for the week averaged 108, and that is a BIG HORRAY for us. Next someone will ask why you can't do that every week, and I will have to say that I don't know. Some other things are just Crazy, too. What are you supposed to do when you eat the same things and it doesn't work out the same? Well, I just go nuts!
Then Saturday we went to a work project that was supposed to be a Ward project for one of the active sisters in the Ward. When we arrived (just on time) we found that she and us were the only one's there yet so she asked me to please pronounce a Blessing on her house, which I did post haste. We were then treated to some conversation about her life and the of her marriage, of which this was a part. We then got to work cleaning, replacing light bulbs, putting things away, took a wooden bed frame made by her Father out of the bedroom and continued with the cleaning. Well, by the time that we ran out of energy we had been through three or four rooms with some sort of effort, and the place really looked a lot better. She is trying to get the place ready to sell, or something else, and was really gratefull for the support and help. Of course, she really got a bargain with Sister Mihu. She does so many things so well and fast. What a delight to have her for a companion!
After eating lunch, we went home and took just a few moments to clean up and then went to Stephenson for a baptism. Not ours but one in our district, and we always support them when we can. I did bear my testimony before we left. Delightfull convert. Well, dinner time, and you know that I dare not be late for that.
Love you all, Elder Mihu
We did something unusual for us last week in that we drove to the end of the Earth just to visit a couple that reciently moved in to the Ward. We knew that the sister had been coming to Church but that the husband wasn't so thought that we'd get some background about them. We were able to set up discussions starting tomorrow evening, so we will see how it goes. He says that he will be one tough customer, and will argue most everything from an 'enlightened or educated' perspective. We are going to surprise him a lot since we don't argue. How can you do that and have the Spirit with you? Crazy ideas that some people have, I think. Found that they have never really been active since getting married, nor do they understand the purpose of the Gospel, nor do they realize the role of the Church in their lives. Looks like fun to me when we reveal the role of the Church. He sees it as something huge on the horizon, somehow. Responsible for a lot of bad feelings having to do with his life. Anyway, here we go. Sometimes wish that I had gone to Divinity School!
Tuesday we went to Portland Veterans Hospital to see the eye people and was told that they want to stick a needle in my bad eye, so we said that we would think about it. At least it wasn't my good one! What's wrong with people? It used to just be fingers. Once again we saved the day by slipping by the Temple and picking up Sister Mihu's Temple clothes that I had somehow left. Fortunately they were still in good shape.
The rest of the week was a blur with visits and exercise and eating right (what a pain), and all that jazz. Sugars for the week averaged 108, and that is a BIG HORRAY for us. Next someone will ask why you can't do that every week, and I will have to say that I don't know. Some other things are just Crazy, too. What are you supposed to do when you eat the same things and it doesn't work out the same? Well, I just go nuts!
Then Saturday we went to a work project that was supposed to be a Ward project for one of the active sisters in the Ward. When we arrived (just on time) we found that she and us were the only one's there yet so she asked me to please pronounce a Blessing on her house, which I did post haste. We were then treated to some conversation about her life and the of her marriage, of which this was a part. We then got to work cleaning, replacing light bulbs, putting things away, took a wooden bed frame made by her Father out of the bedroom and continued with the cleaning. Well, by the time that we ran out of energy we had been through three or four rooms with some sort of effort, and the place really looked a lot better. She is trying to get the place ready to sell, or something else, and was really gratefull for the support and help. Of course, she really got a bargain with Sister Mihu. She does so many things so well and fast. What a delight to have her for a companion!
After eating lunch, we went home and took just a few moments to clean up and then went to Stephenson for a baptism. Not ours but one in our district, and we always support them when we can. I did bear my testimony before we left. Delightfull convert. Well, dinner time, and you know that I dare not be late for that.
Love you all, Elder Mihu
08/23: Mysteries in the Woods
Dear Family,
One day as Ron and I took our walk in the morning, we noticed loud ing sounds in the forest on each side of us. These continued to be present morning after morning. At first it was a bit unnerving. We thoughtof large animals and we would peer into the trees trying to see what was there. Then one morning we pinpointed the noise from coming from near the tops of the trees instead of from ground level. From that point it didn't take long to figure out that it was branches coming loose and crashing down from the trees. The initial of the branch separating from the trees was the cause of our uneasiness. We still don't know what causes them to come off when they do, whether it is that last bit of wind that does the trick or some animal giving them their last push.
We came across another mystery just this week. As we walked along the highway, we noticed many green pinecones on the highway in front of us. This would not have been unusual if the wind had been blowing and they had been all along the road, but the morning was still and the cones were isolated to that one particular area. We commented on how unusual it was. Further on during our walk, we came to an area where the pinecones were in the act of falling as we got there. We looked up into the treetops above them and saw an area of the tree in tumult. Something was up in the branches shaking them vigorously. Whatever it was kept hidden in the branches, but it looked like a whirlwind in action.
