Woah, what a week!

Well, some say it's because we've had such a mild winter.  But others say if the winter had been severe people would have blamed the frigid temperatures. Whatever the reason....the viruses and 'bugs' are in full swing here!

Last Thursday one of our sweet Sister missionaries ended up 'in hospital' on IV antibiotics for tonsilitis.   She is still recovering from it!

Sitting by her bed that evening, little did we know that....

Saturday Elder Meese would trade her places!   He awoke with that terrible flu making the rounds here, which dropped his blood pressure and heart rate causing him to black out.   That won him a free trip to the Royal Preston for sending his companion into panic mode.   

The only good part of that day was that they readjusted his meds lower to bring the blood pressure back in line.   But our missionary team has seen more of the NHS lately than any of us had planned! 

So Monday...back to normal?   Nope.   My turn to spend the day with chills, body aches, stomach pain.   Turn on a general conference talk, hear the first three minutes and fall asleep.   Turn on a general conference talk, hear the first three minutes...fall asleep.   Turn on a....  Matt and Jenny, I'll bet you can relate.  

Meanwhile, we've heard other stories around the mission, including a PAIR of companions who have chicken pox!   "Hey, it's okay.   The bugs will all go away when Spring comes."   (oh good)   Even our sweet little Eva and her sisters got hit with the pox! 

But, the work is still going forward.   So here are some happy thoughts! 

Remember how sad we were to lose all four of of Preston missionaries at once?   Well, meet our new team.   Now, I know it's not why they were brought together, but how often do you find four Elders that are singers (and readers) and can cover all four parts of "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy"? I could have cried when I first heard them sing.   

And more blessings - with the loss of our artistic Russian Elder, we received this wonderful Elder in South Ribble!   I think he ought to just get his sketch pad out in town square and begin drawing Joseph Smith...or Heber C. Kimball when he first began preaching there.   Then he could just answer people's questions while he sketched!   Thinking 'outside the box' and using what the Lord gave you....  think Pres. Preston would go for it?  

The photo below - the South Ribble Sister Trainers - the reason my whole world held together over the weekend.   I haven't mentioned that our missionary team was in charge of a ward activity the day Elder Meese went in hospital.   They took me from the hospital to our home to pick up all the refreshments, laptop, cords for the movie (Ephraim's Rescue), paper goods, table cloth, etc.   And they (along with our wonderful new Elders) took charge of the whole night.   And it worked.   They also 'adopted' Sister Bevans into a trio while her companion was on an IV drip.   

Here's the sweet blessing of it all.   They said when they'd been planning the night before, they just couldn't get it to fall in place.   They finally just left it open, feeling that somebody was going to need them.   So many things like that happen out here.   

These two items come under the heading of great investments:   these black tights...and our 'little red bag'.   

The tights are almost 'standard' on every Sister out here.   My legs have not been cold yet.  (Of course they look somewhat better on those lovely, slender young Sisters, but hey...vanity is way down on my list of concerns these days).  

The red bag - best £2 investment we've made!   It turns up at every zone or district meeting with a batch of cookies or large fruit bowl.   It will hold almost anything.   First weekly meeting Elder Meese and I came to, we noticed we brought the only 'sandwiches' there for lunch (awkward).   After watching the Elders and Sisters head to the kitchen to warm up pasta bakes or cook pizza or rice dishes, we decided the idea was to go for something a little 'heartier'.   Of course I can see why they need the extra carbs with the amount of walking they do in a day!   

Okay, believe it or not, this was us heading home last week.   No 'enhancement' here.  The grass is still that green.   It just doesn't go brown in the winter!   And no one came to give it a 'treatment' in the Fall.   

Well, one more funny shot.   This may tell you that Elder Meese sometimes has one too many things on his mind.   After church, a girl from our Sunday School class asked if she could take a picture of his shoes.   I thought they must be either really sharp-looking or terrifically out of date.   It appears it was neither.... * sigh * He still can't believe he did that.