Mission...Tuesday?

I woke up this morning, like every Monday morning, excited to read letters from my missionary boys.  Actually, I was suffering a bad bout of insomnia, and I told myself that if I was still awake at 2:30 I would check my email for letters.  That may have helped me stay awake.  But I was so disappointed when there were no letters!  Not even a hurried short one!  And at 3:30 a.m. the result was the same.  At 9 the next morning, still no emails.  Boo!  I checked my email on another device, wondering if my internet connection was bad.  Still nothing.  I was surprised that I didn't get a single short note from either of them.  So strange.

But then Tuesday morning, all was well.  It turns out that Easter Monday is a big holiday in Africa.  Everything is closed for what one missionary referred to as National Hangover Day, since Easter is a big drinking and partying holiday there.  Whew!  Good to know that both of my boys hadn't abandoned me!


From South Africa:

The reason I'm emailing on Tuesday, and not on Monday is that our entire country was enjoying a Public Holiday yesterday, which means that all the email shops were closed... I don't like that when I don't get to email. So here I am today, writing a quick email before I have to go to an appointment at noon. Yesterday, we went with all the youth and hiked Paarl rock and Gordons rock. Both were awesome, and the youth were so cool. All of them made it to the top and all had a fun time

Also this week, I celebrated by year mark. Wierd is all I have to say. I don't feel like I've been out a year. But this means that there are only a bunch of once more on missions left, e.g., only one more general conference, only one more birthday, only one more mothers day, only one more chirstmas, only one more new years. So Flipping WIERD.... I don't want to end my mission, It is so fun, but at the same time, I can't wait to be home again. I love the chance that I have to serve here and help and teach the people here.


From Madagascar:

So this one's a short and sweet one because yesterday (the real p-day) all of the cybers were closed because it was Easter Monday!!! One of the biggest... holidays... Anyway, it's huge here, so we're writing today (Tuesday). But we don't want to waste too much non p-day time so it's pretty short...
This week has been great though!!! We taught a lot of lessons and we've been improving the quality of those lessons and the other proselyting stuff we do too. It's great!

Malagasy morsel of the day is fanantenana. It means hope. It literally means to have one's self. So that's a neat little treasure there, yes, it's used all of the time.

Love My Home

I stumbled across a new book the other day and it's hitting me pretty hard.  The name of the book is Love the Home You Have, and you can read more about it here.  I do need to learn to love the house I live in, and make it a home.

Ever since we moved in with my dad, I've been struggling to love this house.  I've been struggling to find my place here.  I've been struggling to feel at home here.  I grew up here, and it certainly felt like home then.  But I've gone away and grown up and now it's my mom's house - my dad's house.  It doesn't feel like my home.  I'm never quite at ease here, which has been draining.

Maybe I need to get this book.  Maybe, nuthin.

Stay tuned, and I'll let you know when the book comes - sometime next week.  It looks like a keeper.

Maybe it will help me to feel a little better about this odd situation I find myself in.

Easter Week Celebrations

I was wondering whether we should focus on Easter this week, as it is Holy Week.  Or maybe preparing for General Conference, since we get to listen to that this weekend.  Or maybe just all the wonderful things I heard about the family at last weekend's Women's Conference.  So many choices!

I decided to treasure Women's Conference in my heart, listen to past Conference messages for morning scripture study, and do Holy Week as outlined by the beautiful singing group Mercy River, here.  IT's a great way to remember the last week of Christ's life with activities that are fun for children.

They celebrate Palm Sunday, Mad Monday (turning over the tables in the temple), Teaching Tuesday (going over some of the parables taught), Spy Wednesday (Judas conspiring), Passover, Good Friday, Spirit World Saturday, and Easter Sunday.

We'll be following the seder ideas we found last year at PowerofMoms for Passover.

So far, the kids have really enjoyed it, and it has been a good reminder for me, too.  I wonder which day we should dye eggs on?

Mission Monday

This week marks that halfway mark for Alec's mission.  That seems really strange.  In some ways it seems like he just left.  But more often, it does seem distant - probably because we moved and I just can't see him "sitting over there like he used to."  I do miss him, and I hope the next year goes just as fast as the last one has!

From South Africa:

Well, this is it, hump week for the mission. It is so wierd to think that this week marks the one year mark. It has been a good year so far and is looking like it is going to be a good year coming up.

...we have a ward! Not a branch, and it was so cool to be in a ward again. I almost forgot what being in a ward was like. It is going to be way different when I get home back (home) and have like 200-300 people in one ward, so awesome to think about. The work is definantly moving along here and it is just getting started. I love being a missionary! I wouldn't change/trade it for the world.

From Madagascar:

This week has been going great. And by great, I mean it was slightly subpar, but I'm in Madagascar, speaking Malagasy all of the time, so that elevates it to great. We just had lots of people who weren't home for our appointments so we walked a lot. Yes, there is a bus system, but the traffic is so bad that usually we don't use those too much. But on Thursday, when Elder Richard and one of our zone leaders, Elder Rigby, switched spots for the day a bap interview, we walked 10.18 miles!!! So that was neat.

I saw Elder Glazier today!!! (These two were good buddies in our old neighborhood, and got called to the same mission.  They hadn't seen each other since July.)  It's still really weird to call him that. Anyway, he's so fat!!! Haha he has gained a little weight, but he looks like he's having a blast! No I did not get pictures. We were too "caught up in the moment." And by that I mean we were playing soccer, so... It was way sweet to see him though!

A Stitch in Time

A long time ago, there was a lovely young woman who was engaged to be married.  She was bright and talented, often entertaining her friends and family with performances on the piano or organ.  She excelled at school and earned high honors for her time there.  She dressed nicely and was quite pretty.  Her intended, though not well known to her family, was said to be fun and charming.  She was about as in love as any woman could be, and happily spent her time planning for their upcoming married life.  

