High pollen count this week

With all of the flowers, grasses, and trees spreading their pollen in the air, it has been a busy week treating missionaries with seasonal allergies.  There has been no rain to knock down the pollen and there have been breezy days to spread it around.  But never-the-less, I do love the flowers and green all around!!  And I love the missionaries too.

I started my daily walks on Monday by the river with a beautiful sunrise.

I’m not seeing as many geese and ducks now.  I am wondering if it is because the days are getting longer so they come out earlier to feed while it is still cool.   I did come upon this group of geese.  Look at how big the goslings are getting!

Wednesday I was invited to a lunch for the senior sisters in our ward.  It was nice to meet and to get better acquainted with those who attended.  We were served four different kinds of salads, some delicious orange rolls and cheese cake with fresh strawberries.  It was a delightful time.  

It was the birthday of one of the elders, so someone brought by a cake to the office.  Everyone loves a chocolate birthday cake.  LOL

Friday I decided to switch it up a little and walk the hills of my neighborhood.  Boy!  That gets the heart rate up.

May not look too steep but it is a workout and this is just one of the hills along the walk

I am seeing a lot of peonies.  

It always reminds me of my parents and their dedication to decorating family graves on Memorial Day.  We lived in Las Vegas but every year for as long as I can remember and until my parents could no longer drive so far, we would leave after work on Friday and drive all night to Pocatello Idaho where my mother’s parents lived.  (We sometimes stopped on the way in St. George Utah where my dad was raised.  Other times we would decorate the St George graves on a different weekend.)  Mom would search all over until she had enough peony flowers to decorate the graves of family members in Arbon Valley and then in Cache Valley on our way back to Las Vegas.  I remember a few years that she was really upset because it was too early or too late for the peonies.  I don’t know why she only wanted to decorate with peonies.  I should have asked her but I didn’t think about it at the time.  

My dad would drive all night Sunday to get home so he could work all day Monday.  True love and sacrifice!!

Friday evening I was blessed to go to dinner with Sisters Thompson and Cummings.  We ate at Red Robin.  So fun to get to know these sisters better.

Saturday morning bright and early I picked up Elder and Sister Crump and we walked along Amazon Creek and the wetlands.

It was smoky. There must have been a fire close by or smoke from the Canadian fires.
It did clear out a little later.

Amazon Creek is a stream that runs through southeastern and western Eugene, Oregon, United States. It is a tributary of the Long Tom River and is Eugene's second-largest waterway after the Willamette River. 

Amazon Creek's headwaters are located in Eugene's southeast hills near Spencer Butte.. 

In 1946, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers widened, deepened, and realigned the creek from Hilyard Street to Fern Ridge Reservoir in a diversion canal as a means of controlling floodwaters in the area.  The Amazon flood control project was completed in 1958, using a trapezoidal channel designed to withstand a 25-year flood. 

The City of Eugene has designated Amazon Creek as a natural area, noting, "These areas support a wide diversity of plants and wildlife, including many endangered and rare species. These areas also provide valuable ecosystem services… and many other important functions that benefit our community." 

I went grocery shopping after I got home and then in the afternoon I went to Hendricks Park Rhododendron Garden and walked some of the trails through the park with my friend, Diana, and her dog, Scout.

It has been a great week.  As I walk each day, I listen to Come Follow Me podcasts, conference talks or BYU devotional speeches.  One morning this week I enjoyed a BYU speech given by Sister Stacey Shaw titled:   Your Path to Discipleship.

I want to be a better disciple of my Savior.  In order to do this I wanted to know exactly what a disciple should be and do.  Here is what was said by Elder Robert D Hales:

“Many people hear the word disciple and think it means only ‘follower.’ But genuine discipleship is a state of being. This suggests more than studying and applying a list of individual attributes. Disciples live so that the characteristics of Christ are woven into the fiber of their beings, as into a spiritual tapestry” (“Becoming a Disciple of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 46).

In her speech, Sister Shaw begins: 

Each of us here today has an infinitely unique story. Your path of discipleship involves embracing your imperfect story and sharing who you are in a way that meets the world’s great needs.

I am a social worker and a researcher. In those roles, I listen to and support people as they deal with devastating change. Most of my work has been with refugees of diverse backgrounds. Right now, more than one hundred million people are forcibly displaced. This equates to one hundred million individual stories, such as one from a young woman named Daria, a native of Ukraine. After leaving her country, Daria talked about her experience. She said, “I never really thought about refugees before, because it was never something I thought might happen to us. I never imagined I would experience war and find myself in this situation.”  Forced displacement alters people’s stories. It changes opportunities and what people envision for their future.

