Grounds Crew

This is a picture of the ladies I worked with for two months prior to getting my new assignment.  

Caren Nelson, Linda Bailie, Mary Grigsby, Kay Christensen, Mary Barrow & Myself

Sister Barrow and I out watering one morning prior to the morning meeting.

The Grounds Crew: including a lot of senior missionaries, full and part-time employees and the summer interns.

These ladies were working together when Sister Bailie and I arrived.  Even though we didn't know any of them, they took us in and loved us.  We spent 6 hours every weekday together working side by side.  How I came to love each of them.  When Sister Christensen went home and then Sister Nelson a week later, we felt the loss.  It wasn't a loss of not having two more sets of hands working, it was a loss of friends.  Sister Grigsby leaves on September 19th and with me in the office, it leaves just Sisters Bailie and Barrow.  But, there are three more couples coming in October, one in November and one in December so potentially they could have a big crew again.  Sister Barrow stopped by my desk last week and expressed how glad she was that I was now working where I should be.  What a sweet thing to say.

I have learned so much from these women and from the job on the grounds.  My first two weeks here I thought I would die in the weeds.  I would find myself counting the minutes until break or the day was over.  We spent so much time weeding in the heat.  I looked forward to the opportunity to go out and pick up sticks and limbs that had fallen.  It is called a "stick run."  I looked forward to these times as I wasn't weeding.  Then we had a big "blow down" in early July and we spent two weeks straight picking up limbs and sticks and raking up leaves and twigs.  When we were finally able to get back to our weeding, I was grateful.  What?  Me grateful to weed?  There is a great sense of accomplishment in weeding.  I found it relaxing and I enjoyed it.  I didn't enjoy the heat but then the bugs never once bothered me.  That was miraculous.  I came home every day sweaty and disgusting but I always felt I had done something good.