October 26, 2014
We were just coming out of the grocery store
yesterday when I saw her.....my dream. Across the street was a garage
sale extraordinaire and she had been pushed off to the edge. I realized
her value and sprung into action. "Elder Taggart, we must go to that
garage sale." His concerns were what his concerns always are, where
would we put it, you will want to take it home, we only have 6 months
left, you don't need it. What a stick in the mud. That wringer washing
machine had my name all over it. "We can put it in the Crooks
apartment.....in their kitchen. They will be gone in three weeks." Elder
Taggart was still not buying it. We would still need to dry the
clothes. Where did I propose we do that? "The Crooks apartment.....in
their bedroom, their bathroom, their livingroom and dining area. We
could stretch clotheslines all over their apartment." He still wasn't
buying it. I had fond memories of wringer washing machines. My mother
used one well into the 60's. My arm got caught in the wringer when I was
a little girl. I loved watching that wringer squeeze all the water out
of the clothes. When we got married, I hated the laundromat. Such a
waste of time. Then another poor college student got an automatic
washing machine and asked me if I would like her wringer washer. I
jumped all over it. I could wash diapers, as many cycles as I wanted,
and then dry them on the heater in our living room. It took 10 minutes
per side and you could dry 4 at a time. It consumed most of my time but I
didn't have to leave the house. I could feed Allison, do dishes, sweep
floors, read a book all at the same time I was drying the laundry. Long
story short, we didn't buy the washer yesterday. Sometimes sanity does
prevail in our relationship.
So you are probably expecting
something new and exciting....but we do a very routine job. I drove a
car behind Elder Taggart to Waukegan this week. The leaves have gone
from vibrant to drab. That's to get you in the proper frame of mind for
winter here, I've decided. Just when I was ready for a dull day, I read a
sign that made me laugh out loud....DUMB BODIES FROM $1560. The Mafia
or a gang of thugs? No, it was a truck company specializing in dump
capabilities. Only in Chicago would you think it applied to something
else.
"Sister Taggart, we are at the address of 2 referrals you
sent us and we are looking at a race track." ( It had said "gated
community" on the referral and I guess that could apply) A young
missionary who was in the office at the time said, "Not only did they
deceive servants of The Lord---they lied about their address.....but we
could fix all that with baptism." I love our missionaries optimism.
One
Elder has been walking to try to get his weight down. He has lost 60
pounds in 6 months and looks great....except his suit looks saggy-baggy
now. We have offered to pay for alterations but he declined. Last week a
suit was "found" while cleaning an apartment. The Elder brought it to
the mission home. Sister Woodbury had it cleaned then took it to a
meeting this other Elder would be at. It was a perfect fit. I love being
part of the miracles in our missionaries' lives.
Remember the
Romanian family who asked for Spanish speaking missionaries and then
couldn't understand them....so they asked for English speaking because
they could understand Greek? The rest of the story....the English
Sisters were at their wits end. While talking to their ward mission
leader, they said the Romanians understand Greek because they were Greek
Orthodox. This leader said, "Our Bishop's wife used to be Greek
Orthodox and speaks Greek fluently." Problem solved. The Romanians are
now being taught. I love seeing tender mercies that only God could put
into place.
Our Australian Sister got here 2 months ago and saw
the need to get a drivers license. She needed two forms of 10 and her
passport only counted as one. At the license bureau they suggested she
get a social security card. She had it within a week.( another whole
chapter could be dedicated to what is wrong with this picture but I'm to
have no political opinions while I'm a missionary.) She took the
written test, only mission a few. Then they said she would need to take a
driving test. She has never driven a car where everything is on the
opposite side, including the road!! She got the ornery lady too. She
passed the driving test and the two were fast friends by the end. Turns
out the ornery lady has family near Perth, Australia. Small world or a
miracle for this Sister so she can be a more effective servant of The
Lord?
Our granddaughter Brianne is home from her mission in the
Dominican Republic and we visited with her. We are so proud of her
accomplishments and so grateful she is back in the U.S.
"Do you currently have a CO2 detector in your apartment?"
"No."
"Do you have a gas stove?"
"Yes, Isn't that the one where the coils turn red on the top of the stove?"
"No, that's the one where you turn on the stove and see fire."
"Then we don't have gas."
I
love the innocence of our missionaries. We send them out into the world
with so little worldly knowledge and yet they bring the most priceless
message to so many.
I'm still laughing. I still have a testimony.
I still love my companion. I'm still glad we chose to serve a mission. I
still miss my family. I'm still learning. I still wish I had bought
that wringer washer. Life is good.
Love,
Sister Taggart
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