.....tender, sweet, gentle, peaceful.............

We have had a tender experience tonight that I want to share with you while it is still vivid. This morning Sister Newman received a phone call from a man in Florida asking if some missionaries could go to give his sister a blessing. After telling him "yes" and ending the call, she found the address on the map and began agonizing over which Elders to call because it was so "far out there".... in the netherlands between Ensley and Jasper.........Roger said he would "take Jerry and go". So after dinner with the Ensley Elders tonight, we went to pick up Jerry then to find this home "way out there". Roger had called and talked with Rebecca--daughter of "the sister". She is not a member, but was very willing to have him come. .........and it was "way out there"!!!! While on the way, I called to tell her we would be there in about thirty minutes. She again sounded very thankful for our effort. When we arrived, there were about fifteen cars in front of the house!! We wondered if we had been "set up", but went to the door without fear. Rebecca answered the door and again expressed her gratitude. We walked in and found a house full of people!! ...many of them not visible!! "Momma" was in a room off the kitchen........a comfortable room that felt almost sacred. She lay in bed surrounded by children and grandchildren. This sweet, wonderful daughter to God, had raised eight stalwart children; all grounded with faith in God and His goodness. She is 91 years old. A widow for 36 years. There was such a feeling of peace and love in that room! And then I recognized the same feeling we had in our house the week before Suzanne left us. Marjorie opened her eyes and looked at Roger, then put up her arms for a hug! I don't know that I could describe or even find words for my feelings as I watched my good husband tenderly and gently hug this woman and tell her he loves her. Rebecca explained her condition and Roger asked if they were ready to let her go. Rebecca said Momma was ready to go, but she was not ready to let her. After reassuring her that we are never ready to have loved ones go he asked "the children"--about ten with some spouses--if we could have prayer together before the blessing. They readily agreed. Such a loving, peaceful spirit filled the room and we were all teary. Poor Jerry! Roger's home teaching companion, is so tender, he had a real struggle with his emotions. What a joy and privilege to know him! Roger gave Marjorie a beautiful blessing of peace and comfort...... And all were comforted. There were fewer tears...........but all were so gracious and grateful. It was a real privilege to be there. Such good people! One of the older daughters told me of her son who "Momma lost" five years ago at age 41 and showed me a picture taken of him and Momma the last time they saw him. A wonderful picture! And I thought he would have his arm around his grandma again before too long.......that he was there just waiting for her to come!!!! I wanted to tell her that, but it never did feel like the right time. I hope that wasn't my fear getting in the way. But wow!! what an amazing experience!! Roger couldn't leave without another hug from Marjorie. And I talked to her for a minute and told her how grateful I was to be with her. We walked out into the soft Alabama night so thankful for a loving Father and the knowledge that He loves all His children.................

Christmas 2015

Here's a rundown of our unforgettable Christmas........

