Sunday June 28th is the last time we will video church with
“Nanna and Pappa” and the grandkids. And
they surely are kids. We started several
months ago with carefully prepared, detailed lesson plans. By now, we are much more general and fluid,
finding that we need to adapt on the fly to what is on their minds and
expanding on what grabs and holds their attention. We still are trying to get a message across,
but it is pretty simple. We will miss
this precious time, hearing that we will be going back to church of some kind
in our Pagedale Branch next Sunday. Even
if the effectiveness of a virtual nursery is not optimal, requiring a fair
amount of support from the on site parents, at least it has been consistent and
memorable. We will miss it for sure.
Monday, June 29th is the day I decided to not let any other
distractions get in the way doing a boots on the ground search for an apartment
in Farmington, Missouri. By internet,
I’d narrowed the choices to five that met the online searchable criteria. But there is no substitute for taking a
look. It felt a little like a “fourth
floor, last door” experience. The first
three seemed okay, but left me feeling flat, for reasons that I can’t really
articulate. Maybe it had something to do
with the age, neighborhoods, or who knows what.
The fourth apartment complex seemed quite promising and I began to get a
little excited that maybe I had found what the mission needed. But I decided to take a look at the fifth on
the list anyway. It turned out to be two
blocks from the meetinghouse, which I had not known, and in the middle of a
vibrant, growing, family oriented part of town.
Now I was excited. I made some
phone calls to confirm availability, and headed home, feeling like something
good would happen either from the fourth or fifth apartments on my list.
That night RaDene spent several hours working on a baby quilt for
little Amelia Rose. Sis Hatfield has
been so diligent in her missionary work, spending almost no time on something
resembling a hobby, craft, or other distraction. But she so wants to make an expression of her
love for our newest granddaughter. It is
a labor of love for sure, doing it without her tools or space or usual
supplies. Her heart is in every stitch,
working and reworking to make it just right.
I know what care and love this little rose colored quilt represents.
Wednesday the 1st. I
can’t believe its July! It must be a new
season, because we are holding the Mission Leadership Council, composed of approximately
40 young leaders from around the mission, live and in person at the Frontenac
Ward building. Which is not to say that
we are being careless: companionships
are sitting six feet apart scattered throughout the chapel, wearing masks. Sis Hatfield and I have the primary role of
setting up for lunch. No other seniors
are participating, to reduce unnecessary exposures. We miss them, underestimating the work, even
if we have done as much preparation as possible. We have 10 round tables (accented smartly for
Independence Day, of course!) with only four place settings per table, or two
companionships. Sis Bell has carefully
packaged salad into individual serving bags which we are handing out, donning
masks and gloves, along with individually prepared servings of dressing, slices
of pizza, bottled water, and individually wrapped cookies. I hope this prevents some illness, because we
are certainly increasing our use of plastic.
(A conservation issue for another day.)
Even with all the awkwardness of the precautions, it is so good to see
some faces (okay, parts of some faces) that we haven’t seen for months. These young people are bright lights who
surely shouldn’t be hid under a basket. After
lunch, the MLC organized in a large circle, with space between companionships,
to complete the day’s training. Sister
Hatfield and I made a short presentation on JustServe, one of our subsidiary
responsibilities for the mission, and for which we receive monthly Zoom training. RaDene has urged the zones to get all their
missionaries registered and to meet with their stake JustServe
specialists. We have had more
administrative success than I would have expected. Now, we need to encourage the stakes to seek
out worthy projects to post on the JustServe web site so that these energetic
young people can, well, just serve. I
see so much wisdom in this effort. It
not only provides needed volunteer help for worthy causes, but it weaves the church
members more tightly into the fabric of their communities. It helps dispel erroneous notions of what the
missionaries do, naturally creating interest in what they represent. And it is oh so therapeutic for the emotional
health of the missionaries. There are
few balms for the soul like service for service’s sake.
I headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things, when Sis
Hatfield called and said the mission technology specialists from the Champaign
zone, Elders Scheurman and Cary, were in the office and needed help. A relatively new mission laptop was not
working, despite efforts to get warranty service. I was not past the produce section, so I
restocked in the grocery store (a no-no, I’m sure) and raced back to the
office. Sis Hatfield and I assessed the
situation and decided the only sensible thing to do was buy another
laptop. I was delighted to have a short
reunion with Elder Scheurman while I took him to Best Buy and picked something
out and bought it on the mission credit card.
We’ll deal with additional warranty claims next week. Meanwhile, these elders have a long way to go
to get back to their zone and work.
