Missionaries & Mother's Day

On Monday we celebrated Cinco de Mayo by having a P-day activity with our Zone (each Zone includes several Districts, and each District has 8-12 missionaries).  We played Bingo, Basketball (Stan did his best to keep up with the Elder's), and Tortilla Slap Game!  In case you're wondering, two people stand opposite each other.  They fill their mouth with water, while holding a tortilla in one hand.  They do Rock, Paper, Scissors with the other hand.  Whoever wins this, they use their tortilla to slap the cheek of their opponent, hoping to get them to spit the water out of their mouth!  They keep going until one of them spits out the water!  It was hilarious to watch, but kind of gross when they spit out their water.

We were in charge of Institute on Tuesday, Brother Mackay was out of town.  So I told Stan since I was cooking, he could teach the lesson.  He agreed and did a great job.  The topic was Integrity.  

President Hinckley was right. “There is no substitute for personal integrity. It includes honor, … performance, … keeping one’s word, … doing what is right regardless of the circumstances” (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 270).

“We can easily spot … someone with integrity. They’re honest. They do the right thing when nobody is watching. They keep their word and they keep our confidences. They repay their debts, and they clean up their own messes. They accept responsibility for their actions” (“The Wholeness of Integrity,” Church News, 26 June 1999, 16).

(It doesn't look like very many attended, but more came after I took this photo.)

Saturday morning I received a request from our Zone Leader wondering if I would be wiling to make some cookies or treats for him to give to a lady for Mother’s Day. (We found out later that she's a single mom with four kids.) I hadn’t made Sandlake Inn cookies for a while, so I decided to make a batch. We received a call from our YSA missionaries asking if we could join them for a lesson at the church at 4 pm. I was in the middle of making cookies and preparing dinner for a couple of our YSA sisters that we had invited to dinner, but I figured we would have time, so we went and met with the Elders. I brought them some cookies, too. They were teaching a young man named Matthew. It was a good lesson on the Restoration. As I do every time, I felt the Spirit again as they taught him about Joseph’s First Vision. Also, I felt the Spirit as I testified of a living prophet, and as Stan testified of the Book of Mormon. I hope Matthew recognized the Spirit, and will follow through with reading and praying. I'm grateful we made the decision to meet with them this afternoon. We got home in time to finish up dinner for Emma and Angelica. Emma is our Relief Society president, and Angelica is the secretary, and newly baptized member. We had a nice visit with each of them and enjoyed getting to know them better.

This morning we went on a Mother's Day walk - it ended up being over 3 1/2 miles!  My hip is healing well, and I feel so grateful to be without pain when I walk.  Our YSA Ward gave a long stem rose to all the mothers and women in the ward.  The Bishop bought a Tres Leche Cake for the Relief Society sisters.  I wish I had taken a photo; it was so pretty with peaches, strawberries and kiwi on top.  The greatest blessing in my life is to be a mother.  I'm so grateful for my Mom and her example of a righteous, faithful woman of God.