It's February 5th.....
Let the Parties Begin!!
One of the least looked forward opportunities in Nauvoo FM is to have a birthday. It's pretty much the top of the "don't look forward to that" list. Clearly ahead of attending a meeting with all the FM employees when you are the only missionary there. Then there's giving the prayer thought in the early morning FM prayer meeting. Let's not forget asking Paul how he is feeling, How about 11:00 Monday staff meeting for Sister Gibson where the comedy duo of Barrant and Lee drag the meeting into oblivion. Ok..that's enough about that. Now back to why an FM birthday is not looked forward to.
Even though Sister Gibson has long been one to look forward to most birthday celebrations as they bring on a bevy of parties, cards, and well wishes In fact, I have often called February 5th the beginning of birthday "month". There are so many friends and family parties that it takes a who month to get them in. It's such a wonderful time for her. This birthday not so much.
So the first big celebration for her birthday happens to fall to the FM group at the early morning prayer meeting. FM has their own particular brand of revelry....in other words the more they can embarrass you the better their day. It comes complete with a hat, boa, funny bottle bottomed glasses and a big red nose and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday! At least the Sisters in conservation made her day with plenty of cupcakes and well wishes. Sooner or later there will be a lunch to celebrate it again.
Things looked a lot brighter for the next celebration as it was with the MTC group. They wanted to do something special so she got to pick the restaurant for the evening meal. The Hawkeye in Keokuk was a great choice...it was near Wal-Mart and she had some shopping to do. That went by the wayside when a major snow storm popped up earlier in the day and it was eventually decided to hang out in Nauvoo and have Casey's Pizza. It may not sound exciting but getting together with our group is always a great time. We did miss the Beecher's, however. We didn't have a cake but thought a candle in a brownie bite would help keep the smoke alarm in the Lindebrug's apartment from firing up. After pizza it was on to an exciting game of Scategories.....and yes, I did play....Willingly because I had to. That's just the way it was.
We Watch in Amazement.....
President Lusvardi Pulls ARabbit?
No.... A Piano from His Hat
Our weekly mission training meeting has a new flavor....It's called President Lusvardi. Although it's available most days the majority of us don't get an opportunity to savor it except for rare occasions. It's most often available on Wednesday. It's a unique blend that brings smiles to our faces, inspiration to our hearts, and is rarely the same. We have learned to never expect the same flavor twice, although it certainly can happen at any given moment. More than once just wouldn't have the "wow" factor.
So let me explain. We got our first taste when we met him for a welcoming dinner. In the middle talking about his past role in the missionary department he casually interjected "Oh, by the way, the horses will be back....just in time for the exodus." A week ago he tantalized us with the future. "Some of you might have noticed on the blog that there aren't very many senior couples coming this year" "We will have more young sister missionaries" "This is because the Church has an urgent need for more Senior couples that can be used in other capacities" Hmmmmmm, all that speculation about "the killing of the beloved Rendezvous" is starting to make a little more sense(Still don't miss it, by the way). Maybe there is a master plan somewhere out there. Old folks are really a curious bunch and they just want to know everything. We don't relish surprises.....
So this week the training meeting starts out with President Lusvardi's friendly, folksy remarks deciding on what he might want to talk about. "I've been thinking sometime we might have a "Question and Answer" meeting. I am getting the feeling there are a few of you with some questions." You would have thought it was a deodorant convention the way all the hands that shot up! First Question: "Is there a master plan? When will it be implemented?"
Response: "You know I had an inkling this question might come up so I did a little preparation". Pulling a large paper shopping bag from behind the podium he pulling out one large bound manual after another. Each explaining different areas and time frames. Yes.....there is a master plan and the implementation began a while ago and will continue on until who knows when. And there is a dialogue revision for the sites...up to date, accurate, and going to be implemented before the summer. Did he reveal all those juicy details we so longed for to hear......nope....just enough to savor our curiosity!
So for those who have patiently been waiting for the title explanation..........As the meeting was drawing to a close President Lusvardi reviewed a key point from our past trainings....we are missionaries and we must seek for ways to love in a way that visitors here, as well as all those we come in contact with, feel our love for them. Continuing on....."You know", he started out innocently enough, "for the closing song I would like us to sing "We'll Bring the Lord His Truth". The pianist gasped..."we don't have a Children's Song Book!" I guess he's thinking we will do it a Capella, I thought. With that he casually saunters over to the piano, sits down, and plays a rousing prelude; and before you could say "He plays pretty good" we are all standing singing loudly as he tickled the ivories like a master.
Who Knew?
I am discovering this isn't a job for sissies....and there certainly aren't any here. What we have here is a bunch of aging Elders who do their best to help each other in spite of the many infirmities. Sheet rocking a basement used to be a breeze.....now it feels like a hurricane. Fifty pound pails of mud now feel like a hundred. A box of tile feels like two....and since they are tied together in pairs and I'm too lazy to break the band and carry them separately it now weighs a "ton". This is not complaining.....it is stating a fact. It is what it is!
