Week 29
Because summer is much slower for us than the fall and spring semesters, we started volunteering at the Wondertorium on Tuesday mornings in addition to our volunteer work at Elite Repeat on Saturdays.  The Wondertorium is a marvelous children's museum with story time, music time, areas for play in art, science, theater, medicine, building, country store, and more.  The "things to do" change every month.  There is also a Japanese corner because Stillwater has a sister city in Japan and the children send artworks and other things between the two cities every year as well as learn about Japanese culture.

Our first jobs are some carpentry/wood repair for Kerby, and some sewing for me.  I'm repairing lots of cloth bags for the country store and some little costumes.  I'm also making new kimono costumes for the Japanese play area--as our coordinator says, they are "well loved" so they wear out.  Well, as soon as I started figuring out what to do, I knew that if I had a serger, all of the work would be of better quality, look better, and be much more durable.  [For the uninitiated, if you're serious about sewing, you have a serger because it performs many functions a sewing machine can't such as trimming and finishing off edges.]  My beloved 30-year-old serger breathed its last about two weeks before we came on our mission, and I simply intended to buy a new one when we returned home.

Kerby and I discussed it, and decided I might as well get the new one now so I can use it in our volunteer efforts.  They've changed and improved so much since my last serger purchase that I needed to spend a little internet research time.  Believe it or not, the #1 Pfaff dealership in the US is in little Hennesey, OK--about 35 miles away.  We went there Saturday for a test drive, and I'm now the owner of a Pfaff Coverlock 4.0 serger (it helped that they were on sale 30% off until the end of the month).  It remains to be seen if I'm smart enough to figure it out.  This is the last thing I expected to be doing on my mission!

Newest member of the family

This part of the country is so prone to severe thunder storms and tornadoes that it's just part of the daily weather forecast at this time of year.  Stillwater is sort of a dividing point for storms, so although we can get plenty of action, the really severe stuff often goes around us.  We were under a tornado watch on Tuesday, and had some pretty spectacular lightening, thunder, wind, and rain, but the closest tornadoes hit to the north east of us.  It is really fun to watch the sky--the thunder storms are simply unlike anything we get in the west.

Looking out the institute front door Tuesday

From our apartment complex on Friday

Last week a huge bird was soaring toward the church building--as he got closer we could see it was a turkey vulture.  He kept flying, though, so I guess it wasn't a matter of sensing a deadly boring speech at church.  

Yesterday I saw something odd flying low then it landed off the side of the road--another road runner.  They are so interesting to see.  The thing we're really anxious to see is an armadillo.  We see lots of them smashed at the side of the road, but have yet to see one actually moving and breathing.

A young man in the ward, Ammon, got his mission call this week--he's going to Roseville, CA.  We've loved having him in a couple of our institute classes (and he loves games, so he's a Tuesday Twiddles regular).  Ammon will be a fine missionary (just like his namesake).

Attendance at church was sparse again today with the holiday weekend, but we love hearing the talks and lessons our YSAs prepare.  And we love serving our mission in Stillwater.

Week 28
It was a dark and stormy night. . . that's how weird stories start, and we had a weird story this week.  On Monday we were starting to eat lunch.  Elder Kerr opened his mouth for his first bite and sort of yelped.  He had a sharp pain in his right jaw, but he tried to eat a little.  The jaw continued to hurt, and I watched it swell up before my very eyes!  In 15 minutes he looked like a chipmunk with his winter stash in his cheek.  I said that we needed to take him to the clinic, and he didn't disagree (that's a sign--no disagreement).  As luck would have it, it was our doctor's (the one we had to audition for in February) day to cover the clinic.  He poked and prodded, etc, and finally said it was very unusual to see such a sudden onset of temporomandibular joint disorder, but he was confident that's what it was--Kerby had a sprained jaw!  Dr Brown prescribed a muscle relaxant, ibuprofen, an ice pack, and very soft food for several weeks.  Kerby felt much better after a couple of days, but still needs to be careful for a while.

Our first Tuesday Twiddles was a success.  Seven YSAs came so we had two tables of games going then enjoyed fudge cake and milk.  Everyone seemed to have good time, and we're looking forward to next Tuesday.

