Another week has flown by and was it ever a stressful
week. First we will start out with the
miracles and then the rest of the week.
I have nine areas this time to move missionaries to. Two of the areas
were easy, because they are moving into a flat vacated by a couple who moved to
Ireland and the other we are moving two more missionaries in with two
others. So that left seven. I started as soon as I got the information
right after April 10th which was the last moves period. I contacted one senior couple and the Branch
Presidents or Bishops for help. Long
story short, last Friday it looked like I would have four of them in place by
the 15th. One I was having
trouble getting them to get the lease right, and two had not even found a place
yet. So this last week was sending them
ideas off the internet, and encouraging them to hurry. And some nights with little sleep when I would
wake up and not be able to fall back to sleep because of worrying. On Friday morning I still had four leases to
finish up, but for some reason I felt I would make it. Then I received the news from the Mission
President that we would not need two of the flats and that was the two that
nothing had been happening, so it all worked out.
What happened was we had two missionaries that went home
unexpectedly. One has had medical issues
of not being able to hold any food down and another had fallen down the bus
steps when the driver stopped suddenly and she ended up having a fractured hip
and is going home to recuperate and have physical therapy. No wonder we hadn’t found those flats
yet. Heavenly Father knew we would not
need them. So miracles happened and I
think they will all be ready for the missionaries with one more day’s work.
The new missionaries will arrive on Wednesday of this coming
week and will be going to their areas that night and the next day, and they all
have places to stay. The next transfer
is in June and they have already given me the list and I have seven to
get. September I know will be 10 new
flats but haven’t been given the locations yet and doubt I get them all
finished before I come home. That was the
stressful part of the week, but where miracles happen.
Now let’s move on to the fun part of the week. Monday we had a surprise party with the
districts in Edinburgh and President and Sister Brown, Sister Vance and Sister
Price. The missionaries got to wear a silly
hat from a hat collection Sister Brown provided.
First they dressed us in
our Royal robes (a tartan table cloth and a lace curtain), they gave Bill a scepter
(cane), and they gave me the royal orb (a pineapple) and crowns.
We were then taken to our throne (lawn chairs
under a tent shelter).
They gave us a
document proclaiming us King and Queen for the day or an hour or two. They then entertained us with some wonderful
musical numbers provided by our talented missionaries.
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Elder Windhausen |
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Chicken dance and song |
President Brown manned the grill and we had
chicken, sausages, and hamburgers, potato salad and seven layer lettuce salad
with drink, ice cream and cake for dessert.
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President Brown at the grill |
It was a wonderful party and we have clips of the entertainment and
pictures to share when we get home.
Sister Brown put together an album of the event for my birthday present
along with a dvd.
I had birthday wishes from all of my children and
grandchildren from mail, Skype, and calls and lots of messages from friends and
family over Skype and Facebook. It was a
wonderful birthday. Thanks to all of you
for making it so special.
Saturday the Sisters decided they wanted a day to do their
own thing, so Bill and I got up our normal time and by seven we were on the
road north to Aberdeen area, which is about a three hour drive. It is an area we had not been to yet because
of distance. We were to our first castle
though by 10:30. Our GPS unit took us on
some back roads that were one lane in some places but it was a very beautiful drive.
We are always surprised at how different Scotland can be in such a short
distance. We were up in the highlands
with the heather and rolling hills, some sheep, and flowers (mainly daffodils
that are considered a wildflower) by the millions and I am not exaggerating.
The first castle that we saw was Crathes Castle, and Garden
Estate. This castle has been in the same
family since Robert the Bruce gave them the land and castle in 1323. They turned it over to the National Trust for
Scotland in 1973. The ceiling in this
Castle was different than any we have seen.
It had rounded alcoves by the windows with beautiful paintings. The Burnett family still gathers there and
around the world for reunions. Craig and
Julie one of them was in March in Phoenix at a school for Native Americans and
would have been called something like Scottish Highland Games. Wish we would have known earlier so you could
have gone to see it.
The gardens are
beautiful there. Some of the hedges were
planted as early as 1702. I guess in
June they are at their best but I doubt we are back up there to see them then.
The next castle was the Drum Castle and it too was given to
William de Irwyn in 1323 by Robert the
Bruce for 20 years of loyal service. The
medieval tower was under repair with a million pound gift given by an American
and that still will not be enough to pay for the entire repair. That was the oldest part of the castle. Repairs were made earlier using modern day
cement and that failed causing more damage over the years than good because it
didn’t allow the building to breath like limestone material from bygone
ages. So everything was getting mold and
mildew. Now they are removing the cement
and going back to the old ways.
It has been a wonderful week and next week is transfer/
departures/ arrivals and so we know it will be another busy week.