Moving on

Monday we had a nice time at Jonathan's. Tom helped them install a light under the barn shed roof. in the morning while I worked. Then in the afternoon we all went out and worked on putting guttering across the shed part of the barn so rainwater wouldn't just keep the ground soggy. 

It was made more difficult because the metal roof overhang changed dimension from about 1/2 inch (ideal for gutter) to about 2 inches... not so good for the gutter. So we made first 1" wood shims, then 2" wood shims to get the gutter out far enough to catch the water. The second problem was the that wood trim below the roof line angled. It wasn't 90 degrees. So the gutter ended up angling down a little. It should catch most of the water.... but in a torrential downpour, it's likely to overshoot the gutter. Later we talked with someone who recommended a 6" wide gutter instead of the 4" we put up.

In the evening, a sweet sister who'd lived in Mountain Home and her friend came over to visit and pick up two boxes of things we'd stored in our barn for her for about 4 years. It was nice to see her and encourage her. Jonathan and Kristy were kind enough to invite them to dinner so we had more time to visit.

Tuesday Tom and Kristy worked on a few more projects. I got to see the play house that they'd refurbished and it looked very nice. It was a bit drizzly, but we still managed to get a truckbed load of aged manure from their small corral. Our garden appreciates it.

We left about 1 pm, stopped in Springfield for an Andy's frozen yogurt snack and in Branson, MO to buy some jeans for Tom. We also looked for some Christmas gifts for the family we have for Christmas this year. We needed to beat feet home in time for a 7 pm meeting. We just made it.

Again, our friend John came over to have a gospel discussion. This time we talked about the Holy Spirit. John is unsure of the spirit's roll, what it actually is, and how it performs its mission. Not sure he knew a whole lot more after the discussion, but he seems to appreciate them.

We've decided to take a train trip to California before we go on our mission. So we scheduled a time in January and bought tickets. We are also going to meet up with Adam and Savannah and go to Disneyland with them for a few days. Savannah is the Disney queen and knows all things Disney, so that part of the vacation is in her hands. She did learn that we could get tickets through the military for up to six people (we needed 7 tickets) So I spend several days calling around to see where I needed to go and what I needed to do. We thought we might have to go to Ft. Leonard Wood to pick up the tickets in person... but they couldn't get online to tell us more. Finally I went on line, checked around, called Camp Pendleton... and they fedexed the tickets overnight and we have them in hand! 

Wednesday I went visiting teaching and I worked on the talk I was assigned for Sunday for Stake Conference on "How I serve the Savior as I serve others." Tom had Young Men's in the evening and I had a writer's critique group and a crypto webinar to listen to.

Thursday was a little of this and that. Lots of leaves on the ground. We had previously dumped the manure on the garden in wheelbarrow load piles... and the chickens quickly scratched them level. Nice to know they are good for something as they are laying fewer eggs. In the evening we went to our Family History sponsored Native American Indian night. We had dinner made from native America recipes. We had rice stuffed pumpkin, venison/berry soup and fry bread. We learned about so many tribes and where they lived. We learned some of their suffering on the trail of tears.

We had been looking at washing machines. Ours was making some unorthodox sounds and at times sounded a little bit like a rock tumbler. We decided it was better to buy during the sale times than to wait until it conked and we needed to make an immediate decision. It was so confusing to try to figure out what was the BEST choice that we asked Kristy to give us an early Christmas present by researching and sending us a spread sheet. It was very helpful. Then we had to look at what was available and on sale at this time. I'm hopeful that we made a good choice. It will arrive after Thanksgiving.

Friday afternoon we went to the movies and saw Murder on the Orient Express. We enjoyed it. We tried to get to bed early since Saturday was a big day for Tom.

He had been preparing for this 5k. It was a big run with about 700 people in it. Some were doing marathons-- it was a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. Others were doing 1/2 marathons and about 119 were 5k. We were more prepared for this race this year. Tom picked up his packet on Friday night so he just had to show up at the start. I drove to the finish. He did a great job with his race. It was just a little over 28 minutes or 6 minute miles. He was pleased with his time and effort.

On Saturday afternoon, Katie and Aaron came up to work. They helped Tom make cookies. Then Tom went off to a Saturday afternoon leadership meeting. Aaron, Katie and I came up later, shopped at Aldi's and went to the evening adult session. After the session we had an interview with the Stake President for our Mission. Apparently he doesn't yet have all the information he needs from our Bishop. Once that comes in, then he can send the material on to Salt Lake city.

We returned to West Plains on Sunday for the morning session of Stake Conference. I spoke in Stake Conference and there were some other really good talks. One said that when we draw closer to the Savior we gain the light of Christ in our lives and it makes it easier for us to share the gospel with others. 

We came home in time for Tom and I to go to our Self-Reliant classes. This evening Deborah and children came to visit.