Week Ending April 12, 2013

Sunday we got ready and drove to the stake center for conference. We were in time for most of the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast and enjoyed it. We had a picnic between sessions in the seminary room. Another family had apparently made a picnic as well because they came wandering through after about an hour. We visited and discussed various things for the rest of the break. After conference we took a picture of a family whose daughter is leaving Tuesday on a mission. We also showed them the DVD their daughter is in. She had made it last fall at BYU, but she had thought it wasn’t going to be used for a couple of years. They had a good laugh about that. We then went to visit the Relief Society president for a bit. Her husband is away on a bike trip for a couple of months and Ted feels like she needs to be visited more than usual. She’s a sweet lady. She and her son are going to paint their house while her husband is away. The paint is orange with brown trim.

At conference they announced that they went from 58k missionaries to 64k currently serving with 20k more that have calls but have not yet entered the MTC. This is just in the last 6 months since the age change was announced. What a huge difference. They said that when they met to assign mission calls the Thursday after conference, they already had several hundred that had done all the medical stuff, filled out the paper work, and had the interviews, and were ready to be called. That is amazing. Many bishops and stake presidents had full calendars just to interview potential missionaries.

Monday we packed some of our stuff. We took all the pots and blankets and figurines out of their normal places and boxed them up. We have two big piles of boxes, much more than I had anticipated. The pile continued to grow throughout the day as we added stuff to go. Ted put a pile of shirts and pants on the bed. I’m concerned that he is so concerned about getting rid of stuff that he isn’t keeping the things he needs.

In the afternoon the Relief Society president called to say a sister’s mom had passed away and she’d been asked to help dress the body. She is really sensitive and I’m not sure how she will get through it. I asked if she’d like me to help. She nearly cried she was so relieved. I called the sister and expressed my condolences to her. She asked if I had ever dressed a body and I told her I had helped with my mom. She asked if I would be willing to help. I agreed. At least now I can be there by invitation.

I wanted to take bread to the children of the deceased lady—three of them are in our branch. It was sort of late, but I made three loaves of bread. I also decided to try a cookie recipe to bake while the bread was rising. It turned out OK, but the cookies had to finish baking after the bread so I was up late.

Snow in April

Tuesday we woke to snow. We had planned to go see Jack Surprise today, so we were glad we’d gone previously. When the snow slowed a bit we drove to the three homes and delivered bread and sympathy cards to the families. I spent the rest of the day studying.

Wednesday I studied most of the day, putting some degree of organization to my upcoming lesson for Saturday. We were supposed to read with a family, but we got a call in the afternoon asking us to move to Thursday because they were having a birthday party this evening. We told them I had a conflict at the time they suggested so we decided to postpone for two weeks. They invited us to come to the swim center and join the group for dinner at 6:30. I had my makeup seminary class at 7 PM so we figured that wouldn’t work. It gave us a couple of extra hours at home to get things done.

We went to the church in plenty of time for seminary. I got everything set up then walked around in the Cultural Hall thinking about things while I waited for my student to come. At 7:10 I tried calling then texting to see if she was coming. When I saw someone drive into the parking lot I was quite relieved. My relief was short lived—it was the counselor in the branch presidency coming to help out if he was needed. My student never came. I felt badly, especially since we’d missed the birthday party. 

Colorful blankets

Thursday I was going to help the family dress their mother in the afternoon. I had planned to do some quick shopping afterward. The daughter called to say that the dressing was at 2 PM instead of 1 PM. Since we had several errands to run, Ted and I took a trip into town to take care of everything. When we returned home I quickly finished up a project I was working on. The Relief Society president came a bit early to go to the dressing so we could visit with the family. I was really proud of her. She said she’d been talking to herself all morning. She does not do well around death and especially not when it is someone she has known.

When we got to the mortuary we were about 10 minutes early and none of the family was there. The family began to arrive about 10 minutes after 2. The women who were helping went into a chapel where they had brought the body. The three sisters sort of cried a little and kissed their mom. It was touching. We had a prayer offered by the youngest sister that was beautiful. We then began the dressing process. The president and I helped a little. I mostly served as a comfort to the family since I was the only one that had done it before. The sisters and the two granddaughters did all the work. It was a good experience for all of us. When we were finished she looked nice. The rest of the family came in and paid their respects. We left so they could just have a family time. The president bought pizza for the family and for us on the way home, so we delivered that to the daughter’s home where they were all visiting.

A little later than we’d planned we left for Institute at the Stake Center. We were concerned that a) we might be late and b) no one would show because it is Spring Break. We got there about 2 minutes before 7 PM and just before our most loyal student. Two sisters arrived just a bit later. Their cousin was on her way, but her dad had car trouble and she had to rescue him. We had a good discussion about General Conference before starting the lesson. The lesson was really good. It was mostly discussing their feelings about the resurrection and how that pertains to us. Afterward we played games. It was not exciting. We got home around 10 and went to bed.

Friday things just seemed to go funky. I wanted to make bread to take to Jack Surprise. I started measuring the flour and lost count twice. I am pretty sure I ended up with the right amount of flour, but I wouldn’t guarantee it. When I mixed the dough, it was really sticky and very different than it has ever been. I should realize when I do things in a hurry it always takes longer.

As soon as the bread was out and we were ready we drove to Thoreau to see Jack Surprise and take him a loaf. We visited and listened to Peruvian music while he worked on his pottery. I looked at some of the pottery on the table and would loved to have bought some more. There will always be another occasion. Jack was pleased with the bread.

We had received a call from one of the families at Toh-la-kai telling us they wouldn’t be at seminary tonight so I didn’t have a class tonight. Ted still had to teach his class, so I planned to attend that. I checked with the one family I could reach at Ft. Wingate to make certain they were coming to seminary Saturday. I didn’t want any more “no shows”. We were unable to reach the student in Ted's class that had told us she was coming, but we were confident she'd be there. False confidence. We got to Toh-la-kai and waited for about 20 minutes before deciding she wasn't coming. We decided to make it a date night and stopped for ice cream on the way home. 

At home we packed everything we could into the trunk before going to bed Friday. Early Saturday morning we got ready for seminary then finished packing the car. We taught our classes then dropped our stuff at our cottage and headed out for home. It seemed very strange to be heading home, but we were excited to see family again and especially our sweet new granddaughter.