Free to good home one pair new and unused solar eclipse glasses

Saturday morning I went with Sister Cornelius, Sister and Elder Crump to the wetlands or meadow north of Eugene to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse.   The only thing we saw were clouds and fog.  Oh well, maybe next time.  We did get a good walk though.

The predicted time to see the best view of the ring of fire was 9:13

This was our view of the sun at 9:13

Free to good home one pair new and unused solar eclipse glasses

The morning wasn’t a total loss.  Sister and Elder Crump invited me to join them for breakfast.  Elder Crump made hootenanny pancake that was really good and then we played games for a while.  

President Cornelius sent this to me.  Made me giggle so thought I would share.

Because of zone conferences and travel time, I was only able to walk on Monday and Tuesday mornings and of course, as I mentioned, on Saturday.  The skies were clear and beautiful on Monday.

I really like spider webs. They are so interesting and intricate. I believe that this is the web of a wolf spider but there are a lot of varieties of wolf spiders so I might be wrong but the web is fascinating whatever creature created it!

Tuesday, Sister and Elder Crump were game enough to walk with me in the rain out at the meadow/wetlands.

Tuesday was the weekly planning meeting in the office where I got to see some sweet sisters.

Tuesday evening I enjoyed dinner at The Dough Co with assistants to the president and two other elders who are on special assignment to go on exchanges with the zone leaders and to help out as needed in the mission.   We had calzone at the Dough Company.

Elders Robison, Varty, Petersen, Kynaston

For dessert we went to Salt & Straw for ice cream.

Wednesday morning the office couples met at the stake center at 7:15 to prepare for the zone conference there beginning at 9:00. We got tables and chairs set up for 90 plus people and serving tables, etc ready for lunch. The Crumps prepared the rice for teriyaki chicken (President and Sister Cornelius prepared the chicken) and I prepared the mixed vegetables. Sister Barker organized and brought everything needed for the lunch and Elder Barker got his tent or shade set up and everything ready for the car inspections at the end of the conference.

Thursday I rode down to Roseburg with Sister Barker in a new car that was being taken to Medford to exchange for an older car that is to be sold.  Elder Barker took a trailer with some furniture for an apartment in the south of the mission. 
 

 It is about a 1 ½ hour drive and we needed to get there to set up the tables, etc for lunch so we left at 6:30.  The relief society in Roseburg prepared and served the lunch so that was very nice not to have to take a lot of food there to prepare.

After the conference and car inspections we drove to Medford, 1 ½ hours, where we would stay the night for the conference on Friday. 

Mount McLoughlin dominates the northeastern sky over Medford, OR much the same way Hood does Portland and Rainier does Seattle, just on a smaller scale in cities and peaks. It's had many names, both native and not. Many still know it as Mount Pitt, named after California's Pit River. It's the sixth highest Cascade peak in Oregon but relatively unknown. From the west it looks like a pretty smooth cone but the north side it has some large gouges with a large thumb-shaped plug. It's a relatively easy hike to the summit with views that can include Shasta and Lassen Peak to the south and Crater Lake/Mt. Thielsen to the north. This is the highest peak between Shasta and South Sister.

I met up with my niece and her husband and we all had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Kay and Harvey have been called to serve in the Calgary Alberta Mission. They will leave in January. It was fun to visit with them.

Harvey and Kay Bragg, Elder and Sister Barker

We were at the stake center in Central Point/Medford at 8:00 the next morning to set up for the lunch and car inspection there.

I drove the vehicle to be sold back to Eugene that evening while Sister and Elder Barker went on south to take the furniture they had brought down.

It was a wonderful conference week.  Elder Ojideran and his wife toured the mission and presided over the conferences.  Elder Ojideran gave some great talks and instruction to the missionaries about doing their work.

Saturday after the solar eclipse/walk adventure, I did some laundry, ran a few errands and went to dinner at Sister and President Cornelius’s home.  They served shrimp tacos to me and two other sisters.  Sadly, I neglected to get pictures. 

Sunday I rode with the president and Sister Cornelius to Roseburg for a stake conference to hear them speak.  They gave great talks about being member missionaries.

The stake president in Roseburg gave a talk that really touched me.  He spoke about making our lives better by reaching out to the Savior.  If we reach out to him in all aspects of our lives, we will be happier in every way.  

He also referenced, as did other speakers, President Russell M Nelson’s talk, Think Celestial.  That was a favorite talk for me this last conference.  President Nelson had injured his back prior to conference time so he was not in attendance.  He did record his talk and you may watch it or read it.

I like the message that President Nelson gave regarding our time here on the earth:

“I have learned that Heavenly Father’s plan for us is fabulous, that what we do in this life really matters, and that the Savior’s Atonement is what makes our Father’s plan possible.

As I have wrestled with the intense pain caused by my recent injury, I have felt even deeper appreciation for Jesus Christ and the incomprehensible gift of His Atonement. Think of it! The Savior suffered “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind” so that He can comfort us, heal us, rescue us in times of need. Jesus Christ described His experience in Gethsemane and on Calvary: “Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore.” My injury has caused me to reflect again and again on “the greatness of the Holy One of Israel.”  During my healing, the Lord has manifested His divine power in peaceful and unmistakable ways.

Because of Jesus Christ’s infinite Atonement, our Heavenly Father’s plan is a perfect plan! An understanding of God’s fabulous plan takes the mystery out of life and the uncertainty out of our future. It allows each of us to choose how we will live here on earth and where we will live forever. The baseless notion that we should “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us” is one of the most absurd lies in the universe.

Here is the great news of God’s plan: the very things that will make your mortal life the best it can be are exactly the same things that will make your life throughout all eternity the best it can be! Today, to assist you to qualify for the rich blessings Heavenly Father has for you, I invite you to adopt the practice of “thinking celestial”!  Thinking celestial means being spiritually minded. We learn from the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob that “to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.”

I would invite you to read or watch this talk.  President Nelson gives us help and suggestions that will change our lives for the better if we follow his advice.  

I know that Russell M Nelson is a prophet of God.  That he is guided and directed to lead the Church.   I know that my Savior lives and has given his life for me that I may return to the presence of my Father in Heaven if I live worthily.   I know that families can be eternal – a blessing that I am grateful to have.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.