We wrote on our blog last Monday night but for some reason it didn't get posted. I still don't know what happened but I didn't realize it until a few days later. By that time I decided I might as well wait until this week. I am not a great writer & I really struggle trying to think of something interesting to write that people might be interested in. Even if no one reads this, it will be a good journal for us.
Last week I wrote on Angie's birthday. We were reminiscing about how we didn't know anything about raising our children but we were so blessed to have each one of them & they even turned out to be such great kids in spite of us. What a great blessing to know that we will all be together for eternity because of the blessings of the temple.
Our title for last week was, "Go Celtics!" We are so excited that they are in the finals. We have always liked the Celtics but it is so exciting now that we live in Boston.
Last Sunday we went to Concord, New Hampshire, with the Spears & listened to their talks. Then we went to Sharon, Vermont, which is Joseph Smith's birthplace. We fell in love with it when we were there last fall with Mom & Dad. There are some sculptures of Christ & his ministry & in June they are going to go to the Washington D.C. Visitors Center. They were beautiful. You can see them if you google, "Angela Johnson sculptures". It was well worth the trip to see them in person.
Rod has been helping the Elders teach a man who is 61. He is a professor at Harvard & it has been a very interesting experience for Rod. The last time he went the Mission President was there. This man is very smart & hopefully he will decide to get baptized.
There is a man that we have met here & his 13 year old son committed suicide about 18 months ago. Their family is really struggling & he asked us if we would go with the missionaries & talk to his 7 & 9 year old daughters & his wife. We are going to go tomorrow afternoon. I hope we are able to say the right things to help them a little.
Pres. Wood talked to a Stake President who wants us to go to Boston 1st Ward. We went to their Sac. Mtg. & Sunday School today & they were so friendly. We each felt the Spirit & felt so good about being a part of that ward. After Sunday School we went to the Haitian Branch in the same building. We had promised a brother at the temple that we would go to his branch today. Anyway, it was very interesting. It was their Haitian Mother's Day so I got another flower. They spoke French, & there were hymnbooks in English, French & Portuguese. The youth were giving talks about mother's & half were speaking English & half French. One of the missionaries was translating for us & at one point he said, "They are speaking Portuguese. I don't know what they are saying." I don't know how they know when to translate or when to wear the headsets. It was a good experience for us. It sure makes you realize that we are all children of Heavenly Father & He doesn't care what language we speak.
We had a couple of good experiences in the Temple this week. Rod went up to help with a session & realized that it was all in French & those who spoke English had the headsets on. He said, "I can't speak French." He was a little worried & then someone told him that he only had to help in English. It was pretty funny how worried he was.
A sister came in to do some work for her mother, sister, & several grandmothers. She had a stroke 3 years ago & could barely walk, talk, & couldn't swallow so we kept kleenex's & a garbage can close to her. She told me that she had prayed that morning that she would be able to do some of their work. When I pointed to her mother's name, she said, "That's my mother. That's my mother." It was a very spiritual experience. It brought tears to my eyes. She was only able to do her mother, sister & grandmother. Then she had to quit. While we were waiting, the sister who brought her told me her story. After she married her husband he became inactive because she wasn't a member. After being married for many years, she had the stroke & he asked sisters in the ward to come & read to her because he thought she was going to die. Instead of dying, she asked to be baptized & then he became active. They were sealed in the Temple 2 weeks ago. It was a wonderful experience for me.
In June we start working the night shift from 2-10 pm. I can see benefits to all of the shifts. This will be good because we won't have to get up at 5 am.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day. We have been thinking about this weekend in past years & how we have gone to Chena Hot Springs & Homer for so many years. We sure have had some fun times together. We will be remembering Nathan & wishing we could visit his grave. It gives me comfort to go to that peaceful & beautiful place.
Well, it's late & I've gone on too long. I sure hope this works when I post it. We send our love to all of you.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Tender Mercies!
Elder David A. Bednar gave a talk about tender mercies & we have had a few of them. They happen too often to just be coincidental. I am amazed at how simple they are but how close to the Spirit it keeps us. For example, on Saturday, Pres. Wood was talking to us & going through the Baptismal book at the same time. He said, "Here is a talk that was given on November 4th." Since that is Nathan's birthday it was just another sweet reminder of our dear son!
