And then Wednesday Came....

(This refers to last Wednesday, November 18th for those who are confused by my back and forth between mission life and my "other life")

I got this text from Elessia with the caption:  You made his "About Me" poster--I guess Zander insisted that my picture be on his poster.  That was awesome and I think a first for me as a grandma.

Late in the day on Tuesday, we had been contacted that Ben was being moved to the State Hospital at 8:00 am on Wednesday.  We had seen improvements in Ben for the past few days and had asked that they consider not making the transfer, but they (whoever made that decision) felt like the move was a good idea so that they could help Ben recover better and get on the proper dosing for his overall health. For me, only having less than 24 hour notice of the move was a shock even though they had been talking about it for a few weeks.

That made Wednesday already difficult as in-between mission meetings and work, I had to also talk with the old social worker at McKay-Dee and then his new social worker at the State Hospital.  It is difficult for me to begin working with new people and Ben. There is so much history and concern on my part that it is hard to pass that on to yet another person who is going to care for Ben. That is always emotional for me.

The next emotional moment of the day was we were finally able to meet with Jena's stake president and the principal at the Clearfield High Seminary to set up her Church service opportunity there.  She will serve there on Monday, Tuesdays, and Thursdays to help with greeting and with cleaning the classrooms and bathrooms.  (Of course, then on Thursday, Clearfield became one of the last high schools in our area to be shut down until Dec. 9 due to Covid.)  She will start then.  It was a sweet experience and I think she will enjoy serving there.  She is getting very anxious to get called officially and be a missionary like us.

Next Gary got a phone call from "Church of Jesus" on his cell phone during our interview at the seminary. He decided to take it (who won't?) and it was the secretary from our mission president inviting us to come to Salt Lake the next day and meet with our mission president in person. (The shortened name of the Church was provided by 'smart call' as he had not programmed the mission number in his phone.) As we knew that we were scheduled to meet our mission president in a "Lunch, Learn, and Listen" meeting in a couple of weeks, we were very curious about this new invitation to meet and a bit nervous.  Another emotion added to the day.

Then a few hours later, we received a text informing us that my sister-in-law was in the ER due to some weird headaches and a concerning CT scan.  With the recent losses we have experienced, that became my focus--I just wanted her to be okay and my brother, Rick, and their kids to be supported in whatever was ahead.

That evening, I got a Facebook call from Scarlett and she read me part of Hop On Pop, an old Hall favorite.  She is learning to read and realized that she could read most of this book and she called to share it with me. Then she took me on a tour of some of her favorite things in her closet.  That was also amazing.  (A very good day for the grandparent part of my life.)

It was also on this day that I had had that sweet conversation with my first former mission president. 

There were some other more private experiences which added to the sense of a day with an over-abundance of different "big" emotions.  I told Gary that night that it was hard to process any of them--to be happy, excited, fearful, sad, nervous, anticipation--whatever!  What even should I pray about--the list on that day alone seemed too long.  And yet, even in the middle of it--there was both good and difficult things and I felt peace....except about Linda--that peace didn't come until the next day--probably because I was too worried about her and Rick to allow it to come.

I am sure that you have days like this--when you feel like you are being tossed from the tops to the bottoms and back again.  My advice--hold on tight, there is more of the ride ahead. The only sure thing is that peace can come if we are allowing God to steer the boat!