A Week of Firsts and Lasts

With only three weeks left on our mission, it seems more likely that the title of this post should be "A Week of Lasts". But the title of "A Week of Firsts and Lasts" is really more fitting.

Anyway, the first of the "firsts":  Each Thursday evening I am excused early from my temple shift to give organ lessons to Jocelyn, a cute eleven-year-old who attends the Spanish Ward.  Last Thursday was no different, except that Your Dad decided he would stay after his shift and attend an endowment session while I gave my organ lesson.  The plan was that I would pick him up in front of the Temple around 8:20 pm.  No problem.  Yes problem! Upon returning to the apartment after Jocelyn's lesson,  I made the bad decision to change into my nightgown and fuzzy robe before cuddling under my comforter in front of the tv.  I should have known better, since that always sets the stage for the inevitable.  And last Thursday night was no exception. The inevitable happened.  I woke up with a start at 8:45 pm!  Yikes!  At least I had the sleepy presence of mind to throw on my coat over my jammies before heading out the door.   I raced to the temple while wiping sleepy dust from my eyes. Not wanting to "face the music",  I was tempted to not even show up.  But even in my groggy state of mind, I knew that would only make matters worse.  Upon arriving at the temple, Your Dad was nowhere to be seen.  "Of course he's not standing outside anymore.  I'm very late picking him up, and it's cold and dark out here.  Obviously he's sitting inside."  So now my problem got worse.  How was I to let Your Dad know I had arrived? And how was I to know if he was still here?  I had no choice but to GO INTO THE TEMPLE WEARING MY JAMMIES.  AND MY ROBE.  AND MY FLIP FLOPS!  On the bright side, at least I wasn't wearing my pink, fuzzy slippers.  And my coat almost covered my unauthorized temple attire.  After one of the workers at the recommend desk assured me no angry man was sitting in the waiting area past the recommend desk, I fled the scene.  But my problem still existed:  "Where was Your Dad?"  I drove slowly back to the apartment, looking for an angry man walking on the side of the street.  But still no "Your Dad". Not finding him in the apartment, I headed back to the temple. By now it was well past 9 pm.  This time he was standing outside the temple in his designated spot.   I had mixed feelings.  Relief that I had caught up with him, but dread having to finally face the music. Bracing myself for the ensuing lecture,  I reluctantly unlocked the passenger door of the car to let him in.  But instead of a lecture, I heard apologies.   Wait a minute. I'm confused!  I'M the only one who was supposed to be giving apologies!  Apparently Your Dad had just barely walked outside before I pulled up.  He had missed the endowment session he had planned on attending, which meant he was later coming out to meet me. He thought I had been sitting in the car for half an hour waiting for him. Rats!  I had entered the temple in my unmentionables for nothing!

So that's the first entry on my Firsts List: "Going into the temple in my jimmy-jim jams."  And it had had BETTER be a last!

Now to the second entry on my "Firsts List".  And, sad to say,  I'm sure this is a last.

It was my week to play the organ for the Spanish Ward.  They have no organists in their ward, so I play in their sacrament meeting twice a month.  The chorister, Sister Martinez,  had sent me her usual Thursday email informing me of the upcoming Sunday hymns.  But this email was different.  She casually informed me, and I quote: "Hi Sister Eddington this Sunday we will sing 3 hymns only, because our choir will be sing and we will have an apostle visiting us and our brothers and sisters from Mount Pleasant will come to our ward too.

1- Hijos del Señor venid #26
     Come, ye children of the Lord # 58

2- Asombro me da# 118
     I Stand All Amazed  193

3- Haz el bien # 155
     Choose the Right # 239

Thank you Sister Eddington for your help in our ward playing the organ. We will miss you."  

What!?! You've GOT to be kidding!  Me? Playing the organ in the presence of an apostle?  Can't do it! Not an option!

Elder D. Todd Christopherson was in town for the inauguration.  He was the bishop of one of the wards that met in our meetinghouse when he and his family lived here years ago. It was very touching that he chose to speak to the Spanish Ward and Branch and in Spanish. For two days I kept giving myself little pep talks to keep me from totally freaking out. "Don't worry about playing the prelude.  In the first place, Elder Christopherson won't be arriving until close to the beginning of the meeting.  Besides, the members of the Spanish Ward are a social bunch.  They will do their usual talking during the prelude. And don't worry about playing the hymns.  They are easy, and you have two days to practice them to be sure you know them well."  So much for that pep talk!  Sister Martinez sent this email on Saturday, but I didn't read it until Sunday morning:

"Hi Sister Eddington.  We have to chance the hymns for Sunday, the bishop send to me the hymns this morning by text.  I saw brother Dundas yesterday and he don't said anything to me. I don't know if he send to you the new ones.

