Wonderful News from Home...

Just as we got home from church today we got such wonderful news from Boise - our second daughter Julie and her husband Matt had their baby girl!  She is a week-and-a-half early and the birth was pretty fast.  Julie said, "She is so small" but I said, "no, she's just normal size, not 11 pounds like your last one."  Baby girl weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was born at 10:06 this morning.  What a blessing, and we were able to see Julie, Matt, and baby on Skype or FaceTime or something just a few hours later.  Congratulations to the beautiful Thueson family.


So that is our big news.  We also realized what a miracle our flat tire Monday morning was.  We had heard a few odd noises as we went to Moorefield, then beyond with a couple of our missionaries for a dinner appointment and other visit Sunday evening.  Evidently the tire had serious problems and could have gone flat while we were going 70 mph down the freeway or on an isolated country road with the freezing wind and snow swirling around.  So it was a miracle that it held together and didn't go flat until it was parked in front of our apartment.  We did have to get two new tires and have them all aligned or something, but we are grateful it was as easy as it was to fix.  (Easy for me,  I just watched from the warm apartment...

Tuesday we were hit by another snow storm.  Our zone meeting in Woodstock was cancelled, as were a couple of lessons we were going to go to with the Elders.  It has been so cold since that we have lots of ice and frozen snow, making it difficult to get in and out of steep driveways and we have to be careful where we go.  We did stay in enough that I was able to get my cross-stitch picture completed for the new baby,  I thought I was early...  Now I just need to add name, date, and weight.  One highlight of our week was a Mission Conference in Frederick, Maryland, with a visiting Church authority, Gifford Nielsen.  He used to be a quarterback for BYU, then for the Houston Oilers.  What a great motivational speaker and fun guy.  We enjoyed the meetings very much.  We took the four Petersburg missionaries with us, then made a couple visits on the way home. Took the sacrament to our friend Woneda Kenney in the Baker nursing home and also to Jane Halterman, out in the country.  As we were approaching Moorefield on our way home to Petersburg about 7 pm, Wayne asked the Elders if we could take them to dinner at the Ponderosa Steak House buffet - oh, were they excited about that.  What fun to watch four hungry 19 and 20 year olds attack a buffet.  They loved it and we loved watching them.

This morning was windy, snowy, and cold - not a very good turn-out at church.  But those who came went in with a smile because this snowman was there to greet them.  

We took some more pictures of our meetinghouse to use on the cover of our ward bulletin.  I'll try to add them here too.

In our studies this week we are supposed to be studying the Christlike Attribute of Patience.  "Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious.  It is the ability to do God's will and accept His timing.When you are patient, you hold up under pressure and are able to face adversity calmly and hopefully. President Monson said, 'Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature.  There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all.  Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.'"  Okay, this topic was just for me,  I'm working on it. You can tell I'm not doing too well, as I express my frustration at the weather and plans that don't work out as "I" expected.  I'm sure I'll get much more practice at working on this attribute.

Happy Birthday last week to Matt and Kaleb Thueson.  And next Friday to Sara.  Thanks to the Acors for the card you sent Dad and for the great little adhesive calendar for my van.  It was perfect.  Please remember Uncle Don Jensen in your prayers this week.  We love you all.

The Best Laid Plans....

Funny week.  We planned very well, and some things worked out really well.  Other things worked out well, just not liked we had planned.  We were able to do a Family Home Evening last Monday night for a family that doesn't come to church.  It went very well.  We know the mom and three kids pretty well, but the dad has been pretty evasive.  Well, this time he came in for home evening and participated, was even quite friendly and chatted afterward.  Wanted us to have some deer bologna that he and his father had just made. It was a nice evening.

Tuesday we had District Meeting,  dinner with a nice couple, then met a pair of our missionaries in Moorefield and drove them to an appointment way out of town. It was with a single woman, so they couldn't go without us, and we have met her before and were glad to go with them to see her again.  She joined the church many years ago, was active for a year or so, then had personal problems and drifted away.  She contacted the church recently and wants to be taught again and reconnect.  Nice lady,  good visit. Wednesday Wayne and the Elders here had a service project so I got to catch up on paperwork, genealogy, journal, etc.  In the evening I worked on genealogy at the church and Wayne made a hospital visit.

