Week #9, 5 - 11 February 2017

Sunday began the week with our regular drive to Washington Iowa Branch.  Meetings were good and Primary was fun as usual.  We are getting to know the members and enjoying the families and all the busyness they bring.

We went to "Break the Fast" at President and Sister Smith's home.  It overlooks the Mississippi River and has a commanding view.

We enjoyed a delicious meal of Cafe Rio Pork, black beans, rice, and all the trimmings.  It was supplemented with a luscious fruit  salad and a pudding delight for dessert.  We had a great time enjoying the food, visiting, and taking pictures.

Back:  Sister Udall (from Arizona), President & Sister Smith, Bob.

Front:  Barbara, Sister & Elder Mabey, and Sister Burgoyne.

 Sunset on the Mississippi.

The week in the temple went well with more patrons coming on Saturday.  It is always good to be busy.  We were given various assignments and I was in the baptistry for the first time.  We were both there together a couple of times as well.  We have been told we will be trained there next Thursday evening and then will be there every Thursday for awhile to really get used to working there.

We attended a fireside Sunday evening and when we got home, the outside door to our building would not open.  The latch has been broken for a couple of weeks and we filed a work order with "urgent" on it to have it repaired.  We just didn't pull it all the way shut but when we left out for the fireside, I pulled it shut as I went out, not thinking.  I went over to the Adams' to wait while Dad called the engineer to come fix it.  He came over and slipped in his credit card and it opened right up. Guess what?  Monday a new latch was put in!

The weather got freezy cold Tuesday night and Wednesday, in the teens.  The snow started falling about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and continued throughout the day.  We made a trip to Burlington in it and got back safe and then were off to Brother Shurts.  He is a local resident and is doing a scanning project for a local historian.  There are over 40 boxes of files and we volunteered to help.  He has two computers and scanners set up in his home and he trained us on the use of them.  We were there an hour and each scanned a folder full.

 8 a.m.

 10:30 a.m., coming home from Burlington

 Noon, from our drive way across the street.

This may be a bit unbelievable, but when we went to the temple at 5 p.m., on Wednesday, the sky had cleared and the sun was bright!  Snow was still on the ground, though.

Thursday brought warmer temps, in the 30's and 40's.  We thought it was warm!  Guess we have been here long enough to appreciate when it is not freezing!  We didn't wear our overcoats.  Friday was cloudy and sunny and then Saturday was sunny and bright.

We went to dinner in Fort Madison with the Adams'.  We ate at Chuong Garden and enjoyed delicious dishes served up rather quickly.