Mission Report - 17 Sept 2013

(email from Nana)

Well we have been in Manchester Tennessee for 5 days now!  Things are not what I expected although I am no sure what I was expecting or even thinking for that matter.  

Here is how it went...

Thursday arrived at 8:30 PM and by 9:00 PM I was calling both Joleane and Elizabeth crying and telling them I wanted to come home.  But they both said NO and that after a good night's sleep I would be fine... They were right.  I think what it was, was seeing Steve drive off and thinking he was the last tie to family I had. 

Friday we spent the day trying to unpack boxes.  Not all of them, just enough so we could sit in our chairs and have clothes to wear on Saturday and Sunday.  We had a little flood when we discovered that the sink hose in the kitchen came loose or something.  Calvin worked on and fixed that.

Saturday we again spent the day unpacking boxes.  By now we realize that we brought way to much stuff for the amount of room we have.  Calvin/Papa/Elder did hook up the TV so we could watch the Tennessee/Oregon game.  There is no cable right now in the front room so we had to sit on the bed to watch the game.  We went and picked up lunch to have while we watched the game.  

We did decide that we would try out our nifty little washer/dryer combo while we watched the game as well.  After the game Papa stepped off the bed and into a puddle of water.  It seems the water from the dryer came up to the shower but the shower drain was already full of flies and moths so the water overflowed and settled in the carpet!  What a mess.  Sadly there were a pair of Papa's cowboy boots and our Ugg boots were all filled with water too. We are hoping they are not ruined but will have to wait and see after they dry out.  

Saturday morning we ran into the younger missionaries who told us about a ward missionary meeting that evening and wanted to make sure we could be there so we put lots of towels down on the wet carpet, got ready for our meeting and let the mess go.  

What a great meeting and we discovered there are 8 missionaries serving in this ward.  A set of Spanish speaking sisters, a set of English speaking sisters, a set of English speaking Elders and us.  It is cool to see how excited they all are about missionary work.  It is quite an example to us.  And of course the mess was waiting for us when we got home.  The shower drain did however drain while we were at our meeting.

Sunday we attended our first meetings in our new ward.  The ladies are huggers and made us feel so welcomed.  They acted like we were old friends who had moved away and now returned.  I must admit I was very relieved.  We got to speak, introduce ourselves and share our testimonies.  Papa of course did a fantastic job and I was as always very proud of him.  I am blessed that he is my eternal companion.  

Sunday evening, just like on Friday and Saturday we emptied more boxes and tried to find spaces for everything. We are running out of space but still have 8-10 boxes to empty.

Monday we emptied the last of the boxes and everything is put away, well most of it.  While Papa  worked on the plumbing, I did laundry.  We are lucky enough to have space #1 here at the KOA and right across driveway besides being a pool, hot tub, and great play area for kids there is also the office, laundry room and showers.  So I started 3 loads of laundry, went and took a shower and by the time I was done with my shower the washing was ready to go in the dryers.  Perfect timing.  While the clothes were drying I was able to just relax and answer the letters we received from Logan and Taylor.  

To tell you the truth I like this little set up!  Maybe we would be okay with doing some laundry over there.  We will see.

The ward is having a booth at the Coffee County Fair.  All 8 sets of missionaries plus ward members will spend time there.  We give anyone interested (and we try very hard to get them interested), a simple 4 questions survey to fill out. They are then entered to win 1 of two door prizes.  There are lots of pictures, DVDs, Bibles, Book of Mormons, balloons and even cookies to give out.  It is a great way to introduce ourselves, get referrals, and just be around great people.  

We were at the fair from 3:30pm until almost 9pm and it was lots of fun! My favorite part was talking to the little kids of course, while Papa's favorite part I think was talking to the Ministers on our right and the Gideon's on our left.  Anyway we can't wait to go back tomorrow and everyday this week.

As you can see we are doing fine and having lots of fun.  I am learning to hug the ladies and say "ya'll".   I love listening to the thick southern accents on the children and trying o figure out what they are saying.  They think I talk funny!

Love ya'll lots.

Nana and Papa