Brother Valletta was out of town on Wednesday, so it was our turn to teach the Church History institute class about the Church between 1902-1918 (prosperity allowing purchase of historical sites, building church and office buildings, etc; international expansion; WWI).  A couple of the interesting stories in the lesson were about Anson Call in the Mexican Colonies.  His son (by his 4th wife), Ara, was a food scientist and actually taught one of my classes my freshman year, then I got to know him well as a retired faculty member when I joined the faculty.  Imagine me having a connection to something so long ago and far away.  Then picture that Ara Call was the great grandfather and Anson the great-great grandfather of one of the young men in our class!! Sixteen people attended, and we really enjoyed the class and the topic.

Friday afternoon Bishop Hillock, who is an extension horticulturalist at OSU, gave us a private tour of the OSU Botanic Garden.  It was absolutely lovely, and we'll be going back several times to see the gardens progress through the season.  After that his wife joined us and we all went out to dinner.

In all honesty, Oklahoma looks much better green than brown.  We got here in November, so it was brown for the first 6 months of our mission.  Now that the trees, plants, and grasses are green, it's much more inviting.  When we went on our little trip last week, the roadsides were just covered with yellow, purple, pink, and red wildflowers.

On campus, the formal gardens by the student union are lovely, and there is a unique addition installed this week:  a Garth Brooks' hat topiary.  He actually gave OSU one of his hats, and they used that as the model for the topiary.

Garth Brooks is an Oklahoma native and his daughter played on the OSU women's soccer team a few years ago.  The house pictured below is across the street from the YMCA, so we see it three mornings a week:

Not sure it's really a claim to fame, but still. . .

There is a Kerr dormitory tower and also another building named after Robert Kerr on campus.  Kerby has taken to calling him Uncle Bob.  Actually, he was a state senator, and was instrumental in the food/agriculture/business connection.  The dorm might be named for former governor Robert S. Kerr.

Uncle Bob's building

Campus parking meters--even they have school spirit

After 23 years of intense flower and less intense vegetable gardening, this is what we're reduced to:

The pot in front of our apartment

But at least it's cheery every time we come or go, and it is a lot less work than the yard at home.

Week 27
What a week!  On Monday and Tuesday we took a little holiday before classes started again.  We drove south west about 2 1/2 hours to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. It was established in 1901, and is now home to 650 bison, 700 elk, and 300 longhorn cattle (and zillions of prairie dogs), as well as native grasses and the second highest point in Oklahoma.  We went at the absolutely perfect time, because it's calving season, so we saw many little bison calves, as well as many little baby prairie dogs.  It was so fun to see the mama prairie dogs playing with their babies and mama bison nuzzling their offspring.  There are not a lot of cactus, but those were in bloom--another sight that doesn't happen often.  We drove to the top of Mt. Scott--it's elevation is 2400 feet, pretty low by mountain west standards, but it's the best they can do on the plains.  Beautiful views from up there.

A contented longhorn

Ancient rock slide on Mt. Scott

Being blown away at the top of Mt. Scott

We drove up to OKC to spend the night, and tuned in to the weather report to learn that nine tornadoes had touched down in Oklahoma that day--none near us, but there was one in Stillwater (and we missed all the excitement).  Two people lost their lives in some of the towns hit, and many home were destroyed.  The one in Stillwater was a bit north of town, and did take the 2nd story off a 1 year old house and destroyed some out buildings, but mostly affected fields.

Our institute director lives about a mile south of us, and he took this picture from his driveway:

And this is the same storm captured a few minutes later north of town

Tuesday morning we went to the temple and celebrated our third anniversary by doing initiatories, endowments, and sealings.  Later we just meandered our way home, exploring some little by-ways and stopping here and there to see what there was to see.  That evening we ate dinner at Freddie Pauls, a nice steak house.  

The Special Olympics were held in Stillwater May 11-14. We went over to a track and field event to cheer on a delightful young man who has attended our ward several times.  He is very active in another church, but had a friend in the ward, and we have enjoyed him coming to church.

Izzy ready to compete in the wheelchair race

All afternoon at the institute, Elder Kerr seemed a little distracted and kept getting up whenever he heard a noise.  Well, at 4:45 pm, the delivery man brought this beautiful bouquet--my anniversary roses/carnations/asters.  He was getting a little worried that they weren't going to get delivered to the right place.

