One perk of being a senior missionary couple is that there are very few rules. It is assumed that seniors aren't going to do anything stupid, immoral, or illegal. So on Christmas Eve afternoon we went to see
Mary Poppins Returns. It was delightful--so good to to know that wholesome movies are still being made.
We had a very nice Christmas. At 8:30 in the morning, half of our district came over for Christmas Breakfast (the other half live too far away--Natchez and Marksville--to use the miles and time to come in to Alexandria).
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| We told them they could wear pajamas--the sisters took us up on it |
My former student, Lindsay, invited us to go to her home for Christmas evening. Her sister and brother-in-law were there as well, as they were in the process of moving from Texas to California. They have two children and Lindsay and Daniel have three, so lots of little folks around. We had delicious soup and sandwiches, then pie and ice cream after singing Christmas carols by the piano. A very fun evening.
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| Lindsay, Kate, and Henry (Andy not feeling photogenic right then) |
Because seminary and institute classes were on break, we took advantage of the time to go to the Houston Temple. We had been having torrential rain on Wednesday and Thursday morning. so the ground was just soaked. In addition, there were two tornado warnings in surrounding towns on Thursday morning. The amount of water everywhere would be the subject of newspaper headlines and panic in the streets in Utah. Here, it's just business as usual. Some pictures of fields on our drive out of town:
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| Water water everywhere |
The farther west we went, the bluer the sky got and by the time we got to Houston it was 70 degrees and lovely. We did some initiatory work and a session on Thursday night and another on Friday morning, then returned home. About a 4 1/4 hour drive each way, but worth it.
It felt so good to attend the temple after a three-month absence. The Houston Temple had sustained flood damage after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and had been closed for eight months while repairs were made.
In the dressing room a woman told me I looked really familiar--we discovered her daughter had been one of my students, and she remembered me from graduation (over a decade ago!). Then a woman who heard that exchange asked if I'd ever spoken at Education Week, and said she had attended one of my lectures. Further evidence that running may work, but hiding doesn't.
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By day and by night
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Today Elder Kerr and I gave the sacrament meeting talks--the last to be given in the Three-hour Block format (as Kerby's sister pointed out; she also spoke today in California). Then I taught Sunday School--again the last SS lesson in the old weekly format. Looking forward to exciting changes next year.
We close this last post of 2018 with gratitude for many blessings and anticipation of a good year to come. Happy New Year!!
I wish I had know it was a 4 hour drive for you to go to the temple. I would have included that in my talk -- people here complain about taking the 405 -- time varies from 40 minutes to 1 1/2 hours to go 30 miles!! I reminded them it's part of the sacrifice. (My talk was about establishing regular temple attendance per Pres Nelson's talks.) But I was the last speaker and had less than 10 minutes, so it was short and maybe not sweet but palatable. Happy New Year to you!!!
ReplyDeleteknown -- I do know how to spell.
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