Friday, February 13, 2009

February 13, 2009 - from Ranelle

Finally, a window in my schedule and I can add some comments to our blog.

We've experienced a mellowing of the weather as you can see from the picture preceeding. The snow has melted--though I doubt that winter is over. We actually had temperatures as high as 60 degrees. In the five weeks we have been in East Lansing we have seen a span of at least 70 degrees in the temperature--greater if you consider the wind chill factor (temperatures were minus 10 degrees in January). The Red Cedar River is spreading and flowing rapidly. Other signs of "spring" include piles of dirt in the lawns (the moles are very active), frisky squirrels chasing each other, and beautiful red cardinals.

Monday 2-9-09 our institute director called to say he had a family emergency, "Could we teach his 11:00 a.m. class?" John graciously let me have the opportunity. So I put my Book of Mormon preparations aside and prepared for the New Testament class. I learned a needed lesson. I spent an hour plus and the class was great! Perhaps I am laboring too hard as I spend many hours reading and developing my lesson plan for the Book of Mormon class. We are both feeling a little more comfortable in the assignments we have to teach and appreciate this challenge to grow.

We are now preparing a Munch 'n Mingle lunch only once a week. This has eased the pressure for me. Twice a week was hard especially on Thursday when I also had to teach.

Wednesday 2-11-09 we drove to Kalamazoo (about 1 1/2 hours south and west of East Lansing) for a zone conference. We had a wonderful morning of instruction from our mission president. Then we enjoyed a lovely lunch prepared by the Relief Society sisters in Kalamazoo. Lunchtime affords us the privilege of socializing with other senior couples serving in this mission. After lunch the missionaries circle those who prepared the delicious meal and sing "Called To Serve"--sweet experience! We left after lunch so John could be rested and ready for the class he teaches that evening.

We are well, and happy in the privilege of serving our Heavenly Father as we teach and mingle with the students of Michigan State University. As we teach, we also come to a greater knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and His great gift to us. "Conversion" is a continual, evolving process which requires our daily attention. To be wholly converted, we find the "desire for things contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually died (Marion G. Romney)." Hopefully, we all are striving to be converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ and finding rewards as we serve Him.

Thanks for letting us share our experiences with you. We appreciate your emails and comments on the blog.

Ranelle

1 comment:

Mimi Collett said...

I am happy that you get to experience some tastes of spring and warm weather. You're probably right that winter isn't over yet, but the hints of spring make it bearable! We are not faring as well in Provo. It's been snowing straight for over eight hours now. (It was already snowing when I woke up, so I don't know how long it has been since the night.) I am glad your lesson went well with the short preparation time. You'll have to experiment to find out how long works best to prepare. :) Jeff and I are having a nice Valentine's Day. We did sealings this morning, watched a movie this afternoon, and might babysit for a friend this evening. It has been a very nice day. While harder to drive in, the snow sure is beautiful outside my window. And the earth looks so clean all covered in white.