She goes on further to explain:

I believe that loving God can ground us as we face global and personal challenges. And following Christ as His disciples can help us access the transformative power of love and grace.

To consider how our unique journeys can benefit the world around us, I will explore three interrelated components of discipleship:

First, know and value who you are. This is foundational.

Second, learn to see and love others with empathy. This is where we draw on that foundation to build understanding and connections with other people.

And third, choose lifelong service. This choice becomes a manifestation of our discipleship as we build and strengthen the world around us.

I will work on these three components of discipleship and pray and serve and try in every way to become a better, more Christ-like person.  I pray that you will have a wonderful week ahead full of love and charity as you come to know that you are a precious daughter or son of a loving Heavenly Father and that you will be happy.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.

Charity for all

This week we had zone conferences in Medford on Tuesday and in Eugene on Wednesday.  It was wonderful to get to meet missionaries that I have not had the chance to meet before.  My niece lives in Medford and she made a trip to the Stake Center so I could get a hug and a little visit with her.  Great fun!! 

Kay Coombs Bragg, my niece.  That is the Medford Temple in the background.
The stake center and temple are adjacent.

I helped Elder and Sister Klaass with the car inspections by handing out the inspection sheets and gathering them back.  Every car has to be inspected at each conference, so every 6 weeks roughly.

President and Sister Weekes gave instruction and encouragement.   Among other things, they both talked about charity.  When one says charity, our thoughts usually go straight to the most common definition:  generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering or public provision for the relief of the needy.   However, the kind of charity discussed in zone conference as defined in the dictionary is:  benevolent goodwill toward or love of humanity.   

We are taught that Charity is the pure love of Christ, and the Savior is our ultimate example of how to love others. The crowning expression of charity was His infinite Atonement. In relationships with family members and others, we can strive to love as He loves, with unfailing compassion, patience, and mercy.

This is one of the qualities of my Savior that I truly want to develop more fully. 

Medford conference

Eugene conference

Monday morning the sun was shining through the trees for a cheery morning walk. 

It was a good day at the office too.

Sisters Thompson and Cummings brought me a mother’s day
bag of cookies they had made along with a card.  Sweet!

Sisters Jeffords, Hadfield, and Stohl with whom
I have managed to color coordinate on this day.  Love it!!!

That evening I went to a movie with Diana.  As we exited the theater, the sun was setting, and the clouds looked dark yet beautiful.

The grasses along the river bank are tall in many places.  There is such a variety.

Pretty flowers mixed into this tall grass

I have been watching one flock of geese with their little ones.  I noticed a few weeks ago a yellow gosling in with the others.  Every day I’ve watched the babies grow.  I can’t help but think of the fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling, every time I see this bunch.  Except in this case it must be The Ugly Gosling.  It is not yellow anymore but white now.

I got a few giggles from the squirrels along the path.  For a short distance along the river path, it takes me through a neighborhood because the houses are too close to the river for the path.  It is here that I enjoyed the squirrels.

This squirrel was sitting in the road but he started to run before I could get my phone out of my bag.  As he ran away, two birds swooped down and chased him.  I tried to get a video but they were darting in and out around bushes and under cars.  

This guy must have had too much caffeine for his breakfast.  This one really made me laugh.

Friday evening I went to dinner with Sisters Crouch and Campbell.  It was fun to get better acquainted with them.

I had a delicious berry salad

Saturday morning I walked a different direction along the river.  I found a rose garden beginning to show off its beauty.

Some of these roses were so vivid they don’t look real.  No filters!

I several community gardens along the way as well.

The homes around my apartment had a neighborhood garage sale.  I had a good time walking through the area with Sister Klaass and my friend, Diana.  I bought some puzzles and a game that I can play with my grandchildren when they come to visit.

I like this manhole cover

This is a beautiful tree I saw blooming in front of one of the homes.
My plant identification app says it is a Lanurnum alpurnum tree

It was our stake conference this weekend.  Sister Klaass invited me to lunch and then they joined me for dinner.  It is nice to get together for meals occasionally.

It has, as always, been a good week.  I have been able to help several missionaries with health issues and I have felt the Spirit strongly in my work and conferences.

I pray that you will be well and happy this coming week.

I love my Savior.

I love you my family and friends.