 The first summer institute class was held that night--Church History from 1900 to Present. Brother Valletta taught that class, but he will be away most of the summer (some business, some pleasure) so we will teach the majority of the classes.  Then on Thursday the Missionary Preparation class started.  The couple in the stake called to teach a class will do most of that one, but they're having a baby soon, so we will teach for six weeks.

Soup Tuesday isn't held in the summer, so we decided to have a game night on Tuesdays.  We're calling it the Tuesday Twiddles (don't sit home twiddling your thumbs on Tuesdays--come play card games, board games, etc--and there will always be a Tuesday Twiddles Treat).  We'll just be there on Tuesdays to play games with whoever comes.  So many of the members of our ward have gone home or to internships for the summer, so it will be an adjustment to have such small numbers.

On Friday we came home to a heart attack--our door plastered with cute and loving messages from the sisters.  They are a lot of fun and so committed to their work--such a pleasure to be on the Lord's errand with them!

We're loved 

Despite the severe storms, the magnolia trees are hanging on to their blossoms.  These are not the magnolias we have in the west--I've only seen these in the east and south.  They're quite magnificent.

Almost open

And speaking of magnificent, the thunder/lightning storms here are incredible.  Earlier this week it finally dawned on me why the NBA team here is called the OKC Thunder--it's because thunder storms are what OK does best!  (By the way, the Thunder are in the Western playoffs with Golden State Warriors next week, and there's a lot of Thunder mania around here).

Friday we made another trip to the temple, and while coming home we watched an amazing lightning show for about 30 minutes.  At that point we drove right into the storm.  It was a white knuckle drive (I know, because they were my knuckles on the wheel) for about another 30 minutes.  Windshield wipers going full blast and barely touching the water--visibility was about 6 inches (that may be an exaggeration--it could have been 4!).  With slow, steady driving we finally got to the other side of the storm and drove the rest of the way home with no problems.  

We are so grateful for our call to serve in Oklahoma and especially with the Young Single Adults and the Institute in Stillwater.  We have been blessed in so many ways and we simply love what we are doing.  The gospel is the anchor in our lives and it is a privilege to devote this brief time to the Lord's service.

Week 26
A very quiet week around the institute.  No classes, but different folks came in to provide breakfast from 7:30 to 10 am Monday-Thursday so the kids would have nourishment before or after finals.  A fun tradition.

Sister Liddell's last day at the MTC was our first, so she's been in Stillwater 2 weeks longer than we have.  When she came for Sunday dinner with her new companion in February, she told her, "I've been coming for dinner for almost 4 months and have never had the same thing twice."  I said, "Sister Liddell, that sounds like a challenge!"  Since then it's been fun to come up with something different every week.  We laugh about "the pressure" and have a good time trying new dishes.  It's now been over 6 months, and we've only had two entrees twice and two desserts twice--other than that we've had no repeats.  However, I tell her she has to get transferred soon, 'cause I can't keep this up much longer!!

Saturday was graduation, and I don't know if this fabulous topiary boot was put up for graduation or if it will be there all summer.  Notice the spur at the back in the first picture; I'm there for size perspective on the second, where you'll see a big O on the front of the boot.  Got to love these Cowboys!

Thursday we came home to two dozen beautiful roses in assorted colors from the grandchildren (I suspect their mothers had something to do with them) wishing me a Happy Mother's Day.

I am so grateful for how kind and welcoming Kerby's children and their spouses have been to me.  I know they miss Debbie (especially on Mother's Day, but really all the time), but they've never given any indication that accepting this weird stranger into their family was a hardship.  And inheriting grandchildren has been an absolute delight to me.  I love them dearly and can't wait to see them again after our mission.

Kerby and I were talking about memories of our mothers this morning.  What a great blessing to be raised by wonderful, faithful women.

Week 25
Long post alert!!  You'd better grab a snack to be able to get through this.

For FHE we played sand volleyball near one of the residence halls.  Everyone was barefoot, which doesn't show in this picture of Elder Kerr serving the ball:

Tuesday was the 6-month mark of our mission.  Pretty hard to believe we're 1/3 through our time in Stillwater.  Tuesday was also the first true severe storm warning day this season.  We were under a tornado watch all afternoon (watch is when conditions are right for tornado formation, warning is when a tornado has been sighted in the area).  No tornadoes touched down here, but we did have incredible thunder storms and heavy rains.  In southern OK there were heavy hailstorms.  Listening to the weather forecast in the evening was pretty interesting as they described the hail in the far southwest (baseball size), changing to tennis ball size a bit farther north, becoming golf ball size, then quarter size, nickel size, and dime size as the storm kept moving north.  Those are all "official" hail stone sizes, and on Monday the entire fleet of missionary cars in San Antionio was badly damaged by baseball size hail.  Our mission president grounded all mission cars and had the missionaries put their cars in a garage or other covered parking so he wouldn't have to deal with damage, given the forecast.