And what was I doing anyway at a grocery store on a Wednesday
afternoon? Malory and here little family
were coming to visit for the Fourth of July holiday! We expected them that evening, so I needed to
get a few things. Before I was back from
the electronics store, AJ, Mal, Kennedy, and baby Ben were here. I met them and RaDene at the hotel across the
street from the mission office where we had made them a reservation. Then we went to our apartment for supper and
to our delight, Kennedy wanted to sleep with Nanna and Pappa. We were more than happy to oblige.
July 2nd was a bit of a break during the day from our
mission office duties. Instead, we took
Mal and family to the St Louis zoo.
RaDene had to make reservations a week in advance because of COVID
admittance limitations. But we got in,
masks on. This is a world class
zoo. And although every exhibit wasn’t
open, we didn’t get to all that were open.
We rode the train around the park twice, which was a thrill to
Kennedy. Late that afternoon during
belated naptime, RaDene and I went to the office to keep up as best we could
with crucial tasks. For me, that
consisted of signing a lease and scanning it back to a leasing office in
Farmington, and stewing that I couldn’t get a certified check before the
holiday break to hold the unit as the leasing agent requested just today. I’m banking on the fact that no one else
could get farther along on the holiday weekend than I already am. Bathtime that night was hilarious. To Kennedy, the bath was fun, but to Ben, it
was like Christmas in the bathroom. He
could hardly contain himself, splashing and squealing. I had to hold tight to one of his arms to
keep him from diving under the water.
After getting on jammies and sending Ben and his parents to the hotel,
Nana and Pappa read stories to Kennedy on her little pile of blankets and
pillows laid at the side of our bed.
RaDene had planned ahead, and the books were amazing entertainment for
Kennedy and her grandparents. The best
was How to Babysit a Grandma, which
we almost wore out in one weekend.
July 3rd we went to the Magic House, a children’s hand’s on
exploration of natural, scientific, and social displays and experiences. It was so good! It’s setting is an old St Louis mansion with
every room, hall, and corridor set up with a different theme, some gauged a bit
towards a younger person, and some a bit older, but all sufficiently
interesting to spur anyone’s curiosity.
We then treated ourselves to a feast of Pappy’s Smokehouse ribs, judged
the best in America by the Food Network.
Best or not, they were very tasty.
I’ll be making a return trip there for sure, hopefully with Spencer, who
along with Malory, appreciates good barbeque.
After a short stint at the office, and then I sent the baby and other
adults out for ice cream. Kennedy and I
had another bathtime and I put to her to bed myself, thank you very much. I’m sure reading How to Baby Sit a Grandma helped.
Saturday, July 4th was blazing hot and humid. Fortunately, we were able to get into the St
Louis City Museum—perfect for a day uncomfortable to be outdoors. It has some art and artifacts, for sure, but
its big draw is the crafting of larger than life experiences within the
building—chutes and ladders, ramps, crawl spaces, outsized fish tanks, and on
and on, built loosely around themes like dinosaurs, sea life, city life, or
just for fun, with no discernable theme.
A magic house for big people (and the little people the big people bring
with them). It is just plain fun and
really not well described in words. You
just need to see it. I’ve said it many
times before, but it’s true: St Louis
punches well above its weight in attractions, parks, and yummy food.
RaDene and Mal went out looking for flowers to hang on our patio—the greenery
outside is spectacular, but it could use some splashes of color, and the
squirrels keep eating the buds on our begonias.
They came back with three beautiful baskets of impatiens, screw hooks,
and a “squirrel proof” bird feeder. We
spent some time organizing the patio accordingly. It seems that any gathering must involve some
sort of household project, even if it is at an apartment. Then we barbequed salmon for Malory, one of
her favorites.
Towards the end of the day we took our family to the mission home to
meet Pres and Sis Bell. About 10
missionary sisters were there for a Independence Day celebration (the mission
was watching Other Side of Heaven II via technology, but it wasn’t working). Kennedy did a dance for them, which was
darling. I wonder if she would have been
so comfortable around 10 elders! We decided we would do a fireworks “driveby”
in St Charles, were fireworks are legal and the city was having a display along
the Missouri River. But to get us to
dark, we looked for ice cream and low and behold, there is an Andy’s frozen
custard stand 3 miles from home. We had
found the one 10 miles away in a different direction, but it will be dangerous
to our waistlines to have found one so close to home. The fireworks were fun and beautiful, but most
interesting was the stark, dark line of the Missouri River, marking the county
line. St Charles was alive with light
and color, St Louis looked like it was in the midst of a power outage by
comparison. We spent one more night with
Kennedy and then Mal and AJ came early and scooped her up and headed out, but
not without cinnamon rolls Nana had gotten up way to early to send with them. We will miss the Husseys, but it recharged
our batteries that they would make the long drive with little kids up to see
us.
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