1-. 182 Bienvenido día santo
      280 Welcome, welcome , Sabbath morning.
2- 106 Cuan grato es cantar loor
      177 'Tis sweet to sing the matchless
3-    02 El Espiritu De Dios
         02 The Spirit of God
 Three hymns only.

See you tomorrow Sister Eddighton."

Great! No stress!  I just said a more fervent prayer before we left for Church.  

The prelude experience happened exactly as I had predicted.  I was even calm when the congregation suddenly became quiet and stood up right before the beginning of the meeting.  "Ok, I know Elder Christopherson is now entering the chapel. It's fine. Just keep playing and pretend he's not here."  But it wasn't "fine"!  How could I pretend he wasn't there when he was walking in my direction?  He greeted the young men sitting at the sacrament table next to the organ, and then turned to me and greeted me.  "Great!  You had to start making mistakes on the organ just because an Apostle of the Lord is speaking to you?  YES!  Again, not an option!"  

The rest of the meeting was so wonderful.  I can't describe the Spirit that we all felt. To be sitting that close to an Apostle of the Lord and listening to his inspiring words.  And my organ prayers were answered.  My organ playing went well.  

At the end of the meeting, after I had finished my postlude, I was surprised to notice the Christophersons were still talking with the members. He and his wife were so gracious.  They were  allowing pictures to be taken, even though one of the members was clucking to me how we weren't supposed to treat general authorities like celebrities and have pictures taken with them.  Want to bet? About that time Sister Martinez showed up and showed me a picture on her cell phone of herself, her daughter Joselyn, and Elder Christopherson. I asked her if she would take Your Dad's and my picture with Elder Christopherson.  I grabbed Your Dad's reluctant arm, dragged him through the crowd, grabbed Elder Christopherson's arm, and asked him to pose with us.  So here's proof that the second "first" on my First List isn't a fabrication:

(PS: Laurel is my favorite daughter born in 1970)

And I'm 99.99% sure this second "First" is definitely a last, unless Scott can hook us up with another apostle. We will never forget how twelve-year-old Scott pushed through the crowds after a Regional Conference in the Ogden Dee Event Center to get Neal Maxwell's autograph.  Scott, whatever happened to that autograph?  

Blessings To Be Thankful For

We're back, and we bet you didn't even know we were gone!  Sunday afternoon, we were really looking forward to a looooong afternoon of down time.  It was Stake Conference, so we were finished with our meeting at noon, with the rest of the day earmarked to do family history.  We wanted to prepare for our trip to Richmond, Virginia, planned for the next day.  The "Commonwealth of Virginia" has a very large genealogy library there, full of Virginia records. We visited a few weeks ago, with a resolve to return soon. 

As we both sat at our computers on Sunday afternoon doing family history, there was a HUGE bang, and then lights out, as well as everything else out.  We soon heard sirens which stopped on Kensington Parkway, close to our apartment.  Gary braved the windy, cold day to investigate.  Seems as how the wind had blown over a very large pine tree.  It fell across the street and took out 5 power poles before it landed.  So of course, no family history the rest of Sunday.  Totally bored, we went to bed at 6pm and read until 7pm.  Then figuratively speaking, "lights out". Literally, "flashlights out".  We knew the power was to be out for a long time, since all we heard all night were multiple chain saws buzzing away.  No power lines could be worked on while that old tree was in the way.

Monday morning dawned with this scene:

Monday morning, with nothing to do in the apartment except huddle around our gas stove for warmth, we decided to make the 2 1/2-hour drive to Richmond anyway, even though we weren't totally prepared.  A lovely breakfast at "Bob Evans", and we were off.  Upon our arrival at the Library, we were informed that it was closed for the day!  Bummer!  Another 2 1/2-hour trip back to Kensington.  But we told ourselves, "Well, at least it got us out of our dark, cold, boring apartment. Certainly the power will be on by the time we get back."  But as we rounded the corner in full view of Kensington Parkway, here's what we saw:

Again, bummer!  The power didn't come on again until 6:30 that evening, but still no internet.  Major improvement(?): we were now able to be bored in a lighted, warm apartment.  We finally had our internet reconnected last night (Wednesday).

