There and Back Again: Week 53 A Brush with Death and Miracles

Last Monday, Elder Cullen and I were heading from Carthage to Nauvoo in the evening for the Christmas Walk Meeting (we're in charge of parlor games and stories). It was very dark especially now with daylight savings ended. As we cruised down the unlit, dark country road we chatted as usual with one of our kids through the hands free system of our lovely Pearl (the name of our new car). Suddenly we heard a LOUD BANG and a wave of blood completely engulfed our windshield.

Weirdly, just on the crest of that blood wave we felt something else...a wave of energy or vibration went right through our bodies! We stopped and looked at each other..."WHAT WAS THAT?! and then...I think we hit a deer." We hung up with Spring and elder Cullen turned on the windshield wipers. yep..it was a deer. We just became part of the 2 million people who hit a deer this year. It had bolted out of the trees so we didn't even have a chance to see it coming.

We turned around and lurched home. The road is so narrow and dark we didn't want to become the 2nd road kill of the night. The car was very off balance all kinds of indicator lights were on. We drove straight to a car wash. I took photos for insurance and got back in the car and good old Elder Cullen washed the car. It was traumatic.

Our friend who is helping build the new temple visitor center just hit a deer the week before and it totaled his truck. We were told his bags went off and bruised his face. OUR bags did not go off...even though the radiator was pushed into the engine damaging the transmission and other things. The estimate was 14 thousand dollars of damage. Insurance is going to pay it. WHEW! So God shielded us financially, Geico is not giving us any run around or grief. Which is a blessing. GOD also shielded us physically. We both felt that that "energy/vibration" we felt go over and through us was like a shield and protection from the impact. We were NOT harmed in any way even though we were going 60mph and stopped suddenly...no whiplash, nothing. It was as if our ancestors had "dog piled us" as it happened and we were protected. The only negative physical thing was that we both had a stomach ache for a day. Elder Cullen, who did all the dirty work of cleaning the car had to stop work and take a nap the next day.

Our ministering brother and sister came to visit us the next day. They canceled everything just to hang with us and fill any needs. Elder Cullen was sleeping, I had a health and wellness apt. so they drove me to that, then took me out to lunch and brought some home for Elder Cullen. I thought at first I didn't need anyone...we were OK and nothing really needed to be done, we were literally FINE.

BUT as they drove me to my appointment I suddenly became aware of how nice it was to not be driving myself, to have these two "angels" just surround me and do that easy thing for me of taking me there, waiting and taking me out to lunch then home. I felt so comforted...it was like having protective angels on either side..just there if I needed them. I felt myself just relax into their presence and let go, like a little kid... not being in charge...not needing to manage. It was very comforting and pleasant.

The next day they made us dinner. It was wonderful. The ministring brother and sister program is truly wonderful. Thank heaven we never sold Lazarus! (our Suburban) NOW he's our only transportation. The Pearl will be in the shop for a month. MEANWHILE the day after our wreck, our sweet renter called to tell us that both the clothes washer and the dishwasher had died. LOL When it rains....

AGAIN, God sent us an angel and a dear protective friend at home came over and took care of the problem. He is SO capable and kind. We felt so shielded from the stress because he knew who to call to fix it and take care of the problem and did it without any issues. We LOVE him and his family forever and ever.

As activity directors we hosted a very fun card making night for those who were interested. Elder Cullen was the only man there and he loved making his own Christmas cards. The event was such a success that we have two more nights planned.

Last Sat. on our day off we got to go to the Rennasaince Faire. We have been taking our kids to the California Faire, working the Faire, and loving the Faire for decades. It was fun to see how it goes out in the midwest. I got to sing sea chanties with a pirate.

ALSO, you know that candy we got last week? I turned the carmels and the candy corn into candy corn on the cob!

HAHAH! That was my fidget project while we drove to the Faire. ALSO We had a goodbye party for some departing missionaries. I am going to miss them terribly...

sigh how does one keep track of all the people they love and care about?? TOO MANY. I guess this blog is one way. If we tried to communicate with you one on one we'd never get any work done. BUT we can reach out with our adventures this way to share and LOVE your comments. Just a pin point of communication to say, we remember you, we love you and we want to keep in touch.

At my water color class I made another painting that looks like a really good 5th grade project! LOL

I am NOT good at this, however it is very calming and enjoyable to be creating with friends and talking and I love the bright colors.

In OTHER news, we took another site missionary to the burn pile to look for a good walking stick. Of course boys will be boys and he and Elder Cullen started fighting with them! LOL

You're never too old to have fun! hahah

I guess the message of this week is that it takes rain and sun to make rainbows and this week was truly somewhere OVER the Rainbow.

Stay safe, let yourself be served, find ways to serve others and know that rain or shine, JESUS and HEAVENLY FATHER LOVE YOU.

There and Back Again: WEEK 52! Work and Play the power of details

This week there were several BIG logs on the burn pile. One was burned hollow like a big kiln! We had some branches fall in a wind storm and Elder Cullen had fun igniting them by holding them inside this burning hollow log!

One of our site missionary friends came with us to the burn pile. She had been living here for 5 months and never knew it existed. It was very exciting for her and a fun change of pace. We're excited because now that the LARGE groups of tourists have settled to a gentler pace, WE get to help with tours on Sunday. I love giving tours.

I want to reflect on the power of paying attention to details. With the weather getting deliciously cooler there also comes a HUGE amount of raking up leaves and acorns. I think we filled the truck and went out to the burn pile two and three times a day this week. So our work load has increased. I find my body is quite sore as it adjusts to the new work load. I am getting stronger! However, there are times when I see a mess and think...ugh...maybe tomorrow.

