Mission: It has been a good week in Portland...

We had a good week.  So many sweet experiences.

On Monday I worked hard on gathering email addresses for both fathers and mothers of OPM missionaries so we could send them a letter with instructions about Christmas packages.  We need to get the packages early so we can make up the difference if some missionaries are not going to receive packages from their families.  On Christmas there needs to be a gift for every missionary.

On Monday also the Church Service Missionary area directors came to train Dear One and me, though he is the one who gets the brunt of it...new responsibilities added.  Dear One asked me if I would deal with chatting with these church service missionaries who are local part-time missionaries and who do various things such as inspecting the missionary apartments.  Other things, too.

On Monday ALSO two sister missionaries came in and asked if there were any senior missionaries going to Clackamas because one them had a former companion whose birthday was Tuesday.  She had arranged to meet that sister in Portland to do some shopping together on their preparation day which was that day.  The sister's companion did not like shopping so she refused to go, so guess who got to make the trip?!  It was okay but Dear One said we did not want to become the mail service... It took an hour and a half to drive down there but only about forty minutes to get home, thankfully.  It really was a beautiful day for a drive and we had not been that far out before so all is well that ends well.  The sister was sort of thankful for the gift delivery.

Tuesday brought an end to the email-gathering project thankfully.  Of course, it was enjoyable contacting a variety of people to get those email addresses.

Tuesday also brought a bad low-blood-sugar episode.  Scary, actually.  I ate all my rescue food and still was shaky and sick.  After about 30 minutes I stopped shaking but I felt pretty icky.  I took off and went to the grocery store to get some real food.

Tuesday ALSO we went to Brother G's for a wonderful temple preparation class.  He is such a sweet kind man, so ready and willing and anxious to come unto Christ.  So nice to share time with him.  We feel the whisperings and peace and comfort of the Holy Ghost as we meet with him.

Wednesday was good.  I sent off the email about the Christmas packages, appending my own email address to the end so I could be sure the recipients got it.  By the end of the day the message still was "out there" and not in my inbox.

On Wednesday I found that Freecyle is up and running in Beaverton!  (Not something that makes Dear One's heart sing, I can assure you!). I was able to acquire a Sunbeam Mixmaster stand mixer with the original glass bowls, both of them, that it came with back in the 60's.  My mother had a Mixmaster, though hers was metal, not plastic like this one.  The only glitch with this one is that there were no beaters with it.  I found some online and ordered them.  $17. A good price for a stand mixer if they work.  If not, it is not a lot of money to throw away.

Also acquired on Wednesday was a cooling rack that I have been longing for since I am now baking treats for Dear One and others.  I held off for almost two months but now it looks like it needs to be part of our weeks.  Drat.  Sweets are not something I want in our house.

On Thursday the elevator was back in service after a month of carrying ourselves and the mail up and down 24 steps every day.  Good, strengthening work.  I am expecting to have spectacular legs at the end of our mission from our own 17 stairs.  Those 24 stairs were really good.  I still will use them when I am only carrying myself.  Arms full of heavy packages was a little rugged.  SO on Thursday morning I got out the dolly from the supply room and loaded 10 packages on it and rolled it easily down to the elevator then down to the mail boxes.  That was so great!  One trip!  On Tuesday I had six boxes that took three trips up and down the stairs.

We talked with Son #3 Thursday evening.  He told us that the missionary name tags I had ordered for us had arrived in Vermont.  Duh!  That was really smart to send them there. (I had thought I had ordered them shipped to us here but I am sure it was confusing for those on the other end so...) I hate making extra work for others.  One of the sister missionaries called today to say she did not get all of her name tags, either, so I had to see where the error lies.  I still am not sure...

On Friday I awoke well before 6 and decided to throw on some clothes and walk around the complex for a bit.  3500 steps before breakfast made me feel virtuous.  The fresh air was so good tasting.

 

Brownie Trifle for the Senior Missionary FHE.  Beautiful dish from Salvation Army Thrift store

Also before breakfast I made a triple apple cake from Chef AJ.  I will write about it another day.

Some of my office work includes preparing orientation binders for incoming senior missionaries.  The previous computer files are confusing to me so I am organizing them in a way to makes sense to me.  I brought our binder in from the apartment to use as a sample and have now found everything we are supposed to include.  This makes me happy.

By the end of the day at the office I had been notified that I had received the email regarding the Christmas packages!  Three of the addresses were wrong, so I called the parents and got the correct ones.

The game we played, and no, I don't get credit if you buy this from Amazon.

That evening we were invited  to Elder and Sister J's apartment for pizza, salad, cookies, and Quirkle.  We had never played the game but had a good time doing it.

Saturday was spent doing errands while waiting for the sister of one of our missionaries to arrive with packages from home.  Eventually I met her at the office and took in the boxes.  We also purchased the  rest of the ingredients for the Family Home Evening treats.  We took Brownie Trifle,  chunks of pepper jack cheese, cranberry-cinnamon encrusted goat cheese, and Wheat Thins.