5:00 a.m. - Roger gets up to bake 24 muffins
6:00 - I get up to bake the breakfast casseroles put together the night before. It's going to take a little creative use of the oven.........it worked
7:30 - leave for Ensley to eat breakfast with six Elders
8:00 - eat breakfast
8:30 - 9:00 - finish eating and get things clean up and moved out of the way so they can play basketball............no I do not participate. I am painfully aware of my limitations!
9:00 - 10:00 - I go in the chapel to play the piano.....for about an hour.......while Roger takes "laps" around the building......just a few........then we sat and watched and cheered for the good shots. (One of the Elders plays for Utah......however, there were a couple who could stay with him pretty well! Lots of three-point shots made.
11:00 - came home and had a nap.......at least two hours long
1:00 - 4:00 - we opened gifts. Richard called. It was pretty quiet. We started watching a Christmas movie we like while the storm outside picked up a little
5:00 - 5:30 (somewhere in there) Pres. Hanks called to ask if we were safe. I told him we were in our apartment. He asked if we were watching the news. When I told him no (we don't have TV) he said it was time to get in our bathtub.........there was a tornado watch........... We are obedient. We pulled the mattress off our queen-size bed and wrestled it into the bathroom where it obviously was not going to lay down flat over the tub!! ALSO!! both of us were not going to fit in the tub!!!! Roger got the extra pillows from the closet (because we are also supposed to put on helmets--which we don't have) and while I sat in the tub (under the tippy mattress) he laid down on the floor (also under the mattress). I found a live stream of the weather on my iPad and we watched while they watched the storm. Very interesting! Next time we will know to turn on the live stream before we pull the mattress off the bed! It's fascinating to me that they can watch the radar of a storm and know fairly accurately where it's going to strike if it does. (It's not really a tornado unless it touches down.......before that it is a funnel cloud.) And it did touch down over in the area of our little branch! Very near a couple of single sisters' homes. I called one, who I visit teach--she was fine but without power. A small inconvenience! Roger called the sister he home teaches the next day and she was also fine. (She was at church today. Stalwart lady!) It was only on the ground a few seconds, so Birmingham is relieved there were no serious injuries.........mostly downed trees and 2-3 houses. It could have been so much worse! That is a very tightly-packed part of town! We spent about 45 minutes under the mattress. I should have got some pictures! Kind of funny........unless, of course, we had been in the path! Like I said, next time we will know better what to do. And we will have our shoes!!!! We were obedient, but that's about all I have to say for us! The rest of the night was uneventful.......sprinkled with watching more about the weather. We've had unbelievable rain!!! In less than 24 hours the Birmingham area had roughly four inches!!!!! There was flooding everywhere! There are pictures of roads completely washed out, some partially, and many covered with water so you can't see what it's like underneath! The whole northern part of the state is very soggy or drowned!! As I've said before........I don't know where the water goes! We went to Ensley yesterday for a baptism and came home through Vestavia Hills. There is evidence that the storm drains were full and some running over, but the water is all gone now. And where the grass was squishy yesterday, it's not at all today! And no mud like we have at home! Interesting.............
7:00 - 8:00 - we visited with the family at home with facetime. Love that!!! It was good to see them and talk with them. 
I have no idea what time it was when we finally called it a day and went to bed.......after checking our weather radio and re-setting it so it will now alert us!! And did alert us several times about flash flooding throughout the remainder of the evening.

I'm going to leave you with something dear to my heart...........the missionaries of the Alabama Birmingham Mission are "Steadfast in Christ"..........Lisa helped me design and get these shirts made for the grandchildren, then had them make this video for me. I LOVE it!!!!! Thank you!! All of you for doing this for me!!!

IT WORKED!!!!!! ..............maybe.............But there are all of them but two! makes me homesick! I love you guys!!!

'Twas the day before Chirstmas............

........and we were playing Santa!!! or postman.............. We had several packages in the office that needed to get to missionaries, and one especial one we had misdirected and sent to the wrong Elder "Helaman". (since we have two of them in the mission) We waited for Tim, the mailman, to deliver at the office on the 24th. And after sorting that mail, we headed north-east toward the "top of Alabama". Lovely day. Lovely drive. Beautiful weather. Beautiful world.

Our third stop was in Guntersville.........on the edge of a lake made by a dam on the Tennessee River. It's a gorgeous "corner" of the world.........and outside the sisters' apartment we found this huge, ancient, amazing tree. It was the roots that really captured my notice..........

You can hardly tell where the tree ends and the curb begins!! Fascinated me! and I should have taken more pictures, but I didn't..............instead, I took pictures of the water as we headed out of town, across the "river" (they have a sign "Tennessee River", which I think is kind of funny......and somewhat misnamed) .......anyway..........it was beautiful. I wish the pictures were better and you could feel the refreshing, soft air and smell the moist ground. Words simply cannot do justice to the creations and deeds of an all-wise and extremely generous Father!

We were heading to Scottsboro.........a place I have wanted to see. And! oh! my!!! I was not disappointed in any way!! From Guntersville, which is "down" on the river, we climbed up over the hills till I could look all around and not see another hill "above" us!! I really felt like we were "on top". Then........we started down the face of this hill. I don't know how better to explain it........like going down switchbacks, but there were no switchbacks, just down the side of the hill facing the river........all the way down.........it was one of those times when the beauty (and maybe some longing) makes me ache........... These pictures are as we were leaving Scottsboro.........I drove most of the way between Guntersville and Scottsboro.

