Her daughter was knee-deep in a repair job on their water line, which had developed a leak! There was plenty of mud to go around, and the next couple of hours saw Fred and Nova working pretty hard to reconstruct this line. As it turned out, it needed one more part, and another willing branch member to complete the job the next morning. Thank heavens for willing priesthood hands...and very capable daughters.
We had a welcome visitor in our home this week. We finally got a referral for a good piano tuner! You would think that would be an easy call, unless you live in the mountains where they are a scarce commodity and the closest is in Sonora!
Mr. Corson was so kind - very gentle to our piano (which he said had a wonderful bass for its size). He arrived at 3:30 and left at 7:40pm. True story. The piano was quite out of tune, and he would let it rest at intervals. Anyway, when he finished, it was like playing a whole new instrument! And we celebrated by inviting our neighbors over the following night for our first musical gathering!!
These are our great neighbors, Ken and Sue. He is a master guitarist (he owns far too many, he says, bordering on an obsession). At our invitation, they trotted across their backyard to our house, had dinner with us, and treated us to a grand night of playing and singing old gospel standards together! ("Come to the Church In the Wildwood", "The Old Rugged Cross", "Do, Lord, oh Do, Lord", etc.) He was thrilled that Fred and I could sing harmony and asked if we would be willing to come sing with his church some week if they did a program. He said no one sings harmony in his Seventh Day Adventist congregation. Hey, a couple of Mormon missionaries in your choir? Why not? Anyway, I think this is just the beginning of some great evening 'sing along' experiences in our home.
By the way, we also had time to discuss some of the similarities and differences in our religions. They had a good laugh because I had earlier picked all the summer sausage out of the pasta salad I fixed for them, thinking they were vegetarian. He said only about 25 percent of their members follow that any more. (They were also interested in our word of wisdom).
By the way, speaking of improved neighbor relations, this is how Fred, Jeff, and Jeff's kids spent the afternoon yesterday - installing Jeff's air hockey game! Jeff and Leslie are now some of our good friends.
Here is another thing we're enjoying each week - our class on herbs! Luci is a great teacher, and we've made some useful creations: lavender sachets, sleep pillows, bug spray, herbal teas...
This is Luci, in the 'kitchen section' of the Little House where we work each week. Fred and I both like the licorice plant the best so far. I don't know that I buy into every 'natural cure' she teaches us about, but it's good to learn about them!
That makes me think of 'health'. So here's the two-sided coin of mission life: breakfast - sometimes we love frittatas stuffed with as many vegetables as you can get in a pan. Yea!
Then there's dinner. After we clean the church every other Thursday, we all go out to eat together. Often, that's a calzone at Two Guys Pizza. Even if you share one,...massive. Boo. scale up, scale down, up, down, up..... hahaha
And speaking of food, we generally try to have at least one couple over for Sunday dinner. I hope we stay in that habit at home. After we eat, we always think it's fun to talk or play a game for a while. This is Sister Johnstone, celebrating because she finally went out FIRST at Quiddler! She was pretty happy. And she was also a great sport, having told us that Wallace was the game player, NOT her. Thanks for such an enjoyable afternoon, Lavonne.
Jennah keeps planning such fun things for the kids at the Youth Center. This month's theme is 'space', in honor of the eclipse. We made 'rocket dogs' together last week; unfortunately there were no kids there. So...she and I and Fred each had one and enjoyed a good time conversing together. She is a very devout Christian and we've had some wonderful discussions about morals, beliefs, etc. (which we couldn't do if the kids were in the center). But they've finally reopened the skate park, so we will undoubtedly see the return of several young boarders and scooter enthusiasts! Yea!
So here's a question on an entirely different subject: how do the police up here do their job in such a mountainous, wooded area? They held a community information evening for all of us in the local park recently and showed us three ways:
I wish I could remember how far away this police dog can detect the presence of a drug - it's like miles. (Yes, Groveland has a drug problem) And he's so gentle you can pet him (all in the way he's trained, according to his handler)
This horse has been on the force for years; he's thirteen. He can successfully find his target deep into the forest. But in recent years, his handler says people want results even faster than he can get there, so....
Here's the newest member of the force. It finds, hovers, and can return wherever its owner asks, always saving enough battery for the flight home. (If you've ever read Farenheight 451, we're there...)
Just for fun, let me mention a family from Colorado who recently came through and stayed for our whole three hour block on Sunday. They said they have ten children. Three are on missions. Three are return missionaries. One more will enter the field in December. They have home schooled their children. They are now on a several month tour of places in the U.S. as well as overseas...for the educational experience. We sure meet some unique families here.
Here's a parting shot: this little doe thought she could totally hide from us as we passed on our morning walk. See if you can spot her. They sometimes blend into the landscape so well! Have a great week, everyone. And I hope your temperatures - and ours - start a downward trend!!
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