Dear Loved Ones All,

Monday morning and I am first on the computer.  I am surprised that I would miss my computer since it seems I didn’t use it that much at home, but I guess it is mostly that it was there on the rare occasions when I wanted to use it without having to take turns. Not that Elder Macbeth isn’t perfectly willing to share, but he has to use it often for his calling as executive secretary and besides that you have to log in and remember pass words, etc.  Sigh!  I am getting much better with texting on the phone.  However I am finding that phones are peculiar also.  They don’t recognize or like it if you don’t use words that they know.  Yesterday I was trying to type the word “silverish” and no matter what I did it would change it to silverfish, so all you people out there with “silverfish” hair have a good day.  J

This week seems to have been filled with meeting interesting people.  Monday we met an in-active at the public library because she lives in a boarding house for women and no men are allowed. She described herself as a “liberal Christian.”  She is in her sixties, very compassionate, and caring, but it is her philosophy that anybody can believe what they want (which is fine except children need a little more teaching and encouragement to learn and to stay on the path.  So she says she was always in trouble. Next we met Sister Cartegena.  Her daughter said she was sleeping when we stopped the first time so she called us back since we left a card with our name and phone number.  Her accent was so pronounced that neither Elder Macbeth nor I could understand her.  I even had her spell out her street name I still couldn’t figure out who she was.  Elder Macbeth pulled up some street names that kind of matched what she was saying and finally figured it out. She is originally from New York and of Spanish descent.  When she talks she liberally alternates Spanish and English words, all the while speaking with a heavy accent.

We have attended our first Zone Conference.  It was very inspirational and full of encouragement.  We were reminded that our goals are really “souls” and that the key indicators are for gauging the progress of investigators, not stressors in our lives.  Wednesday was a crazy day.  First I hemmed an elder’s pants. Then we went to the Livingston building for Elder Macbeth to help Elder Anderson inspect another zone’s missionaries’ cars.  It is strange to see a church parking lot filled with rows of cars with the hoods up and their trunks open. After that we stopped at JoAnn’s to get some Wonder Under and some black fabric to repair the other pair of pants that was ripped/shredded in the backside.  Then it was hurry to Mary’s Kitchen to serve the homeless lunch.  I grabbed some day-old bread to take home (our apartment) to fix dressing for a casserole for the RS enrichment that evening. I also put some chicken breast on to cook in broth.  It barely had time to come to a boil and since it was in my pressure cooker I put the pressure cock on it, turned the stove off, and ran out the door because we were supposed to meet the Sisters to give a lesson at 4:00. Thank goodness I got some study time in while Elder Macbeth inspected cars. The investigators were a single father, Edwin, his 10 year old son Christian, and his 8 year old daughter, Jade.  The dad spoke pretty good English and of course the kids do English at school. When given the baptismal questions and asked for commitments Edwin said yes to all of them and that he “had a good feeling when the missionaries are there.”  That was his first actual lesson.  They call those investigators here, “platinum.”  Then back home with only an hour to make the chicken dressing casserole and dip strawberries in chocolate. I made the casserole while Elder Macbeth dipped the strawberries. I heated the casserole in the oven while I made the broth into gravy, poured it on top, and sprinkled it with buttered bread crumbs, cranked up the oven to 400 degrees and let it bake with the remaining 15 minutes before we had to leave, and said a prayer that it would be fine.  15 minutes later it was browned and bubbly and when we ate it at least it tasted good just different from one cooked the proper amount of time.  After eating the RS sisters made stamped “celery” roses on T-shirts brought from home.  I also repaired the shredded pants.  Whew, what a day!

The rest of the week was filled with studying, more hunting for people and trying to find or get through gates, etc., and teaching lessons with the Elders.  We celebrated Sister Crowther’s birthday, a story for another time. And Book of Mormon class.  Oh, and troubled ties have joined problem pants. I seems that ties come unstitched somehow.  Anyway, more than enough for now. 

Have an awesome week.  Sister and Elder Macbeth

Go!  Fight!!!  WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  J