CompleteLee Blog: Mama Rika Update...Lots of Pictures

Went to the Birch Aquarium with company...Here is a strange Sea Dragon

Guy cleaning the Sardine tank.

Changing the way the stream of water flows to make the boats go different ways.

Love this pic. It would probably be an awesome picture with a decent camera. lol

We had so much fun trying out different instruments. This ukulele was just the right size!

Harpeji (I am spelling it wrong. I am too lazy to look it up.)

Drums were a big "hit".

Yes, we went again!

Princess got to play soldier

Missionary Update:

It looks like my missionary could be taking in a decent chunk of "Frankenstorm" that is hitting the east coast. He may get up to 3 feet of snow. They are in the process of moving to a new apartment today, tomorrow and the next day. Right in the middle of all this! Prayers appreciated.

Also, all the "don't worry mom" comments are in regards to him being careful with that shoulder of his!

Monday:

We tried to go mini golfing for our fun Pday activity. We searched high and low for the mini golfing place, when we were finally able to find it, It was closed. Sad day. :( The rest of the day was pretty good though, some former investigator and less active work in the evening.

Tuesday:

Went on exchanges with Elder Makemson. He actually was in my stake back in Arizona, we have quite a few mutual friends back home. What are the chances that we end up in the same mission in West Virginia? We were able to reminisce about parties and dances we'd been to back home, and all sorts of other great things.

Well, we got our car a check up, and helped a member with his move. (don't worry mom, they only had boxes to move, no big stuff) We picked up a former investigator and set him on date to be baptized. It was pretty sweet. It's always great when we can invite people to be baptized and they accept.

Wednesday:

We exchanged back, then walked and talked all day. Street contacting is a lot of fun I think. They can't slam the door in your face, and it just feels like you're on more even ground. We went to the ward Trunk or Treat later that evening for the obvious reason (there was free pizza) and also because we had 3 investigators coming with their kids. We handed out candy and Articles of Faith Pass-along cards. If the kids wanted more candy they'd have to recite an article of faith. It was genius. Plus we had kids lined up so they could tell us about the A of F. It was great.

We had the Mannington elders stay overnight because of the big mission tour with Elder Whiting the next day. That was pretty fun.

Thursday:

Mission tour day! Got up at 5:30 and left at 6 to get down to Sissonville by 8:30 for our mission tour. E. Whiting from the 1st quorum of the seventy came to teach us, encourage us, and just get an overall feel of the mission as a whole. He talked about obedience a lot, but also how our desires drive that obedience. When we took our lunch break, I was blessed to have E. Whiting sit at the same table as me. Sweet! We got to ask him a lot of questions. I don't remember them all, but I do remember asking if he was scared at all giving a talk at General Conference. He said "yes, but not for the reason you think. I wasn't worried about the millions in front of me, but I was worried about the 15 men behind me. That was the scary part." It was pretty great.

When we got back, we had dinner with our ward mission leader, then went out to visit some investigators and less active members. Great day.

Friday:

Pretty slow day overall, we did a lot of packing for our move. We're getting a newer and much nicer apartment in town, and we're looking forward to getting it.

Saturday:

Helped another member move (don't worry mom, I only moved boxes, no big stuff) We had lunch with a member, and then got the keys to our new apartment. On the way back we decided to stop by a furniture store that was closing. We got caught up by a couch salesman, and were late to our appointment. We taught an investigator with a member friend there. Then after the lesson, the member introduced us to his granddaughter and great-granddaughter. She (the great-granddaughter) needed a blessing, so we gave her one, then started teaching the mom and two of her friends. I love good members!

Sunday:

J came to church! Yay, he could only stay for the first half of sacrament meeting, but the point is that he came! We have high hopes for him. He felt like he was really led to investigate the church, so he looked up Bishop Hansen (the bishop here) and talked to him for about an hour or so about the articles of faith. Then Bishop referred us to him and we started teaching him. He looks very promising.