Here's what the scene looks like as of this Thursday morning:

The tree "root" of the problem

Across the street, where the tree took out the power poles. (Notice our apartments in the background.)

Bad tree.  Very bad tree!

Having done without the basics that we generally take for granted, It really made us count our blessings even more now that they are restored.

Some of the blessings that didn't temporarily disappear with the downing of the old pine tree are:

         Our health.  There are so many senior temple missionaries here with physical disabilities and health issues, yet they keep on serving. We have our health.  And besides that, we are daily grateful that our 71/72-year-old bodies still allow us to consistently exercise.  No knee problems, no hip problems, no feet problems.  We can "run and not be weary," (me), "and walk and not faint." (your dad).

         Our opportunity to serve a mission.  Besides being blessed physically, we are blessed financially.  Both of these blessings allow us to serve in the Washington DC Temple.  We are blessed to feel the Spirit that resides in the Temple on a daily basis.  We are blessed to be able to perform the priesthood ordinances.  We are blessed to serve with wonderful people.

         Our membership in the Church.  Of all the places and situations in the world in which we could have been born, we were blessed to be born in the covenant, have  testimonies, and enjoy the blessings of our membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

         Our opportunity to do family history.  We meet so many people who would love to do family history, but can't find any ancestors who haven't already had their ordinances performed by another family member.  It is a real blessing to be able to take family names to the temple and have their ordinances completed...especially sealings.  I am grateful for all your help in having endowments completed, but we are selfish when it comes to completing sealings.  Your dad and I do them all ourselves.. There is such a beautiful spirit in the sealing ceremony.  It is the crowning ordinance.  I call the spirit that is present during the sealing ceremonies, the "Crowning Spirit". 

         Our beautiful family.  The greatest blessing we have been given is to have such a wonderful family...and we count that blessing daily.  Once the blessing of being with all of you is restored, we will count the blessing of family even more.

We love you, pray for you, and count the days when we will be together again.  Have a happy Thanksgiving.

All Our Love,

Dad and Mom

From 1950 To 2016 And Beyond

We're back!  After a great four-week break from our mission, we're back.  We have missed being with family, but we shall return to Utah very soon.

Our apartment complex received new bedroom furniture as well as new bookcase units for the front rooms while we were in Utah. All the apartments received  the same furniture.  Supposedly, this will stop the midnight furniture raids of empty apartments that are so prevalent around here.  We'll see.

While in Utah, Brother Payne, the new apartment manager, called to update us on the status of our apartment. He informed us that our bedroom furniture was in place, but no one was going to put the bedding on our bed. "That's ok," I told him. "You would probably short sheet the bed if you made it. So, we're good."  He also let us know that part of our bookcase units were on back order, so the units we did have were still in boxes, stacked in the front room.

After a delayed flight from Denver to DC, (what else is new?) we staggered into our apartment around 11:30 pm, bracing ourselves for the worst. We didn't expect what we found.  Yes, the boxes were stacked in the front room as expected, but everything else wasn't as we had imagined.

Our first surprise was finding a very lovely "Welcome back" fruit basket and custom-written poem on the kitchen counter.

FYI: fake fruit was added to the basket before the scene could be recreated. Too many fruit lovers live here.

Breakfast items filled our empty fridge: milk, eggs, bacon, and bread.

Encouraged, we made our way to the bedroom. The bedroom furniture was all in place.  Our second surprise was that the bed was totally made, including decorative pillows, bed skirt, and bed covering. And no "short sheeting!" Existing furniture that had to be moved to accommodate the new furniture delivery was back in place. We were touched. We have awesome neighbors!

So here is a before-and-after tour of our updated apartment.

Before: September 2015

       We purchased the nightstand on the right from Goodwill.  It blended beautifully with the period furniture, don't you think?  And not one piece of furniture matched another.....I'm not exaggerating!

After: September 2016

    I did what I pledged I'd never do: I raided an empty apartment for the two lamps.  It is really ok, though, since the apartment is earmarked for different district workers who come and go each week.  Besides, I got permission from Brother Payne.  So there!

We've been downsized to a queen bed, but it's ok.

Before: September 2015

This "lovely" chest used to be where the "after" chest is now located. Its new home is in our closet.

After: September 2016

Brother Payne rehung the picture. Otherwise who could have seen it behind the chest of drawers?

One of the missionaries has a really short wife.  He said he's going to hide his wife's Christmas presents in the top drawer, where she'll never see them.  Funny guy!