Thursday I had such a great plan in place for Visiting Teaching.  Worked with my companion and one of the women we visit who is very difficult to catch.  It was all going to work perfectly.  At the last minute my companion couldn't go and Wayne had already committed to something else.  My route is long, over a hundred miles.  But I went anyway by myself.  Didn't know they had a little snow and some ice on the roads. But I did fine.  Had good personal visits with four women who are a little isolated and really appreciated the contact.  At one home I also visited with the nonmember boyfriend and asked him if he would like to begin the missionary discussions, he agreed and we set a time to begin teaching him!  (We have one missionary here who would do a high 5 and yell "Score!" at that news.)  I had a good chat with a member friend in a nursing home and drove a windy narrow icy road and steep driveway to another.  On the way home I stopped in Moorefield at the home of Sonya, who we took to see the lights and visitor's center at the DC temple in December and is now taking the missionary lessons, and invited her to come to Petersburg to our Relief Society night meeting.  She came with me and we arrived at our church just in time for the 6:30 pm meeting (I left at noon for my VT visits).  Sonya had a good time and another lady offered to take her home. Nice, since I was pretty tired.  While the women had their RS meeting, Wayne had gathered a few musicians together in another room at the church to play guitar, banjo, mandolin, & harmonicas, and sing in preparation for a ward activity he is putting together for Valentine's Day.  Two of the participants have been less active, it's a good fellowshipping and fun activity for them.  It was a good day.

Friday we made a hospital visit and also visited a few ward members who need encouragement.  Wayne set up home teaching visits with a less active man who needs to get out and do something.  From 6 to 7 Wayne sang at the nursing home, then we picked up a pizza, got a few groceries, and headed home.  The groceries included a couple nice steaks that we intended to broil for Wayne's birthday dinner on Saturday.  But --- we had a nice lunch with the Bishop and his wife Saturday (Bishop Kimble even made a pineapple-upside-down birthday cake for Wayne), then headed out expecting to make about four visits before going home for a little birthday celebration.  As we left the Bishop's house we got a phone call from an inactive man in Wardensville, about 40 miles away,  that his daughter was sick and he didn't have transportation,  could we come get him and his little girl and take them to the hospital in Petersburg.  So, of course, we did.  He is the huge black ex-football player for the NFL Ravens.  His daughter Clarissa is adorable, one of our favorites. She has blood problems and picks up serious blood infections quite easily.  We had a good visit with Will on the drive, then waited at the hospital for hours with them while the doctors did tests and consulted with other doctors.  Our hospital is quite small and they finally decided to send Clarissa and her dad by ambulance to a large pediatric hospital in Morgantown,  about three hours away.  Then we went home and had leftover pizza.  Wayne appreciated all the cards, emails, other messages,  grandkid letters, phone calls, and skypes he received.  He would have loved to join the Boise group as they celebrated December and January birthdays at Toucano's.  The Skype from the restaurant only made his mouth water and wasn't too satisfying. But thanks.

We couldn't have our birthday steaks Sunday because we had agreed to take a couple of our Elders to a dinner appointment at some members' home that is quite a ways out.  It was nice- good, generous family - and we made a visit to a good friend of ours after that, she enjoyed meeting the Elders.  We have visited her often since we got here and she came to church last week for the first time in years.

