Week Ending February 8, 2014

Sunday the students were supposed to do brief lessons. One student was out of town, but his sister was prepared and did an excellent job. The other student had forgotten. In Sacrament Meeting we had a nearly steady stream of testimonies and there was a good spirit. I was very grateful for the people that spoke. I had the opportunity to bear my testimony. Our student was sustained to become a Priest and he was excited about that. In Relief Society the teacher shared Pres. Monson’s message from the current Ensign Magazine then turned the time over for testimonies. It was very uplifting.

After church we attended the ordination of our student. That was good. He is starting his missionary application. I’m excited it’s that close. We talked with the branch president about starting the Temple Prep class for a newly called missionary. She only has six more weeks before she wants to go to the temple so we’ll have to hustle. He wanted to include others in the class but decided to wait until they are more ready.

Monday I finished weeding the front yard. There was a little snow on the ground, but I was concerned that there might be more snow during the day and it would get harder to finish if I didn’t do it now. It looks much better than before so I’m glad I did it.

I made a squash recipe for our seniors’ dinner. I thought it turned out very well, but I am sometimes off base when it comes to others’ tastes. I was pleased when everyone raved about it and asked a couple with a garden for more squash. One couple had their departure date moved up a couple of weeks because their replacements are arriving earlier than expected. I kidded them that we had to be extended to pick up the slack for people that leave early. They’ve been good friends. At home evening we visited with Sarah, the new institute teacher. When her husband came in and said it was snowing and they were leaving, we decided to go. Both of us live out of town a ways. I was not unhappy to get home early.

Tuesday I spent almost all day trying to get seminary stuff done. I had to prepare my lesson for Thursday and start on the lessons for next week. It snowed off and on most of the day. Bro. Miller sent out an email to all the seminary and institute teachers telling them about our new assignment. I guess we are now official. We’ll go to Grants Wednesday night for institute and stay for early morning seminary Thursday. We thought it made more sense to stay than drive both ways late and early. We’ll see how it plays out.

Wednesday I worked on seminary stuff, finishing up the lessons for next week so I can do the assignments for home study. We went to the senior center for lunch. The pork chops were a bit tough—I couldn’t get my fork in so I had to eat with my hands, which is how most people eat anyway. The gravy on the potatoes had tons of salt, but the dressing didn’t have any so they were OK together. They had boxes that had arrived last week, so we took a couple, taking out the things we couldn’t use and taking some extra granola bars that they have trouble giving away. The boxes were mostly soups and granola bars so it was useful to us.

In the afternoon we drove to Grants. We are not having good luck with these visits so far. The purpose of going with Bro. Miller is so he can teach the students and the teachers some good ways to learn together. Tonight the teacher was sick. Her husband who is in the stake presidency was there to open the room for us and he actually started the class with a few comments. He’s a real talker, so it was about 45 minutes later when he left the classroom. He was supposed to have an interview, but he was back in about 2 minutes—his appointment had given up waiting and left.

Bro. Miller led the class doing a “scripture squeeze”. They selected a couple of verses from the reading block (the chapters that were being studied that week). They started by reading the chapter headings and selecting a chapter to focus on. Then they narrowed it to a couple of verses. They began writing on the board questions that came to mind as they read the verses. We listed places to go to find answers to questions, such as footnotes, index, context clues, conference talks, etc. We were given about 2 minutes to research answers to questions of our choosing. After that the students discussed the things they had found. I was so impressed at the variety of responses and the things they had seen and understood through their efforts. After the class we talked for about half an hour about the future of CES in the stake and some ideas the counselor had for our visits.

