When Ye Have Done It Unto The Least of These

I had a very interesting experience tonight. My visiting teachers were here, and my phone rang. I always try to answer in case there is a need in the church, so I answered. It was the Stake Clerk who happens to be a member of my ward. They had received a phone call from a woman that was in a health care facility that was within the boundaries of our ward. She needed some clothing, and they asked me to check in on her to see if we could help (of course, the wanted me to get approval from the bishop first). Now this lady is not a church member, and I don't know how she knew to even call the church. I finished up the visit with my friends, and headed out. I was a little nervous and offered a quick prayer for guidance. I wasn't aware that it was a MENTAL health care facility until I got there. I signed in, had to put my purse and phone in a locker and go behind the "doors." I asked the attendant for the lady and the showed me to the cafeteria to wait while they went to get her. She came out and we sat down to visit. She said she had been there since Thursday, but had no clothing other than what she had on. She wanted some clean clothing to wear. She said she would like some different soap, as the soap there was irritating her skin. She also said she would appreciate a sweater, if that wasn't asking too much. She told some of her sad, heart breaking story as she briefly told me how she came to be there - that she had no real family except a 4 year old son whom she was not allowed to see. I kept looking in to her eyes. I want so much to see the daughter of God in there somewhere behind the troubled life. I had to look real deep. She asked for a bible as well, and said she did go to church sometimes. She gave me a list of what she wanted. I asked her if it was alright if I sent the sister missionaries to visit her to lend some spiritual support. She said that would be okay. I left there with an unsettled feeling, wondering if there was any good to be done with her, but the thought about the scripture that tells us about visiting the sick, the imprisoned, taking in the stranger, clothing the naked, etc. entered into my mind and I was comforted. In as much as ye have done it unto the least of these...

My Handy, Dandy Man!

Rod is just so good to try and do upkeep around our house. He fixes leaks, changes light bulbs, keeps the dishwasher going, empties trash cans, feeds the dog, cleans up the dogs messes in the back yard, etc. etc. and today he is replacing all the rollers on our garage door. He works every Saturday from 8 to 12, and then comes home, goes shopping with me, we try to squeeze in a hike or a movie, and then he works on various projects. He has this really cool air compressor that has a bunch of power tools that attach to it. He keeps my tires on the car all aired up, too!

Best of all, he buys me flowers! Thanks, Rod. I love you!

Just some thoughts....

It is to hard to capture what is going on some times. The last week and a half have been difficult and challenging in many ways. We have had 3 deaths in our ward. The first was a young mother, just 33 years old. She had some systemic infections and got pneumonia. She couldn't fight it off. She had been sick for a couple of years. Some kind of eating disorder as well. She was down to below 70 pounds. She left behind a grieving husband and a beautiful 13 year old daughter. I took Becca to the funeral with me. She said, "mom, I don't know what I'd ever do if you died." That really touched my heart. One of the speakers said that if you have kids, go home and hug them and tell them that you love them. So to all my kids and grandkids - I LOVE YOU!!! The second was an elderly sister that had been in a nursing home for quite some time. A member of our bishopric actually pushed her in her wheel chair to church (it is like a half a mile) a couple of months ago and she bore her testimony. She was so excited to be there and to bear her testimony. Her daughters requested help from the Relief Society to dress her in her temple clothes. Monday, I left work a little early to fill this assignment with a couple of other sisters in the ward. It was such a privilege to do this service. We offered a humble prayer and began.We were able to dress her in her beautiful temple clothes. When we were finished, there was a VISIBLE difference in her face. She looked beautiful, happy, and peaceful. It was truly an amazing experience. Her daughters were so very grateful. The third was a sweet sister that I was assigned to visit teach two years ago when our ward boundaries were changed. I just fell in love with her and she has been a dear friend. It has been hard to see her struggle so with her cancer. She had at least 5 different kinds of cancer in her body when she died. She was a single mother for many years and has a wonderful son to carry on her legacy. (I wish I could introduce him to Julie.) I am so sad that Martine is no longer here, but I am also happy for her. She is no longer fighting, struggling, and enduring the pain she had for so long. I know she is much better now. She was a very independent, hard working woman. She had an amazing network of friends and associates that loved her and cared for her during her illness. Her funeral is on Saturday. I have also had some struggles with my job. This has added to the stress and anxiety of these deaths with which I have dealt. I'll just leave it at that. I am fine, but it has just been hard. I know we are supposed to have some hard times during our lives. It makes us stretch and grow and improve. That is part of mortality. I hope I pass these tests and learn what I need to learn and then move forward. I don't like doing hard very much!

Picture a day challenge for 2008

Katie has taken and issued the challenge of a picture a day. I think I will try to do this. It seems like a really good way to track life each day. I have loved seeing her daily pictures. Sometimes I will cheat. I may not post every day, but will do a picture for each day, and sometimes will do more than one picture. Here is my new blog for just that purpose! http://seemyworld-grammy.blogspot.com/