June 24, 2018

Adjustments

This past week has been fairly normal with a couple of exceptions.  #1.  On Monday, we went to emergency in the Fort Madison Community Hospital for Elder Paxman.  It was NOT an emergency but that is the only way that we can see a doctor and have our insurance pay for it.  He had a little bit of the flu the Wed. before but it then developed into a real cold/cough which we could have handled except that the cough became very "chesty" and sounded funny.  Therefore, into the hospital we go with a fair bit of apprehension because we really didn't know what to expect.  We were very lucky.   We only sat in the waiting room for about 5 min. and they took us back into an actual room, then the doctor came in and he was LDS and totally understood our situation.  Were we ever grateful !! and felt like we are being watched over.  He listened to Elder Paxman's chest and ordered chest x-rays and blood work .  They showed fluid in the bottom of both lungs but the blood work was clear and showed that he had full blown allergies that settled in his lungs.  He gave him a steriod shot and told him to stay on top of the allergies....meaning he takes allergy meds every day.  There is alot of stuff in the air around here !!  He is now feeling alot better and his cough is pretty well gone.

        Wednesday was our day to perform "Sunset by the Mississippi" but it was REALLY raining so the show was cancelled but they called us into the Visitor's Center for a  rehearsal.  In the future, when it rains, we will still put on an abridged show in the west theater of the Visitor's Center.  We were in the middle of that rehearsal (totally reminded me of adapting our show choir shows to a gym for trip!)  when we heard the tornado sirens going off.    That meant that we all had to troop on down to the basement of the Visitor's Center which they have outfitted with a kitchen and couches for the YPMs    They eat their meals down there....even have a missionary couple who prepare their meals for them.  It is called The Bistro.   Anyway, we were just visiting/enjoying each other and not too concerned, at all when all of a sudden a couple of families came in.  The little kids (around 9-10 years old) were crying and scared.  They were in the campground across from our house and when the sirens went off they didn't know where to go so they drove through the horrible rain to the Visitor's Center.  We were all trying to distract them with food and games but they were still worried so the YPMs put on an impromptu concert which we all enjoyed completely !  In no time at all everything was back to normal.  Turns out there wasn't a tornado but lightning struck one of the towers here in town and it set the others off.   Silly... but nobody fools around trying to figure out if it is "real" or not, they just head for shelter which is probably the wisest thing to do.  The next morning, there were about 3 big trees down on the flats that had toppled over....one narrowly missed a house, another took out someones porch and the other was in a grassy area.  The grounds crew went around and marked off trees with yellow caution tape that they will be taking down as a precaution.  They are usually ones that are split or rotten in the middle.  Anyway, our basement is the tornado shelter for our complex  and so everyone went into there while we were gone.  They all have a key to our place so it doesn't matter if we are home or not!  Good thing we cleaned the basement the week before and outfitted it with emergency lights (in case the power went out) and bottled water & granola bars (in case we are down there for awhile) 

     Saturday is our P-Day and so we decided to head up to Burlington, Iowa for our errands & groceries.  We cross the Mississippi at the bridge that takes you into Fort Madison . We were "barged" which means that the bridge splits to let a barge through. The whole process took about 15-20 minutes.  It was only one barge but apparently there are often a couple of them so the whole time can be a little lengthy. Several cars behind us turned around and headed back another way.  The next closest bridge is in Keokuk.  We were pretty excited to see this because we were the first ones in line and got a "front row" view so I have attached some of the pics that I took.

You can see the gate is down and the middle section of the bridge is turning sideways and then here comes the barge.  There are 2 guys on each side of the front corners who are making sure that they are in the correct position to pass through.

The barge is 3 containers wide and 5 long.  Each container hold 1200 TON and so do the math !! that boat at the back pushed that along.  It was super cool to see !
    On Thursday and Friday, we had mission training with Elder Clark of the 70.  It was a very spiritual and uplifting meeting and I learned that to learn the "language of the Spirit" takes work and we need to practice everyday....being sensitive and responsive to the promptings that we receive.  Pres. Nelson talked about it in General Conference and basically said that in order to survive spiritually in these latter days, we need to "do the spiritual work required to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost".   Another speaker said: " Success in the Lord's way has a price, and the only way to achieve it is to pay that price."   I am grateful for the opportunity to grow each day and sincerely hope that I am learning the language of the Spirit better.  Have a great week !