Before: September 2015

After: September 2016

Before: September 2015

After: September 2016

    Cute end table on the left, courtesy of the empty district workers' apartment.  Brother Payne volunteered the up-to-date lamps that are kept in some secret "lamp storage room".

I know, I know, the pictures don't fill the space, but that's all we got, man!

Before: September 2015

After: September 2016

     There is a recliner on the right, not pictured, but it is one of the same ones pictured above.

This sweet chair is actually a recliner. Also taken from the empty apartment.  Quit judging!

Before: September 2015

After: September 2016

     Any suggestions for a new name for the furniture company?

Great improvement, right? Actually, it is an improvement. Your dad rearranged the boxes to not take up as much space.

Before: September 2015

     After this picture was taken, we moved the bookcase around the corner to the left.

After: September 2016

     But look what's there now!  I think this is one of my favorite changes.  The chest is really supposed to be the night stand in the spare bedroom.

Fall decor compliments of the Relief Society Loan Closet.

Speaking of the spare bedroom....don't look!

I told you not to look!

I will post an update when the bookcase units are installed.  They look really nice in the other apartments we have seen.  We can't wait. Well, maybe I can't wait.  Your dad isn't as excited with the updates as I am.  He was very content with the old stuff.  He rolls his eyes whenever I come bursting through the door with new finds.  

So there you have it.  Our new and improved 2016 apartment.  I just sit and admire the new look.  We may never leave our home-away-from-home ever again. NOT!  

We Continue To Be Blessed

This could easily be an email, but I would like this experience to be recorded in a more permanent manner than just an email.

Coming to the Washington DC Temple as regular temple ordinance workers has been a very rewarding experience.  We are able to enjoy the blessings that continue to be showered on us. We have been content and happy.  But slowly more and more responsibilities have been added to our plates.

The first piece of additional responsibility came in the form of being called to be assistant shift coordinators for the Tuesday mid shift. Your dad is fine with being the SCA, but it has been a struggle for me. Then came the call to be second in charge of the spring two-week temple cleaning closure; which means we are now in charge of the fall temple cleaning that is fast approaching. No problem.  Your dad is handling all the organizing. Meanwhile I am  getting a little accustomed to being a shift coordinator assistant, just in time to be called in again to President Foulger's office.  This time we were asked to be the Baptistry Assistants for the Wednesday mid shift.  No problem, we can handle that.   Not more than a week later, another summons to President Foulger's office.  Baptistry Assistants on the Saturday mid shift? Sure, why not.  (All of us have been trained to never say "No" to Church assignments, right?) So far, so good.  Then the bomb was released:  "Brother and Sister Eddington, with the Cannons' mission coming to a close, we would like to call you to replace the Cannons as the Temple Baptistry Trainers."  GREAT.  I am now totally out of my comfort zone!  Your dad and I have spent the last month "Getting Ready to Get Ready."  The bomb finally landed and exploded last Tuesday as I was mindlessly helping organize the sisters' schedules.  Sister Davenport (the Shift Coordinator, and my boss): "Sister Eddington, you remember from our conversation last Tuesday, that you and your husband will be training a group the first two hours of our shift?"  "Are you kidding me? No, I DON'T remember!"  "Well, you are on the schedule."  "Great." At that point I FREAKED out.  I started making mistakes on the schedule organization. I finally apologized for my ineptness, dropped the schedules I was working on, and announced I was totally on overload. I told both Sister Davenport and Sister Scott it was a nightmare come true.  I used to dream there was a whole row of administration sitting at the back of my classroom ready to observe my teaching.  I nervously searched through millions of piles of papers, looking for my lesson plans....which I never found.  After having told them of my past nightmare, I excused myself, found your dad and told him of our dilemma. We started planning for our training meeting.  I was still freaking out, which meant my mind was totally turned off. Your dad told me to settle down.  Yeh, right!  He then offered a very sweet and comforting prayer.   I immediately felt calm and reassured.  I was able to concentrate,  to get organized, and felt confident. After about half an hour, I walked back into the women's study where Sister Davenport and Sister Scott were still organizing schedules. They looked at me and exclaimed, "You are a different person than you were half an hour ago!  You are cool as a cucumber."

It is very humbling and testimony-building to know how much Heavenly Father watches over us and cares for us.  How much He helps us accomplish our assignments, whether they be Church assignments or otherwise. He not only helps us to succeed for our own progress, but for the progress of the Church through our successful efforts. He loves us and knows each of us personally.  All we have to do is ask, and He is there for us.

