I love celebrations, so to have Father's Day, our 36th anniversary & my birthday all in one week is fun. When we were deciding where to go for our anniversary we were asking around & Sis. Wood said, without even hesitating, that we should go to Woodstock because it was such a quaint little town with cute shops, etc. Rod asked her if it was Woodstock, N.Y. She laughed & said it wasn't that one. Well, we got sidetracked, she went home & we were talking to someone else & they said there was a Woodstock, Conn., so that must be the one. They also said that close to there was the Old Sturbridge Village. It is a village that is set in Pilgrim times, with candle making, horse & wagon rides, etc. We thought that sounded fun too, so we might get to see a couple of different things while we were south.
On Sunday we went to church in Oxford Ward, & then relaxed at our hotel & played games. On Monday, we decided that we wanted to go to Woodstock first. We ended up driving for about 3 hours looking for cute little shops. The best thing we found was a little bakery so we decided to stop & ask questions & get a treat. When we got out of the car we were hit with the worst smell!!! Come to find out, the dairy farm across the street was spraying manure through the sprinkler system. Talk about losing your appetite! We obviously had the wrong Woodstock, so we decided to go back to Sturbridge Village. By the time we got there & looked around in the gift shops a thunderstorm came up so we decided not to go into the village this time. The day was kind of a bust as far as doing anything exciting but it was relaxing & at least we like to drive & see the country & now we can say we've been in Connecticut on our mission. When we went to the Temple & asked Sis. Wood, we found out it was Woodstock, Vermont. Oh well, next time we'll go to Vermont.
At church in Oxford, I was in Relief Society & the teacher said the lesson was about the Atonement. My first thought was if I should talk about Nathan & my testimony of the Atonement. I decided I wouldn't. She taught the lesson for about 20 min. & then said, "I would like to ask for personal experiences but first I would like to ask Sis. Metcalf if she would like to say anything?" It was so strange but I knew I was suppose to talk about Nathan & my testimony. After the meeting, a sister came to me & said she needed to hear what I said because her brother had died & she & her mother were having a hard time accepting it.
Sunday, in Boston 1st Ward Relief Society, the lesson was about parenting. Something was said, & my heart was beating so fast. I knew I was suppose to talk about Nathan & how we do the best we can as parents but they also have their free agency & through the blessings of the Temple we can still have our children with us for eternity. I KNEW I was suppose to say that, but with all of the translating & the late time, I didn't. I felt bad because I should have listened to the Spirit.
We also had our high's & low's at the Temple. On Friday, Rod was at the front desk & 3 people from Nepal came in & wanted to know more about the gospel. He was able to talk to them & send the missionaries to visit them. It was a neat experience for him.
That night a couple was getting sealed. She was the stroke victim that I had met a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, I was asked to sit & visit with her 77 year old sister & her grandson who were non-members. I took them a packet with a picture of Christ, The Proclamation to the Family, a booklet about the Temple & about the New Family Search. I talked to them mostly about genealogy & then asked them if they had any questions. The 18 year old grandson did but when I tried to answer him the grandmother became very angry. She wanted to know why she wasn't allowed to witness the sealing, & didn't we think she was just as good as we were. I finally ended up changing the subject & talking about her life which was very interesting. Then I went to get Rod to help me visit with them & Sis. Chatfield came & visited too. She & her husband just got back from their mission to Albania, & this woman was from Macedonia, which is around southern Turkey. It helped to have others to talk to her. It was pretty draining on me emotionally. I decided that was why we didn't go on a proselyting mission. (ha, ha!)
The next day my first phone call at the temple was someone calling to see if we gave tours through our beautiful building. When I told her we didn't she said they live close & always look at the beautiful angel & if we are going to build such a beautiful building we should show off the workmanship. I told her she was more than welcome to come into the foyer & talk to the person at the desk. She was not impressed & was pretty angry as if being angry would get her in. I talked to someone & she gave me a great analogy. She said to tell them that we have MIT, Harvard & all of these great universities but in order to get in to them there are certain requirements that people have to do. They just don't let everyone in because people have to be prepared. I thought that was a great analogy. Anyway, it was a pretty stressful couple of days.
Our spiritual thought last week was, "Add to your faith - brotherly kindness." Peter characterized the household of faith as of one mind, compassionate, loving, tenderhearted, courteous, without guile or gossip, & not rendering evil for evil but seeking peace--in a phrase, brotherly kindness. In the Temple we should feel more powerfully the compassion of the Lord & kindness of our brothers & sisters.
We send our love to everyone!
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