Week ending March 4, 2011

What a wonderful week I am having.  Last Sunday I gave my lesson on Homemaking that I have been going to give forever.  The first time I was to give it, the Branch President and counselors came in and spoke to the girls.  The next time we were called to an assignment by the Branch President and were not there.  I had spent a lot of time on it and was excited about it in the beginning.  It went over OK but seemed anti climatic.  I ended by having a girl open a beautifully wrapped gift to find nothing on the inside and compared that with how beautiful they are on the outside, but if they are not learning homemaking skills it is like giving their family and future husbands a gift like that.  Then we had them list some  skills they would like to be learning for mutual activities. We will see how it went.  They have just wanted to play most mutual nights.

In the evening we had invited all the Senior Missionaries over for a potluck and visit.  We had a delightful evening crowed in our living room with sixteen people  eating and talking.  Elder and Sister Neeley’s were here also because they were finishing their mission, staying at the President and Sister Griffiths overnight and flying back to Salt Lake the next morning.  They were so glad we had an evening where they could say goodbye to so many.  Also many commented on how relaxed President and Sister Griffiths seemed to be and how unusual that was they could enjoy an evening just hanging out.

We also finished our Teacher Development class and so this week will be back in the regular Sunday School  class until the Branch President wants to start another one.

Monday we went in and Mike was back after a week of being gone for his daughter’s wedding.  He only stayed half a day and then went home to take care of the grandchildren while his daughter went off on a honeymoon.  He was out until Friday.  We had about  eight books left of the series Record of Deed books that they have been working on for years.  At least we thought we were finished until Mike announced that in the beginning they had not started at the first of the series but about 200 years into the series because they didn’t know if the books were in good enough condition to digitize.  Now that they have seen our work, we will go back and pick them up.  So until we get them the men were working on cemetery records.  They are always harder to do because of the difference in condition of the books and the various sizes of the books that they have to keep  changing their focus. We got through most of them though.  Friday Bill worked on one that  you removed each page of this almost nine hundred page book.  Some of the pages were missing and we had to locate them if we could in other books.  The pages were torn and crumpled especially at the beginning and ending of the book.  So Bill took one out, placed it on the cradle, tried to iron and unbend the page, shoot the picture, turn it over and do the other side.  It literally took him all day to shoot the one book.  I was finding the pages and making sure they were all in the right order.  Also making sheets to be filmed of missing or unused pages to be digitized so every page is accounted for.  Then I quality checked three of Mike’s books which were each under 50 pages.  With much time on my hand I went to lds.org and listened to the February Liahona Magazine and got all the way through it.  I will have another day just like it on Monday as we still have three of  those  records to go through.

We are nearing the end of the work that Mike knows of and he was distressed Friday.  He had e-mailed the Archive liason who is over telling us what to digitize next.  She had not responded back to him yet.  He knows the church will not pay him to sit and twiddle his thumbs waiting and he doesn’t want to be sent here and there to work for the week .  So he was making a few phone calls.  I am sure he hates to see us leave and yet is releaved because we are running out of work that we know of.

Tuesday was standards night in Edinburgh.  Bill took me in and then went home to work on a project for the President in collecting data from all the missionaries on results of searching addresses of address unknown file for members.  The missionaries are to go to that address to see if the person is there still or if we can get an address for that person and then knock ten doors on each side of that address and give us the results of that visit.  He worked on the chart for me to be able to call the ones that had not yet responded with information.

I got to Standard’s night and was asked to talk on Choice and Accountability as the person assigned was not able to come at the last moment.  Thank goodness it was that one.  We had our New Beginnings night the week before and I had that part of the skit.

Wednesday and Thursday morning I spent trying to find a corner in the Archive Building where I could call the missionaries on the AUF files and get their information.

Friday we had the Hambelton’s over for takeout Chinese and learning to play canasta with us.  It was a very fun night. We will do it again.

Saturday was flat inspection day.  We got up our usual time and headed for the west coast.  We visited the four flats--3 sets of elders and 1 set of sisters.  We ended up in Ayr which is on the coast.  We asked the missionaries about their favorite  seafood place and the Bishop had just taken them to one two nights before.  So we had them take us to it and they were right.  The fish had been caught that morning and the fish and chips were incredible.  We also saw a seal swimming around while we were eating.  We walked along the beach and I picked up some sea shells.  It was a wonderful day.

I hope you have all had a wonderful week. I look forward to the adventures this next week and hope you do also.