Thursday we were up early for seminary. About 5:30 we had a text message from Bro. Miller saying school was on delayed start so seminary was cancelled. We were still going to meet with the teachers at 7:30, but I could have used the extra hour of sleep. After breakfast we watched the news until it was time to check out. We should have allowed more time. First the printer wasn’t working at the desk. Then the statement showed us paying $10 more for the room than it should have. The clerk adjusted the bill and gave us the credit, but we were late by the time we finished. We hurried to the chapel where Bro. Miller and the teachers were meeting. We had a good discussion, coming up with some ideas of ways to strengthen the program. The teachers have only been members about two years. It gives them good rapport with the kids. I really like Bro. Miller. He is always telling us what a good job we are doing so it is good to work with him. I’m not sure when we’ll actually get to see him teach students and teachers together, but I guess we will still be learning and hopefully helping the groups.

We left so we could get home in time for the quilting class. We were later than we’d planned so I called and told the president she needed to open the building. I got to the church the same time she did. She is a bit discouraged because her quilt is taking so long, but I keep trying to keep her moving forward. We had a new lady today. She picked out fabric for a couple of projects and was actually able to put a piece of fabric together with part of a sheet and some batting and start tying. It is going to be really cute. It turned out she attended BYU while I was there, so we tried to figure out if our paths crossed.

About an hour before seminary I began getting things ready for class. I wanted to try some different things, so I made some adjustments to the way I would use the power point. All four girls were there, but I had one on the phone and we couldn’t see another one. We talked about the chapters we were studying at a high level then I gave each of the girls a set of questions and some scripture verses and asked them to prepare a short presentation for us to answer the questions. Three of them did a good job. The fourth gave about three sentences. She’s a sweet girl, but she really doesn’t like to say much. We had a good discussion on the last chapter about justice and mercy. I really enjoy these girls.

Friday I had my meeting with the online teachers and had a good discussion. I feel like they all know so much more than I do and they have enough kids in their classes that it works well for them. I feel good about my efforts, but I would really enjoy having a few more kids to be able to mix things up a bit. I finished the binding on the small quilt then decided to tie some yarn knots on the squares to hold the batting in place and to add a little variety. I was able to get it all done and I am very pleased with it. I took some pictures so I can remember it then I spread it out on the couch so I could enjoy it a while.

Finished quilt

Our gate has been a real pain at times. It was really old and, with the shifting ground, it was tough to open. It was dragging on the ground and my last efforts required me to empty my hands and use both hands and my foot to open it. Today our landlord built us a new gate—it is beautiful. He made it out of the bleachers from the old high school. It opens like magic—it’s really wonderful.

In the evening we wanted to go to the ball game at school to watch a student play and hopefully to connect with his sister and set a time for Temple Prep. As we shut the door to the house, Ted said, “Oh, I forgot my keys.” I didn’t bring mine, so we were stuck. I tried opening it with a card, but I couldn’t get it to work. Ted finally headed toward the store to see if someone could let us in. He ran into the missionaries and our neighbor, who they were teaching, and they all came over to help us. Elder Dean tried the same thing I had and couldn’t get it to work either. Our neighbor tried his knife then went home and got his tool box. He was looking for a wire so I went to the shed behind the house to see if I could find one. When I came back, they had finally got it open.

Ted was chilled from being outside so we waited a few minutes to leave. It was in the third quarter when we arrived. I hadn’t realized we were that late. Our team was behind by about 10 points and lost in the end. We decided to stay for the varsity game since Ted was still a little chilled. It was really a good game. The other team led most of the game until about the last 5 minutes. Wingate pulled ahead for a bit then the score was tied. It was a real squeaker. At the end we won by about 3 points. The other team was first in their division and we were second in ours, so now the teams are tied.

Weird cloud in sky--after all, we are in New Mexico!

Saturday we gave the quilt to a lady who lives with her granddaughter as a late Christmas present. Their daughter/mother had died last year. She opened it and wrapped it around her legs. We told her it was to keep her warm on cold days. They told us her legs had been burned when she was 13 and they are very sensitive to the cold. She loved the quilt and said thank you several times which was a big deal since she doesn’t speak much English. It really felt good to give them the quilt. The granddaughter is making some big changes in her life. She is also getting her second Associates degree in May and is planning to walk in the graduation so her grandma can see her.