April 24, 2017

With Labtic family at "Why I Believe" fireside

We have had a wonderful week sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people we have grown to love here in Maryland.  We love our visits with the Labtic family, whose son is planning to be baptized May 6th - yes he is bigger than either his mom or dad!  Iris has us to dinner along with the elders once a week and while the elders teach Rouge, we play grandma, holding baby Kimber! 

She is so precious, we can't resist!  So Sunday night the family met us at the visitor's center for a very special fireside "Why I Believe", where a couple and another man shared their stories of hearing the Gospel and joining the Church of Jesus Christ.  It was very inspirational.  Along with beautiful musical numbers, a young man (Mason Wells) shared his experiencc on his mission in Brussels, Belgium when the terrorist bombing took place while they were at the airport there.  He spent 2 months afterwards in the hospital in Salt Lake recuperating from injuries and burns sustained there, but what a powerful testimony he shared with us!  It was incredible to hear what happened to him, and the blessings in his life.  We felt so fortunate to be at the fireside with the Labtic family and with most of the elders and sisters from the mission, and the investigators and visitors who were there.

Elders Buchanan and Rowley

Labtic family and Sister Brown

Labtics on temple grounds

Azaleas at visitor's center

We have had some other very interesting experiences this week while visiting sisters in both the White Plains wards and also in the Calvert Ward.  One sister said we were an answer to her prayers and was so glad we showed up at her house!  She is pretty lonely all day, so we took her today to visit another sister who lives not too far from her who is also very lonely.  They seemed to "hit it off" pretty well, sharing interesting stories of their lives and getting each other's phone numbers.  We hope it will be an ongoing friendship.
         We have another sister who we visit regularly who has had a stroke, but seems to appreciate the Book of Mormon CDs we brought her and CD player, which she can work pretty well herself.  Since the church no longer sells CDs of the Book of Mormon, we were very grateful when my son sent us his which they don't use anymore.  They are great for older people who don't use all the technology!
         We attended the meetings in the Calvert Ward (about 35 miles east of where we live) on Sunday, and were pleased when the Relief Society president there told us of a couple of sisters we had visited recently who were there who had not attended in several months.  It was nice to meet new sisters and see ones we had been to visit, and feel that we are a part of their ward as well.  It is rather stretching us to be a part of 3 wards now and trying to visit sisters in all 3 of them!
         One last funny experience - as we went to one house, the son was trying to keep the dogs inside (one a pitbull) and he said "Leave the nice, old ladies alone!"  I wanted to tell him we weren't "old", but I don't think he would have believed me!   We just keep pedaling, so we won't fall over - analogy from my daughter of riding a bicycle!  That's what we are doing, just working as hard as we can!
         We have felt the Lord's spirit on many occasions, directing us and blessing us in the work we are doing.  I love the work and feel so blessed to be able to serve, I know this Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and I love sharing it in word and deed with the sisters here.  Have a great week!

April 17, 2017

The beautiful Springtime along Chesapeake Bay                                                           
 What a beautiful time of year to be serving a mission and sharing the message of Jesus Christ!  I love the Easter season, celebrating the Life and Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and feeling new life all around in the beauty of nature.  I have felt the Lord's blessings so abundantly as we visit and get to know sisters in these different wards.  We have been visiting with a couple of elderly sisters regularly, who are not members.  We have been teaching them about the Plan of Salvation, which has been very rewarding for us, we hope for them.

        We spent two days in the Calvert Ward with Sister Larson, visiting sisters in the Chesapeake Beach area, and have had some very rewarding experiences there with them.  Sister Larson also took us out to the Chesapeake Bay, which was great to be able to see and walk the boardwalk there

With Sister Larson at Chesapeake Bay

We couldn't pass up this candy store in Chesapeake Beach!

 This was a small deer in Sister Larsen's yard, a common sight for her.

We have had a special week with family, as Sister Brown's son and family were visiting from Utah in Washington, D.C. during their Spring Break.  We spent a couple of days seeing some of the sites with them.

Sister Brown's family visiting from Utah

At Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson

World War II Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Viet Nam Memorial

 I also went to Stacie's, my daughter who lives in Virginia, Saturday for Easter and enjoyed the time with them.

Dying Easter eggs

Lollipops that grew from magic jelly beans

After the Easter egg hunt

Yummy Easter brunch at Stacie's

 This is one of the real "perks" of being Senior missionaries, being able to adapt our schedules and see family when they are here, or on holidays.  We have made the most of this this week.  It has been a nice break, and now we are ready to dedicate ourselves again to "the work" of bringing sisters closer to the Savior!

April 9, 2017

What a blessing to be able to go to the temple this week!  And we were pleasantly surprised to see several young elders and sisters, as well as our mission president and his wife, in the same session with us.  These elders and sisters had just finished their mission and were heading home the next day, so it was a pretty emotional experience for them.  We felt so blessed to be there coincidentally at the same time with them.  Tender mercies!

Crossing the Patuxent River

Patuxent River

 And we felt the added strength we were seeking to carry forth with our new assignment, as we began going to Calvert Co. this week.  Two to three days a week we travel to Huntingtown and Prince Frederick to  visit sisters in these areas.  Each day we cross over the Patuxent River on a large bridge that connects the two counties (Charles Co. and Calvert Co.) to our additional area of service.  It is quite a beautiful drive, especially on the sunny days.  One day it was pouring rain so hard we debated whether we should go, but by the time we got there the rain had quit and we had some wonderful visits.  Then when we were through, it started hailing and pouring again.  By the time we finished eating at Jerry's (a place well known for it's crab cakes!), it had stopped again, and we were able to drive on home safely.

