up--it us 12 degrees, with the wind-chill factor -2 degrees. Remember you get to inspect 18 cars. (tire tread and pressure, cleanliness, mileage, dings and scratches on the body, trunk contents) Salt Lake has a funny way of showing a girl a good time. Check it faster, Elder Taggart, so we can go in and see if there is frostbite damage yet. I wonder how long it takes an eyeball to freeze solid. Hurry, hurry so we can set up tables for missionaries to cut out their hand in fabric and sign their name to the fabric side. I have taught pre-school for 16 years and these are young adults.....there should be no surprizes, yet there are. Wrap it up so Elder Taggart can do car safety training. Run, run,run so we can drive back to Illinois by 6:00 PM, eat fast, and be at the church by 7:00 PM for Young Women's. You see, they are helping with my missionaries who need Christmas. They come through in a big way. They look like elves in Santa's workshop as they bag up snacks, treats, notebooks, pens, containers for leftovers, popcorn, etc. Some of them wrote cards the whole hour so each package will have a personalized card. I spoke for a few minutes about some of our missionaries. They all deserve Christmas and these Young Women make it happen. We then hurry to the office at 9:00 PM to deliver the 40 bags of goodies to our conference room, get a little work done, and load the car with packages for tomorrow's Zone Conference.
Hurry faster to iron wonder under to the next color of fabric---yards and yards. Go to bed and sleep fast so you can wake up by 5:45 ( a sleep-in) to be ready to drive to the Foster Building. It is Elder Taggart's birthday today. I sing a pathetic version of Happy Birthday over breakfast. We collect keys and thank Heaven it has warmed up to 23 degrees. Inspect 18 cars. Come in and quickly set up for what one Elder called "the hand craft". Revision of schedule. We wait for 2 1/2 hours so Elder Taggart can do car safety training. The President then comes to him and says, "can you cut your training to 5 minutes? No video and just a brief training?" Sure, our mission has had 16 accidents in 3 weeks--2 cars totaled--and cut my training to 5 minutes. (Mind you, he has waited for a year for this opportunity to train and the next opportunity won't come until Feb. or March but we are obedient to our leader.) We drive back to the office to do in 2 hours what normally takes all day---and no we don't get it all done. We rush home so Elder Taggart can field phone calls from family while I ironed fabric. I notice the handprints already ironed on the quilt are peeling off. I time myself sewing around 10 hands takes me 1 hour....so 222 hands should take the rest of my life, right? Because of this exercise, I don't get to bed until 11 PM. (Breaking a mission rule to be in bed by 10:30 to work on a mission project....how ironic.) At 2:30
AM I wake from a sound sleep. My mind is in turmoil over the lack of concern by our President about driving safety. I argue within my mind:
"Not your call"
"The President is ultimately responsible for the safety and the lives of the missionaries."
"Don't steady the ark. He is your Priesthood leader."
"Not your job to correct the problem."
Then a word kept coming, over and over, IMPERATIVE. That is not one of my words. As I wrestled for 3 hours in the wee hours of the morning, I finally got the message.
"Imperatives vs fluff. This quilt project is fluff---sacrifice your time until the car safety training is done. Refuse to do the project. This is not your idea. I woke you up for a reason, as I have done before. The lives of these youth are in your hands. Talk to your husband when he wakes up, then talk to the President before the conference starts."
I had prayed and prayed that this wouldn't be the outcome. We have bent over backwards to be in supportive roles only. We don't want the authority or the responsibility. We have avoided at all cost stepping on toes or crossing that line of authority. When does Elder Taggart's stewardship cross over a decision made by our President?
We drove to Buffalo Grove near the Wisconsin border. Bruce was talking to the President when the Assistants to the President were telling me Sister Woodbury had chastized the President all the way home yesterday about cutting out car safety training. The agenda had been revised and Elder Taggart would have that opportunity from then on. We inspected 20 cars in 18 degrees with a wind stiff enough to blow keys off the hoods of the cars. Training, iron on hands, hurry back to the office to work until 6:30, then back to the apartment to iron Wonder-Under on many yards of red fabric for the Chicago Zone tomorrow. I thanked Heavenly Father for righting a wrong---imperative training needed by these missionaries from California, Arizona, Mexico and such who have never seen snow let alone driven in it.
Friday--is it Groundhog Day again? Get up early, drive into Chicago. It is a balmy 23 degrees. We should have brought our swim suits to inspect cars in. We inspect 15 cars, do our training, get 60 more fabric hands, hurry back to the office, leave at 6 PM for home sweet apartment. I wonder, do I have to get up tomorrow? Saturday is my Preparation day. Can I sleep all day?
NO--get up, clean this mess of an apartment, sew, sew, sew. 6 1/2 hours later I have completed "Fear not, I am with thee" and 53 hands appliquéd. I couldn't move my neck for the pain and my hands, fingers, and leg were done too.
So what were the lessons I learned this week?
1) I can do hard things and am expected to do them daily. A mission is hard work. The naps they told us would happen for Senior missionaries aren't available for our assignments. Maybe some other Senior missions.
2) I appreciate more our young missionaries who are out in this weather daily. I'll complain less about my office job. (not computer smashing photo......thrill but it was staged)
3) I love my companion. I love our jobs as they intertwine....I help you with cars and you help you with the quilt. Any chore is better with a companion who loves you, warts and all.
4) I'm grateful for children and friends who came through for Bruce's birthday. It was the bright spot of his day.
5) I have learned the Spirit wakes me up in the middle of the night because that is when my mind slows down and listens. And it is IMPERATIVE that I listen and obey, even though I didn't have to "correct" the President after all. Better for his wife to have done that.
6) Be careful what you wish for. I wished for more sewing time and now I'm sewing every spare minute I can find. (but never on a Sunday) All my sub-for-Santa sewing is at a stand still. But sewing is sewing, right? WRONG!!!
7) Oh how we miss grandchildren. As Sadie (age 4) said, "Grandpa, you could read that story to me over the phone," it melted Grandpa's heart. As more of our missionary "grandkids" are released, we yearn for more family time in the near future.
So hug a child. Take a nap. Curl up next to a warm fire wrapped up in a quilt---one that has no hands on it, I hope. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and know we are thankful for each one of you.
(quilt below was a quick laying on of hands so I could see if they would all fit.
love, Sister Taggart
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