7-5-25 IRS Audit
Retired/Missionary Life. Sunday.
Sacrament Meeting. (Hanna and I both were asked to give prayers. In Spanish. I think we both did well. Huge improvements over the past two months since we've been trying to get this Spanish thing down.) Men's meeting. Missionary Coordination Meeting.
Back home, leftover sloppy joes for lunch. A nap. Then I read, studied Spanish, worked on my book, and texted a ton of people from our congregation that we are trying to track down and meet. We listened to a talk by one of our church leaders and also an episode of The Chosen. (The temple has now been cleansed of money changers....)
We set up two more lessons for this week while we were at church. We now have TEN lessons scheduled for this week. Gonna be a busy week! But man, we love doing this missionary gig. Nothing like it and nothing better.
Pictures after Jesus:
- The house was still cold today, so a fire in the fireplace was called for while we read and studied.
- Both dogs are all attention when we make popcorn, which is a must have when you are watching The Chosen.
Retired/Missionary Life. Monday.
We did our reading and studying and walking the dog and all that stuff in the morning, including updating the family books and paying the bills.
After lunch, I did the recreation part of P-day by watching a pre-recorded football game. Military Bowl with E Carolina vs N Carolina. Great game with a great fight at the end. Like 9 ejections for the last 30 seconds.
Then we drove in to Spokane to the Mission Home and had dinner (Hawaiian Hot Dogs) with the other Senior Couples in the mission. And then had a lesson on miracles. Always a good time to hang with people our own age and older...
Pictures:
- The highlight of today was getting the mail. A check from Christian Healthcare Ministries, a new James Patterson Book, and....letters and graduation program from our grandkids! Woo Hoo!
- Our little town's grader must be broken down because they leveled the gravel with a side-by-side and what looked like a set of harrows.
- Frivvy took a nap.
- I put up the "summer" Palouse picture and took down the "spring" one.
- The trip to town is always scenic.
- And the missionaries hid these tiny Jesuses at the Mission Home.
Fun day. We'll actually teach some people tomorrow. And finish some preparation day stuff.
Here's a scripture from tonight's lesson: "...Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord,...The Lord shall fight for you..." --Moses.
Retired/Missionary Life. Tuesday.
Walked the boys before it got too hot. Then it was the usual Tuesday gig. Go over the week's plans. (We actually do two-week planning on Sundays now). Create scrumptious menus. (Lots of sack dinners or eating out because we're gonna be in town almost every day the next week.) Prepare a detailed shopping list. Drive to Worley. Eat Salads and play Rummy at Red Tail. Top off with cheap Idaho gas. Drive to Plummer. Buy the groceries. Drive home. Unload. Put it all away.
Then I took a nap. And when I arose from my coma, I did my studies, practiced Spanish, etc.
Had an early dinner of leftover soup, then ran to town. We had three lessons lined up, all to prepare folks to go to the temple. Two of the three came off. The last one, the guy forgot and was still at work. Next time.
Ah....the life of a missionary!
Retired/Missionary Life. Wednesday.
In the evening, we did our studies and watched an episode of Heartland. (Amy didn't go blind after all...)
Below: Pictures from the Senior Missionary Party Monday Night. Great Palouse sunset tonight. And pictures of the beautiful drive to Colville. Enjoy!!
Retired/Missionary Life. Thursday.
Scary way to start the day! I am on the USPS app that Emails me every morning with pictures of what I can expect to get in the mail that day. And this morning it had a picture of an envelope from the IRS, the address was grayed out though, and it called it a "package". HOLY CRAP!! Could only be one thing.......an AUDIT!!! Now, in all my years as a practicing CPA, I never "lost" an audit, so it shouldn't frighten me. But thinking of all the time and energy it will take from my retired life is quite frightening. The mail dude came. I slowly walked out to the box, peeked in, and ...... well, no package. No audit. Just a meaningless "informational" letter to Hanna's Mom's Estate. Whew.............. They would be crazy to audit me. (Yes, that's a dare...)
Reading and studying and dog walking in the morning. Preparing for lessons and starting on packing for our weekend campout in the afternoon. The evening was full of missionary work. Our lesson fell apart because I told them the wrong day, they thought it was tomorrow. And couldn't do it tonight. Totally my fault and my poor Spanish. I need to write the days of the week on a note card and carry them with me for quick reference. Second time I've done this to her.
So, we went out to a nice dinner instead. We actually had dessert too, which is rare.
Then we met with our Branch President (the guy that leads our congregation) and talked about who needs us to teach them and the progress of those who we are teaching. Afterwards, we finished the evening at our Spanish Tutor's home learning some more Spanish.
And also, here, have pictures of the boys. Frivvy working on his 20 hours of daily sleep. And Gus also, although he likes to crawl partially under the bed for his naps. Enjoy.
Come on IRS. I dare you..................
Retired/Missionary Life. Friday.
Supposed rejuvination day. We hurried with taking the energetic boys on their walk and breakfast (see all the raspberries Hanna's plants are producing now??) and shower and got off to District Council Meeting with the other missionaries that serve near our area. Lessons on Unity in Companionships (even us old folks need that...) and keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. Along with lots of discussion on how to get or keep the work going.
Hurried to the bank to take care of some estate business. Ate a quick sack lunch in the truck in the temple parking lot. And then worshipped in the temple.
Afterwards we met up with the Sisters who also serve in our branch. I was discouraged and I think they were too. Nothing fights discouragement like missionary commradery and tacos! We felt better when we left.
Bought expensive WA gas because we didn't have enough to make it to Idaho, and ran home and packed the rest of our camping gear. And then off to the Stewart Highlands (after buying even more expensive WA gas for the Wrangler) for a break and time with grandkids.
The sun was setting as we hit the forest Jeep trails. Very scenic out. The game camera took pictures of us which look eerie. Nice fire. And before we went to bed, the boys succeeded in tangling themselves up together.
Rejuvinated?? Hummmm............. Peaceful? Yup!
Retired/Missionary Life. Saturday.
We woke up to find ourselves in a tent on the top of a North Idaho Mountain! Yes! The Stewart Highlands! The boys were especially excited when the sun came up around 4am and they demanded to be let out of the tent. They spent the next two hours running in exploration while coming back to the tent every ten minutes to check on us. Sweet dogs.
The many pictures tell the story:
I'm guessing this was Gus's first camping trip. He was amazed, but clueless.
Frivvy and Gus got really excited when a red Tesla pulled in. They went from scared and running to hide, to curious, to outright joy and excitement when they finally figured out it was Justin and the Grandkids.
We shot guns. BB gun. .22. and 30-30. Most have outgrown the BB gun. Mostly .22 shells were spent. It's important for these kids to know and understand guns, their power and force, and how to be safe and comfortable around them.
There WAS a tree leaning down across our driveway. After many engineering-type discussions about how to remove it without causing death or harm, I chose my own idea. Pull it down with my Jeep. Most rolled their eyeballs and said it would never work. That the tree was too lodged in. But, alas, one strong pull from The Beast, and it came tumbling down. Now it is a pile of firewood. (Cool video at the end of this post...)
Camping out includes work. Bushes were trimmed, holes were dug, fires were built and maintained and put out, and a giant yellow jacket nest, near our makeshift bathroom, was obliterated.
We reverently held a flag retirement ceremony and the importance of respecting the flag was taught.
And then the sun set and we headed for home.
Over the weekend, some clown put a DUCK in my JEEP!!! (I have no idea who could've done such a thing!!) I have a strong disdain for the emasculation of JEEPs by putting ducks on their dashboards. This disrespectful act of terror must be dealt with!
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