Our One Year Mark - Three months to go

August 6th last year was the first day of our mission. We only have three months left and there is so much to do before we leave and so much to miss when we go.

This past week has been a week filled with reminiscing for me. Ed endures the best he can when I get with friends from the past. He is very good to me. We saw some of our friends from Houston; attended a party with some of the missionaries I served with in Thailand in the mid 70's; had a party with some of the Thai members from Thailand as we said goodbye to one of them who was returning to Thailand. But the week was not all about friends alone. Our family is together again for a couple of weeks. We are grateful that our girls drove safely from Texas to be with us here. They arrived to see their nephew for the very first time and they are in love with him (as we all knew they would be). He is so cute and is changing quickly, as babies do, into a little boy with a fun personality; lots of smiles and a bobbling head as he tries so hard to understand how to use his new little body. He is getting spoiled already by his two aunts.

It has been fun to have our girls here close by. We spent a fun day in the canyon yesterday. After lunch the kids did a little raft trip on the river while Ed and I watched the baby.

Yes, this is Ed watching the baby..... ^_^

It was so lovely to spend the day in the mountains. We were under a tree with a cool breeze and I enjoyed watching the wind sweep across the grasses on the mountains. It looked like little like a fog blowing across the mountain with the light green, gold and brown colors changing with each movement from the wind. It was so peaceful (even with the sound of the highway and the Heber Creeper nearby). There were many people up at the little park, but everyone was happy and enjoying their associations with each other.

As the time drew close for the kids to be coming off the river I walked down to watch for them and try to catch a picture. I waited for about 45 minutes before they came but the others who were floating by would wave and greet me, inviting me to "come on in". They were all happy even though the water was very cold. I enjoyed sitting in the hot sun and listening to the river. Why is it such a peaceful thing to do? I dearly love the outdoors, the mountains, the trees, the sounds of the water and the wind. Did we come to the earth with this love or do we develop it?
I think I would rather be in the mountains than anywhere except the temple which we sometimes call the "mountain of the Lord". Hmmmmm?

With the realization of the shortness of our time here there is much I am concerned about getting finished. Not only the work which we have begun on the oral genealogies, but our own work, my own family work that I feel I have also been called here to do. The days are quickly going by and there is so much to do. I received more from my mother this week; such treasure from our family. I hope that I am up to the task. These things need to be recorded so they are not lost.

I have also been helping another sweet missionary sister put her own family book together and she is leaving the mission this month so the pressure is on. it will be done tomorrow, I hope, and go to the printer for a proof and then final printing. Because of these books I have been helping with and other books I have seen done by missionaries I am inspired to do my own family books too. I hope I will be able to finish one before we leave the mission.

I am enjoying the local farmer's market. I have been treated very well by one woman from whom I buy a case of raspberries every week plus fresh apricots and cherries. They taste so good. I enjoy sharing raspberries because everyone seems to like them. One of my sister's has a big garden and she has been sharing some of her zucchini. They are huge and very tasty! I have also enjoyed watching the growth of the garden by the old cabin between the Family History Library and the Church Museum. I still don't know who gets the produce from this little space....tomatoes, herbs, onions, pumpkin, corn, etc.

Corn and pumpkin growing strong!

One kind of funny thing happened this week while we were having our companion prayer together on Thursday night. We had gone to workout at the gym like we do many days and Ed usually walks home from the gym and I will often go and visit my mother for a little while knowing I will get home before Ed because he usually takes a long route home so he walks for 2+ hours. This night he walked too far so he was wiped out. During our companion prayer, kneeling together in the living room, I was saying the prayer and all of a sudden Ed screams and I look up and see him shoot up to his feet, teetering back with a wild look on his face! I thought he was going to crash through the sliding glass doors! He continued to scream and then did a hobble step to the chair and I realized he was having a severe cramp in his leg. He kept moaning and moving around the room stopping at the dining table where the pain began to lessen and final stop. It didn't take much more than 20-30 seconds and afterwards we chuckled, but it was a frightening experience. Initially I was afraid he was having a heart attack and was going to fall through the glass. Needless to say, when all was calm and we decided to finish our prayer, Ed decided he wouldn't be doing it from a kneeling position.

Today at church a young woman spoke about the symbols that God has given us to remind us of how much He loves us. The symbol she chose to share briefly was night and day. Each day we can wake up feeling good, vowing that today we will do all that needs to be done with a great attitude and loving everyone and then as the day progresses we make an unkind comment, we neglect things that should have been done or we forget commitments we have made and at the end of the day we aren't feeling very charitable to anyone, including ourselves. But then we are able to go to sleep and get rested and wake up another day to try to be a little better. It is like the resurrection. Because of Jesus Christ we are able to have another go at it when the sun comes up. To have the chance to try again to become better people, a little kinder, a little more giving, a little more caring about others. Heavenly Father knew we would need to have many days to practice before we could return home.

I am grateful for each new day.