This was the last week we’d have Rebecca and family for a
while and there was lots going on.
Monday we drove to Springfield to get Tom’s running shoes.
Since we were so close to ½ of ½ Rebecca was going to drop me off and go over
to the shoe store with Tom. But the
store was going through remodeling and only half the store was open. Dang.
I didn’t think I could spend 1-2 hours there, so I made them
wait while I shopped. Rebecca and kids
came in to shop as well. Tom stayed in the car to read. Then at the shoe store, the kids wanted to
stay in the car, so I sat there and read while Rebecca and Tom went in. He
found great running shoes.
We went to lunch at our favorite Mexican place only to
discover it had closed down. So we went
to Panera. Might have gone to Andy’s
frozen Custard for lunch… but it was raining and they only had outside seating.
Panera was no doubt, more nutritious.
Tuesday I lined us Rebecca to talk to our whole life
insurance agent to see if that was something she might want to do. I also talked to title companies about
insurance for the house we are buying.
And finally connected with Samsonite… who again sent out an incorrect
bag… although they have been very nice about the whole thing.
It’s been a bit fragmented to work for some reason. But I got a little done. Fortunately, I don’t
have a lot of work lined up. And next week, I should do better.
Thursday Rebecca and crew went to see the new How to Tame
your Dragon movie in the afternoon, and Tom and I went to see Malificent I the
evening. I thought it was enjoyable.
Stake Conference was Saturday and Sunday. President Jones
wanted to feed all the people who came to priesthood leadership meeting from
4-6. We figured about 175 people to feed
between 6 and 7 pm. He wanted a sit-down
meal for about 30—bishops and wives and special guests.
Feeding the masses is definitely not my specialty. But we divided things up—one counselor made
cookies, another counselor, Michele, made salad and lined up hostesses to help
serve and clean up, and I agreed to do potato soup. My secretary was tasked
with decorations and paper goods.
I got the recipe and
multiplied to about 10 gallons. I bought
all the ingredients on Thursday. Friday
five of us gathered at church for a potato peeling party. Wow!
Great women. They worked fast and
got 40 pounds of potatoes peeled and cut up.
I was at the Cuisinart chopping onions and celery, then sautéing
them on the stove and cooking the potatoes.
I did it in one gallon batches, because otherwise I wasn’t sure how to
keep the recipe straight. Got 5 batches
done. But it was SO hot when I put it
into the gallon storage bags, I was afraid to do more. And the ladies were done with their part.
So I came home and cooked two pans of potato soup on the
stove, put them into bowls to cool, and then bagged them. It was a bit more relaxing at home.
I took a break to get a raindrop/massage. Rebecca got one as well. Then Tom left to go get Joshua back from
Scout camp so Rebecca could leave earlier on Saturday. She spent the day packing and withdrawing her
“footprint” from the house.
Saturday they got up and left about 9:30. Tom and I planned on leaving for West Plains
by 10 but it was closer to 10:30 before we were packed and off. I had to pack the food and we planned on
spending the night. We had a meeting at
noon for the pioneer trek planning. They
fed us lunch. At 2, when that was over,
Tom had a bishop’s training meeting he was in charge of.
I headed for the kitchen and began putting the soup
together. Michele had lined up 10 crock
pots. I think 8 were there by 2. So we began heating the potato mix plus the
milk. Most all of it got hot in
time. We added the cheese and
waited. We had bread, cookies, and some
biscuits. And water pitchers and cups.
There was a total possibility of about 250 people—if you
added up all the callings that could come.
Then family history people were invited.
Not just the leaders… that would be 7 but all their helpers. Number: unknown. And the Sunday school presidency was
invited. And there were others hanging
around that might want to eat. I had no
idea if we’d run out or have tons left over.
The hostesses were to help in both the sit-down area for
bishops/stake Presidency/special guests/wives area and the general priesthood
leadership area of food serving. One
sister really wanted to wear a hat. It
was important to show her love and encouragement, so Michele agreed to wear a
hat, too.
Her creative son made hats for Michele, my secretary, and
Michele’s 2 daughters. One was complete with fake peacock and real peacock
tail.
The hat lady brought in an extra marvelously extravagantly decorated hat. The hat group served the sit-down group and
it truly was elegant. Tanya, the
secretary, did a fabulous job of decorating and making it look nice! Even with just 45 minutes between groups
meeting in the room.
This wonderfully creative hat lady also made a beautiful
apron with the Relief Society logo on the front. After the dinner she gifted it to me. I was humbled. It is delightful and I will cherish it.
I prayed for the loaves and fishes and I planned the food
amounts. Maybe I didn’t do it quite
right. I think we might have had more
left over than when we started. I’d
guess we fed over 100. But we ended up
with nearly 7 gallons left over! How
could that be?? We gave some away. My counselor took some home as I did.
Actually, we stopped clean-up to go to the Saturday Evening
session of stake conference. I had been
asked to give the opening prayer.
Um. I forgot… and walked in at
the beginning of the opening song. Tom
reminded me. As I think on it, it was
awesome to give the first opening prayer of the first session of the first
stake conference of the newly formed West Plains, Mo stake.
Both the evening and the Sunday sessions were so spiritual
in uplifting. We heard from many
different, ordinary people about extraordinary things in their lives. One had gone inactive as a teen and spoke of
his return to activity 30plus years later.
Another spoke of her difficult upbringing, devotion to paganism, and
finally coming to the joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We heard from both mission president and
temple president and our patriarch.
President Jones talked about preparing ourselves for the
Savior’s coming. That means changing our
thoughts, desires, and priorities to those the Savior would like us to
have. It means organizing our lives and
spending them doing the things of MOST value.
It’s been a great day!
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