Music & the Spoken Word had a patriotic theme today in honor of the Presidents Day holiday tomorrow. The rendition of God Bless America was especially touching.
I had spoken quite a while with my oldest daughter before going to the Tabernacle, so I had not prepared anything for the "emergency" dinner I was planning to host this afteroon. That turned out to be a blessing, as shortly after I returned I received a phone call from a sister who had not been on my list but had food to share with a set of Young Elders. So I made yet another trip to the apartment building across the courtyard to explain that a sister with lots of food wanted to share it with them, so they should go to her place and not mine. I called the two sisters who had been planning to help me, and they were fine with helping another time.
That meant that I now have the makings for at least two and maybe three dinners in my freezer, and also meant I could join another dinner with my Louisiana sister. Although she had more than enough food planned already, I made the crustless apple pie with apples I got yesterday at the market. It turned out pretty well, and was my contribution to a nice meal.
I did the Preach My Gospel Sunday School meeting with one of the sisters who had been planning to help me host the dinner, so I got to ask if she would be able to help with a special situation next week. That did not fit her schedule, so I was looking for two sisters who previously indicated a desire to help with a dinner. I noticed where both of those sisters were sitting, and after Relief Society I approached each of them to ask of their availability next week. I was also able to introduce them to the sister who needed help--and they all knew each other already! It was fun to watch them interact and eagerly plan the dinner.
I walked back to the apartment with one of those sisters. In the course of our conversation the Mississippi River was mentioned--and I said, "I live about 1 mile from the Mississippi River in Missouri."
As it turns out, that sister has lived in the same small city I live in! She still has family in Missouri, and I know her daughter and son-in-law from my attendance at the Saint Louis Temple!
Then at the dinner I went to, I learned that the other sister was also from Missouri! I am glad I got to know that they were from back home!
We had a visit in sacrament meeting from the apostle, Elder Quentin L. Cook. He is the head of a Family History committee, and came to thank us for our service in family history, and especially at Roots Tech. So I was glad I did my volunteer bag-stuffing [although I sort of got paid by getting to go to Roots Tech for free]. He told us something interesting. Since 2011 when the first Roots Tech was held, the number of family names submitted for temple work has tripled. I know that I certainly have submitted more since being on this mission, although I probably will not any time soon pass up the numbers of names I submitted in the early years after I joined the Church. But cleaning up records I do a lot of, along with indexing.
Speaking of indexing, I did not get to do any this morning, so I think I will close this blog post and do a little before my Sweetheart calls.
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