Not A Typical Day In "Paradise"

Well, with the perspective for today, I look on yesterday and realize how quickly the world can bounce up and down in our little corner. No, we haven't had an earthquake in the literal sense but emotionally, it has been somewhat like a very slow quake.

We woke very early yesterday to correct some problems with Ken's work at home and to make a call to my brother who is again in the hospital.  Kent seemed to be in good spirits in spite of the fact that he had made it through another crisis and for this I was very grateful.  Kent's and Jeanne's year has not been an easy one and I am so grateful they are doing as well as they are after Jeanne's surgery and Kent's hospitalization in a few days time.

We got ready and went out on our appointments as we would on a typical day.  We had set up three and the first two went well.  For the third one, we had made a plan which we felt inspired to make and it couldn't have gone better than the plan.  You could feel the spirit heavily and it was one of those moments that you savor and enjoy for a while.  Our lesson plan was perfect and our investigators asked questions that led directly into what we wanted them to understand.  I got a little chastisement from him on using my artistic talents better and then we left, feeling pretty spiritually high.

On to our dear friends home for dinner with them and the elders.  It was a lovely dinner staged for my birthday with much love.  I couldn't help but wonder how our lives would be changing when we return home soon and think about those we would be leaving here.  We had cake and ice cream.  I received a dear "wee" card which Pat had made and I will cherish and we had a tiny fireworks show.  We finished up with lessons and discussion led by the elders.

We stayed a while after the elders left and discussed many things with our still fledgling members and then left for home after "family" prayers.  Ken went straight to the computer when we got home and there was an e-mail with pictures of our 12 year old granddaughter's latest accomplishment.  Seems like Brinna had shot her very first 3 point buck on the muzzleloader hunt.  We were so excited and happy for her.  She is her daddy's little buddy and his good hunting partner not to mention she may be training to be the next Annie Oakley.  Lots of venison in store for the Jarvis family!

Ken then went on Facebook.  I heard him say, "There is a beautiful picture of David and his girls!"  Things were okay until he read why the picture was on there.  Heather had posted it because her daddy had died.  Now, David has been a little miracle in our lives for about 45 years.  We were heart-broken along with possibly hundreds of others.  At the same time, we were excited at the prospect that David is free from his wheel chair and running full speed on the other side.  Our hearts ache for his family but they rejoice for him.

David is the 4th neighbor who has left us for a better world in the last month or so.  We had hoped to see all of them on returning home but I guess we will have to wait until we return HOME!  It is a weird feeling.  We will miss them all very much but perhaps we will miss David's indomitable spirit the most.  What an example he has been to us all of a life well lived in spite of daunting physical incapacity!  He is the prime example of making more than the most of what you have been given.  We'll miss you Anna Grace, Von, Walden and David but we will not be too far behind.

Give us a little time though, we still have some children to love and some grandchildren to help become all that they can be, much like Kathy has done for David.  Make the most of what you have and perhaps people will be saying beautiful things about you like David is having said about him.

Is There Time Enough? Have We Done All We Could?

When I first came here, I had no idea how hard it was going to be to get ready to leave.  Yup!  It is starting to hit me as I go see my new friends and family now.  We just spent a couple of pleasant hours with our branch president and his family who invited us to "tea".  We have grown to love them and so many others here.  We have never felt alone since we arrived.  The president and his sweetheart was in our living room the very first night and we have bonded with them and many others.

We have learned so much but the time flies faster and faster as the time to leave grows closer and we feel an urgency to do everything we can to leave this place better than when we came.  We hope we have done that.  Due to our presence helping the Lord, 12 new members exist in the area and have a different outlook on what is important in life.  We hope the "old" members have some different points of view because we came.

There is no way to assure that you have left a legacy so to speak but you do your best and hope that something you have done has touched a few.  We are still teaching a couple and when we leave their house each time our first question is, "Is there enough time!"  We hope there is but if not, we hope that others will take up our quest to give them heaven.

Only two months left.  So little time and so much still to do.  Will it be enough?  We can only do our best and hope the angels we are trying to call down remain to finish the work.

I Will Remember: Clouds, Sunrises and Sunsets

They say Montana is "Big Sky Country".  I love Montana and I love the big sky.  The sky here runs sea to sea, horizon to horizon.  It is easy to see how this country got the name Aotearoa because as the name implies, it really is the land of the long, white cloud.  Those long white clouds are amazing.

They fill the sky and then they are gone as fast as they came.  They are stratus, cumulous, nimbus and many other clouds, sometimes all at the same time.  They are tinged with cream, peach, gray, baby blue.  It is easy to use your imagination watching these clouds.  They are wispy and fluffy, cotton puffs and lambs wool.  They are heavy with rain or light "as a cloud".

I have taken dozens of pictures of just clouds.  I love the sunrises and the sunsets.  It is not uncommon to see Elder and Sister Jarvis madly dashing to the end of the street in the early morning when they realize there is an awesome "red sky at morning" over Washdyke ocean.  We grab our slippers, robes and both cameras and head out as fast as possible to catch that fleeting moment.  It doesn't last long.  Click, click, click and then it is gone but not to digital or our memories.

The sun comes up in a ball of fire and paints the whole sky with gorgeous shades of red, coral, purple and violet.  It is never the same.  In the evening, it reverses itself, setting over the southern alps.  the shades are often the same and are so awe inspiring.

There is nothing I like better than to look out the kitchen or lounge window to see some fantasy sculpture carved in the clouds, a tiger, a dog, an alligator.  It is amazing to be traveling through the mountains and see the puffs of smoky clouds hanging in over the peaks making them look as if they are "floating on a cloud".

I will miss these vistas of Aotearoa but they will always be carved in the clouds in my mind.