I somehow remember........and please don't ask me how, since it was so long ago...........in elementary school or very early high school talking about the Tennessee Valley Authority and how they were building dams on the river. I vaguely remember some controversy surrounding it--but I was too young to understand all that or even really be interested in it............well..........I get it now! While I will admit that the lakes are beautiful.......stunningly so...........I can't help but mourn for the "little" farmer, living on the same farm his grandfather farmed......the family who loved their little spot of earth tucked away in the trees up the "holler".......all who were forced to move because someone, somewhere decided it would be a good thing to build a dam. I'm not opposed to progress, but I am saddened when some are forced to do painful things they would never do if left alone. So I can look at the beauty of these lakes.......all the while feeling a small ache inside..........

Then!!! we had a spectacular sunset!!!!! Wow!! Someday I'm going to know how to do this!!! Again........I'm sorry for the smudgy trees........but it's better than nothing............and I kind a like 'em!

 We met missionaries in Huntsville and then Decatur before heading south and "home". It was about 8:00, and we were tired..............found out we had missed the deluge in the Birmingham area..........we really had an absolutely gorgeous day for a drive! And met with some of the finest young people I have the privilege of knowing! I feel so utterly blessed to be here!!! Thank you, all, for your love and support.

Vulcan & Christmas is coming.........

Okay..........so you know Vulcan is the Roman god of the forge. Well........Birmingham was once known as the "Pittsburg of the South"..........rich ore deposits.......also coal deposits........yeah..... This huge statue--cast iron, no less--was made for the 1904 Worlds' Fair. It's really pretty cool. 56 feet tall and 120,000 pounds! He stands on a tower--I don't know how tall. But you can climb the 80something steps or ride the elevator. The trouble with the elevator is when you come to the top, the walkway over to the observation deck (and the deck as well) is not solid! You can look down through the "floor" and see the ground below!!!!! I don't deal well with things like that, but I forced myself, and so glad I did! Such a fun excursion!!! My pictures aren't really good, but you will get the idea. You know..........I just remembered that we did this after donating blood. I guess it's a good thing we didn't hike up the stairs.........we came down them though...........

 This was as good as I could get from down below...........he's HUGE!!!!

Here's a little perspective..........I know I'm not tall........but I don't even come to what can properly be called his calf!! Fun day! And I learned more about the steel industry in Birmingham.

Another fun little bit.........I had been looking for a Christmas tree ornament. And what I really wanted was one the shape of Alabama made out of Alabama steel............well!!!! Guess what Pres. and Sister Hanks gave all the missionaries!?!?!!??? Yup! that's right!

Oh!!! I also need to include the wonderful little tree we have in our apartment! The "Achievement Day Girls" in our home ward made it a sent it to us. I added a fun little string of lights and wa-la! We have our tree!!!! Thank you, Girls!!! It has been such a surprising blessing to be able to focus more on what Christmas really is rather than on the fluff............confession here..........I'm a little nervous about Christmas Eve, and I have been more homesick this past week than all before, but it really has been pretty stress-free, and that's a good thing..........

And here is the little tree I decorated for the office. This morning when we got there, the top half of the lights were out!!!! And you all know how I love playing with fickle lights! I even got the "resident electrician" (really! our housing coordinator is an electrician!) to try to figure it out. He didn't get any farther than I did!! So I took off that string of lights and put on a new string I bought yesterday! Isn't it festive? The new lights are LED so you can only see the blue ones..........I wish I had got 100 lights instead of 50...........that's just my regular lousy decorating skill............

Then..........we found out Donna is in the hospital, and we don't know how long, so we bought a little tree and now she has a Christmas tree in her hospital room............it's another indication of my questionable decorating skill.............but the lights are bright and it cheers up her room. Here I thought I wouldn't have to worry about a tree.........and now I've managed to decorate TWO of them!!!! I even put the lights on the office tree TWICE!!! Yikes!!!

