The big news this week is to report that Ed has been called to be the Assistant Zone Leader for our Zone. He was actually asked the first day we were in our Zone but it wasn't announced until last Tuesday. What that really means is this.....our current Zone Leaders are leaving the end of October and they want to be sure Ed knows all he needs to know before they leave. They have been here 3 years and were Zone Leaders from their 2nd week. I have a lot of faith in my cute husband, but there is a lot of information to know. I also realize, although no one has said anything to me directly, that I am his companion and whenever they refer to the Zone Leader it is in the plural. Sister Cook does a lot of things for the Zone. I think that they are very much aware of my physical condition and are waiting to talk to me until they know that I am recovered. President and Sister Boye have been very interested on my progression.
To that end, I have been wheelchair free for a week now. It feels very good to walk, even though I can't walk very far yet without finding a place to stop and sit for a moment. I am very grateful that I live close to everything. I can make it from our apartment to the Library. I can make it to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building by going through Temple Square where I can sit on a planter box one time and make it the rest of the way. I am so grateful to have legs and that I have been blessed to have this problem heal as quickly as it has. The funny thing is that I am working so hard to heal myself and be able to walk so I can do my job better, which consists of sitting at a computer all day long! Regardless, I am very grateful and pleased.
We had a visit from Clyde and Kathy Black his weekend. We love seeing our friends and catching up on the news from home, although most of their news was hearing about the fire in their home which we were very sad to hear about. but we appreciated their visit.
Today in Relief Society the new sister missionaries were asked to give a 2 min. introduction about themselves and bear a brief testimony. There were some very specific things that we were asked to share: Name; were we were from; info about our family; something unique about ourself; our testimony. What would you have said was unique about you? (You can respond in the comment section at the bottom of the blog.) I asked Ed to help me and he came up with a good one. So hear is what I said:
I grew up in Portland, Oregon and loved going to the coast. I decided during my lifetime I would like to at least put my feet in every ocean in the world. Pacific and Atlantic were easy. I served a mission in Thailand in 1974 and I did put just my feet in the Indian Ocean. A few years ago my mother took all of her children on a trip to Alaska, a favorite spot of our recently deceased father and we went to “The Top of the World” in Barrow and put our feet in the Arctic Ocean….actually it was more like wading in puddles on the arctic ice, but it was in fact the ocean.
In 2000 another designated ocean was added, the Southern Ocean. I was happy that a business trip to South Africa allowed me to tag along for a month and I was able to put my feet in the southern ocean in Durban and Capetown...
Did you know that about me? One of the things I have loved about the many meetings in our mission is the focus on learning about each other and coming to love our fellow missionaries. There is a real camaraderie here but for me it is so interesting to learn about the lives of these wonderful people. One may who we heard in the 3 min personal history we are all supposed to be prepared to give in the Monday morning devotionals, told us that he was an architect and that one of the projects he had designed was the underground parking for the JSMB which included what is now the beautiful garden area between the old Church Administration Building on South Temple and the JSMB, formerly the Hotel Utah. He planned those gardens! There are people here who are authors, musicians, professors, world renowned chemists, teachers, school board members, career military, accountants, stay at home moms, secretaries, nurses, lots and lots of a wide variety of skills and experience. Some of our sweet single sisters are recently widows. One told us that since her husband was called on his mission she decided she would fill one too.
We had an interesting discussion with one of the other couples in our zone who are from Britan, Elder and Sister Brewis. He is a Medeival scholar and we often depend on him to clear up some of the questions we have in our work. Names of places have changed so much over the years. ( For instance, I learned this week that Yorkshire was called Ebor, short for Eboracum which was the Roman name for the place when they occupied it.) Anyway, the discussion was about Labor Day which brought up the question...would you celebrate July 4th? (Yes......it was Ed who asked the question....what a silly question to ask Brits!) We had been talking with Sister Brewis but upon hearing this Elder Brewis swung around in his chair and quite emphatically, but with his ever present smile, told us they did not celebrate the 4th! We then found out a bit about the British view of those who came over to American to begin with. The conversation drew to a close, however, when we all agreed that in a historical gospel perspective it was pretty clear that the Lord was in charge of all of that anyway, not the Kings of England.
Being here is a special blessing for me. I miss our home, our girls, our comforts, but we really have everything we need here and we are seeing blessings each day. I love going to church meetings in the gorgeous chapel in the JSMB. I love going to the Family History Library each day. I love seeing the sun set out our window each evening. I love smelling the flowers when we go by them on Temple Square. It is a great place for us and we are being blessed each day. I hope that you feel His Love in your life too.
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