February 26, 2017

We have had some great visits with sisters this week, hopefully bringing them closer to Christ as we listen to them tell about their families, conversions, or problems, and then discuss with them the importance of Christ in their lives.  We do listen more than we talk, and that is okay, as it helps them to have someone to talk to.  A couple of sisters have had surgery recently, so it is good to have them tell about their recuperation, etc.  Our sweet Filipino sister had her baby yesterday and text messaged me at 5:30 this morning to let me know - so glad she felt she could!  Two of the sisters in the ward have asked us to visit their mothers (about our ages)  who are not members of the church, one of them we took to lunch for her birthday.  They are very sweet ladies, who seem to enjoy having the visits as well.  While our role is not in teaching them, we share a message of hope with them and the love of the Savior that they seem to appreciate. 
                             

Helen's birthday

   
After district conference Tuesday we took the elders to lunch as two of them were being transferred.  What fun Elders they are and they love to eat!  I should know, raising 5 boys just like them!                                                   These are Elder Sherratt, Elder Montez, Elder Wach and Elder Hirzel.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                             So yesterday while out in Hughesville we heard an alarm go off, which was a tornado warning.  What!  A tornado here in Maryland in February?!!  The sister turned on the TV and we were able to see right where the tornado would be passing during the next 30 minutes - directly over our apartment!  Since we were about 10 miles east of there, she encouraged us to stay put until the tornado had moved north, which we were glad to do!  Then when it had passed we drove home through quite severe rain and hail, but at least were able to get home safely.  Interesting weather here!  Changes from 75 degrees one day to 35 or 40 the next! 

Signs of Spring    

      Tornado Watch!    

Lunch at the Boat Harbor in Baltimore

We decided we need to use our p-days to see some of the many historical sites in this area. so last Monday (President's Day)we went to Fort McHenry, near Baltimore.  We had a terrific day seeing where Francis Scott Key saw the American flag still standing after a night of being bombarded by British ships in the harbor, and then wrote some of the stanzas to "The Star Spangled Banner."  It is one of my favorite stories in American history, and being there made me feel so grateful for those who have fought to keep America free, renewed Patriotism for this great country!   We were glad Sister Hess could go with us and share the experience.   

Raising the flag at Ft. McHenry

The flag at that time had 15 stars and 15 stripes.                 

At Fort McHenry

February 19, 2017

We are certainly getting to see some interesting and beautiful parts of Maryland while meeting many wonderful people.  This week we have visited sisters in Hughesville, Charlotte Hall, Brandywine, Aquasco, LaPlata, Indian Head, and here in Waldorf.  These are some of the areas of the two wards that we serve in, which add quite a variety to our week. And fortunately, we have usually had very beautiful weather - in the 70's the past few days.  Hopefully Spring is on its way!

We had our District meeting on Tuesday in Suitland, and what a fun bunch of missionaries!  The senior couple work with the military in Bethesda, the sisters work in Bowie, and 4 of the elders work in our area, Waldorf (and surrounding areas).   We were also glad to be able to go to the temple that day, in spite of the traffic coming home. 

Because of the limited mileage, the elders are unable to get to some of the outlying areas, so hopefully we can visit some of the people they are teaching. (Using our own cars, we have unlimited miles, and we sure put on the miles each week!)

We have met some wonderful sisters this week, and look forward so much to going back to teach them more about the gospel.  Two sisters are fairly new converts, and we will be able to help with the new member discussions, as the elders can't go there alone.  One sister is from the Phillipines and should be having her baby this week.  We are hoping they can get prepared to go to the temple and be sealed as a family during the time we are here.  Another sister is German and 92 years old.  She joined the church last May - her daughter and family have been members for 40 years, but she wouldn't listen about the church.  Then, suddenly she realized she wanted to be sealed to her family, and was totally able to accept the gospel.  She now glows with excitement about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  She is so excited for them to all be sealed this May, 4 generations together.  What a great day that will be for them!!  We hope we will be able to be there too!

We felt like our visit with another sister was helpful as she opened her heart to tell us about her sweet granddaughter that she is raising - what a challenge!  And another sister came here about a year ago, after her husband passed away, to live with her son and his wife.  She is in a wheelchair and nearly blind from macular degeneration, her son and his wife both are at work all day, so she is very lonely.  She encouraged us to visit whenever we were able -  we will be going back to her for sure.  So many very sweet sisters with so many challenges, we wonder how we can be of help to them.  It is wonderful to know we can spend most of our days in trying to serve and help, giving nearly all of our time to the Lord through serving.  It is very fulfilling and satisfying work, and I am so grateful to be able to serve a mission while I have the energy and health to do this.

Feb. 12, 2017

                       

  

"On the Road Again!"