We decided to visit the Peterboro Branch yesterday in New Hampshire. When we got there a Sister was giving her farewell talk. We had helped her with her clothes at the Temple this week & had no idea where she was from. It was strange that we had just seen her & out of about 130 Wards we happened to go to her Branch. We found out that it is the oldest organized Branch in the church. It was organized in 1841. It was a beautiful day to go for a ride for about an hour & a half. When we were almost there I told Rod that there were actually some hills. It was a nice country ride.
Every week at our Preparation Meeting we are given a spiritual thought. This week it was so good that we would like to share it with you. Since we are doing basically the same things & there's not a lot of new things to tell you about our job (except that we love it!!!), we decided that we might share a spiritual thought with you each week if it's appropriate.
S. Michael Wilcox writes that, as his children entered their teenage years, he was concerned about the evil influences & dangers that might beset them. While in the temple, he told the Lord that he was prepared to sacrifice anything to protect his children from Satan's power. He said the Spirit whispered to him, "This is the sacrifice I ask of you. Be in this house frequently, constantly, & consistently, & the promised protection you seek, which this house has the power to bestow, will be extended to those you love."
Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone said, "that all who faithfully attend to temple work will have unseen angels watch over [their] loved ones when satanic forces tempt them."
The more we work in the Temple, the more we KNOW how important this work is!
We send our love.
We decided to visit the Peterboro Branch yesterday in New Hampshire. When we got there a Sister was giving her farewell talk. We had helped her with her clothes at the Temple this week & had no idea where she was from. It was strange that we had just seen her & out of about 130 Wards we happened to go to her Branch. We found out that it is the oldest organized Branch in the church. It was organized in 1841. It was a beautiful day to go for a ride for about an hour & a half. When we were almost there I told Rod that there were actually some hills. It was a nice country ride.
Every week at our Preparation Meeting we are given a spiritual thought. This week it was so good that we would like to share it with you. Since we are doing basically the same things & there's not a lot of new things to tell you about our job (except that we love it!!!), we decided that we might share a spiritual thought with you each week if it's appropriate.
S. Michael Wilcox writes that, as his children entered their teenage years, he was concerned about the evil influences & dangers that might beset them. While in the temple, he told the Lord that he was prepared to sacrifice anything to protect his children from Satan's power. He said the Spirit whispered to him, "This is the sacrifice I ask of you. Be in this house frequently, constantly, & consistently, & the promised protection you seek, which this house has the power to bestow, will be extended to those you love."
Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone said, "that all who faithfully attend to temple work will have unseen angels watch over [their] loved ones when satanic forces tempt them."
The more we work in the Temple, the more we KNOW how important this work is!
We send our love.
Monday, May 10, 2010
On Our Own!
Well, it was our first week on our own. It was really pretty good. We made some mistakes each day but we are learning from them. Actually I was the one who made most of the mistakes. Rod tried to teach me the cash register & he couldn't figure out why it took me so long. I would think I had it & then there would be people waiting & I would get flustered & push the wrong button. Oh well, at least they were patient with me. Then there were the few times I hung up on people, or transferred them to the wrong extension. I wonder how long I can blame it on being new? We are enjoying it so much & are working hard each day. Saturday was the busiest day we've had so far.
Along with all the work, we are having some special experiences. Saturday, I was told of 3 children that had passed away that week. I felt like I was in the right place at the right time & was able to explain that we had lost Nathan & how the book, "The Gateway We Call Death", by Elder Russell M. Nelson, & the book, "Life Everlasting", had helped me. Each of them asked me to write down the names on a paper so they could give them to their brother & friends. It broke my heart knowing what they are going through & how hard it is at times. I cried on the way home, thinking of them on Mother's Day & missing my kids.
