6-7-25 it Takes A Team
Retired/Missionary Life. Sunday.
Happy Sabbath! Here, have a Jesus Picture!
And some pictures of us at the Senior Missionary BBQ last Monday, which was also Memorial Day. They thought we planned out our patriotic attire carefully, but no, it was just dumb luck. And a picture of a moose or at least the outline or shadow of a moose. And finally, proof that I was up way too early this morning. Nice sunrise though.
Church. Sunday School. Missionary Coordination Meeting. Lunch. Nap, Reading. Watching church videos. Leftovers for dinner. Nice to have a mostly chill day.
Retired/Missionary Life. Monday.
A day for preparation and play. But we also did some work too.
Planned the week. Created Menus. (Looks like we'll be in town a lot, so lots of sack lunches and eating out...). Prepared Grocery List. Typed into computer. Pressed submit. Watched funds disappear in the bank account.
Also, I emptied, cleaned, and refilled the hot tub. Tried to do up the books, but got locked out of some functions in my 2022 version of QuickBooks. (Grok is giving me options of what to do next...). And Hanna made up a bunch of brownies to give to the younger missionaries whose apartments we will inspect tomorrow. (I thought they were for me to celebrate our anniversary some more, but no...)
Got cleaned up and ran to town and taught a temple lesson. Picked up white shirts at the cleaners. Picked up the groceries. Back home. Unloaded and put away. And then I watched a prerecorded football game just to chill a bit. Michigan vs Ohio State. I wasn't going to watch it due to hardly any points scored, but changed my mind. It's always a classic and was worth the watch.
Even though we celebrated over the weekend, today marks 13 years of very blissful marriage. Here, have one of my favorite wedding pictures!
Retired/Missionary Life. Tuesday.
We put on our Assistant Mission Housing Coordinators hats today and went to work. We inspected Mission Apartments in Cheney, Medical Lake, Downtown, Spokane Valley, back to Downtown. That took most of the day. We also stopped at the Distribution Center to pick up some things for the funeral.
And then we met up with Luigi, Brooklyn, and August for Tacos.
- The boys love tearing up boxes. In fact, it's there job. With this one, it appears they have learned to leave it in one big "easy-to-clean-up" pile.
- The brownies are all loaded in the truck and ready for the trip to inspect apartments. We left each apartment with some brownies and a spiritual thought on cleanliness stuck on their fridge.
- The missionaries of one of the apartments we inspected. These Elders serve the Chuukee people in the Valley and do a fine job with them. Interesting that three of the five apartments we inspected were of missionaries who serve foreign speaking people. Chuukee, Swahillee, and Spanish. (spelling not guaranteed...)
- August with Grandma.
- Tacos!
Retired/Missionary Life. Wednesday.
Here, have a picture of a tractor that we passed on our way to town. And two pictures of various creatures at the Stewart Highlands.
Today was full of all sorts of meetings and appointments. Talked to the Estate Attorney about Hanna's Mom's Estate. Took Hanna to get her hair trimmed. Met with the funeral planner (for a loooong time) to go over, well, funeral plans. Taught a temple lesson (in Spanish even. This good lady doesn't speak a lick of English. But we did just fine.) Went to another lesson, but it got cancelled. We stopped by another family that we had promised to go back on and check on. No one answered the door. Went to that place where you dip your fries in the chili for dinner, then came home to do our studies and read.
In between and while on the road, we made several calls. Some about the upcoming mission transfers, some about the new Stewards, some about family get togethers before the funeral days and probably several others that I don't remember now.
Busy day........now where's my bed. It's around here somewhere....
Retired/Missionary Life. Thursday.
But before we went to the cancer clinic, we declared it "old people go to breakfast" day and drove over to Red Tail. (I love this day because I don't have to cook breakfast like I do almost every other morning...).
After steak and eggs and omelette, we took the boys for a walk on the trail of the CDAs. They enjoyed the change up in walk and we went before it got too hot out.
Showered, hurried off to Post Falls, blood tests to make sure Hanna is healthy enough to get her infusion (yes, she is), and then she got the jab in the belly. DIE CANCER DIE!!!
We met up with the Spanish Sister Missionaries for an early dinner at Elmers. We love being with them and we seem to boost each other up. We also work with some of the same families, so coordination and communication is good. Sadly, this is our last dinner with Hermana Palmer. She finishes her mission and returns to her home in Utah this next week.
We fueled up with cheap gas before crossing the state line. Almost a dollar a gallon savings today.
In the evening, I read, did my studies, and worked on housing spreadsheets and reports to be turned into the Mission Office tomorrow.
PSA: We've had some folks insinuate that it is sad that our church is making us do all this. Guys! We VOLUNTEERED for this. And are loving every minute of it. We couldn't be doing a more meaningful work in any other way...
Retired/Missionary Life. Friday.
Rejuvination Day. (FB says that word does not exist. If not, I just invented it. Enjoy!) Started out by meeting with a bunch of younger missionaries and one other senior couple for District Council. Presentations focused on safe driving and reaching out to referrals. Towards the end, the District Leader asked each companionship to call a referral and if possible, even teach them a lesson over the phone. Our dear Spanish Sisters (they are so awesome, we are so lucky to share a congregation with them) got an interested person on the phone right away and actually gave him a lesson on prayer. And at the end, they asked me to testify of prayers. (Yes, in Spanish. Over the phone.) The guy didn't hang up, so it must have went well. We're excited to see how he progresses.
Afterwards, we visited the Mission Office to turn in some reports and new charts and maps we created to facilitate the housing stewards. While there, the Mission President's wife came out and gave Hanna a huge hug and wished condolences on her loss. This created a ton of tears. Great lady, following the spirit. Hanna needed that hug right then that very moment.
Sack lunch in the truck in the temple parking lot while we watched a wedding picture thing go down. And then we went in and worshipped. I listened in Spanish.
Tacos for dinner.
At home, I took a long nap, then did my studying and reading.
Missionary days are very long. But a lot of fun and so worth it!
Retired/Missionary Life. Saturday.
I fixed French Toast for Breakfast. Keto for me. Gluten Free for Hanna.
They boys did their job tearing up boxes in the living room. Hanna graciously swept it all up for them.
Some Geocachers stopped by to find the Geocache in our yard. (Great day for some great family fun!)
The FedEx Dude showed up with the goods.
We watched the neighbors swath their hay and we officially declared it the start of haying season.
Now in the mood, I mowed my own lawn. Weed whacked a ton of stuff. And sprayed a bunch of unwanted weeds.
And then Ella, Del, and Justin arrived. Because we are behind on so many things due to the funeral and being missionaries, we put them to work. Ella got on QuickBooks and did up our personal finances and also organized some data for the Steward Roster in Excel. Del made sure the tires on the truck were torqued properly, replaced the insulation on the back door, and helped Hanna hang out the Flag Day decorations on the deck. Justin changed out the dog kennel, filled the dog food cannister, fixed the leak in the shower and the leak in the sprinkler system, and dusted the entire house top to bottom, and helped Hanna hang up pictures of the grandkids.
Once we were all tired and hungry, I grilled up some Rib Eye and Hanna baked up some loaded Taters and we dined in style.
Also, Molly visited, tagged along with Del and Ella, and made friends (again, kind of) with the boys and Justin.
We are thankful for the service provided. Much needed and appreciated. It allows us to serve others too...
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