News from CAM                                                                                                                     July 17, 2017

Dear Loved Ones All,

On Monday we did the usual P-Day things, laundry, cleaning, etc.  I put the flower that Brad gave me for Mother’s Day into a larger pot and set it outside on the patio.  Elder Macbeth had to go help pick up more new cars, and I opted to stay and be a little more particular about cleaning the apartment since we had invited the Westergards and the Thomlinsons to have a corned beef dinner that evening and to start its preparations.  They were bringing baby red potatoes and steamed carrots and dessert.  I fixed the corned beef, sautéed cabbage a tossed salad, and corn bread muffins.  Everything was delicious of course.  Afterwards we played Phase 10 and Take-2.  What a delightful evening we had.  Elder Macbeth shared a spiritual thought to conclude the evening.

Since we want to transfer some funds, we needed our signatures notarized, so Elder Macbeth got all the paperwork assembled and we went to the UPS store.  We came home expecting to be able to fax them using our computer…it would not.  So we went to the Mission Office for that task.  It was taco Tuesday so we tried tacos at a little Mexican restaurant.  They were $1 each which is 3 times as much as the Del Tacos deal, but they were worth it.  We visited Maria (Hungarian lady) in the rehab, delivered more letters for the Bishop.  We were able to get into all the places and talk with most of the ones we needed to visit.  Tender Mercies!  Then home to make Reuben sandwiches before heading to church.  I went to the Family History Center while Elder Macbeth did some of his Executive duties in the clerks office.  At some point in time Keith called needing ice for his samples and water.  So before we went home we stopped at Walmart.  It was 9:30 pm so I stayed in the car while Elder Macbeth took them in to Keith.

As I was getting ready for bed I was tossing something into our mesh clothes hamper and noticed a dark spot, so I flicked it off.  It was a bug so I tried smashing it that didn’t faze it.  By now I am examining it closely and calling for Elder Macbeth to come.  He got a Kleenex and picked it up to squish it.  Of course it is still alive and well, so he dropped it into a cleaned empty jar and we put the lid on it.  I was sure it looked like a bed bug (our neighbors next door had told us that they got infested the week before), so Elder Macbeth googled it and it was a match.  By now my head was itching, actually I was itching all over.  Trauma!  We looked carefully but didn’t see any evidence of more bugs.  However, I didn’t sleep at all well, and the next morning I washed the bedding, Elder Macbeth vacuumed well, and we took the bug down to the office.  They called the exterminators to come inspect the apartment the following day.

Wednesday after serving lunch to the homeless and helping cleaning up we took a Homeless man to Fullerton for a job interview since we go up there to Costco to get gas.  We dropped him off and was gassing up when we got a text from Karly asking us if we could get a few items for her next time we went to Costco.  She has not recovered well from her pregnancy plus additional surgeries since.  At least the timing was right so it was not out of our way at all.  I had a bag of left over fruit salad from Mary’s so we went home and I made fruit smoothies before going to the Bishops to discuss the upcoming social.  Keith called saying he was in desperate need of something to eat because he was so tired from going to dialysis.  We still needed to drop off the last letter to a young family.  The dad is in law enforcement and works long hours.  The wife and 4 kids were home and they were delighted at having company.  The whole time we were there they kept bringing their treasures to show us.  How fun.  Elder Macbeth and I hadn’t eaten yet, but we went home and warmed up some casserole for Keith and took it over to him.  I reminded him that he told me before getting out of the care center that he said he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.  He agreed that he needed to plan ahead.  Hopefully he is right.  When we got back to our apartment I made Devil’s Food Cake mix cookies with mint and chocolate chips added because they are easy and quick.

The missionaries at District Meeting are always so surprised that the cake mix cookies are so soft, and they disappear very quickly.  Elder Macbeth says that they wouldn’t care if they were bricks so long as they are called cookies.  Actually he didn’t say those exact words.  I think the Office missionaries look forward to Thursdays almost as much as the young missionaries because I always take them some. 

We picked up Angel and took him to Book of Mormon reading class in the evening.  We had 2 other investigators there as well as other members and missionaries. 

I was asked to give the lesson in Relief Society again on Sunday so I decided that I had better study it enough so I could present it in a reasonable manner.  Luckily it was an awesome lesson on serving our fellow men.  The Westergards expressed an interest in going to the Orange County Fair, Elder Macbeth ordered us all bus tickets on his cell phone for their P-Day on Saturday.  I hinted that we probably should have hats if we were going to be at the fair all day in the sun, so we went to the Dollar Tree and I found a hat and a dozen packages of some awesome butterfly stickers that make fabulous cards.  Alas there were no hats for Elder Macbeth so we had to go to Target instead. 

 Since our R.S. President is recuperating at her daughter’s and still not home we paid a visit to her husband.  He is understandably lonely, but he has health issues, he agreed with his kids that for the first little while he might not be able to take care of her needs.  Boy life gets complicated sometimes.  After phone calls, texts, with varying success, it is always nice to end the day with scriptures and prayers.  It puts things into better perspective if you have a hard day.

Saturday we spent being spectators at the fair.  We enjoyed the Sky Ride from one end of the fair and back.  We viewed all the animals.  Enjoyed the displays of produce, art work, gourd carvings and wood working, quilts and clothing, and walked through all the fair gadgets for sale.  We watched the Peking Acrobats and ate grilled corn on the cob and deep fried ribbon potatoes.  I resisted the gigantic turkey legs and I was getting hungry by the time we left about 4:30 pm but the Westergards still had an accident report they had to go back to the office to fill out so we hopped on the bus and headed back.  It was so nice not to hassle with parking and especially the crazy traffic on the freeways I can’t imagine a better way to go to the fair.  Not only that, but we got coupons for $3 entrance fees.  Win, win.  Elder Macbeth even took me to the Sizzler for supper.  Haven’t been to one of those since the one in Kennewick closed 15 years or so ago.  Back home Elder Macbeth helped me with a handout for my R.S. lesson (He is the most awesome husband and companion ever).  Then we watched Mormon Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Celebration Broadcast.  Definitely not the usual missionary day, but for sure a senior missionary couple’s perk.  We are so blessed.

Sunday we only had Ward Council before church so we didn’t have to be there as early.  The sacrament meeting talks were centered around the Book of Mormon, church attendance and partaking of the sacrament, and Family Home Evening delivered with inspiration and personal experience by the members of the bishopric and one of the members of the stake presidency.  We had an investigator in our Gospel principles class, which makes us missionaries happy, and my lesson in Relief
Society went well.  There were enough visitors that it seemed like a full class.

Here’s sending you hugs, kisses, and prayers and blessing, and hope you all have a fantastic week.  Love reading comments from home, family, and friends, so it makes it nice to know that these emails are read each week.

Love, Sister and Elder Macbeth           Go!      Fight!!          WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    Smiles