We had an appointment way, way, way out in the 'nowhere' of Washington Monday night. On our way back (in the dark) we turned a corner in time to see a skunk completing its trip across the highway. We were glad that we weren't a few minutes or even seconds earlier. We turned another corner only to see a large, sleek animal crossing the highway and disappearing into the woods on the other side of the road. Cougars, anyone? Wow! The things we see! The wild turkeys are becoming more visible all the time and it isn't unusual to see flocks of 20 to 30 of them at a time.
We saw an interesting thing this morning. On our way back from our walk, we pass the billboard of the school. There was posted this morning Shcool starts September 5th. I didn't even notice until Dad mentioned it that school was spelled wrong. I hope to make it back with my camera before it is pointed out to them and they correct it. What a hoot!
Dad's eye exam came out with a little improvement but not enough for them to hold off on further treatment. They scheduled him to have the steroid injection in September. He had an A1C test taken that day and came out with a 5.9 reading for which we are celebrating. All the exercising and watching the diet have paid off big time in this area. Dad had his dental appointment yesterday and is now hopefully good for the remainder of our mission. I stayed out in the car and slept while he had it done. I don't generally take naps, but occasionally I realize that I am just really tired.
We are teaching the new member lessons to a choice mexican lady who was baptized by the young elders soon after we arrived here. She is very anxious to learn. She has been in the US for about 20 years and is just now taking English classes. She speaks in broken English but does quite well. We made arrangements to return next week. Then when we got ready to leave last night, she said, "You come back, huh?" Thinking she hadn't understood me earlier, I told her "yes, we will be back next week for the next lesson." She said, "No, after you finish mission and go home, you come back and see me, huh?" These people continue to touch our hearts and bring the emotions to the surface. Those who listen to the Gospel message as delivered by the missionaries and change their lives are few in comparison to the number contacted, but those who do are so special and become dear to our hearts.
Well, I must go. I love you all.
Mom
One day as Ron and I took our walk in the morning, we noticed loud ing sounds in the forest on each side of us. These continued to be present morning after morning. At first it was a bit unnerving. We thoughtof large animals and we would peer into the trees trying to see what was there. Then one morning we pinpointed the noise from coming from near the tops of the trees instead of from ground level. From that point it didn't take long to figure out that it was branches coming loose and crashing down from the trees. The initial of the branch separating from the trees was the cause of our uneasiness. We still don't know what causes them to come off when they do, whether it is that last bit of wind that does the trick or some animal giving them their last push.
We came across another mystery just this week. As we walked along the highway, we noticed many green pinecones on the highway in front of us. This would not have been unusual if the wind had been blowing and they had been all along the road, but the morning was still and the cones were isolated to that one particular area. We commented on how unusual it was. Further on during our walk, we came to an area where the pinecones were in the act of falling as we got there. We looked up into the treetops above them and saw an area of the tree in tumult. Something was up in the branches shaking them vigorously. Whatever it was kept hidden in the branches, but it looked like a whirlwind in action.
We had an appointment way, way, way out in the 'nowhere' of Washington Monday night. On our way back (in the dark) we turned a corner in time to see a skunk completing its trip across the highway. We were glad that we weren't a few minutes or even seconds earlier. We turned another corner only to see a large, sleek animal crossing the highway and disappearing into the woods on the other side of the road. Cougars, anyone? Wow! The things we see! The wild turkeys are becoming more visible all the time and it isn't unusual to see flocks of 20 to 30 of them at a time.
We saw an interesting thing this morning. On our way back from our walk, we pass the billboard of the school. There was posted this morning Shcool starts September 5th. I didn't even notice until Dad mentioned it that school was spelled wrong. I hope to make it back with my camera before it is pointed out to them and they correct it. What a hoot!
Dad's eye exam came out with a little improvement but not enough for them to hold off on further treatment. They scheduled him to have the steroid injection in September. He had an A1C test taken that day and came out with a 5.9 reading for which we are celebrating. All the exercising and watching the diet have paid off big time in this area. Dad had his dental appointment yesterday and is now hopefully good for the remainder of our mission. I stayed out in the car and slept while he had it done. I don't generally take naps, but occasionally I realize that I am just really tired.
We are teaching the new member lessons to a choice mexican lady who was baptized by the young elders soon after we arrived here. She is very anxious to learn. She has been in the US for about 20 years and is just now taking English classes. She speaks in broken English but does quite well. We made arrangements to return next week. Then when we got ready to leave last night, she said, "You come back, huh?" Thinking she hadn't understood me earlier, I told her "yes, we will be back next week for the next lesson." She said, "No, after you finish mission and go home, you come back and see me, huh?" These people continue to touch our hearts and bring the emotions to the surface. Those who listen to the Gospel message as delivered by the missionaries and change their lives are few in comparison to the number contacted, but those who do are so special and become dear to our hearts.
Well, I must go. I love you all.
Mom