November 2, 2013 Hope you all had a great Halloween. We started the celebration on Monday with P-Day in the office for the missionaries. I have some pictures of our treats and decorations. My favorite was the Dracula teeth in the doughnuts - idea thanks to Lindsay and Connie. The missionaries loved wearing the teeth. Hope they didn't go tracting with them in. Then the celebration continued Thursday with an evening with the missionaries at the Church. The President wanted to make sure all the missionaries were safe and off the streets for the evening. They studied, ate, we were assigned doughnuts and then we watched Ephraim's Rescue. We all loved the movie. (I only had to tell them to close their eyes for the kissy moment.) They were all home by 9:00. I liked our thought on Monday's office meeting. Did you know the symbol of our Church is not the cross but two missionaries walking down the street. It sure is a meaningful symbol to me. We also found out that one of the Twelve will be here on the 23rd to meet with the missionaries. We missed Elder Holland at the MTC and now we'll miss another chance to learn from one of the Apostles. Our luck isn't going great in that direction. I will read an extra Conference talk and still come home. Nothing will keep me from home. Got to take sisters to lunch on Tuesday and then drive with Jerry to Port Orchard to do a lease on Wednesday. That helps the week go quickly. Then I also had a bummer of a missionary experience. Now I know how the missionaries feel when after all you can do you still get a negative response. A lady called asking for help to move. She said someone had told her the missionaries would help her. She wasn't a member and it sounded like some members were just pushing her off on the missionaries. Anyway the missionaries went over and helped. She didn't have a truck, so they could only do so much. Well, she had called on Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday she called again and said the missionaries hadn't come back with a truck and she needed them to take stuff to the dump. Again, we don't have trucks, and secondly you have to be a Washington resident to go to the dump. She was so mad at me and the missionaries that she told me we only cared about ourselves and that Jesus didn't love us. I couldn't convince her that the missionaries had tried and did help, but she was too mad to listen. I really wanted to say that I knew that Jesus loved me and really loved His missionaries too. Believe it or not she called back again on Friday saying she had a U-Haul and wanted help again carrying boxes. I really wanted to say, "Does Jesus love me today?" I held my tongue, which you know is hard for me. The missionaries said she was really a different lady and they really didn't want to go back. They told me to stop answering the phone to her calls, but it's hard to do when you don't have caller ID. Come to find out there were drug problems involved. No wonder she was being evicted and the missionaries had such a bad feeling there. You can't help everyone and you can't let the missionaries be used. Saturday was a windy, windy day. Lots of waves, broken docks and power outages. Four of us (Sisters) went to the Tacoma Glass Museum to see a demonstration by Dale Chihuly. He is a native son and well known for his development of team glass blowing. It was very interesting. You may have seen some of his work. He did the flower ceiling at the Ballago in Las Vegas. We also walked to the Glass Bridge designed by him. See the fun pictures. Then we picked up the men and went to lunch in a unique part of town with quaint shops. Our new office couple went with us and got a taste of Tacoma. The other office couple arrived this afternoon and will go to Church with us tomorrow and then to a Fireside with the missionaries that evening. Monday they start their training and Jerry and I get to train them - blind leading the blind. That will be our last full week in the office. I'll end this entry with a neat quote from President Monson that should apply to everyone: "If you want to give a light to others - you have to glow yourself." Love to all our "glowing" friends. See you soon. Love, Carolyn and Jerry