We still haven't been assigned a ward yet so we've decided to travel around & visit different wards. Yesterday morning we checked the gps & found a ward not too far from here. When we got there, there was a big cross on the building. We could tell it was an old LDS building that had been sold to another church. So we got on the freeway & headed toward Boston & then went south. I kept checking the gps & no LDS churches were coming up so we just kept driving. Pretty soon we saw a sign that said, "Rhode Island - 33 miles". We decided that we might as well go to Rhode Island to go to church & as soon as we crossed the border there was a church 3 miles away. When we got there we thought it might be a false alarm again. There were about 25 parking spaces & it didn't look anything like an LDS church. Then we saw the sign so we went in. It turned out to be a Portuguese & English ward. There were headsets, hymnbooks in both languages & a missionary translating into the headsets. We gave the prayers & had a very good Sacrament Mtg. We met a man who is the grandson of Bishop Wilde in the Willow Ward. What a small world.
Last weekend it was so hot & when we watched the news we found out that Lexington had set a record at 91 degrees. Along with the humidity it was miserable. We were beginning to think that if it was this hot this early we were in for a miserable summer. These past few days have been a lot nicer for us but everyone else thinks it's cold & wear their coats.
Saturday night we went to Gloucester (pronounced - Glawster), with our landlords. It is the home of Gorton's fish company, & was where the movie "Perfect Storm" happened in real life. We had a lobster - clam bake. I want to learn to like lobster while I'm here & I actually liked it. It tasted a lot like Alaskan king crab. It tasted different than I have ever had.
A few people have been asking so we want to give you our address. It is:
17 Holland St. Apt. 3, Lexington, Mass. 02421
We hope all the mother's in our lives had a wonderful Mother's Day!
We send our love to everyone.
Along with all the work, we are having some special experiences. Saturday, I was told of 3 children that had passed away that week. I felt like I was in the right place at the right time & was able to explain that we had lost Nathan & how the book, "The Gateway We Call Death", by Elder Russell M. Nelson, & the book, "Life Everlasting", had helped me. Each of them asked me to write down the names on a paper so they could give them to their brother & friends. It broke my heart knowing what they are going through & how hard it is at times. I cried on the way home, thinking of them on Mother's Day & missing my kids.
We still haven't been assigned a ward yet so we've decided to travel around & visit different wards. Yesterday morning we checked the gps & found a ward not too far from here. When we got there, there was a big cross on the building. We could tell it was an old LDS building that had been sold to another church. So we got on the freeway & headed toward Boston & then went south. I kept checking the gps & no LDS churches were coming up so we just kept driving. Pretty soon we saw a sign that said, "Rhode Island - 33 miles". We decided that we might as well go to Rhode Island to go to church & as soon as we crossed the border there was a church 3 miles away. When we got there we thought it might be a false alarm again. There were about 25 parking spaces & it didn't look anything like an LDS church. Then we saw the sign so we went in. It turned out to be a Portuguese & English ward. There were headsets, hymnbooks in both languages & a missionary translating into the headsets. We gave the prayers & had a very good Sacrament Mtg. We met a man who is the grandson of Bishop Wilde in the Willow Ward. What a small world.
Last weekend it was so hot & when we watched the news we found out that Lexington had set a record at 91 degrees. Along with the humidity it was miserable. We were beginning to think that if it was this hot this early we were in for a miserable summer. These past few days have been a lot nicer for us but everyone else thinks it's cold & wear their coats.
Saturday night we went to Gloucester (pronounced - Glawster), with our landlords. It is the home of Gorton's fish company, & was where the movie "Perfect Storm" happened in real life. We had a lobster - clam bake. I want to learn to like lobster while I'm here & I actually liked it. It tasted a lot like Alaskan king crab. It tasted different than I have ever had.
A few people have been asking so we want to give you our address. It is:
17 Holland St. Apt. 3, Lexington, Mass. 02421
We hope all the mother's in our lives had a wonderful Mother's Day!
We send our love to everyone.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
We survived our week of training!!!
What a week! We had one of the most exhausting weeks we've had so far but we also had some of the most amazing experiences.