Our mission is a source of joy and is so rewarding.  We have been forced out of our comfort zones and are learning so much. We are blessed daily, as are all of you.  We love all of you and continue to pray for you.

A Fun Week With The Cunninghams

It was so great having another great family visit us in DC.  This time it was Doug, Laurel, Ethan, and Maddie.

Wednesday morning, we put on our tourist hats and took off.  First stop: the Capitol Building.  Doug had previously sent for and received  tickets for all of us.

This is the mold of Lady Freedom.  The bronze version is perched on top op the Capitol Building.

Eagle talons hang down both sides of her head. Poor thing!

I should have known the Capitol Building would be beautiful.  Here are pictures that show its grandeur.

I asked Ethan what his favorite part of the Capitol Building was.  It was these gorgeous inlaid tile floors. He has a good eye for beauty.

Apparently this wasn't Ethan's favorite part of the tour.

But this could have been, if sliding down the banister had been allowed.

The below picture shows where it was planned that George Washington was to be buried.  But he opted to be buried on the grounds in Mt. Vernon.

There is an empty room under the star where Washington was to be buried

The painting below is situated in the top of the Capitol dome.  

It depicts thirteen angels taking George Washington to Heaven. I LOVE this painting. In fact, I bought a Christmas-ornament replica of it.  It is so beautiful.

But it was kind of a neck kinker to look at it.

More loveliness. 

And even more.

Laurel was explaining to Maddie why they had spittoons in this chamber.

I'll give you one guess as to how Maddie feels about spittoons.

This is called Statuary Hall, or something like that.

Brigham Young is in good company. What a cute family picture.

Next: The Museum of Natural History.

Maddie is so strong!

I didn't realize this was the home of the Hope Diamond.

Time for some R & R. It was a long walk down the Mall!

Ethan soon disappeared.  He had fun making friends with the squirrels that were running around in the bushes.

On to the night bus tour of the monuments.

Another cute family portrait.

"Sad to be all alone in the world."  Quote from "Thoroughly Modern Millie", in case you didn't know.

Lincoln Memorial.

The Capitol Building bathed in lights.

We got back to our apartment around 11:30 pm, very much wiped out.  We could only muster enough energy to throw breakfast cereal on the table, and call it dinner.

Next day: Mount Vernon reincarnate.

 I snitched this picture from the Brock trip. Don't judge me.

 A now-traditional photo opp.  Very cute. (See the Brock blog post.)

Ethan and Maddie loved the animals.

This horse was Ethan's favorite part of Mt. Vernon

The sheep were Maddie's favorite part of Mt. Vernon

Another, "Sad-to-be-all-alone-in-the-world" scene.

But not for long. Now it's a, "Happy-to-be-in-the-world-with-grandchildren" scene.

Good-bye, Mount Vernon.

Hello, C & O Canal.  We barely made the last barge run of the day, but jumped on board as it had stopped to go through a lock.

Rehitching the mules after having gone through a lock.

The mules knew what to do.  Very experienced creatures.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal parallels the Potomac River and was used to haul goods, mostly coal. It went out of business when the railroad became the transportation of choice.

Our guide was very educational, as well as entertaining. Some of the interesting things we learned:

Families lived on their barges in little hut-like shelters built on one end of the barge. The small children wore mule harnesses attached to ropes. In case they fell in the canal, they could be pulled to safety.

The families couldn't afford shoes for their children. The canal trail was lined with mule manure so the barefoot children had something soft to walk on.

Our trusty "rudder man"

Saturday was the day planned to visit to the Manassas Battle Grounds.  Not much that I was interested in, except taking pictures of cute Maddie.  Everyone else was off exploring the battle field. Maddie and I stayed behind in the shade.

Very photogenic

That evening Doug, Laurel, and your dad went to the Temple and attended an endowment session.  I stayed behind to spend time with  Ethan and Maddie.

I enjoyed every minute being with Ethan and Maddie.  We explored the trails in the woods surrounding the Temple.  We watched a video in the Visitor's Center.  We listened to the sister missionaries talk about Christ as we sat next to the Christus. We searched for the croaking frogs that were surrounding the pond outside the Visitor's Center. It was twilight when we played in the park across the street from our apartment. The fireflies were out and fun to see.  We played "Uno" and ate pizza in the apartment.

What a fun week.  Unlike me, neither Maddie nor Ethan ever complained about being tired, bored, or hungry. In fact, late one evening on our way back to our apartment, Ethan very politely asked, "I hate to say anything, but are we ever going to have dinner?"  We miss you and love you!  Come back soon!