Crab cakes and shrimp at "Jerry's Seafood"

I have enjoyed so much meeting some very special sisters who live in this area.  One day after leaving our bookmarks with our names and phone numbers in several doors of sisters who weren't home, we got a phone call asking who we were, what we were doing, etc. Then the lady told us she had just been diagnosed with cancer, and asked us to pray for her.  She has not been active in the church for some time, but for some reason, divine intervention, we were led to her house last week. We were able to pass her name on to the Relief Society president there who was able to visit her as well and arrange for a Priesthood blessing for her.  The Lord works in small ways, even through two senior sister missionaries trying our best to serve!

We did find a number of sisters home and were able to have good visits with them and give them a little moral support as they face different challenges - one who is new to the community, another who has a child with a terminal illness, others who tend their grandchildren every day so the mothers can work.  I hope we can be a strength and encouragement to them as we try to help them come closer to the Savior.

Back in our White Plains area Friday we looked for a number of sisters, then went to one of our favorite places, Sister Barrow.  Her daughter, Miranda, had just had wisdom teeth taken out so was recuperating, and we had such a great visit with them.  Then she took us to where the Amish people live, we even went to their little store in the middle of all their farms.  It was so interesting, but very hard to take pictures of them!

Kimi and Miranda Barrow

Amish farmhouse (from the car)

For our P-day Saturday we decided to go to nearby Port Tobacco, and happened to go on their opening day for the season, where they were having a reinactment of Civil War days.  It was very interesting visiting with the people there who love their community and history.  We also went to the Thomas Stone house,  who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  He was a prominent lawyer and statesman in the early days of our country.  At one time Port Tobacco was the 2nd largest city in Maryland and the county seat of Charles County.  There is so much history to learn about here, it is fascinating!

Reinactment of Civil War Days at Port Tobacco

=

 

Thomas Stone house

Original desk of Thomas Stone

Saturday night we were able to take a sister to the Washington D.C. Mormon Choir for a special Easter program - such a wonderful treat!  It truly helped put us in the spirit to celebrate the last week of the Savior's life and this Easter season. 

What a wonderful week!  This beautiful season of the year, my prayer for each of you is that you will remember the Savior, Jesus Christ, what He has done for each of us and the knowledge we all have of  the Resurrection, being with our loved ones and the Savior again some day.  I hope you have a special time this Easter with your families!  My love and prayers are with you.    

April 2, 2017

           

The Harbor at Cobb Island, on the Potomac River

           We have just finished listening to the wonderful sessions of General Conference from Salt Lake City, and hearing Pres. Monson and many of the General Authorities teach us the things of most importance in our lives.  How blessed we are to get their counsel every six months and feel of the Spirit testifying of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and His teachings.  I feel so fortunate to be able to spread His word and testify of Jesus Christ here in Maryland, and to be a part of this great missionary effort.
          We have been busy trying to find sisters here in Waldorf and down the peninsula to Newburg, Port Tobacco and Cobb Island this week. Those we have been able to find are so interesting and great to visit with, and listen to, as well.  One sister, who has recently left an abusive situation, was so excited to see us, said she had prayed for the sister missionaries to come.  It was amazing to be able to find her that day at a trailer park in a downpour of rain, but we did.  She had bought us Krispy Kreme donuts, and then talked and talked to us for about 2 hours (until the rain had stopped!)  We hope it helped her some, we feel she is in such need!  We also found a family who haven't been to church in quite a while, but seemed glad to have us come.  They have two teenage daughters and said they will be trying to get back again.
         There are so many sites to see as we travel.  We hope we will be able to get back to Port Tobacco, as it is full of historical sites.  It was the first county seat in St. Charles County, but is now mainly historical sites like this one-room school house, a courthouse, and some interesting homes. 

One-room schoolhouse

           

Rose Hill

                 We also see quite a variety of houses in areas like this.  Here are two vastly different homes, but may give you an idea - these were on "Poorhouse Road".  Which one fits?  We also found deer running between some of the houses - it was very interesting, though hard to get very good pictures of them!
               

                                       
    
         We made the most of our trip to Cobb Island (a day long trip), and found a great place to eat.  I guess this little harbor town is really packed on the weekends, especially in the summer, with so many boats and places with great seafood.
           

    The shrimp were the largest I have ever had and very tasty!  My youngest son, Brad, would really love to eat here!!
           This is a fun picture of Elder Hunt and Brother Heath (our ward mission leader) putting our vacuum back together for us.  We're not too adept with these kinds of vacuums, but not sure they are either!                                                                                                                                                                        We were excited to have dinner at the Labtics this week and be a part of the discussion with their 11-year-old son as the missionaries taught him about the Restoration of the Church.  Hopefully he will be baptized soon and they can work towards being sealed in the temple this year.  Iris was baptized last April 22nd, and she is really anxious for this to happen.  They are the Filipino family who just had their new baby blessed a couple of weeks ago.      
        Now on to new and extra challenges!  We have been asked to go to the Calvert Ward several times a week to help with their Relief Society (in addition to still helping in the White Plains wards!) This ward is about 35 miles east of where we are living, so we will drive back and forth each day.  One sister is in need of extra help as she is pretty much bedridden with her pregnancy and has a 1-year-old besides.  So we will trade off helping her a few days a week, while the other goes with the new Relief Society president to locate the sisters in her ward.  It is an interesting, new assignment, which will stretch us even more, as we learn to prioritize those we keep visiting!
        Have a great week and remember how much Our Heavenly Father loves you, as well as how much I love all of you!  I know He loves me - I see it every day in the work we are doing and the great people we meet here in Maryland!