Sept. 7, 2014
This week started off perfectly. Monday was Labor Day so we had a three day weekend! You never realize how you need a break until you actually take one. The bank was closed so the missionaries only had access to us on our 3 cell phones----which they took advantage of. Dozens of calls about cars, ipads, referrals, nametags, but we had a day to ourselves. We headed north ten miles to discover a new forest preserve and a "hike." Weatherman Bruce assured me we would have cooler temperatures and sunshine. As we drove the clouds got darker and darker. He assured me it would not rain. (Deep down I was hoping he was right because I had put brown mousse coloring in my hair and if it rained, by hair would be gray again and my face would be brown.) The first half mile of our "hike" was uneventful except for a snake that slithered across our path. Elder Taggart pronounced it a garter snake and I dared him to pick it up. He changed his tune and said maybe it was a water moccasin and he wasn't taking any chances.We were deep in a beautiful forest by then so decided we wouldn't stress unless thunder and lightening started. The rain continued lightly for the next half mile. I occasionally wipe a brown drip off my face. Then the heavens opened. We turned around and retraced our path. I only had 2 Kleenex in my pocket and both were now soaked and brown. We laughed and laughed. A fun Seattle "hike" in pouring down rain in the middle of Buffalo Grove, ILL. We came home, dried off and spent the rest of the day watching the storm from the inside of our condo. I sewed three jumpers and two new skirts to help take my wardrobe into fall and winter. It was just the break we needed.
Tuesday my desk was a joke. I had over a hundred pieces of mail to readdress and referrals galore. I assigned referrals to Iowa, Michigan, New York, Texas ,Jamaica, Romania, and the Congo. The gal from Romania has been visiting Chicago for a few months and received the missionaries here. She wanted to make sure they found her when she returned home. The woman from the Congo has been attending our ward for a month. Her plan is to finish receiving the lessons in her homeland, be baptized, and in a year come back and marry our dear brother from the Congo. He fled years ago with help from the US because he had been involved with intelligence for the US and when the political upheaval happened, he wasn't safe. Our country brought him and his daughter to Chicago and this became his new home. What a cultural shock that must have been.
I felt a moment of panic as my computer locked me out until I changed my password. Who does he think he is? I only have so much memory to remember such trivia as passwords so don't make me change.
Elder in Indiana, "Sister Taggart, we have lost a box that had a survey in it. Do you know where it could possible be?"
Sister: "We have a really cool service idea. Can we borrow your sewing machine?"
Caller: "Hello. I am moving from Northbrook to Glenview. I used to come to your church a long time ago. Could I get missionaries to help me move?"
Sister: "Warn everyone. This referral should be avoided. He is anti-Mormon and just wants to bask with the missionaries."
Referral Center: "Sister Taggart, you have a referral assigned July 2 who has not been visited yet by your missionaries. Why not? We have been in phone contact with her and she is waiting for missionaries to come visit her." I check into it. Yes, my missionaries visited that home twice. She was never there but her boyfriend was. He invited the missionaries not come back until he invited them. I call the referral center back, explain the situation, then ask, "Do you honestly want me to sent my missionaries back into that setting?" He was shocked she was living with her boyfriend and misrepresenting herself to the phone contact from the referral center. I assured him we had boots on the ground, we were aware of the situation, and no matter what she was telling them, my missionaries were not going back until invited by the boyfriend.(I was unaware an Elder had listened to the call. Three of them came to my house to dinner a few nights later and this Elder said, "Sister Taggart has our backs. I heard her on the phone and she has our backs." I guess that is good.)
We had a storm blow through here on Friday that was a doozy. Black clouds rolled in, the wind picked up as sheets of rain came down. It lasted a couple of hours but the aftermath lasted even longer. Hugh branches torn off trees and carelessly thrown on roadways or power lines. Traffic lights off. Businesses closed due to lack of power. It was random where it did the destruction. One traffic light would be out and the next two working and the next one out. Power would be on to the left but off to the right. The storms here are something to be reckoned with. We have been lucky not to have had a tornado while have served here but I can see how quickly it could happen.
The Sisters in our area had us go teaching with them about 2 miles from our condo. It was 7:30 PM, just before dark and the streets were loaded with people from India. We were in search of a referral who we didn't find but we found Batia instead. What a warm, friendly person she turned out to be. She is Hindu and has lived in Chicago 19 years. She invited us in to see her shrine to her God. She said we were meant to meet so she could enjoy my smile and the warmth and friendship she felt around us. She says she sees God in all she meets. She never locks her doors. What a beautiful person she is and I need to look at all people as she does....children of Diety. This week smile more at the people you meet. Trust more. See those around you with new eyes. I am going to. Have a great week.
Sister Taggart
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