On a happier nature note, we continue to see lots of great birds.  The Northern mockingbird just looks like a grey bird when parked, but in flight these white stripes appear on wings and tail:

We see a bird that looks like a starling but has a "bushy" tail--it's a grackle:

Over by Theta Pond on Wednesday, suddenly about 6 golden finches started flying in front of and over us--they look like flying sunshine:

And also near Theta Pond we saw some goslings:

A new arrival at Theta Pond this week is a wood carving of boy and dog fishing--on this spot a tree was struck by lightening early in Fall semester, and this was carved out of what was left of the tree:

On Thursday we had a ward temple trip to do baptisms.  The young man in the front right is not LDS, but his roommate (both he and roommate are on the wrestling team) is going on a mission in June.  He has come to a few things at church and visited with the missionaries; he just wanted to see what the temple was, so he came down and sat in the waiting room until everyone was finished.  Tuan, the young man who joined the church just two weeks ago, was able to come and do some proxy baptisms.  It is wonderful to seem him progressing.

We had the last institute classes and last Soup Tuesday of the semester this week.  Spring semester flew by (well, at least looking back; some of it was kind of slow when it was cold and dark). Students have finals this week, then Summer institute classes start on May 11 (Church History, 1900 to Present) and May 12 (Missionary Preparation).  We'll be teaching most of the Church History one because Brother Valletta will be gone much of the summer, and a big chunk of Missionary Prep because the couple teaching that is expecting a baby in June.

Friday was institute graduation, and 6 students achieved that honor.  It was a nice and spiritual little program and celebration.

Andrew, Molly, Nicole, and Lauren (Alex and Thomas escaped before the picture)

Sunday we substituted as the Gospel Doctrine Sunday School teachers--looking at Mosiah 4-6.  My goodness, what packed and important chapters those are!  This evening was the World Wide Devotional with Elder Maynes.  Prior to the broadcast we had a ward break-the-fast potluck, and we made some chocolate cake and milk for after the devotional. 

Here's a little local color:

Thursday through Sunday was the 25th annual Calf Fry.  Calf fry is what Oklahomans and Panhandle Texans call rocky mountain oysters (apparently that [castrating calves] happens this time of year).  But the Stillwater Calf Fry is sort of like a redneck Woodstock.  Over 30 thousand people from all around come to hear country music and drink a lot of beer.  We drove by on Saturday (in the day, not when it was happening)--it's held at the Tumbleweed bar--a fairly big venue--and they take over several adjoining fields for parking (complete with port-a-potties and big spotlights).  The lots looked thoroughly trashed.  The police had DUI checkpoints all three nights, and apparently there were over 240 tickets or warnings on the first night. We could hear the music here and there, and we heard the fireworks last night.

As school winds down, the fraternities are taking down all the things they built in their yards.  Here goes the big ship at the frat house across the street from us:

This year is the 125th anniversary of Oklahoma A & M (agriculture and mechanical engineering) College--it was established on Christmas Day, 1890, just a year after Stillwater Township was founded, and students began enrolling on December 13, 1891.  OK didn't even become a state until 1907.  In 1957, the A & M changed to the current name, Oklahoma State University.  Their colors were orange and black from the beginning, but the mascot was the tiger.  That changed in 1923 when a deputy marshal named Frank Eaton attended the Armistice Day parade in Stillwater. Students saw him on horseback and asked him if he would be the school mascot, and the Tigers  became the Cowboys. The nickname Pistol Pete had been given to him at the age of 15 by the soldiers at Fort Gibson--he was there trying to learn more about marksmanship because he was planning to avenge the death of his father by a band of former Confederate soldiers.  He outshot all the soldiers (and did kill 5 of the 6 men responsible for his father's death 19 years after it happened).  In pictures, he makes Willie Nelson look well groomed--he has an enormous moustache and hair almost to his waist.  The Pistol Pete costume head that someone wears at games weighs 35-40 pounds!