Then I say a prayer asking for energy and strength and say, I'll clean two feet of this then go inside and lay down. And I do the two feet and it looks so good I say "Two more then that's it for today", and so on.

There were PILES of acorns and dirt and debris under the outer fence. It looked so bad from the street. One corner of the lot is so bad, I called it "filthy corner". I started my "two feet" mentality because it was such a big job, and ended up finishing it in about an hour. It looked so good. I felt a huge burden lifted. I had been putting that area off for two weeks now! LOL but caring for little DETAILS makes the whole look so excellent it IS worth it.

Another job I've been putting off was the nasty webs nests left by the worm invasion. I've cleaned them before but they just kept coming back! The guests don't often look up so no one was noticing or at least not saying anything. As I cleaned windows I would look at those doors and think..OK Tomorrow...OK tomorrow....ugh tomorrow.

Then as I was exiting the Visitor's Center this week I looked up and saw THIS...worm guts dripping down because the doors had closed on them... SOOOO gross! I had to stop everything and put gloves on and scrub and scrub with bug windshield wiper fluid and green scrubby pad...I had left the disgusting job too long. It took an hour to clean it properly.

Now it will look SPLENDID until next Spring because it's so cold now the bugs are ALL gone! YAHOOOO!!!

So one of the sisters here is an artist and offered to teach me how to water color. This was my first attempt. The view from my bedroom window. If you know watercolor....you can tell this is a subpar job. BUT....it's my first attempt and it was so peaceful to just sit with a friend and fool around with paint and daub it clean and start over and erase and try again until it was good enough. Creating and being creative is very good for the mind and soul. I encourage all of you to MAKE something this week.

See how it makes you feel! The Autumn air is so wonderful, the lighting is equisite the trees are so beautiful it hurts to look at them. WHY? The joy is too much. Why? I don't know.

Is it because it reminds our souls of heaven and causes us to LONG for that place?

Maybe! But I just walk around and stare and exclaim "OH So BEAUTIFUL! Thank you Heavenly Father!"

This week we had some fun social adventures. One of our friends invited us to a tea party then watch The Enchanted April.

It was SOOO fun. Her husband and Reg had their own tea party and went upstairs with their delicious tea and treats and watched old black and white movies from their childhood and had so much fun!

We had 8 women there. Everyone but me was from the sewing room. They are a delightful bunch. Everyone brought something fun to eat.

Also this week, we had a good bye lunch for two of my dear Blue Belle Sisters...Their missions are done, they finished well. I will miss them a lot!

These women are so accepting and loving. I feel that God has blessed me with one or two people in each phase of my life who love me for who I am, who are not jealous of me or critical of my faults. I am just loved for who I am. THESE women were some of those. I will miss them.

Elder Cullen and I played pool this week. Unfortuneately he hit the 8 ball into the pocket so I won. HAHAHH!

Something else that is fun about this mission is that everyone is SO generous. One of the site missionaries gave us this beautiful gift just because when they came out to do tours here in Carthage.

So that's all for this week. I invite you to do something that brings you closer to Jesus this week. Serve someone, forgive someone, talk to Him about something that makes you happy, sad, or mad. Then write about it in your journal. LOVE YOU ALL!

There and Back Again: Week 51 Communities Coming Together!

LAST Sunday the local Catholic Church reached out to the Church of Jesus Christ community, inviting them to participate in a candle light vigil for the recent tragedies for both groups. It was a beautiful event. Father Tony was very inspired. Their Catholic Youth group had come up with the idea and lead the service! I loved seeing those teens leading out with such love and inclusiveness.

We sang Be Still My Soul, read scriptures and did the call and response lead by the youth. Then we prayed. The Deacon said the prayer and I was surprised that we started out praying for our enemies! It was a PERFECT prayer. The victims of violence are safe in heaven. The prayer was that those who are tempted to do such things would have the demons and darkness cast out of them and that they would be filled with love. It was a beautiful prayer. I left feeling very uplifted.

Then Tuesday the local community reached out for help with their pumpkin walk preparations. Tues and Thurs we drew designs on Pumpkins. They didn't want any two to look alike so they had binders full of hundreds of different designs.

Volunteers picked a page, drew the design, then put an X in the corner so no one else would do that design. It was amazing...about 600 pumpkins...

Wednesday a crowd came to clean the pumpkins out. Then Friday WE, and I mean hundreds of people from the community, highschool, and surrounding areas came and carved the designs on the pumpkins. It was SO much work and SO fun. After a pumpkin was finished it had a candle hole punched in the bottom and then the whole thing was sprayed with a mild bleach solution to keep it from molding.

Then teams of trucks hauled them off and lined both sides of Mulhaland Street (on hay bales)with them. PLUS the missionaries popped and made over 3000, yes thousand, bags of kettle corn to give away for free the next day. That took another crew four days...lol SO MUCH WORK for the fun. Totally worth it.

Friday night we went to the Knights of Columbus Octoberfest fund raiser and ate delicious food and danced to a live band. I literally danced until sweat was pouring down my face. SOO FUN!! On Saturday Elder Cullen and I dressed up as Wednesday and Lurch from the Addams Family. We were on the Band Wagon playing tunes in minor keys...so funny we got lots of waves and claps as we passed. The parade was so small but super fun.

Everyone turned out. Lots of vendors, food trucks and a really really fabulous High School Jazz Band. It was really wonderful.

All this week I've been having terrible charlie horse cramps in my right ham string...ugh. I drank some Apple Cider Vinegar and it stopped...why?? I don't know, but I'm grateful So this week we made a lot of new friends, strengthened relationships with current friends, and worked really hard.

I hope you have a wonderful week and that your days are filled with service and love.