September 30, 2014, Senior Missionary lunch, Exploring Boston and Much Moore

Happy Fall!

Another very busy week for us on our mission.  Started out the week by helping with some home organization for a sweet family in our ward here.  Afterwards, I dashed home to prepare Feijoada, a Brazilian black bean stew that I make in the crockpot.  We have a new sister missionary in our zone from Brazil and we wanted her to feel at home here, so we invited her and her companion and our sisters for a Brazilian feast!  We had Feijoada and rice, Brazilian cheese bread, salad and Guarana (a favorite Brazilian soda).  Unlike Longmont, Colorado, they sell Guarana in the grocery store here, so that was pretty exciting!

It all turned out great and the sisters all loved it, none more than Sister Cruz!  She was so grateful and told us how much like family we were to her here in the states.  It makes us feel so close to Hannah to work closely with our Brazilian missionaries.  First, it was Elder Maciel in Longmont, then Elder Santiago here and now Sister Cruz.  We love the tender mercies of the Lord!

Sister Roy and Sister Bailey

Sister Cruz and Sister Jones

Seems like everyone is enjoying our Brazilian Feast!

On Wednesday, all the senior missionaries met at the temple and went to a session together and then headed to the mission home for lunch.  We all sat together in the living room/dining room area of the mission home.  President Packard, President Haight (counselor) and the Assistants served us our meal.  We had ham and baked potatoes provided by the mission and then we all contributed side dishes and desserts.  It was a wonderful day of food, both spiritual and edible, friendship and fun.

Our two wonderful assistants to the president (AP's), Elder Carvalho and Elder Sowards

President Packard sharing a wonderful message about the progress of the mission!

Our mission president, President Packard, serving us ham!

On Friday, our ward had a talent show. There is a lot of talent in this ward from little kids to adults and not just performing talents but also artwork, poetry, storytelling, cooking, etc.  Mike played some jazz and was very well received.  I ate popcorn and clapped a lot.  It was very entertaining.

The Primary singing "Give Said The Little Stream."

One of our favorites was Bruce Raymond doing beat boxing.  He was amazing!

This darling little girl, Haley Cutler, recited the story of the Three Little Pigs!

On Saturday morning, we took the T to Harvard Square and met a friend of our son Paul's, Andrew Fong, at Shake Shack for lunch.  We had a nice lunch and conversation and look forward to meeting up with him again to get to know him better.  He's getting his MBA at Harvard.  Seems like a great guy.

Andrew and Elder Moore

 After lunch, we walked to a nearby hospital to visit a friend and then we walked back to our apartment.  We do a lot of walking.  The leaves are changing more everyday and it's always a beautiful walk.

A church in Harvard Square

There are Squares on practically every corner!  I loved this one!

Saturday night was the General Women's Broadcast from Salt Lake City.  We had a yummy ice cream social before it at the church and then watched it with the women from the Cambridge 1st and 2nd Wards.  It was a very uplifting broadcast and I especially loved the music.  They had a choir televised from Korea of little girls singing "I Love to See the Temple" in Korean.  It was absolutely beautiful and touching.  Also, the choir in the conference center which was made up of girls and women ages 8 and up was incredible.  They sang a beautiful medley of "I Know my Savior Loves Me" and "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" and it was amazing.  The talks were centered on the temple and covenants.

I loved Sister Stevens of the General Primary presidency's talk and what she said about her parents marriage in the temple.  They were married just before her dad left to serve a mission (something they allowed back in the old days) and her mom was focused on the temple and the covenants they were making and didn't care that she didn't have a dress or a big fancy reception or even flowers.  Those things are important, especially to a bride, but the focus should be on the temple and the covenants that will really bless your marriage and family throughout eternity if you remain true and faithful to them. She said, "The best way to strengthen marriage is to keep covenants."

I also loved President Uchtdorf's talk.  He asked us if we need to obey all of Father's commandments? He answered by saying, "I think God knows something we don't."  He gives us commandments to help us and protect us, not to restrict us!  "If we believe Him, we should gladly obey him.  Even the hard stuff!" I liked how he said, “Heavenly Father is constantly raining blessings upon us, but it is our fear, doubt, and sin that, like an umbrella, block these blessings from reaching us.”

Here's another wonderful quote:

I hope that women and girls of all ages believe these messages and take them to heart.  I hope that they know that they have a literal Father in Heaven who loves them and hears and answers their prayers. I know He lives!  I know my Savior lives.  I know that they want us to be happy and that we can be happy by following our Savior and by trying to be like He is; kind, loving, gentle, pure, tender, honest, virtuous, etc.

