Saturday is a special day. It's the day we senior missionaries get ready for Sunday. The young elders (contradictory words to some outside) and sisters wait till Monday for their "p day" (considered "play day" by some, I posit). Regardless, preparation day allows time out for cleaning the apartment, doing laundry, organizing, shopping, and (very important) emailing family. Of course, handwriting letters is still an option, as I did weekly for two years in Argentina, but I doubt many realize how precious paper can be.
Senior couples may get to know the territory by touring the entire mission area (southeast Michigan in our case). After doing home chores yesterday and shopping close by our apartment complex, Sister Cannon and I enjoyed a road trip to Birmingham and Clawson, farther northeast than we have been in this pretty, great state. Our excuse was to buy her a notebook at Staples, but I really wanted to explore and see what's out there. Our good fortune of owning a small Buick is noteworthy, given our assignment to Detroit. It blends in better than a BMW or Honda, even without the "Pure Michigan" slogan on its plates.
Something interesting: before the trip: our daughter in PA raved about Aldi, a chain of small grocery stores she loves there. Upon arriving at far-out Staples, we found ourselves parked right by Aldi next door! (We had never seen one before.) Entering Aldi, it was obvious why "less is more" pleasurable and simple -- unlike a Walmart Supercenter, if you know what I mean. Staples was especially good to us, providing much more than expected. So Kay loves Aldi, and I love Staples. Browsing office supplies there, I ran into a friendly Christian brother who thought I was an employee, until he read "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" on my black name tag. He kindly welcomed me to Michigan, and said he belongs to First Unity Church nearby. We had a nice chat. I wish I had thanked him for being a good example of how courteous and kind the people of Michigan are to us newcomers.
Next on my list for the area was Salvation Army Family Store. Kay gladly drove me there, as she was the driver all week while I played the navigator. We complimented the clerk for having the nicest Salvation Army we had ever seen. Finding a framed painting of an Amish country scene was serendipitous. ("The Amish [people] are known for simple living ..." -- Wikipedia.) Though smaller than we needed above our long couch, it is the perfect shape and calming theme for our plain apartment. Luckily we had bought picture hangers at our neighborhood Ollie's Bargain Outlet that morning.
Having stocked up on groceries, we avoided fast food on the way home from our adventure. (That is determined discipline for me, a hungry hombre.) After a warm walk in the sun, a "p-day" pizza in the oven became comfort food to complete a peaceful day.
(P.S.: Blogger type size problem with text written on new Google Keep notes on new tablet -- sent to gmail, copied to Notes on iPhone7, then copied to post.
Fix later. (No importa.)
