Our Missionaries

Layne and I are now coordinators for the Church's addiction recovery and support program in the Boise Valley.  Which means we supervise the missionaries working in the various addiction groups.  Yesterday we had our first training meeting with them.  We planned to motivate them to step beyond the meetings they regularly attend and be willing to pursue speaking to the various wards in their individual stakes about addiction, prevention and recovery.  Layne spent hours preparing materials for them.  We presented our plan to them yesterday afternoon and they were so enthusiastic about agreeing to do it! There was a wonderful Spirit there with us; I could feel the warmth throughout the meeting.  Just about everyone lingered afterwards for awhile, visiting and asking questions.  I've noticed that lingering is a sign of a sweet spirit that they don't really want to leave, so they stay.  I'm so glad that it worked so well.  Layne did an amazing job of organizing it and preparing materials.  He has the happy and rare ability to research needed information, plan and organize well, and relate to people in a positive way.  Everyone can do some of those things but not very many people can do all of those things.  He can.  The sweet feeling from that meeting is lingering in my heart today, as I sit in front of our cozy fire counting my blessings.

Here's  view of our fireplace, surrounded by our pine trees, filled with orange lights (for Halloween).  Their glow warms the space and fills me with happy thoughts.

Autumn is here, with its cooling days and increased storms.  Our garden is finished I think.  I picked the last of the tomatoes and have them sitting on the counter waiting for processing.  As usual when we are outside working, the kitties join us.  It was somewhat rainy when I chose to harvest the tomatoes.  The lawn was wet. The kitties won't walk on the lawn in that condition, so Cherry, my sweet little black and white cat, carefully walked around the lawn and joined me by the tomato plants. It took an extra effort on her part.  There she sat and kept me company, asking for an occasional pet and scratch.  She is a lovely little companion.

Lately my grandchildren, Seth and Angelica, have been writing to me.  I love it.  Each week we exchange e-mails.  It is fun to hear from them so often.  Last week Seth included this selfie.  It makes me smile every time I look at it!