We got back in time to have our couch replaced by the elders and have them help us get our internet hooked up in our apartment. What great guys they are! Then we went to the Senior Living Center to hear Sister Gourley, who is 85 years old, play "Oldies but Goodies" for the people living there while they ate dinner. Three of the ladies there are sisters in the 2nd ward, and they seemed appreciative of us coming to visit them, and we enjoyed meeting many others.
Sister Gourley and Sister Brown at the Sr. Living Center
Tuesday we went to the elementary school where Sister Hayes teaches Kindergarten, and had a great time working with some of the teachers, reading to or working with reading groups. It was fun doing "Once There Was a Snowman" with the kids (Hey - they don't know it's a Primary song!) The kids are so cute and eager to learn! The rest of the day we visited some of the other sisters in the ward and got to know them better. What a beautiful spirit radiated from Sister Jenkins as she told us her conversion story while working in D.C. about 15 years ago. Now she is retired and raising 2 grandsons, and her own autistic son - they were so well behaved and polite, she is a marvel!
We pick a certain area of the ward each day and focus on sisters there that day, to try to save on the traveling. There are some beautiful, large homes with rolling lawns and then some apartments so close together, fairly small town homes or apartments - it is so interesting to see all of these different areas of Charles County. Some sisters are pretty needy, others seem to enjoy our visit, and some aren't home so we just leave a note, hoping to catch them another time. We also have been leaving them little bags of Valentine candies, which they love! One day we stopped to eat and heard the men in the next booth talking about religion and how to reach people, so on our way out we left them "pass-along cards" and told them we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ. It took some courage but them seemed very nice about it, that we are all serving Christ! Our missionary badges help and give us more confidence to speak up and say who we are!
So Thursday we found our way to the Silver Springs Stake Center for Zone Conference, and met with the missionaries there, listening to Pres. Johnson speak, as well as his wife and some others. We had lunch and visited with some of the other senior missionaries, and got the 72-hour kit they had put together for each pair of missionaries. While we were in that area (over an hour north of our place) we felt it would be a good opportunity to go to the temple nearby. They only have one session every hour, so we were able to do some names in the Initiatory first, then do a temple session - so very special, and love this beautiful temple.
We were excited to see the temple at night from the freeway - it stands out remarkably as you are driving on the freeway, such a beautiful sight for all to see! Then we learned what the traffic is like on the freeways of D.C. during rush hour, and inched our way along to get 20 miles to a meeting at the Bishop's Storehouse in Upper Marlboro, taking us 1 1/2 hrs. There we met the Relief Society presidents of the other wards in our stake and they all understood why we were a half hour late! Getting home the other 20 miles was a breeze at 9:00 at night.
It was nice to go to the White Plains 1st Ward Sunday, where we tried to visit with the people we could. Then we went to the 2nd ward meetings, followed by their "Munch and Mingle" which they hold quarterly. They have a potluck for everyone, a chance to visit with each other - since they are spread so far apart by distance. This gave us another opportunity to meet other sisters in the ward and introduce ourselves to them. The homeless sister we had been trying to locate was there, so we set up a time to take her to lunch - interesting situation!
One of my favorite visits of the week was to the Bowies. How interesting to sit in their home of 3 generations and hear about their history and conversion story. They also talked about their son-in-law, an Air Force pilot, who come to find out is Jim Price, whose family grew up with our children in Mesquite, NV. What a small world! We have known and kept in touch with his parents, Tom and Barbara Price, for many years, even after they moved to Logan, UT. The Bowies live on Dr. Samuel Mudd Road, so we are looking forward to going back during the daytime to see Dr. Samuel Mudd's house. He is the doctor who set John Wilkes Booth leg while he was trying to escape after killing Pres. Abraham Lincoln. Fascinating history in this area!
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