Called to Serve: Thanksgiving and Deer Hunting Week

This was a pretty quiet week. We had fun dinner invitations last Sunday evening, Tuesday evening, and Thursday. Nice people who fed us and the Elders well, and we enjoyed visiting and getting to know them better. We had a district meeting in Romney on Tuesday and helped with Bingo at the Nursing Home also. Wednesday we attended a funeral, then had several appointments fall through for the afternoon and evening. On Thanksgiving morning we were feeling pretty homesick in the morning, missing our kids and grandkids. But a nice family invited us and the Elders to share their Thanksgiving Dinner and we enjoyed the food and the company. In the evening we drove to the Petersburg city park for the ceremony when they turn on the Christmas lights in the park and have a visit from Santa Claus. It was awesome. We also enjoyed strolling around the park on the walking trails, since of course we ate too much for dinner. We later received phone calls and Skypes from our kids, and got a wonderful box of treats and letters and drawings from the Thueson family on Friday. Sweet, special surprise!! Friday Wayne drove our District Leader Elder to Frederick for a training meeting in the morning and sang at the Nursing Home in the afternoon. (they love him) Saturday we had a coordinating meeting with our Elders and the Ward Mission Leader, then we cleaned the church and printed the Sunday program/bulletins. In the afternoon we made some visits and went out to dinner in Moorefield. It's deer hunting week here and they take it pretty seriously. Heard some good hunting stories and, of course, had trouble finding people at home... But most hunters depend on the meat to feed their families, they can it, freeze it, make jerky and bologna and sausage, grind burger, etc. We like venison too and have appreciated what has been shared with us.

We had fun Skypes this evening with birthday boys Dustin and Devin, and their families. Sad to miss Dustin's ordination to the Aaronic Priesthood, what a neat kid he is. Congratulations to Krissy on her soccer team's successful weekend tournament in St. George.

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and spent some time counting your blessings. We sure feel blessed to be here, for the experiences we are having and the lessons we are learning. Thank you all for your prayers, your love and support. Stay healthy.