For love of Elder Quincy

Elder Quincy turned 65 on Friday!  We had District Meeting that morning, so we had cupcakes.  Here's my only picture of this district.  Elder Barrett goes home in one week!  Elder Brinkerhoff leaves the end of July and Elder Anderson leaves the first week of August, so we have changes next week! We are going to miss these good Elders.

The members of the ward really love Elder Quincy and appreciate all the service he does for them.  A couple of them organized this surprise birthday party/lunch for him Saturday.  Jenny even came with her cute kids!  The Sisters were the party planners. 

So first thing Monday morning, while Elder Quincy was fishing, I got my crown glued back on.  That was a relief!  And its been great ever since.  So, as I was preparing some food to take to the Allens for dinner that night I dropped the big bowl of food on my big toe!  It got more and more sore.  I tried burning a hole in the nail, but only managed to slip the hot pin onto the surrounding skin and burn it.  So I asked Elder Quincy to drill a hole in it for me.  Ahh!  Instant improvement!  Today I even managed to walk all day without favoring it.

Tuesday was the birthday of the Graham's son who died as a toddler.  They asked us to spend the evening with them.  We brought pizza, so they didn't have to stress over feeding us and the Sisters.  The local Pizza Hut has this funny spelling of our name, I had to share. So if you haven't seen the Prince of Peace videos, watch the one on Compassion and you'll know how many tears flowed at the Grahams when we showed it to them.  We talked about their work and progress on getting ready to be sealed as a family in the temple and helped them realize what a wonderful gift they were giving their son for his birthday!

The Sisters had to see and get a picture with the Rudolph's tree.

We had the satisfactory job of painting the Amour's kitchen! 

From taking down the wallpaper to the last of the painting , its been fun!

Early Friday morning we went to Tammy's to power wash her roof.  I was mostly there to worry about Elder Quincy falling.  He carried the power washer up the ladder and then stood on the roof to finish the job.

Interesting things grow on the trees down here.

Saturday this couple were married at the church.  She's Sister Ford's daughter.  He's not a member, but lives in the ward boundaries.  The Sisters will be visiting them!

After the birthday party Elder Quincy helped move a member of the branch into our apartment complex!  They even came over and borrowed salt today!

Elder Quincy got a lot of cards.  I was especially touched by the missionary's comments.  They really love and respect him. 

These clouds were at 2:00 in the afternoon today!  A storm was coming in.  The sky and clouds here are gorgeous.  The only pollution I've ever seen is when they burn their trash and broken branches.

Elder Anderson is pretty insightful.  He shared his numbering system with me that he uses on how talkative investigators are;

The talking scale

1: You may have to poke them occasionally to make sure they are alive.

2: Asking them a direct question is the only way you'll pry words out of them, and then only the shortest possible response.

3: Always a silent observer to group conversations, in person will quietly listen to whatever you might have to say and may or may not give a short response.

4: always yields the conversation to whoever else might want to speak. If the circumstances don't seem exactly right, they'll keep their comments to themselves. Listens more than talks.

5: average

6: usually doesn't let a conversation pass without making a comment of some sort. Pays close attention to conversation and will start one if someone else doesn't 

7: Wants to be a major contributor to every conversation. Has a long list of stories, quotes, and sayings ready to share for every discussion. If someone ends up talking more than them, they have a tendency to compete.

8: people around them usually know the details of their daily life, and they will surely want to keep you updated. They will likely have a comment every time someone said  some and would say all of the if it were possible.

9: they will pause occasionally to maintain the illusion of a dialogue. You can tell them you need to go and they will still keep talking.

10: your comments are merely an obstacle to be overcome as they steamroll on. The topic of conversation is irrelevant: they will say whatever they want to say.

Firsts this week would be Luke teaching Priesthood meeting.  The whole Graham family here and on time for church!  Meeting Bridget's darling daughters because I got her address! 

Teaching an ex-con, recovering addict, who's just learned he has brain cancer and has less than a year to live.  Getting my toe nail drilled.  Having a guy come to the Addiction Recovery Meeting, who sobbed and said that he's on the verge of losing his family if he can't overcome his addiction.  So heart wrenching!  Having a preschool kid tell us he doesn't know how to pray and to ask us to teach him how.  Having a 65 year old husband!