Beware of the Ides of March

And just when you think it can't get any busier....whamo....it does.
Last Sunday we were at the mission home taking care of the Elder who got hit by the car and the mission president's wife. The Elder was just 10 days out of surgery. He went to Sacrament meeting with us and did remarkably well. The president's wife had a bad sinus infection and just needed to get off the treadmill for 24 hours and rest. (and not have to give a talk in Spanish in Chicago's stake conference) May I state here again---I am SOOOOOOO grateful we are serving the mission we are serving and they we are not responsible to interview, motivate, discipline, counsel, and preside over these 212 active missionaries. All we have to do is love them and serve them. Sister Woodbury has a washer and dryer in her home that she can use anytime without quarters. She also has missionaries drop in day and night for meals. She has the big house with a maid.....that usually has 2-4 missionaries coming or going, sick or well, waiting for a ride to the airport because a visa has come in or a houseful of youth from one of 4 stakes who want a fireside in the mission home. It is a revolving door residence without privacy that would drive me nuts. This week our Elder was well enough to fly home to complete his recuperation and at a different time a Sister who left 4 months ago because of illness was coming back to complete her mission. The mission president was told to have a date night with his wife weekly but as we were on our date this week---he was in a 5 hour area coordinating council in Buffalo Grove. Saturday dawned and we had our p-day, did our laundry, grocery shopping, washed the car, cleaned the apartment, etc....while the president and wife were driving all over creation to make it to every baptism. No envy or coveting on my part. We are exactly where we are supposed to be doing what we need to be doing.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IN 91/2 MONTHS......
1. Home is where my eternal companion is
2. Bloom where you are planted
3. Unpack your bags (never say "I'll only be here for a year so.....)
4. Don't share how it was done "back home". People don't care.
5. Bring a few comforts wherever you go: pictures of family, a quilt, memory jewelry, chocolate
6. Keep old habits that are tried and true: date night on Friday, scripture study, family prayer,
    side by side Saturday work
7. Always have a warm fuzzy sweater and afgan for winter and cute, cool muumuu's for summer
8. Condo living is not all it's cracked up to be. No yard work or shoveling the walks but it's still
    just an apartment you own.
This week was comprised of six 10-14 hour days. We had 4 Zone Conferences in a row. The first one was in Valparaiso, Indiana. We had to get up at 5 AM to make it there on time. We now have missionaries in every zone who have been in our home for a meal or had personal experiences with us that help them love us as much as we love them. It is a sweet reunion when we meet.
Elder Taggart and I inspected cars together first. No coat weather. It was 50 degrees. We could hear birds chirping. We checked mileage, is the car neat and clean inside and out, what is the tread depth and air pressure on all 4 tires, are there scratches and dents, what are the fluid levels, are supplies in the trunk neat and orderly, are all the lights working, are the registration and accident info in the glove box, etc.(by weeks end we had inspected 72 cars) The Church wants this done monthly. We ate lunch with the missionaries and then I did my training on the new Ipad referral system and Elder T. did his training on Safety in cars and Facebook. At 3:00 we headed back to Illinois with the president's wife in our backseat so he could stay for a meeting later that night with the Valparaiso Stake Presidency. (see what I mean about his life?) Exhausted, we still had to go into the office at 6 PM to catch up on what we had missed that day and prepare hand-outs and such for the next day's zone conference.
AND THEN IT SNOWED 4 MORE INCHES IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT!!!!!
Yes folks, we are at 80" for the winter with 100 days below freezing.Gotta love winter here!!
Wilmette's Zone conference was 14 degrees with blowing wind and snow. We wore coats, boots, hats, scarves, gloves.....and still about froze to death. We would inspect 4 cars  then go in the church to warm up. (extreme irony---when have you ever known one of our buildings to be toasty warm?) Then outside again to do 4 more until all 18 had been inspected. Then inside to eat lunch, train on new systems, then I mended clothes missionaries brought, then hurry home in Chicago traffic so I could feed 2 Sisters a wonderful dinner....then to the office to catch up and get ready for the next day. Does our life sometimes sound like the Groundhog Day movie? Some days it is......but what a blessing to associate with all of these energetic, young missionaries.
The President is sick by Thursday and does he get a day off??? No--he has 2 more zone conferences. We picked up a repaired car on our way back from Buffalo Grove on Friday,worked in the office until 7 PM, came home and answered missionary phone calls until 9:30 PM and declared our week done.
Neat story for the week. At transfers 2 weeks ago the President released an Elder as a Zaone leader and made him a trainer for the last 6 weeks of his mission. This Elder has struggled with feelings of hurt, "what did I do wrong to get demoted?", questioning the decision on why he is no longer a leader. During lunch I felt prompted to go talk to him. As I approached him I wasn't sure exactly what I would say. "Elder, I need to talk to you."
"How about right now?"
"OK. I just felt I needed to tell you, Elder Taggart used to be the Stake President for 10 years, responsible for 3500 people. Today as I watched him inspect 18 cars so missionaries would be safe, he never stood higher in my eyes than today. This is where The Lord needs him right now and this is what The Lord needs him to do.
With tears in his eyes, he said, "Thank you, Sister Taggart. I needed to hear that today."
So.....bloom where you are planted. Do what The Lord needs you to do. There are no insignificant jobs in the Kingdom of God. All are needed to enlist and participate. The gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. One sister who prepared our lunch one day said, "One day I met two angels on my porch who converted me to the gospel. Today I see an army of angels." I got to be an angel by association that day and that is fine by me. We love you and miss you.
Love,
Sister Taggart