A Masterpiece Complete

I finished my quilt a few weeks ago, but I didn't want to take pictures of it until I had a chance to wash it, and get all of the fabric pencil off if it. Here's the finished product!

Little Bear

Mmmm....My friend and I enjoyed HUGE sandwiches and delicious fruit at the Little Bear this weekend.
She only order a half sandwich, which was the smart thing to do. I order a whole, and ended up taking half of it home for later. I have yet to sample their ice cream, but I've heard it's delicious.

A Sister Missionary Forever

Since the beginning of the school year and my return to Thompson Falls, it feels as if I've once more returned to the mission field. Shortly after coming back, one of the sisters in my little branch came up to me, asked how I was, and we enjoyed a nice chat. I commented that a new branch member (who'd come while I was away) asked if I was the new sister missionary. I had laughed and said, "No." The sister whom I was now talking with smiled and said, "You will always be a sister missionary for us."

The school year was well underway and a few weeks back a young man in my branch approached me in the hallway at Trout Creek School and exclaimed, "You're a sister missionary! What are you doing here?!" I explained that I was, in fact, not a sister missionary, but the Speech Language Pathologist at the school and that I taught his older brothers in Sunday School at Church. He then gave me a confused look and said, "What? Well, It's the same thing."

Then this weekend I volunteered to drive the sister missionaries around on Saturday evening so that they could conserve miles and still make all the visits they had planned. At the first visit the young man set his baptismal date. Yea! As we were talking to his Foster Dad, the young man turned to him and said (referring to me), "This sister missionary is going to play the piano at my baptism." I laughed and clarified.

Later, I took the sisters to a home where they were teaching three young children the gospel. I've met them all before and I teach the oldest sister in my Sunday School Class, but apparently I still have that missionary glow, because sure enough, they kept referring to me as one of the missionaries.

I returned from my full time mission in The New Jersey Cherry Hill Spanish Speaking Mission in April 2006, but I'm still a missionary!

Vineland, NJ - One of the Sister Missionaries in our Branch is from here! It's where I spent nine months of my missionary service.

One of the many wonderful families in Vineland.
Both Zeferino and Apalonio were baptized the week after I left the Lakewood, NJ area.

Marleny and her daughters are wonderful members of the Church, with such beautiful testimonies of the truth.

Canning is more fun with friends

This autumn I canned apples. LOTS of apples.


Apple Sauce, Apple Butter,
& Apple Juice - something was wrong with these apples and they wouldn't turn into sauce like they were supposed to, so we put the juice in freezer bags, and we're going to turn it into apple cider later.
Behold the best invention in the world: A Sauce MakerMmmm....Now I think I'll go make some fresh bread so I can have some apple butter on top!

Reasons to Visit Thompson Falls, MT

Scenery

River views

The Cedar Forest

Devil's Club - Nasty Prickly Plant
Time to contemplate while trains roll through the town
The Huckleberry Fun Run

The Hanging Bridge

Me!

We cannot do everything

As I reestablish my school year routine, I am grateful for the advice I read in the Ensign in a talk entitled "All Things in Wisdom and Order". Elder Taggart of the Seventy said--in speaking with a mother of twelve--she commented, "We cannot do everything, all the time, all at once. We can, through the years, do many things, at different times, one at a time. It is important to see choices as opportunities, not as frustrations." I love this. "One at a time" is my new theme for the year. I cannot do everything, but I can, through time, do many things, at different times, one at a time.

Four Wheelin' & Hiking

What a great way to end my summer fun at home: Mom, Dad, and I went up to the Tizers yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We drove into Tizer Lake, then hiked into Hidden Lake. It was so beautiful I could have stayed there all day....except for the mosquitoes. Of course it wouldn't have been true four wheeling if there hadn't been any rain (fortunately, it didn't last too long), and we discovered a ton of hiking trails. It's a shame you can't access any of them unless you happen to own an off-road vehicle.

We visited a Hidden Lake,
enjoyed the sunshine,

Encountered flowers so beautiful I couldn't resist stealing a few,

Survived mosquitoes so fearsome that they almost tripped Dad.

And avoided being enticed into eating monster mushrooms.

All in all, it was a great adventure.

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