We worked Tuesday - Friday from 7-2, & Saturday we worked from 2-9. I haven't had to train for a job since high school & even then there wasn't so much to remember. We had to learn things like how to turn the phones off & on (which sounds funny but there is quite a process), how to transfer calls & all the extension numbers, how to do the cash register in clothing (which I've never done), how to help people with their family search, & how to record work that is done & file everything in the right place. We were so busy everyday & would practically crawl home & just crash. One day we were climbing our 33 steps & Rod said, "You've never worked so hard in your life have you?" I reminded him that I worked hard raising 7 children but the difference was that I could always sit & relax when I needed to. I also didn't have to remember so many things. Having our brains overloaded was really what was the most exhausting.
Throughout the week I kept thinking about when Pres. Logan set us apart as missionaries & blessed me with a keen memory. I was grateful at the time for that blessing because I don't have the best memory. I am even more grateful now because I know it will help me to remember what I have learned this week when I need it.
Our schedule for May is Tue.-Sat. from 7-2. We have to be there by 6:30 so I get up at 5. I am not an early morning person but it is really refreshing to be outside that early in the morning.
The first thing we did on Tuesday morning was go on a tour of the Temple. Pres. Spears, a counselor in the Temple, told me that the Celestial Room reminded him of King Solomon's Temple. I didn't really understand it until we walked in. It literally took my breath away. We just walked around in awe. It is the most beautiful room I have ever seen! It reminds me of what it might be like in Heaven & the feeling there is even more indescribable.
We were able to do everything this week. I helped in a session where thlere were headsets being used for Spanish, Portuguese & Russian. I had never seen that before. A family brought in names to be baptized & Rod was able to be baptized for the male name they brought in. It was special to see things like that happen.
The highlight of our week was when Pres. Wood set us apart as Boston Temple workers. He is so great & is so personable. We just love being around him. He talked to us for awhile in his office & then he gave each of us the most beautiful blessings. He promised each of us blessings that we will be eternally grateful for. It was a very spiritual experience.
We look forward to another great week & hope we remember all the things we've learned since we are basically on our own, even though there are great people around who are willing to help if we need it.
We send our love to everyone & hope you have a great week also.
We worked Tuesday - Friday from 7-2, & Saturday we worked from 2-9. I haven't had to train for a job since high school & even then there wasn't so much to remember. We had to learn things like how to turn the phones off & on (which sounds funny but there is quite a process), how to transfer calls & all the extension numbers, how to do the cash register in clothing (which I've never done), how to help people with their family search, & how to record work that is done & file everything in the right place. We were so busy everyday & would practically crawl home & just crash. One day we were climbing our 33 steps & Rod said, "You've never worked so hard in your life have you?" I reminded him that I worked hard raising 7 children but the difference was that I could always sit & relax when I needed to. I also didn't have to remember so many things. Having our brains overloaded was really what was the most exhausting.
Throughout the week I kept thinking about when Pres. Logan set us apart as missionaries & blessed me with a keen memory. I was grateful at the time for that blessing because I don't have the best memory. I am even more grateful now because I know it will help me to remember what I have learned this week when I need it.
Our schedule for May is Tue.-Sat. from 7-2. We have to be there by 6:30 so I get up at 5. I am not an early morning person but it is really refreshing to be outside that early in the morning.
The first thing we did on Tuesday morning was go on a tour of the Temple. Pres. Spears, a counselor in the Temple, told me that the Celestial Room reminded him of King Solomon's Temple. I didn't really understand it until we walked in. It literally took my breath away. We just walked around in awe. It is the most beautiful room I have ever seen! It reminds me of what it might be like in Heaven & the feeling there is even more indescribable.
We were able to do everything this week. I helped in a session where thlere were headsets being used for Spanish, Portuguese & Russian. I had never seen that before. A family brought in names to be baptized & Rod was able to be baptized for the male name they brought in. It was special to see things like that happen.
The highlight of our week was when Pres. Wood set us apart as Boston Temple workers. He is so great & is so personable. We just love being around him. He talked to us for awhile in his office & then he gave each of us the most beautiful blessings. He promised each of us blessings that we will be eternally grateful for. It was a very spiritual experience.
We look forward to another great week & hope we remember all the things we've learned since we are basically on our own, even though there are great people around who are willing to help if we need it.
We send our love to everyone & hope you have a great week also.
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