So anyway,  we hope to have Wayne's belated birthday dinner tonight,  but we had other good plans for today too, but found that our trusty van had a flat tire this morning and Wayne has spent the morning figuring out how to get the flat off, the spare on, and taking it to a repair place.  We need to get the van serviced, again too, we are really putting the miles on it here, and a few dents (bad road caused one,  a tree ran in to us another time....)  We have many good plans for the coming week,  we'll see what better plans come up. We are excited to have a mission conference on Friday with Gifford Nielson!  Love his enthusiasm.
In answer to your concerns,  we were not in the part of the state that had the water problems recently.  Nor did we get the frigid weather and storms, although it is expected to get pretty cold here later this week.  We kept forgetting to take our camera with us last week so no pictures - not of the house on stilts that we saw down by the river or the deer by our apartments or of sweet Clarissa or of her daddy's humongous Super Bowl ring.  Sorry.   Wayne had a good phone conversation last night with friends from La Grande, Lonnie and Pat Shurtleff, who just got their mission call to the Wichita Kansas Mission.  Congratulations, you'll love it.   Our love to all.  We are good here,  happy, busy, having great experiences and a few challenges.  Love news from home.

It's Been a Good Week

Nothing really exciting or different to report.  We have mostly escaped the "Polar Vortex" here in our little corner of West Virginia.  We've had a few cold days and one morning we started out on our walk, found our sidewalk and parking lot covered in ice from freezing rain, so we turned right around and went back in our apartment!  We are too old to try walking on ice...  One morning we headed out walking in a light mist, but before we finished our favorite walking route it was pouring and we were soaked.  But we keep going.
One exciting thing, I guess, is that we went to our friends, the Keplingers, Monday night with two of our missionaries for dinner and they fixed us biscuits with squirrel gravy.  Yep,  we ate our first squirrel.  Pretty good, too.  Then Wayne and Johnny K.  sang and played guitar for a while.  Wayne is putting together some music for a High Priest's social in February and is having fun planning and practicing (and fellowshipping).  Also practiced Wednesday and Friday nights.  And had a fellow picking on a banjo Friday afternoon.  We made some fun visits last week and had some long days, travelling to Romney for interviews and meetings, and to Wardensville and surrounding countryside for visits.  We had an interview with our Mission President on Thursday, he was very appreciative of our efforts and encouraging.  We needed that, sometimes we don't feel like we are doing enough or the right things.  Also got set apart by our Bishop this morning for my Relief Society teaching calling and in his blessing he said that I am influencing people in ways that I don't even realize and that I am an example and strength to the women in this ward.  I needed to hear that, too.

Church this morning was awesome again. Three non-members, two of whom are taking the discussions.  Wayne and I got to sit in and even participate with the Elders as they taught the first discussion to Sonya (who we took to the DC Temple to see the Christmas lights and tour the visitor's center).  Also Audrey has had a couple of discussions this past week,  her husband was less-active.  He is playing music with Wayne and we have been to their house a couple times during the week, once for dinner, once just to visit and play music.  Also had seven less-active members at church today - so excited to have Margarite Kindrick, a widow we have been visiting often, come for the first time in years.  And a teenager whose family we visit often, such a fun young man. Anyway,  nice to see so many beginning to come back and our numbers at sacrament meeting increasing.  Wayne played the organ in sacrament meeting again today and I taught Relief Society.  (I guess Wayne taught High Priests too, since the teacher didn't show up). We visited a few homes this afternoon.

We must get our van washed tomorrow, it is pretty muddy from traveling on back roads after the rain.  Also need to prepare a Home Evening lesson to give with an inactive family tomorrow night. We are keeping busy and enjoying this missionary life.  Our love to all our family and friends, thank you for your support and prayers. Thanks, Karli and Pat for the wonderful Orton Family Newsletter you put together last week and for so many of our family and extended family that wrote to it.  Thanks, Pat, for the technical assistance with the blog.  We sure appreciate you and wish you luck with the job search.    

Happy New Year - 2014!

What a great day to be a missionary in Petersburg, West Virginia!  We had 7 less active members and 3 non-member/investigators at church today!  Yeah!  And there were 3 other less actives that we had expected to be there as well,  one I know was sick. One lady even asked me for a ride yesterday and she stayed for the whole block.  The people that we took to the temple last week came today, and the couple that Wayne played music with last week (husband less active,  wife not a member) were there.  Good day.  Wayne taught Priesthood, and played the organ for sacrament meeting!  Well, he learned how to push the buttons and it did all the work, but it was pretty impressive and one more skill. 