     Our work continues as we try to find the sisters of the White Plains wards that are in need of a visit or special help.  This week, after we met with the Relief Society President of the 1st ward,  our work about doubled.  The 1st ward is not quite as spread out as the 2nd ward, but there are more inactive sisters or ones that seem to need some extra visits, so we are trying to reach them, and share a message of hope with them.  We are also trying to get back and revisit some of the sisters we found a couple of weeks ago.  Some of the older sisters have trouble getting out, making it to church, etc., so they really seem to appreciate having someone visit them.  One sweet sister, hardly able to walk herself, wanted to fix us lunch some time - think we'll take her lunch instead!  She was happy to see us!!  Another sister with a weakened immune system from cancer treatments has to be very careful getting out in public much, but seemed so glad to visit and tell us all about her family.  She also loved showing us her large amount of food storage, water, preparedness items - I think the members of the Church here in Maryland have seen disasters and know to be prepared for anything!      

Making blankets for a homeless shelter

 It is very interesting finding the different areas of our wards - this week we went to Charlotte Hall and Mechanicsville, very pretty communities with some historical sites we saw while looking for homes, so of course we had to take pictures, in spite of wind and cold!      

Cathedral built 1883

Military Academy - built 1803

The weather has been so changeable - we had some beautiful, warm days (nearly 70 degrees), followed by a day of extreme bitter cold winds and freezing rain.  Usually it is in the mid 40's, much warmer than I had expected, but they say it has been a much milder winter this year.



        We also decided a p-day was necessary, to relax our brains and help us mentally!  So I went to Stacie's for the day Saturday and had a fun day making Valentine cookies with Liam and Isla, and playing games with them.

Liam and Isla making cookies

  It was pretty easy finding the way now that I can use my GPS, and is only about an hour from where we are living.  As senior missionaries, we are able to travel out of our mission area as long as we let our mission president know where we will be.  My companion caught up on her letters, did some shopping, etc., so it was a good break for both of us!

With Esme

It's fun to get to see grandkids occasionally while serving the Lord on a mission! And Stacie sent me home with beautiful tulips to decorate our apartment and yummy treats for  Valentines - how great is that! 

February 5, 2017

We saw our first snow fall last Monday, and it was beautiful!  It was melted off by afternoon, so we didn't have to face driving in it for long.  We also had a great dinner at Pres. Volk's (in the stake presidency) house with the young missionaries and saw them challenge each other and Pres. Volk to who could eat the hottest sauce on their bowls of soup!  Not us!  But it was fun seeing them relax and have fun, and hearing Pres. Volk's conversion story at Hill Air Force Base in Utah!

I finally feel like I am catching up on things as we are getting to know a little more what we are doing, and how to find our way around!  Each time we find a shorter route to the other end of the county we feel successful!  Our motto now is "Work Smarter, not Harder!" as we try to streamline our visiting of so many sisters.  We have realized we could find the maps on our computers and then save an address on the map with a star, label it and then send the map into the GPS on our phone - wow do we feel smart with our "smart" phones!!  I know this is pretty easy for most reading this, but for 2 "elderly" sisters we feel we are getting pretty savvy!  The best part of this is that we can cluster a lot of stars in an area, find quite a few sisters, and not spend so much time traveling.  It has saved us a lot of time, gas and energy!  Aren't we efficient?

We have had some really terrific visits this week!  One sister has been quite sick, is going through a divorce and has not attended church for several years, but seemed glad to have us visit her and asked us to put her name in the temple.  Another sister, who is a school teacher, has a nonmember husband who we had a great time getting to know.  He was a principal for many years (now retired)  and was so interesting to talk to.  Even though he has been through several sets of missionaries, I feel he understands enough to accept and receive the blessings of the gospel.  They took our phone numbers to have us back for homemade crab cakes, sounds pretty yummy!

The sisters we find home have such varied stories!  Many around here home school their children, such as a family of 14 children (some adopted, most are their own) who are all home schooled!  Wow!  Two other sisters lived previously in Nauvoo, at different times - interesting to hear about that.  The sister, a widow like us, who invited us for dinner tonight lived in Utah most of her life, raised her family and taught high school English. She moved here to her brother and sister-in-law's about a year ago, and is anxious to show us some of the historical sights of Maryland and Washington D.C.  Sounds great  now that we will start giving ourselves a P-day!  We did try to see the Dr. Samuel Mudd house Saturday, but it doesn't open until March, so we'll give it a try another day, when it's not so windy!

We are doing a lot of learning, growing, hopefully helping some of the sisters come closer to Christ as we visit and share our testimonies of the Gospel. And now that the Relief Society president in the other ward is back from her cruise, we will meet with her this week to find out the needs of her ward and sisters,  Between the two wards we have more than enough to keep us busy for quite a while!

I have also learned that while I always thought we were sending our children on missions to share the Gospel and bring others to Christ, there are so many other things that the young Sisters and Elders are learning!  They are learning to budget their time and money, discipline themselves by following mission rules, keep an apartment clean, get along with companions and others in the mission, and develop leadership, so many life skills that they use the rest of their lives.  While Sister Brown and I send in a report each week to our mission president, we are not required to always be together, or be to all the district meetings, etc.  We schedule our own time, and get as much done as we feel we are able to in a day.  So glad they give the senior missionaries more flexibility!!   It is great - I love being here and able to serve the Lord and the people here in Maryland!  The Gospel is true, no matter where you are, and it is great to see the church progressing here.