Week ending June 24 2012

Well two weeks have passed.  I started writing at work at the beginning of the week and thought I had saved it and sent it to my email to finish at home.   I can’t find it so here is seeing if I can remember anything that has happened.  It has been a busy two weeks and you will recognize that when I tell you that two times I have agreed to stop at McDonald’s on the way home at 7:00 or 7:30 to get something to eat. 

With the coming of a new Mission President and sending another home there is lots of extra stuff to take care of.  President Griffiths has also started a project of making and packaging 1600 DVD’s every transfer so that every companionship gets 20 of them to give out with the Book of Mormon to introduce the Book.  That takes a lot of time we have discovered.  We are now finished with 500 in our third time of making them.

We have painted a flat, inspected a closed flat, and now have cleaning of carpets to do these next two weeks to get ready to reopen the one flat we checked and get the Office sisters flat ready for their arrival on the 14^th of July.

We have attended the Zone Conference in Edinburgh on Friday which is our first and last time of doing it with the Griffiths.  It was their final one and needless to say an emotional one.  The Presidents final message was one on teaching by the spirit.  Something he believes in and prays that all missionaries will develop a closeness to the spirit so that they can recognize when it is there.

On the last two Saturdays we have stayed around home most of the day finishing up projects, cleaning and shopping for food.  Yesterday we did go with the Grahams to see the House of Binns. 

This home has been lived in for the last 400+ years by the same family.  The family still lived in a part of the house and allows the rest of the home to be shown to raise money to keep the home up.  It is a big beautiful home totally filled with family memorabilia of 400 years.

On the property is a tower that was built to win a bet.  The bet was who could spend 100 pounds sterling to create the most useless thing.  This tower one because it really has no purpose other than to overlook the surrounding lands.  In the picture is Julia with Sister Graham.  Unfortunately you can't see how windy it was.  We all about got blown away climbing the hill up to this tower.

The House of Binns is also well known for all of the peacocks that live on the property.  Here is one of the males we encountered just outside the door into the home.

We love the work and are still glad for the change of assignments even though the hours are longer time goes quickly with the change of activities.  No two days are the same.  The missionaries are fun to be around as well as the Grahams.  We are going to miss them when they go home the end of July.