With Elder Jensen plagued by a bad tooth that eventually would cost $1350 for a root canal that only costs $850 in Utah and missing a couple of days to get it taken care of, Elder Corder and myself moved over to the Economou to do the tile work in the kitchen, bath, laundry. We have this brand new super duper tile saw that will cut the twenty four inch tile for the Presidents house and I got to break it in. We had laid out the floor with plans to finish it the following day (or so I was led to believe). Over achiever Elder Corder, waited until I had left, and dove in and laid the kitchen, except for the cut tile. That was left for me as I assumed my new official role as "tile cutter". He's eight years younger and still feeling pretty good about his old body (his day is coming). The next day we finished the rest of the laying and the following day we grouted it. That was a personal mistake. I tried to keep up with Elder Corder wanting to show the young whipper snapper that us old folks still had it. I didn't realize that he wasn't about to let the old geezer show him up. The end result was a job quickly and well done and me barely able to move my arms for a day. Lesson learned.
Odds at the End
One of the fall outs from my priesthood lesson a few weeks ago was literally my I-Pad. My clumsy hands lost their secure grip and "Walla" the screen fractured when it hit the ground at the Visitors Center parking lot.. It thus became very annoying to work with. I was slowly but sure grinding the ends of my finger off as I continued to use it. Why didn't I get it replaced quickly? It wasn't that I didn't try...it's just the only place I could find to replace it was in Quincy and the only time I could get it replaced was when the tech was working on Saturday...oh did I mention she only worked on every fifth Saturday.
We Watch in Amazement.....
President Lusvardi Pulls A
No.... A Piano from His Hat
So let me explain. We got our first taste when we met him for a welcoming dinner. In the middle talking about his past role in the missionary department he casually interjected "Oh, by the way, the horses will be back....just in time for the exodus." A week ago he tantalized us with the future. "Some of you might have noticed on the blog that there aren't very many senior couples coming this year" "We will have more young sister missionaries" "This is because the Church has an urgent need for more Senior couples that can be used in other capacities" Hmmmmmm, all that speculation about "the killing of the beloved Rendezvous" is starting to make a little more sense(Still don't miss it, by the way). Maybe there is a master plan somewhere out there. Old folks are really a curious bunch and they just want to know everything. We don't relish surprises.....
So this week the training meeting starts out with President Lusvardi's friendly, folksy remarks deciding on what he might want to talk about. "I've been thinking sometime we might have a "Question and Answer" meeting. I am getting the feeling there are a few of you with some questions." You would have thought it was a deodorant convention the way all the hands that shot up! First Question: "Is there a master plan? When will it be implemented?"
Response: "You know I had an inkling this question might come up so I did a little preparation". Pulling a large paper shopping bag from behind the podium he pulling out one large bound manual after another. Each explaining different areas and time frames. Yes.....there is a master plan and the implementation began a while ago and will continue on until who knows when. And there is a dialogue revision for the sites...up to date, accurate, and going to be implemented before the summer. Did he reveal all those juicy details we so longed for to hear......nope....just enough to savor our curiosity!
So for those who have patiently been waiting for the title explanation..........As the meeting was drawing to a close President Lusvardi reviewed a key point from our past trainings....we are missionaries and we must seek for ways to love in a way that visitors here, as well as all those we come in contact with, feel our love for them. Continuing on....."You know", he started out innocently enough, "for the closing song I would like us to sing "We'll Bring the Lord His Truth". The pianist gasped..."we don't have a Children's Song Book!" I guess he's thinking we will do it a Capella, I thought. With that he casually saunters over to the piano, sits down, and plays a rousing prelude; and before you could say "He plays pretty good" we are all standing singing loudly as he tickled the ivories like a master.
Who Knew?
With Elder Jensen plagued by a bad tooth that eventually would cost $1350 for a root canal that only costs $850 in Utah and missing a couple of days to get it taken care of, Elder Corder and myself moved over to the Economou to do the tile work in the kitchen, bath, laundry. We have this brand new super duper tile saw that will cut the twenty four inch tile for the Presidents house and I got to break it in. We had laid out the floor with plans to finish it the following day (or so I was led to believe). Over achiever Elder Corder, waited until I had left, and dove in and laid the kitchen, except for the cut tile. That was left for me as I assumed my new official role as "tile cutter". He's eight years younger and still feeling pretty good about his old body (his day is coming). The next day we finished the rest of the laying and the following day we grouted it. That was a personal mistake. I tried to keep up with Elder Corder wanting to show the young whipper snapper that us old folks still had it. I didn't realize that he wasn't about to let the old geezer show him up. The end result was a job quickly and well done and me barely able to move my arms for a day. Lesson learned.
Odds at the End
So the appointed day finally arrived and it was off to Quincy. Since it would take at least two hours to fix we took a little jaunt further down the road to Hannibal where we went back to the Mark Twain Museum for a ride(?) on a Mississippi River raft. It was broken when we were there earlier. We pushed the button, expecting the raft to "rock and roll" as you looked at a screen that one thought would be ride down the river. Wrong!! It was clips of an old "Adventures of Tom Sawyer movie. It wasn't all that bad...just wasn't what we expected. It did accomplish the purpose. The I-Pad got fixed. My fingers will soon heal.
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