 

Ooooooooo............poor tree..............I think it looked better in person.........

A lot of catching up.............

I don't know if I am busier than I used to be or lazier...........deep question........... There have been things going on..........I'm definitely getting farther behind, if that means anything.

The week following my post we had "temple week". All the missionaries are assigned a time when they can come in and attend a session at the temple. Roger and I were privileged to attend two sessions with them. It is always a treat to do this........the temple is wonderful on its own, but to attend with the missionaries adds something. We love it! It takes three days to get all the missionaries there. And since the temple is not "open" Tuesday and Thursday until 6:00, they ask the workers to volunteer for the "missionary sessions". And now that I'm getting to know a few people it's fun to walk around the corner and see someone I know and love!

We were able to donate blood again on the 5th. That's every eight weeks since arriving in June! We love doing that! ..........the next week was Christmas parties. We divided the mission in half--roughly--for those. Five zones in the south and four in the north. That's not half the missionaries, but since we have nine zones there is no way to divide it evenly. The food was catered and absolutely delicious both days. (We had the privilege of attending both parties!) And it was a privilege. Any time we get to associate with the missionaries. Two nights before the party in Huntsville Pres. Hanks called Roger and said he was having a problem with the seat belt in his car. Roger went over to see what he could do to help.......then brought the car home and tried to work on it here. They thought maybe a dime had dropped into the buckle and Roger was trying to get it out. He worked on it somewhere around an hour here (after an hour at the President's home) and finally gave up. He called his friend at the dealer's and she said to bring it "first thing in the morning".......which he did. They couldn't get it to work either so they all decided it best to order a new part and the President would drive the missionary car we needed to get up there for some missionaries. (I wish I could have seen him folded into that little car!!) We had already made arrangements to ride home with the Newmans. Roger and I waited the next day--the day of the party--for the dealership to call and say the car was ready. We ran some errands and twiddled our thumbs and finally they called. We left for Huntsville close to noon, I think. We wanted to stop along the way at an Amish bakery for some of their good bread. The GPS had us get off the interstate way early, so instead of the additional 20 minutes it was going to take us, I think it added an hour!!!! Sister Hanks called to see where we were. Roger told her we would be there in 45 minutes. Mistake!!!! You never tell a mom you are going to be there earlier than possible!!!! So she was calling us an hour later (when we really were almost there) to see where in the world we were and if we were okay. She had put plates in the frig for us so we were able to have some of the amazing food served at that party as well. We had "talent shows" at both parties........and wow!!!! It was so good and so fun!! I loved how they all cheered for one another; especially those who were so shy they would hardly open their mouths! Both days were totally wonderful and we feel so privileged to be involved. I had also asked for and received some orders for media (since we were not having MLC in December) and we wanted to get out all the copies of the Book of Mormon to start our "Book of Mormon blitz" the first of January. (I have never heard Pres. Hanks call it that--I just don't know what else to call it). I have ordered all the copies they will let us have for two months in a row now..........December 1st I ordered 39 boxes to augment the 91 boxes (plus 7 boxes Spanish) already in the closet and over the two days of the parties the Assistants hauled 93 boxes out of the office! I now have the additional 39 that can go out after the first of the year.

The next week was transfers.............need I say more? After getting all the mail out and making sure everyone had something for Christmas, (I have a new Christmas giving idea!!!) we had bikes, bedding, driving papers, safety DVDs, ............I wonder if it's ever going to be without incident!?!?!!! One sister thought she ordered her bike, but didn't, so her parents ordered it here and she had to go pick it up after transfer meeting. We don't know what is going on with the bedding.........we were told to have everything for them and they would bring money to buy the sheets and pillowcase.........some come with nothing, some with everything, and all the rest come with parts!!! It's quite a nightmare! But not nearly the nightmare it's going to be when these missionaries start going home and the issue of what is whose rears its ugly head. I can honestly say I'm glad I won't be here!!!! Roger couldn't find his safety DVD he is to show Wednesday morning..........he asked me to go to the office to look for it. I went with my customary bad attitude in those situations. When I couldn't find it how could I possibly ask for help!?!?!?!??? I did anyway..........still didn't find it. Turns out it was here at the apartment!! I didn't look here............We were able to go out to the airport Thursday morning to hug them goodbye. I tell the Elders their mom is going to be hugging them soon, so I can before they get on the plane. It's kind of hard to have them go, but I think of the families who will be waiting for them on the other end and how they have grown and the things they now know..........and I am glad. I've been there!!! And so have most of you.............so you know what I mean.