Her trousseau became well-stocked as she purchased a set of white china and kitchen sundries for her new home.  Her mother busily crocheted colorful edgings on white cotton pillowcases.  A favorite sister-in-law, married to her eldest brother, began cutting fabric to construct a quilt for the new couple.

She took dozens of fabrics in muted pastels and deeper reds and blacks and began cutting them into small pieces.  Each scrap had to have an exact shape to fit into the particular pattern she had in mind.  When all the pieces were cut, her scissors no doubt slightly dulled and her hands sore, it was time to lay them out and begin assembly.  The small patterns in ginghams, stripes, florals, plaids, and even polka dots were arranged with a simple yellow background, giving the quilt a cheerful countenance.

How many hours were spent in making tiny stitches with needle and thread, I can only imagine.  Every stitch was hand-sewn, pulling the edges of the fabric together with well-wishes for the couple's happiness.  Sometimes the pieces fit together as they ought, and sometimes they did not.  Some pattern lines flowed smoothly, others did not match up exactly, and some of the shapes are slightly distorted.  

At long last, the days and likely weeks of piecing were done.  The quilt front was finished and beautiful.  Next it was time to do the quilting.  She sandwiched a fluffy batting between the finished frontpiece and a plain yellow backing, pinning the edges together carefully.  

Now the stitches followed the lines of the pieces.  They outlined and distinguished the pattern.  Instead of so many individual little pieces, the larger shapes of the circles came out.  Between each ring, a four-petaled flower was stitched.  Each line of stitching had to be as pretty on the back as on the front, and I'm sure many threads were picked out and pulled out when puckers or flaws were found.

When that tedious work was finally done, a binding was sewn around the edges and the quilt was laid aside to be gift wrapped and presented at the wedding.  So many hours.  So much work.  And at the end, a piece of living art, breathing with the love and skill and creativity of its maker.

And so it is with us.  Each little piece is a snippet of our lives.  Our colors range from happy to sad and discouraged to triumphant.  The patterns and textures vary as we grow and learn, and as others enter and pass out of our circles.  Each scrap is held together with stitches, so small as to be nearly invisible - habitual, unimportant, routine, perhaps dull.  But with every snip of the scissors, every little choice of a fabric, every pass of the needle, we sew together our lives.  

In the end, I think we will be surprised at what an amazing whole our crazy lives become.  The mishmash of colors, the un-straight lines of our experiences, the places where our plans did not meet our expectations, and the plainness of our backgrounds can all come together in a beautiful pattern.  The rings of our breathing encircle us and connect us with others near to our hearts, all quilted together in love.  Beautiful.

Thank you, Aunt Shirley, for the lesson and the love.

Double Wedding Ring Quilt, made by Aunt Shirley for my mother's wedding.  ca. 1964

Scalped!

The fruit trees here are overgrown.  I remember when they were planted, even though I was only four years old.  They were supposed to be semi-dwarf trees, and stay small enough that the fruit would be easily picked.  They were placed in a line across the backyard, like ducks queuing up to get into the ark.  2 apple, 2 peach, 2 plum, 2 apricot, and 2 pear trees, all sunk into the ground by my gardening grandfather, as a gift to his daughter at the purchase of her first house.

We watched those trees grow along with us, always wanting them to be bigger so we could climb them.  And then they started producing fruit and we spent many hours picking and cleaning and cutting and cooking the bounty into jewel-toned jam.

Every spring there was a (mostly) friendly tug-of-war between my father and mother about who would prune the trees.  I don't think either of them really wanted to do it, so they each wanted the other to take care of the job, but they each thought the other would do it wrong.  So do the job, but do it my way!  My dad was a shear-er, and my mother, taught by her green-thumbed father, was more of an arborist.  I laugh now, remembering the struggles, and because I haven't yet developed the skill of proper pruning.

Now there are only 3 trees remaining: apple, apricot, and a little pear tree.  The apple and apricot trees have long since forgotten that they were supposed to be semi-dwarf, and have outgrown their easily-picked size.  Something needed to be done.

Unsure of my meager knowledge, I called a neighbor to ask for assistance.  He came over the other day, and took care of the job.  As the pile of lopped-off branches increased, he chuckled and asked me not to tell my mother what he was doing.  He, too, knew of the feud.

And now the poor trees are bare.  Trimmed and shortened.  I'm not sure we will get much fruit from them this year, but at least we will be able to reach it all!  Now, how do I get my boys to haul off all these branches?

Thanks, nice neighbor-guy!

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can

This boy is on the track team this year.  And last year, although I didn't post any pictures of that.  In fact, our family has contributed to the track team for several years now: Ben participated all through junior high and high school, as has Chris.  They are all fast runners.  

They get their speed and strength from their father, who likewise loved to run.  He never was on a running team, but he enjoyed it.  In fact, when he felt a cold coming on, he would buy a case of oranges, eat as many as he could handle (which was a lot), and run until he couldn't run any more.  He was convinced that the combination of the two explained why he never fell very ill, and his mild symptoms didn't last more than a day or two.

Me, I wear the shirt that says, "If I'm running, you should be too because something is chasing me."  I don't enjoy running.  At all.  If you do, kudos to you.  I'll sit and watch you and cheer.

Ben and Chris are mid-distance runners and excel in the hurdles.  David, on the other hand, is a sprinter.  At the last track meet. he took second in the 100 meter dash.  I remember being impressed with his speed even when he was a little bitty boy.  I could never keep up with him when he decided to dash away.  He has an impressive strength, ans I'm glad he has this outlet.

And impressively enough, these little ones actually enjoyed the tack meet this time.  It was fun to watch and cheer together.