It was a pretty quiet week.  The Elders and their mission cars were grounded some of the time because of snow and ice, but really we have been pretty lucky and have been just on the outskirts of the big storms.  Some roads and driveways are still pretty icy and slick though, and I am very wary.  Wayne, not so much.
We did have some good visits this week, did some service at the nursing home and Wayne sang there Friday evening, we had a District Meeting and apartment and car inspections with our Elders, after the meeting we had the six Elders to our apartment for lunch. Our big day was Wednesday - Transfer Day.

Lunch for the Elders after District Meeting on Tuesday

We found out Sunday that Elder Salazar and Elder Ashby were being transferred.  I had intended to go with Wayne, taking the two elders, their possessions and bikes, on the three hour drive to Ellicott City where they hold the transfer meeting.  At the last minute (6:30 am Wednesday morning) the other two Elders decided that they wanted to go too, so I stayed home to give them enough room.  (I love my husband, but sometimes a few hours alone is okay, too)  I worked on genealogy and indexing,  typed my journal pages, did some household chores, and cross-stitching.  It was very cold in the morning but by mid-afternoon it was quite pleasant so I was able to go for a long walk, and stopped in to visit a member on the way.  Wayne got home about 4 pm, with our new Elders:  Elder Mordecai from Sacramento and Elder Plumb from Arizona.  They seem nice, but we miss the ones who left, they had helped us out a lot with our adjustments here, and we spent a lot of time with them.  Guess that's just how it goes... 


Elder Asbhy, on to new adventures.



As we reflected and reminisced on our Anniversary and on New Year's Eve,  we realize it's been a very eventful year for us and it has gone by so fast.  Can't wait to see what the new year brings.  We wish good health and happiness for each of our family and friends.

PS.  I just had to peel off my little adhesive calendar for 2013 in my van that I used so much.  If anyone comes across a business giving away little stick-on calendars, grab me one, please. 

Christmas Week

I don't know what I was thinking when I said we were going to take a couple days off to relax and regroup.  That sure didn't happen.  Monday (supposedly our Preparation Day),  we worked at the Food Pantry, made some visits, went to Wal-Mart, etc.  Busy.  Tuesday - Christmas Eve - we still had our District Meeting, this time in the town of Romney, about 40 miles northeast of Petersburg. We had a good meeting, then Wayne and I did apartment and car inspections for the Romney Elders.  We got back to Moorefield, where one set of Petersburg Elders had left their car, about 2 pm.  We took the other set of Elders (Ashby & Goodell) with us and headed east to Baker to make a couple visits, then south past Mathias to the List home for a nice Christmas Eve dinner.  (note to my kids:  we felt so at home as they had Hickory Farms meat and cheese, sweet & sour meatballs, deviled eggs, vegetables & chips with dip, cookies & candy - just what we would have had at home!)   After dinner and visiting we drove way out in the woods east of Mathias, to visit a "media referral" lady.  What a nice woman,  she thinks she joined the church 20 years ago,  went for about a year, then had personal and marriage problems and fell away.  We had such a nice visit and made plans to go back next week.  Took about an hour to get home,  we put about 170 miles on the van and were gone from our apartment over 12 hours. 

Christmas Day was quiet.  We went for a long walk,  then spent time Skyping some of our kids.  So fun to see and hear them.  What a beautiful, sweet family we are blessed with.  They are all so busy doing good things.  We spend so much of our time here among those who have fallen away from the church,  are un-educated, and have such marriage, financial, health, and personal problems.  It's overwhelming at times.  Anyway,  we enjoyed seeing and talking with our kids, their spouses, and our grandchildren.  It took a few days but we eventually got to visit with everyone except our missionary grandson Dallin.  Christmas dinner was spent with our Ward Mission Leader Ron Holmes and his daughter Dee.  Dee had fixed a wonderful ham dinner for us and also sent us home with lots of leftovers.  We have been spoiled here by the kindness of our ward members - so many gifts of food, scarves & gloves, candy & fudge, West Virginia tee-shirts, and so on.  Even today my good friend Julie Teter gave us a little box for New Year's eve with crackers & cheese ball, sparkling grape juice, grapes, and candy - so cute.  The cards and notes have been sweet as well. 

