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| We love our Ohio family! |
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| The Washington DC Temple above the Beltway. |
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| Statue of Mary at The Catholic University of America. |
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| Cherry Blossoms! It's a (chilly) spring in DC! |
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| Our new home. It has a walking path and pond! |
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| The Senior Missionaries of our Mission; 3-26-2022 |
We wound up our cross-country jaunt and arrived at our mission this week! My sister Andrea and her husband Ross, in Mansfield, Ohio, hosted us Wednesday, inviting the Eastern clan of Nelson relatives for soup, bread, laughter, and visiting. We saw a deer—our only sighting of wildlife—in Mansfield (we had seen many hawks, eagles, and vultures.)
The next morning, in a town called “Paint Township,” I visited “The Dry Goods Store,” which carried gray, white and black fabric and quilt fabrics, catering to the Amish people we saw in their buggies and on their bikes. The Appalachians in West Virginia and Pennsylvania provided gorgeous mountain country, with a few blossoming trees among brown trees. Along I 70 are thousands of brown trees, which will be covered in green buds within two weeks.
In Maryland at last, we thought the many beautiful white trees were all Bradford pears that grow like crazy out here, but then we realized that many are Washington D.C. cherry trees! They trees have a lovely horizontal shape. When many grow along a street adorned with tender light pink blossoms, it’s breathtaking.
At Mount Vernon Friday morning, the sun sparkled on the Potomac and birds sang. A talented musician in colonial garb marched some teens around to fife and drum, slow at first, then quick-time! He played the fife while we sang the national anthem; our hearts were touched. We toured the Mount Vernon mansion.
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| Norm sat in a pew like the one George and Martha used every Sunday. |
George Washington’s tomb and the Enslaved Persons Burial Ground are solemn places. We left with a deep appreciation for our first president, who was inspired by God and who used his strength and talents to help launch our free nation.
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| Mount Vernon |
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| This man wanted to teach us about colonial fashion, but we were in a hurry to get to our mission office! |
You may think, “Norm and Debbie, you sound like tourists. When will you get around to serving the Lord?” We thought that too, as we drove toward our mission home on freeways we will get to know over the next year.
Everyone was very kind at the office of the Washington D.C. North Mission—such wonderful elders and sisters!! Sister Cole gave us homemade cookies. Sister Connell brought us homemade chicken soup, crusty bread and carrot cake for our first meal at 9700 Skyhill Way #104 – our new home. It’s a nice one-bedroom apartment with lots of homey touches.
Saturday, our Mission President, Reid Neilson, said that because the cherry blossoms won’t last long, we should see them soon, and those at The Catholic University of America are as nice as those on the Mall. So we drove into the city, where those lovely trees stand among statues of saints on the university grounds. Reverent people placed flowers there. The bell tower solemnly rang the hour. As we drove home, we were awed with a sight we had heard about since 1974: the spires of the Washington D.C. Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rising almost magically on a hill above the Beltway.
After all we’ve witnessed in the past month, we’ve decided that since God places beauty and worship in our path, we’ll happily be tourists of sacred spaces—along with our mission service.
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