We had a senior Christmas party at the mission home. Did you know I am "a seriously good cook"!?!?! Well.........I am. Pres. Hanks has declared it. But I really can't take all the credit. I took Jill's cranberry cake with butter sauce and Audrey's dinner rolls. Neither turned out "perfectly" but the recipes are so good they can pretty much stand on their own. It was fun!! And we sang a few Christmas songs......asking if anyone could play the piano. Sis. Newman said I could. So I got to play. How I love singing Christmas carols with people who feel about Christmas pretty much as I do! And the piano at the mission home is a nice one!

We had our Christmas program in sacrament meeting today...........there were about as many people in the choir as there were left in the congregation. After church Roger and I went to the hospital to see Donna. We are going back tomorrow to take a tree and decorations. I neglected her shamefully last week.........didn't even know she was in the hospital until this morning after I tried calling and then texted her about going to church with us. I must stay better connected with her.

Wow!! this is long..............I'll put Vulcan in another post.............and try not to let things go so long between posting.

Moss Rock Preserve

Whew.........I finally have some time when I feel like I have the energy and the time to make this post! Things seem to come in waves...........a time of almost dead calm.......and then LOOK OUT!!! Wave after wave after wave. It kind of makes the calm look good.

In my last post I said we were "off on an outing"........well.........to Moss Rock Preserve! I don't know how we found the place, or if it was really the "start". But there was a trail head and a little explanation. Sister Newman wanted to go as well and she was a delightful companion. We were thankful for the map she called up on her phone! It was a perfect day for a hike--not too hot, not too cold, sunshine........wonderful! We wanted to hike to the waterfall, but didn't know exactly where or how far. We knew--or at least thought we knew--it couldn't be too far. And it wasn't...........our total hike ended up about three miles long if my new phone is to be trusted with that kind of thing.......I have lots of pictures. And really. They "tell" the story better than my words can............. Of course I'll talk about them as they come...........

This "creek" was mostly pretty slow moving......lots of pools and sometimes it would disappear altogether under the rocks. It was obvious that there are times when lots of water comes down here.  That would be fun to see from a safe place. I enjoyed the "lazy"...........and the beautiful reflections with the floating leaves.....

Here are some more of those whatever they are............I wish I knew! Aren't they pretty??? 

This is Sister Newman........a "grandma shot"........ And I show it to you so you can see what I am standing on in the picture below. Obviously, we have differing criteria in framing a picture! We are holding onto a rope. Roger thought we should Tarzan swing out over the creek. HA!!! HA!!! He didn't even climb up on that root or log or whatever it is........the picture of Roger is on the trail. Lots and lots of rocks......mostly big ones........

This is one of the pools that seemed to have no outlet.......the water came out from under the rocks not far away.......off to the left........

Here's the waterfall........ You probably can't see it really well, but I didn't climb down the side up there on the right. Yeah......I'm scared of things like that. I know my limitations!! I hiked down the trail and back up along the water. And I have more than this picture--of course--but this one shows the whole thing.......really, lots of smaller falls........ And we thought there would be more water just following a rain storm......

 All kinds of leaves floating on the calm, clear water........it was beautiful!

If you look closely in this one, you will see the shadow of a fish about the middle of the picture. If you look even closer, you will see the fish!.......not very big, but there were quite a few of them all along......trapped in the pools until there is enough water to run over the rocks.......

I particularly love this one........the reflected filigree and the soft color of the leaf......

I thought we finished in pretty good shape! Our best day of exercise yet!