Thursday and Friday - more meetings, more visits, helped with Bingo at the Nursing Home and worked at the Food Pantry again.  Friday evening we went out in the woods past Moorefied and found John and Audrey Parks.  They just moved in a couple months ago, he is an less active member, she is not a member.  It was nice getting to know them,  they fed us dinner (even though we had already eaten at home...),  then pulled out the mandolin, guitar, and tambourine for a little hilly-billy jamfest with Wayne.  It was great.  He agreed to help Wayne with a ward social in February and they came to church this morning.  I think she is ready to take the missionary lessons.  Nice people.

Briana, Ashley, Rebecca, Elder Hartwig, Elder Salazar

Jeremiah, Sonya, Joseph, Elder Goodell, Elder Ashby

Elder Goodell, Jeremiah, Joseph, Sonya, Elder Ashby

Saturday was another loooong day, but pretty special.  In September, 16-year-old Rebecca was baptized. Saturday the family that fellowshipped her took her, their two teen-age daughters, and two Elders to the temple where the girls got to do baptisms (some for names I submitted for neighbor and friend Becky).  The other two Elders and a nonmember woman Sonya, her 12-year-old son Joseph, and the son's friend Jeremiah went with Wayne and I.  We did an endowment session while the others had a tour of the visitor's center.  We all (14 of us) went out to eat, then back to the temple to see the lights and the nativities.   They watched church videos in our van on the way home and just all had a great day.  The weather was nice too.  And our chauffeur, Elder Orton,  didn't complain at all about the 2 1/2 drive or the congested roads in places or the sometimes silly GPS routes.  We feel extra blessed to have gone to the Washington, DC, Temple twice this month so we'll show another picture this week of us in the same spot.

Today we had lots of rain.  Wayne spoke in church and did a great job, of course.  And it's our anniversary - number 43.  Happy Anniversary today also to our youngest son, Devin and his beautiful wife Amie.  We love you guys.  Thanks for house sitting for us. 

I told my sister Judy I would send a couple pictures of West Virginia chicken houses.  One of the big industries in the area is the Pilgrim chicken processing plant in Moorefield.  They employ many people at the plant and there are big chicken houses all over that supply the chickens.  I think they process about 400,000 chickens per day.  The variety of chickens they grow and the type of super food they use takes only six weeks from chick to butcher time. 

Another bit of West Virginia trivia - it's bear hunting season here.  I promised my grandsons a picture of the pick-up we saw in the Wal-Mart parking lot last Monday.  The rest of you may not want to look.

Anniversary flowers and New Year's eve party box!

Some sweet ward members gave us West Virginia tee-shirts for Christmas

 Happy New Year!!

'Twas the Week Before Christmas

And what a busy week it was.  No time to sit around and get homesick.  We rushed around on Monday - our Preparation Day,  got little boxes of West Virginia "stuff" ready and sent to our kids.  Cleaned, mopped, did laundry, etc.  I tried a new recipe for Cranberry Pound Cake, but I made it in loaves.  So good.  I took a plate to our Senior Missionary Couples Christmas Party at the Mission Home in Ellicott City, Maryland (near Baltimore) on Tuesday.  It's quite a drive for us, close to three hours, we are the furthest away of anybody in our mission.  But it was good to get together.  There are two other couples that we went through the MTC with that we are especially close to, and the Kunz couple from Ogden who are in our zone so we see them quite often and really like them.  We are getting to know the others also and enjoy seeing them at meetings, transfers, and activities.  A special bond has quickly developed.  We had nice weather for travelling and enjoyed a lovely dinner and gift exchange.  Our Mission President & his wife gave us each a nice picture that says "Feel Loved",  kind of Sister Richards' theme.  Nice. 

