Waffles, Waffles and more Waffles!

 

As I mentioned last week, at our interviews this transfer period, we had waffles instead of the traditional candy and chips. I think that the missionaries enjoyed the opportunity to make their own waffles.

Sister Cornelius and I listened to their memorized scripture of choice and visited with them while their companions were being interviewed by President Cornelius.

We traveled to Klamath Falls early on Tuesday morning. It is very green in the northern part and central area of the mission but a little more desert like in the south. It is drier and reminds me a bit of Southern Utah. I think that I read that the terrain around Klamath Falls is considered “high dessert”.

Here are a couple of pictures of the area as we get closer to Klamath.

Here are a few pictures of our day in Klamath Falls.

The chapel in Klamath Falls is older an building unique in that it has the Thirteen Articles of Faith on the outside wall of the building. I have never seen this before.

After interviews we grabbed a quick dinner at a Thai restaurant before the evening Restoration Devotional. After the devotional we drove about an hour and a half to Medford. The sunset over the lake was beautiful. President Cornelius pulled into a picnic area along the highway so I could take pictures of the sunset.

It was a VERY long day!

Wednesday was interviews with the Central Point Zone missionaries followed by another devotional.

Sisters Sorenson and Bullock

Sisters Sorenson and Felila

My waffle: ¼ Nutella with strawberries, ¼ PB with strawberries and ½ maple syrup

Thursday was the Medford Zone interviews. That evening we had a dinner and what President calls a Huddle with the Medford Stake presidency and high council and all of the missionaries, bishops, elders quorum presidents, ward mission leaders and relief society presidents in the stake. President Cornelius brings brisket, potatoes, and coleslaw and feeds the crowd before talking with them and helping them to know how to help and include the members in missionary work. There were just over 70 people attending the dinner meeting.

Sisters Withers and Roskelley slicing the brisket and Sisters Cornelius and Hopkins looking on

Friday morning we left early for interviews and an evening devotional in Grants Pass.

Elders Inman, Darrington, and Melville 

A “work of art waffle”

Sisters Jeffords and Wells

With Elder Atwood’s permission, I show you this picture. At every interview we had at least one spill of waffle batter.

Elder Nilson is happy with his waffle.

As we left the devotional, President Cornelius stopped into the kitchen to thank one of the women who helped with the refreshments at the devotional. He complimented her for the cookies she had baked and she literally piled his hands full of cookies and wouldn’t take no for an answer. So President had a “cookie monster” truck to drive home.

As you know by now, I enjoy being with the missionaries so it has been a good week.

I walked by the river on Monday. I didn’t get any pictures at the river but two beautiful sisters stopped by the office so I count them as the beauty of nature that I saw on Monday.

Sisters Wensel and Weeks

We left for Klamath Falls too early to walk on Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings Sister Cornelius and I walked around the neighborhood where the hotel is located in Medford. Saturday morning I walked by the river again.

Didn’t see any live herons but found this chrome heron and even got a pic with him!

This red rhododendron is about my favorite color. 

It is so very vibrant.

I took a stroll through the budding and slightly blooming rose garden. Stay tuned for the full effect in coming weeks.

Saturday I did a few things around my apartment and finalized my weekly report. I invited Elders Fawson and Petersen to have dinner with me. They chose to have gyros.

I ended my day at the evening session of stake conference.

It has been a good week. As we drove from place to place, we have been listening to President Russell M Nelson’s book, Heart of the Matter. It has been wonderful to listen to him tell of his days as a heart surgeon. To hear where and how he studied and practiced and helped to develop the heart by-pass machine. He spent time in the Army in MASH units in the Korean War. He is the father of nine daughters and one son. His first wife, Dantzel White, and one daughter have passed and he is now married to Wendy Watson.

His life has been full and busy but I love his positive attitude and the love that he gives so generously to his family and to all of us.

I hold a special place in my heart for him. While I was in nursing school, BYU had a satellite campus for a few nursing students at LDS Hospital. I actually lived in a dorm that was part of the hospital. (The area of the hospital where the nurses’ dorm was located is now an auditorium I believe. It has been a long time since I was there.)

While a student, on the labor and delivery floor, I was assigned to take care of Dantzel Nelson one morning while she was in labor. My shift was finished before the baby (their son) came, but it will be a memory for me forever.

After I graduated from nursing school and passed my boards, I worked at the same hospital where I had studied and where then, Dr Nelson, performed heart surgery. I worked for a time on the pre-op floor where patients waited prior to surgery. The surgeon would come and check in with his/her patient before going to surgery to make sure all was in order.

Whenever Dr Nelson came to check on his patients, he always took the time to talk to the nurses. He was kind and appreciative and if he had a little extra time, would entertain us with some of his life stories.

I particularly found his stories about his time in the MASH units interesting. Perhaps it was more “real” to me because there was a popular TV series, MASH, playing at that time.

The thing I remember most though about his visits to the unit was how thoughtful and caring he was to patients and nursing staff.

Now as our prophet and leader, he guides us and gives us advice that will help us to find joy and happiness in our lives. Because I knew him in his professional life and saw how he lived, I know that he represents in his own life, the things that he teaches this day.

In his book, Heart of the Matter, he tells of a time in his training:

“During my surgical internship many years ago, I assisted a surgeon who was amputating a leg filled with highly infectious gangrene. The operation was difficult. Then, to add to the tension, one of the team performed a task poorly, and the surgeon erupted in anger. In the middle of his tantrum, he threw his scalpel loaded with germs. It landed in my forearm!

Everyone in the operating room—except the out-of-control surgeon—was horrified by this dangerous breach of surgical practice. Gratefully, I did not become infected. But this experience left a lasting impression on me. In that very hour, I promised myself that whatever happened in my operating room, I would never lose control of my emotions. I also vowed that day never to throw anything in anger—whether it be scalpels or words.

Even now, decades later, I find myself wondering if the contaminated scalpel that landed in my arm was any more toxic than the venomous contention that infects our civic dialogue and too many personal relationships today. Civility and decency seem to have disappeared during this era of polarization and passionate disagreements.”

In his conference address in April 2023, President Nelson gives us some wise advise:

“Brothers and sisters, the pure love of Christ is the answer to the contention that ails us today. Charity propels us “to bear one another’s burdens” rather than heap burdens upon each other. The pure love of Christ allows us “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things”—especially in tense situations. Charity allows us to demonstrate how men and women of Christ speak and act—especially when under fire.

Now, I am not talking about “peace at any price.” I am talking about treating others in ways that are consistent with keeping the covenant you make when you partake of the sacrament. You covenant to always remember the Savior. In situations that are highly charged and filled with contention, I invite you to remember Jesus Christ. Pray to have the courage and wisdom to say or do what He would. As we follow the Prince of Peace, we will become His peacemakers.

At this point you may be thinking that this message would really help someone you know. Perhaps you are hoping that it will help him or her to be nicer to you. I hope it will! But I also hope that you will look deeply into your heart to see if there are shards of pride or jealousy that prevent you from becoming a peacemaker.”

May we all be peace makers. I pray that you will have a good week ahead and that you will feel the love of our Savior in your life.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.