The worth of 'one'

We found out last Friday how much effort one girl is worth.  Our sweet Youth Center Director, Jennah, wanted to hold a 'high tea' for the girls in honor of Mothers Day.  She asked if I could make some strawberry-basil scones for the table.  (Strawberry-basil scones??)  Well, it worked!

So we gathered up our scones, strawberries and whipped cream to take to the Youth Center.  And this is what we saw:

Jennah had made this wonderful setting for the occasion.  There were one older girl and two boys hanging there for a time, but they weren't really into the 'tea' idea, so soon Fred and I and Jennah were pretty much alone.  You can never tell if and when the kids will decide to come by the center.  I was feeling bad for all Jennah's work, until... in slipped this young lady, ready for the party.







She was so adorable.  We had sandwiches, scones, and drinks.  And later she made glittered Mothers Day cards.
I told Jennah, "All your work and planning was totally worth it."

So many other good things have happened in the past few days.  Here are some highlights:

El Capitan!  And also a big mountain in the background.  We made our first trip into Yosemite. Our mission friends from the office, the Cornells, came up for the weekend and we took everyone's advice and went up at the crack of dawn on Monday. It was perfect timing and just an awesome experience. By the time we were ready to leave, you could hardly pull your car into the stream of tourists!




One of the most inspiring sights was Yosemite Falls.  In this picture we were in the constant spray of mist with the thundering sound of the falls behind us. I know, it looks like we're in front of a blue screen, huh.

Okay, here's an hilarious side note from our trip.  Fred wanted to stop by this highway restaurant for breakfast because people raved about their baked goods.  What we didn't know until too late is that they're closed on Mondays.  But you have to love this sign on the porch of the restaurant:

The owner just repositions one letter when his shop is ready for business!  Brilliant.










Some of the best news?  These two people.  No, they're not related.  He is friends with her family, and he brought her here for some medical treatment.  Such a nice lady - she's LDS, and she speaks Moldavian! (She actually understands quite a bit of English)  Anyway, she wanted to come to church Sunday, so he asked if it would be all right if he attended, too.  (Do you think?!)  So we are beginning to meet with this wonderful man to share beliefs and answer his questions.  Blessings.

Now, have you heard of the marvelous jumping frog of Calaveras County? The record frog jump is 21 feet, 5 3/4 inches! One jump!!!!
Well, the annual Fair commemorating Mark Twain's famous frog was held this week in Frog Town, and we were there...thanks to Elder Meese, who is always ready to be in the middle of everything!

Jean Oliver (Dynamo) headed the church's Family History booth there, and Elder Meese signed us up to join her for four hours passing out booklets and inviting people to get on Family Search and add their 'stories' for future generations.  It was surprising how many people were interested in it! There was also another helper who would sit down at the computer and get right into it with them! She helped a man that was "sort of" interested find evidence that his Grandmother was a holocaust victim.

And in a booth across the room?  A man and wife selling their 'Button The Mouse' books!  How could the MouseMom resist that?  She's the author, he's the illustrator. And I loved that they had several Christian-based lessons the mice learned in each adventure.  A rare find in today's culture.

Well, how many more good things could I tell about?!  But I will stop for now. And so, from both of us and our friends along our path, "Bye for now".

We love you all!