.....a month or two days...........

I feel I've lived a month in two days..........whew! Here's the run down.......... We had books to take to the missionaries in the northwest part of the mission and the sisters also needed a new mattress. Thankfully, we were able to do both in one trip. And it was so good to see those missionaries!!! (Elder Fanos is up there and looking really good). They were having a district activity and also their p-day, so they were at the library writing home..........and updating the status of their referrals......I hope............

We had a great drive--pretty straight up and back. We stopped when we saw a whole yard full of marble and granite slabs.........I think I might be able to get a piece of Alabama marble!!! RAH!!!!! Anyone else want one? for candy and other such essentials?

Coming back through Birmingham we stopped at the Ford dealership to pick up one of the four new cars that arrived. We are so excited to have some new cars! and I got to drive it to the office! Roger was driving the 12 passenger van. After making sure the most important things were "tied up" for the day, we drove back to the hospital to see Donna. Yeah. She's in there again. And this time she's dealing with a dilemma as to whether she should have surgery or not. I don't know how one can make the kind of decision she has to make. We are praying for her and trying to lend her all the love and reassurance we can give her. It was good to see her again.

It was a long day.............

Today we got up and going in time to go back to get the other three cars. The Newmans met us at the office at 8:30 and after picking up the cars we dropped them all at u-haul to get the hitches for the bike racks. Back to the office for just a bit. Roger and I went to the DMV to get the "tags" (license plates) for all of them. It took a bit longer than we wanted. Went to the Birmingham stake center for a special broadcast--all the missionaries all over the world were to watch it live.......but really it was 7:00 a.m. in Hawaii and 7:00 p.m. in Finland......the other side of the world were going to watch it "when they woke up". Elder Clayton conducted the meeting. Elder Andersen, Elder Bednar, Elder Waddell, Sister Oscarson, Elder Clayton, and Elder Oaks all spoke. It was wonderful to be included! I kept trying to think how I could use their teachings when I get home. It was so good. Afterward, Pres. Hanks gave some training. He is doing interviews this month, and he trains whenever he gets a chance. Again.........I wished I had known some of it long ago. He is so good to teach them life skills along with how to be a better missionary. It's just plain fun to be part of it all. Then it was "home" for a bite of lunch, and Roger went to the office so he could get one of the cars ready for some Elders to take. I stayed here to start cooking for the Elders in Ensley. I got the potatoes in the oven when Roger called and needed the tools from the trunk of our car, so I ran over to the office. It's a good thing I went because I needed to take care of a couple of things..........a referral that was "escalated"; so I called the Elders I had assigned it to, sent a reply to the email, and figured out that someone who had called the temple with a request for a visit was really in the Tennessee Nashville mission and called Nashville to pass along the information. When I finally got back home I had to really hurry to get everything ready so we could be to Ensley on time. (We have dinner with the Elders every Wednesday night. I love it!!!) After dinner we had a special meeting with the stake president and branch council and missionaries, then we split up in twos and went to visit some of the less active members of the branch. I went with the Relief Society president. I was glad to be involved. She took me back to the church. I thought I would practice the organ till Roger came, but the young men president came in and we visited till Roger returned. The young men president is the father of the three little Primary girls. Roger and I came home, put on some "relaxing" clothes, washed the dishes and now we have just finished watching a couple of episodes of "Hogan's Heroes". Well..........I watched. Roger slept through most of the second one. We are tired............. but I find I love the life of a missionary!! However, I do find myself hoping tomorrow will be a little slower...................