Mission Home in Ellicott City, Maryland



Elder & Sister Orton at the Seniors Party

Good Friends: Sisters Lewis, Larsen, Van Horn, & Kunz

After the party we drove down to Kensington to the Washington, DC, Temple to see the amazing lights and nativity scene around the visitor's center and the beautifully decorated trees and nativity sets from around the world inside.  It was truly breath-taking.  We spent the night nearby, then did an endowment session at the temple early Wednesday morning before heading back to Petersburg.  What a fun little trip.

More visits Wednesday evening and Thursday.  So nice to visit all the new friends we have made here, with a Christmas message and treats,  to talk about the Savior's birth and the real meaning of Christmas.  To be polite we have also had to sample cookies and candy.  And have received other gifts and cards.  Such nice people.  After returning home Thursday evening I made a large Pistachio Salad for the mission party and early Friday morning we were on the road to the Mission Devotional and Dinner for all the missionaries in the mission, again in Ellicott City,  this time at a Stake Center there.  We first drove to Romney and picked up a pair of Elders there (our four Petersburg Elders drove there together in one of the mission cars to trade it for a new car - they were pretty excited about that!).  At the stake center all 240 or so missionaries gathered for a nice devotional,  a big dinner (that we senior missionaries served),  then a surprise visitor came.  Not Santa Claus.  A former BYU football player who now plays for the Baltimore Ravens,  Dennis Pitta.  He served a mission to the Dominican Republic and is a great guy.  Both he and his wife spoke briefly, then each missionary got to meet him and get their picture taken with him.  Also each of the missionaries received a small stocking full of goodies and a sterling silver ring with RWH etched on it (Return with Honor).  Then there was a talent show, with some really good acts and some pretty silly ones.  Nice day for the Elders and Sisters.  Nice, but long and tiring for us old folks.  We got home about 10:30 pm.

Maryland Baltimore Missionaries - 20 December 2013

Elder & Sister Orton with Dennis Pitta & family

Saturday we had a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader, printed the ward bulletin, and made more visits.  We had dinner at our Bishop's home.  Wayne stayed up way too late listening to the BYU basket ball game.  Today (Sunday) we had a wonderful sacrament meeting.  One of the musical numbers was "Angels We Have Heard on High" by the Full-time Elders  - 4 young, 1 not-so-young.  They did great.  Very good attendance today too.  We made four more visits this afternoon,  I think we have a couple more planned tomorrow and Family Home Evening with a less active family.  Then we will take a couple days off to rest and relax, celebrate Christmas, Skype our children and their families, and regroup for the new year.  Can't believe we have been out almost 4 months already.  What wonderful experiences we are having  and how much we are learning.  We are trying to encourage and support the active ward members here and offer love and fellowship to the less active.  We give service where we can and welcome in new members.  We try to keep busy and to understand what the Lord wants us to do and where we should be.  We appreciate your prayers and support.  Merry Christmas. 

PS.  Don't understand how we could be snowed in a week ago,  and have 70 degree weather yesterday and today!   

House I love driving by in Moorefield

Grandpa's new tie,  Thanks Cache, Naomi, & Gage

Cabin I love driving by on the way to Winchester

More visits, more meetings, more snow

Yes, we were able to get the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional on Wayne's IPad last Sunday.  What a great way to enoy a snowy evening and begin our Christmas season.  We have a little tree, and lights in the window too.  Thanks to the Jensen family for the fun Christmas box they sent us, we appreciated the thoughtful decorations for our drab apartment.   And thanks to the Thueson family for the hilarious Storybot video they sent us yesterday.  I watch that again and again,  it makes me laugh. (I hope Kendra's grumpy face was just an act for the picture, not her usual expression!) 

