12.6.25 Busy Day. Birthday Fire. Anniversary.
Retired/Missionary Life. Sunday.
Sacrament Meeting. Hanna was one of the speakers and gave a great talk, in Spanish even. She nailed it! Best Mission Companion ever! She spoke on how music of the Gospel brings us the spirit.
Special 5th Sunday Meeting after that to go over security procedures. This obviously is in the wake of the incident that took place in Michigan. Not a huge doctrinal class, but still necessary. Gotta keep folks safe.
We then had Missionary Correlation Meeting. Always fun to compare notes and hang out with the Sister Missionaries.
We had two lessons scheduled to teach folks after that, but neither worked out. So we came home. Had leftover Thanksgiving stuff for lunch. Read, studied, watched church videos.
And in the evening, we started into our tradition of watching a bunch of Christmas movies. Tonight we watched "The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever". Great movie! If you haven't seen it, you should see it. Quote "Jesus was born for the Herdman's just as much as us."
As missionaries, we run into all sorts and types of people. We try to help everyone that we can. Everyone is welcome! Especially the "Herdman's".
Retired/Missionary Life. Monday.
We stayed home all day and did our work and etc. from the home office.
- Put up the Christmas Tree.
- Did a couple hours of studying (especially Spanish)
- Prepared a lesson that is to be given to someone tomorrow.
- Took the dogs for a chilly walk.
- Did up the family books.
- Applied for Medicare Part D (how many parts are there anyways??)
- Planned out our chaotic week (including a road trip to Pocatello), made up delicious menus, created a meticulous shopping list, typed it into the Safeway app, pressed submit and watched money leave my bank account.
- Shoveled the deck and porch (twice actually)
- And spent most of the day making Mission Steward Apartment Inspection Assignments. 14 Stewards inspecting 59 apartments where 196 young missionaries live from Colville to Pullman and from Libby to Kamiah.
In the evening, we took a break from the mostly office work and watched a pre-recorded football game. Texas Tech vs BYU, just to see what happened. In my opinion, Tech is very beatable if the right BYU team shows up.
And before going to bed, we participated in a Mission-wide Zoom Call where we heard testimonies and were taught and instructed by our President. This weeks training topic: why it is not a great idea to set a goal of 0 for anything. Training for life.........
Retired/Missionary Life. Tuesday.
First up, Missionary District Council Meeting with our fellow missionaries. We enjoyed a lesson on how to use technology safely and another lesson on Faith. And each companionship reported on how their week went and we brainstormed/helped them solve some challenges each was having. Always a great spirit meeting with these younger missionaries that are so diligent and faithful.
Afterwards, before we all departed, most of them had to say "hello" to Gus and Frivvy. Coolest mission dogs ever!
We ate sack lunches in the truck while the dogs watched closely. And then we taught a couple of lessons to a family we care a lot about. A lesson on Faith. And kind of a discussion on prayer.
There was a bit of fresh snow out, now turned to icy slush, but we still went for our walk on the Centennial Trail. Fairly nice day to be out and beautiful day regardless. The boys enjoyed the walk immensely.
We visited our friendly Walk In Chiropractic folks. I had my back decompressed and adjusted while Hanna got a neck massage. (We both feel much better now!)
Then errands. Picked up white shirts at the cleaners. Picked up drugs at the pharmacy. Picked up groceries. Then another lesson, this one on the Fall of Adam and Eve.
Dinner at Conley's. I had Steak and Chili and Hanna had a Salad. (This was preceded by a game of Book of Mormon Playing Cards Rummy, which I won for once...)
We wound up the day by doing a bit of Christmas Celebrating. Our church has put together a viewing of literally dozens of nativities from all around the world. Plus they had the CV Orchestra there playing Christmas Hymns. It put us in the Christmas Spirit!
It's FREE. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Plus they had free cookies! Take your family and check it out. It'll happen again tomorrow and the next night (Wednesday and Thursday) Evenings from 6 to 8. 14111 East 16th Avenue. Spokane Valley. That's just off of Evergreen.
