Speaking

As we arrived and began unpacking our things here in Sunderland, Suzy and I made predictions on when we would get callings and when we would have to speak. I am pleased to announce that, as of today our second Sunday, we still have no callings, which we were sure we would have by now. I think that it was because the bishop has been out of town.

However, we received the dreaded call Wednesday evening asking us to speak today. That was much quicker than we anticipated. Our assigned topic was, "Share your favorite scripture and a personal experience, and you are the only two speakers." Luckily, they called a new member of the bishopric and he and his wife bore their testimonies and took up quite a bit of time. Our talks went well, and they are over with, I think we are safe for the next about 4-6 months. It was a balancing act to prepare a good talk but not too good, we don't want to be speaking too often, which is a definite danger in our ward.

This last week has been a busy and fun one. We had intended to go to Six Flags down in Springfield, but the weather was unseasonably cool, which was a nice break from the hot humid weather when we arrived, I enjoyed it much more than Suzy did. We traveled out to Boston to go to the temple, which is a very nice one; it just explodes at you on the freeway, though not quite like San Diego or DC do. After the temple we went to Minute Man National Park, where the battles of Lexington and Concord were fought, the first blood of the revolutionary war. That was very interesting, we learned things about those first battles that they did not teach in school.

The ward Relief Society had a retreat to Camp Joseph in Sharon, Vermont (the birthplace of Joseph Smith, about 90 miles north of us). She had a wonderful time. On Friday, the priesthood holder that they had going with them had to cancel due to illness, so they asked me to go as the priesthood holder. I enjoyed it too. It is a beautiful part of Vermont, very mountainy compared to here. It was a relaxing weekend, except for the sleeping part. We had small cabins that fit two sets of bunk beds, which were short and not so comfortable. Overall, we had a good time and enjoyed the Visitors Center at the birthplace; it was a nice conclusion to our little Church history tour.

This next week will be busy as we prepare for school and get the rest of our to-do items off the list.

We cannot find the camera right now, but when we do a few pictures will be posted.