Blessed are the Flexible for They Shall Not be Bent Out of Shape

The title of this post summarizes our last mission training meeting with our Mission President. This is his version of a new beatitude for Nauvoo Missionaries. One might think or hope that everything that happens or that you experience on a mission should reflect goodness and light--not so. But we go forward with the admonition that if our mission is not what we expected, then do whatever we have been asked to do and accept it and let the Spirit guide us in every aspect of our work.

Nauvoo Peonies

 

My work has expanded as of this week. LeRoy and I water on
Saturdays because the Facilities Management part of the
mission is closed on that day. We don't want all the beautiful
pots to go without water for two days in a row. Well, after
about 10 inches of  rain last week, we certainly did not need
to water, so LeRoy taught me how to use this awesome John
Deere zero-turn riding lawnmower. It was like riding a go-cart! Great fun, and I didn't hit a tree or anything! So, I am now an expert at weeding, planting, dead-heading, spreading bark, watering, pruning, and now mowing. Life is good!

We had a great day of service this last week. We got to participate as "Mormon Helping Hands" as we went to Hannibal, Missouri, to assist with the damage they had about two weeks ago after an F1 tornado went through their town. That was a storm that threatened us the same night. Their main damage has been downed trees, uprooted trees, or trees on houses. We assisted with cleanup at three homes. It was hard work on a very hot day, but we slept good that night!

 

We have planted a garden of sorts--a straw bale garden. Our soil in the little spot we have is HORRIBLE. So, we are trying something completely new to us after researching some Master Gardener ideas gleaned in Yakima. Supposedly, it is a great way to garden when you really have no place else--it can be done on asphalt or cement or on poor soil. We put out 7 bales of straw and watered them for two weeks after applying a high-nitrogen fertilizer which helps break down the straw. We then scooped out small holes in the straw and put in potting soil and the little plants. We are trying green and yellow peppers, crook-neck and zucchini squash, English cucumbers and cantaloupe. Planted between the bales are four tomatoes. Right now we have an amazing crop of unusual toadstools which appear each morning on the tops of each bale, but by mid-afternoon the sun has baked them away. (Very strange) The plants are kind of sitting because of so much rain, but we have high hopes. The garden has an unusual smell--moth balls. That is the current deterrent for our visiting little deer who loves the leftovers under our bird feeder. Subsequent blog posts will keep you up to date on all of this.

We continue to enjoy our involvement in the two
productions here. LeRoy has been given a speaking part in the play "Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo". He plays the part of a medical doctor who has come to a home to treat a woman named Agatha. Agatha supposedly has "heart flutters", but in actuality she doesn't have both oars in the water. It is a humorous part and the audience is usually laughing loudly, so much of what LeRoy does is adlibbing just so he can fill in while there is too much noise from the audience. He eventually finds a place to insert his needed lines and escorts the distraught Agatha out the stage door to "a nice, quiet place to rest". He performed it for the first time last week and did a great job. It has been fun to watch and listen to him practice his lines. He practices his stage blocking outside the RV using the trees as the other characters and his best stage voice. I do have to laugh!

The storms have been frightful, but afterwards, there is always a rainbow. This one was almost double, but my camera does not do it justice. Notice the standing water in the cow pasture in the foreground. This is a field right up the road from our RV park.

And to finish the post, enjoy a beautiful Mississippi River sunset after a storm.