That's 11 different meetings, lessons, and errands all in one long day. That's a lot for old folks like us...but most of it was meaningful.
Retired/Missionary Life. Wednesday.
We've had a quite a few folks lately ask us about our mission, what we do and when and etc. We are full-time Teaching (aka proselyting) Missionaries, serving from home, assigned to the East Spanish Branch and also we serve as Assistant Mission Housing Coordinators. We've had several folks ask if we are "Service" missionaries. No, we are not. We teach. We chose teaching because we love to work with folks and help them along their path to get closer to Christ. And Service Missionaries at times do a ton of standing and lifting which Hanna is not able to do. She can, however, ride in a car to someone's house, go into the house, sit on their couch, and testify. She's actually really good at that! We spend three days per week working in our Congregation (Spanish Branch), one day a week doing housing stuff, one day for temple attendance, one day reserved for family, and a P-day for running errands, buying groceries, and recreating. Kind of. Many weeks it is all jumbled together. Especially when we have medical appointments, District Council Meetings, Zone Conferences, and etc. We enjoy every second of it!
Today, we celebrated Hanna's birthday a day early because we will be on the road all day tomorrow. In the morning, I had time to do some things around the house, like cut up a couple of hams into serving sized pieces and freezing it for future breakfast consumption. It was also a good day to give the snow plow a test run. It passed and did just fine. Frivvy took a comfy nap while I read and studied. And then in the evening, we went out to dinner at Beverly's in CDA. Awesome food! Great decorations! The chef finished off the cooking of our steaks at our table. Fun to watch! They brought Hanna a special dessert for her birthday.
Back home, I was excited because the FedEx dude brought our free Starlink Mini, just in time for tomorrow's road trip! And we watched another Christmas Movie (Tradition!) "Christmas with the Kranks". It just doesn't get any better than Tim Allen playing the part of a Certified Public Accountant. A must see!
And here, gawk at the critters standing in the the snow at the Highlands.
I am grateful to celebrate Hanna's birthday. Just a few short years ago we both believed she wouldn't be here for this birthday. Miracles and blessings. And gratitude!
Retired/Missionary Life. Thursday.
Standard road trip. We made two stops, both for bathroom breaks and one included the consumption of sack lunches. It snowed or rained most of the way, but it didn't really stick. We drove slowly and carefully regardless.
Once in Deer Lodge, the boys were happy to be in a roomy Airbnb and got to go for a snowy walk. Hanna and I ate dinner at the Broken Arrow Restaurant. Great country grub there.
Included also is a Stewart Highlands Picture of a buck in the snow.
Enjoy!
Retired/Missionary Life. Friday.
So, folks, today marks two full years of me posting this whatever it is every day. And actually, I have not missed a day. Hanna says she married me for my consistency and dependability. So there you have it. I started it because several old guys (who should be retired themselves but aren't) kept asking me all the time "just what do you do with all your time now that you are retired???" When I told them I was busy as ever, their eyes just glazed over and they looked confused. But at least it inspired me to spend 15 minutes each day of my precious retired time posting this stuff on FB. There have been many times I have pondered giving it up, but then someone approaches me and tells me they liked my last post. So I keep on. FB tells me I get right around 300 clicks per day, sometimes more if I have the right picture or photo.
Today we drove from Deer Lodge to Pocatello. Started out as a great sunny day, but right about Monida Pass, it fogged up and then rained. Here! Have pictures of our puppies enjoying the trip. Hanging out at the AirBnBs, glaring at us from the truck wondering why we are taking so long to load up, resting after their walk. They love rides and travel well. So do we.
Here's to another year of sharing my personal journal with hundreds of people on-line.....................
Retired/Missionary Life. Saturday.
We worshipped in the Pocatello Temple. Beautiful building.
We saw a house with TONS of Christmas Lights. And a house next door that had a sign that said "DITTO" with an arrow pointing over at the neighbors. Funny.
In the evening we attended the Stewart Family Christmas Party, which included a birthday cake for Jesus.
And finally, Gussy likes the sites he sees around town as we drive.
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