Work is work

Greetings from Rensselaer, Indiana

We have been giving a lot of service here in Indiana.  I think that no matter where you live, people are in need of service that you can give.

We have a wonderful woman in our branch, Sister Sampson.  She cares for an ailing husband and a mother suffering from Alzheimer's.  I don't know how she manages.  It is a 24 hour-a-day job.  If she wants to go anywhere, she must get someone to "watch" Grandma and sometimes her husband as well.  So it was suggested that perhaps Craig and I could help her get her garden tilled.  It took two 20 mile trips to Remington and three stops at the repair shop to finally get a working tractor.  Here is Craig as he begins tilling.
I dropped him off, went to a meeting, and came back 3 hours later.

The next day, the sisters came with us to finish up.  We pulled out weeds and rocks to get ready for planting.  We felt it was a job well done.
We also were able to give some service at Pat Sutton's house.  She is wheelchair bound.  We decided to help her weed her flower garden.

It is the little strip along the side of her trailer home.  It was longer than I remembered, and it took two hours, but it looked so much better when we were done.  In appreciation, she is feeding us dinner tomorrow.  Yea!!!
Part of our job is to friendship others.  This is the fun part.  Yesterday, we spent the day in Shipshewana with Peggy and John Luzer.

It is in the heart of Amish country.  I tried to get a picture of a buggy, although it is difficult to see.

We went to the flea market, several stores, and had dinner at a wonderful "family style" restaurant.  The food was delicious.  The company was wonderful.
And every really great outing must include a car museum.

The cars were beautiful!!

When we got back to the Luzer's house, Craig volunteered to cut their lawn.  I'm sure that the riding mower was part of his enthusiasm.  So Peggy and I went riding on the 4-wheelers.

We rode far back into their fields.  John plants about 700 acres if I remember correctly.

This was our view as we headed BACK to the house.

Last Saturday, about 5:00 PM, we were at home wondering what to do for the rest of the evening.  I couldn't bear the thought of just sitting on the couch for the next 5 hours.  We decided to go downtown to get an ice cream cone.  We noticed lots of people heading for the park across the street.  We headed there, too.  It was a movie-in-the-park night.  They were showing "Frozen."  Craig had never seen it, so we decided to stay.

This was taken about 7:30.

The park filled up and there were about 200 people there.  It was really wonderful.  We saw everyone spraying their kids down with bug spray (very similar to how we spray them down with sunscreen).  Evidently they knew something we didn't.  The bugs weren't TOO bad, however, and we really enjoyed the show.  These wonderful people would bring so much to the church.  It made our hearts ache, wishing we could tell them how wonderful the church is.

Now for a few interesting observations in and around town.

We have asked several people just what goes on here.  No one we've talked to is quite sure.

This is the one I love.  Craig and I wonder if maybe you take off your clothes to wash them, then get in the tanning beds while they are washing.  Hmmmm.

We see this a lot.  People just dump their grass clippings at the curb.  I wondered if they just put them there waiting for the wind to blow them away.  Our neighbor said that the city cleans it up.  For free?  I asked.  Evidently, the service is added on to their waste management bill.  Who knew?

In case you were wondering, population is 5,859 - or thereabouts.

So....... maybe they are worried that the wind will blow the mailbox down.

This is the token corn that the Wagner's put out for the squirrels and rabbits.  This in the hope those pesky varmints will leave the garden alone.

Finally, this is what happens when we leave Sam alone all day.  Sheesh.

We are so grateful to be here in Indiana.  We have learned so much from these wonderful people.  They are friendly and kind.  We love them.