I am excited about our General Conference which is coming up on Saturday, October 4 and Sunday, October 5.  I invite you to watch it on the BYU channel on cable or satellite TV or on www.lds.org.
You will be able to hear a Prophet of God and Apostles of Jesus Christ testify of His gospel that has been restored on the earth.  I invite all to hear and enjoy these wonderful and timely messages.  If you are prayerful and listen with an open heart and mind, I promise you will feel the Holy Ghost testify that the things you hear are true.

On Sunday, we had the special treat of having our mission president and his family come speak in our church.  It was great.  He, his wife, and the three kids all spoke and his daughter, Natalie, played a beautiful piano solo as well.  They are quite an amazing family and we are truly blessed to know them and to get to associate with them on a regular basis.

To top off the day, we attended a fireside Sunday evening in which President Clayton Christensen, spoke about prayer and receiving answers through reading the Book of Mormon.  He is an incredible man and we found out from the introduction that he's not only a Harvard professor and a best selling author, but in "2011 in a poll of thousands of executives, consultants, and business school professors, he was named as the most influential business thinker in the world."  He serves as the first counselor in our mission presidency and wrote the book, "The Power of Everyday Missionaries" that I have mentioned on my blog before.

We weren't able to attend, but Sunday was also a very special day for our newest granddaughter, Claire Olivia Griffith.  She was given a name and blessing in church by her daddy, Ryan, in San Antonio.

Claire, Ali, Ryan and Sadie

Beautiful Baby Claire

Yesterday, Monday, September 29, was our p-day (preparation day).  We had another delightful day of adventure with the Braithwaites.  We started out by taking an hour long boat cruise on the Charles River.  We began just outside our nearby mall and learned a lot of interesting facts along the way. 
- 1/3 of the population here are students
-Every Labor Day weekend at least one U-haul truck gets stuck under one of the Storrow Drive bridges.  A local radio station has a contest where people call in and guess the time when it will happen and whoever is closest wins $$.  They call it "Big Bucks for Stuck Trucks."  It's the biggest moving weekend of the year and the leases here start and begin Labor Day weekend.
-Longfellow Bridge is where Paul Revere rode in the famous poem.  There were many other riders but he's famous because his name rhymed with hear in "Listen children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere."
-The 2 biggest tourist attractions are Fenway Park and the Science Museum.
-Only 3% of MIT and 5% of Harvard applicants are accepted.
-7 United States presidents went to Harvard.
Those are just a few of the many facts we learned!

It was a cloudy day, but here are a couple of pictures from our cruise:

The Hancock building (the tall glass one) was once referred to as the Plywood Palace.  When they were building it, huge panes of glass would randomly fall to the street below. They would fill the hole where the glass fell out with plywood, hence the name. Entire blocks had to be closed off and the problem was finally remedied and miraculously no one was injured during the building of this tower.

The Citgo sign stands near Fenway Park.  They say it stands for C-it-Go referring to home runs hit out of the park!

One of the few places in the U.S. where airplanes fly over cars which pass over trains which pass over boats. That is not illegal graffiti but words of encouragement to cheer on the rowing teams as they compete.

The Hancock Building and the Prudential Tower

After the cruise, Dale and Mike did their own thing and Nancy and I had a girls day out in Boston.  We had lunch at the Parish Restaurant, explored the Boston Public Library in Copley Square and strolled down the famous high end shopping district on Newbury Street.

Boston Public Library--reminded us a lot of Europe.

Copley Square

Newbury Street

In 2011 in a poll of thousands of executives, consultants and business school professors, Christensen was named as the most influential business thinker in the world. - See more at: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/biography/#sthash.3l21WYUQ.dpuf

In 2011 in a poll of thousands of executives, consultants and business school professors, Christensen was named as the most influential business thinker in the world. - See more at: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/biography/#sthash.3l21WYUQ.dpuf

Clay was named the World’s Most Influential Business Management Thinker in 2011 and 2013. - See more at: http://www.claytonchristensen.com/#sthash.QBZresUX.dpuf

 We ended up in Boston Commons and relaxed for a few minutes by the "Make Way for Ducklings" statues.
We walked back to our apartment over the Longfellow Bridge, but just before the bridge we stepped into the Liberty Hotel which used to be a prison where the Boston Strangler for one was held prisoner.  It's an amazing renovation with a lot of the original bars and architecture still in place.

"Sister" Missionaries

 On the way home we found ourselves walking through Beacon Hill and found it to be a totally charming place to visit!  It was a wonderful day and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

Even the Post Office is charming!

 Yesterday and today, September 29 and 30, were our own sister's, Sister Roy and Sister Jones' birthdays, respectively.  We had a nice dinner with them tonight and they both seemed to enjoy their brownies and ice cream!  We love them and are so happy to get to serve with them.

Our happy birthday girls, Sister Roy and Sister Jones

We hope you are enjoying our journey.  We know we are!  It's an adventure in every way and every day brings us much joy as we serve the Lord and enjoy the beauties of His creations all around us.

Have a beautiful week!  We love you all!