18 June 2018 - Monday

18 June 2018 - Monday

This was our first Monday preparation day.  We were excited to get going this morning.  We had our morning prayers and scripture reading together and then I took my three mile walk.  We had more rain and colder temperatures last night, and early this morning, so the temperature in the high 40's,  this morning ,was perfect for my walk.  And these pictures were so fun to catch;

The sun just coming up in the cloud cover

The sun breaking through the cloud cover

And the whipped creme clouds from the storm last night

It was so invigorating to be out in this scenery this morning!  I am still walking the three miles in under an hour, and today it was about 50 minutes.  I think I could hit my 45 minutes if I would just stop taking so many pictures!

Mom and I attended correlation meeting this morning.  There was a good feeling with the missionaries as we have really began hitting the pace of the summer treks.There are about half of the missionaries with P-days on Monday's and most of the other half have their P-days on Saturdays.  Some get other days, but mom and I were grateful for a weekday P-day!  The traffic to Casper was so light and the temperatures hit the mid 60's to make this a most enjoyable trip.

Since we are less than 90 days away from mom being eligible for Medicare,  we called Dave Parker to begin the process of getting her enrolled.  We thought this would be very simple, but Dave asked us for our Medicare ID number.  We had no idea so he gave us the Social Security Office address in Casper and told us that this is where we could get it.  We could either call them or stop by.  This was painful information.  Calling or visiting the SS Office is like going to the DMV offices in California!  This is not what I was hoping for.

As we were coming in to Casper, we stopped in a parking lot and typed in the SS address.  Martha, our GPS stewardess, got us going. Mom offered a prayer that we could find the location and take care of our business.  Well, Martha took us through old town Casper, that looked a lot like old town Idaho Falls.  However, the traffic was very light and we found the office, easily, and guess where we parked?  Right in front of the building between two cowboy trucks;

A perfect, prayerful, pioneer driving placement of our preferred parking post!

So the first part of our arrival went extremely well.  Now we needed to sign in at the Social Security Office and wait our turn.  When we walked into the office one person was walking out after thanking the service lady.  There was no one else in the waiting area!  It took us longer to sign in that it did to get the information we needed, in a very pleasant atmosphere, and walk out almost behind that customer we saw leaving!  We found out that mom had been automatically enrolled and was set to receive the benefits on September 1st.  It was awesome!  

We then called Dave Parker back, and gave him the ID number he needed.  Dave will get her the supplement insurance policy, and the prescription insurance policy, for her eligibility on September 1st.   And now mom is all ready to go for her September birthday!!  Yes, it was that easy!  Another answer to prayer that Heavenly Father saw fit to answer so easily!

We then did our shopping at Sam's and Wal-mart, and had so much fun taking our time and enjoying our restful day.  I was able to refill my prescription as well, and oh, by the way, I was green status this morning!  We are set for another 90 days in the Rx department.  The prescription was over $63 at retail, but my insurance paid all but a $3 co-pay.  Nice!  

Mom and I celebrated our great morning's accomplishments with lunch at Olive Garden.  Mom had her favorite angel hair pasta entree, and I had my favorite salad and soup combination.  What a great treat after this morning's tender mercies!

Mom puts the "angel" in Granny!

It is becoming more apparent each day that Heavenly Father needs the best of the best of His people to step up and help Him achieve his earthly goals.  He needs more workers who are willing to help build up Zion, and be anxiously engaged in doing good things.  Mom had a very distinct impression  during her scripture study, this morning, that we needed to work here in the mission field, (and everywhere else), as if we were actually laboring in the City of Zion.  If Heavenly Father asked us to wade out in the water to clean a filter, or pick up rocks in the fields in front of the Heavenly Mansions, we would happily do it.  When He asks us to do our assignments, whatever they might be, He is waiting and hoping we are strong and faithful in our stewardship's to qualify to be in His army!

It makes so much sense to take every assignment we are given, in the mission field, in our wards and with our families, as if we were putting the finishing touches on the City Beautiful.  Perhaps the test is to see how we react to things we may feel are unfairly administered or assigned to us.  It has given us a whole new meaning to working in the Lord's Vineyard.   With the right attitude, we can do anything we are asked to do, and we can be happy in doing it!