So - more snow Monday.  But we enjoyed being snowed in and tending to our housework and relaxation.  By Tuesday we were on the go again.  We are trying to visit everyone we know in December, giving them a Christmas booklet, a little message, and some candy.  Fun visits so far, but the weather is slowing us down a bit - some driveways we just can't get into with our van.  We saw quite a few friends Tuesday after our trip to Romney for District Meeting,  Wednesday,  and Thursday.  Thursday evening Wayne helped with Bingo at the Nursing Home then made a visit up a mountain to spend some guy time with a good man he is fellowshipping,  and I went to our Relief Society Christmas Party.  We ate pizza and salad,  followed by wonderful desserts brought by the talented cooks and bakers in our RS.  Then sang, listened to a Christmas message, and had a gift exchange.  It was nice.  One lady brought peanut butter fudge that was so yummy.  I was also introduced to something new - potato candy.  Very interesting.  Made with mashed potatoes mixed with powdered sugar until it's stiff enough to roll out into a rectangle,  spread with peanut butter,  rolled up and sliced off like cinnamon rolls.  Actually looks pretty and tastes very good - I just couldn't believe it when they told me what it was.  Nice ladies sent home cookies and candy for Wayne, too.  I recently tasted a new kind of fudge (new to me, that is), it was a lovely pink color and was cranberry nut fudge.  It was my new favorite kind of fudge until I tasted the peanut butter fudge.  So good.  It's sure fortunate that most people don't make fudge year-round...

Friday Wayne and I drove to Elkins, West Virginia, over the mountains and a bit out of our mission - but

Lovely little church in Onego, on the way to Elkins.

we did have our Mission President's permission.  We visited with Wayne's old mission companion, Lynn Muhlestein and his wife, then went to a dinner theatre with them.  His brother-in-law (and bishop) owns and performs in the musical.  The food was good and the Christmas production was great, very professional, fun, energetic, and inspirational.  It was Mormon night there,  lots of members,  we met their stake president,  also got to visit with our friends from Yucaipa, California, who are serving a senior mission there,  the Harrisons.  It was a nice evening and it wasn't too late when we got back home. 

More snow on Saturday.  The mission vehicles were grounded again.  But not us, so we made some more visits, spreading Christmas cheer.  We only got stuck in the snow once,  I was scared and was sure we were about to tip over.  But Wayne walked about a block to the member we were trying to go see and he came and pulled us out.  We made one more quick visit to a friend in a care and rehab center, then drove home to safety.  It was pretty nice today, no snow on the roads, so church and visits as usual.  Our teacher for Relief Society was sick, so I got to give the Lorenzo Snow lesson about Joseph Smith that I was supposed to give last week when church was cancelled.  Such a neat lesson, I'm glad we got to have it.  Good discussion and testimonies shared.  Looking forward to next month and beginning the Joseph Fielding Smith book.  Wayne will still get to give his talk too,  they rescheduled him for the 29th. 



Outdoor wood furnace, common to heat homes around here
by heating water and circulating it through nearby house.   

Funny thing that happened Saturday - the Elders have been grounded several times lately and they get a little bored.  They know that we have the video "17 Miracles" and got permission from our Mission President to watch it.  But we were gone all afternoon visiting.  Evidently they were taking turns watching the road for us to return and when they saw our van returning to our apartment they all ran down here to see if they could watch the video at our home.  So they relaxed in our little living room drank hot chocolate, ate chips and biscuits with apple butter and watched the movie,  then watched "Mr. Krueger's Christmas".  Laughed and joked around with Wayne while I cross-stitched.   Had a nice little break. Such good boys,  we love them.

Next week will be busy as we continue to make our Christmas visits,  work at the local Food Pantry,  and have two trips to Baltimore - one Tuesday afternoon for our senior couples Christmas Party,  one Friday when we take a vanload of Elders to the mission devotional and dinner.  We hope to add a trip to the Washington, DC Temple to one of those trips.  We hope the weather cooperates and that there is no new snow. 

Last week we tried to visit with both Laura and Katelyn on their birthdays, but missed them both, busy girls.  Sorry.  Congratulations this week to Sara on her college graduation and Noah on his baptism.  Two great events that we are sad to miss.  We love you and are proud of you.  To all of you following our pathetic attempt at blogging - have a great week.  Thanks for your love and support.