MAY 25-31, 2015

We spent our Memorial Day in missionary fashion by serving in the temple much of the day.

Our temple here opens on Monday holidays to give people who work and find it hard to attend an extra day to come.  And often times it is open for something our inspired mission president thought of and that is convert temple baptisms.  Today we had 65 new members come to the temple.  It is a day of love and remembrance of those who have passed on and each one leaves glowing and with a desire to return as soon as possible.  

Afterwards we enjoyed a late lunch with our two single senior sisters, Sister Valentine and Sister Terry.  Always a pleasure.

Quite a few days of rain was forecast for later in the week and the temperature in Waltham was headed into the 90"s with humidity. So, Dale said let's go to the Cape before the crowds hit. And it's 10-15 degrees cooler on the Cape.  Never one to turn down a trip, I started packing and off we went!

CAPE  COD

We had heard that Route 6A was one of the prettiest drives in the country so we headed for it.  We started in Sandwich and drove all up the inner Cape towards Provincetown, stopping at whatever struck our fancy along the way, trying to hit every town on the Cape as we did.

 Pulled over to one of the first beaches we came to...this lovely.

These dunes and those fences are quintessential to New England beaches.

I have always loved them.

I had heard about a place where the herring run like salmon and the gulls congregate there to feast upon them.  

Stonybrook Gristmill  

We put in in our GPS and found it.  So pretty!  Many of the gulls flew off  when we arrived but some brave ones hung around and were rewarded with a fresh fish lunch. 

 Lunch time!

We just love little roadside seafood shanties.

We shared some perfect fish and chips and an ice cream cone. 

 The photo below was taken in Wellfleet.  Voted in Coastal Living magazine as one of the "happiest  towns" in America.  Very small town.  

Nauset Light

Provincetown

Many don't know that the Mayflower and the pilgrims first landed in Provincetown before settling in Plymouth.  It was too inhospitable for farming so they moved on after a very short time here. 

We arrived in PTown about 3, walked through the quaint streets and shops, ate dinner and relaxed.

 Obviously those two things , the tower and steeple, in the background are famous landmarks. 

The tower is the Pilgrim Monument dedicated in 1910 to commemorate the first landing of the Pilgrims. It is the first thing you see when you approach Provincetown, whether by land,sea or air. 

 A little bit of glorious right here folks!

Martha's Vineyard was covered in lilacs and Provincetown is dripping in wisteria!

I was in heaven!  I love it and it seems I usually just miss it's season wherever we go. 

We spent the night here.

 Enjoyed breakfast here.

 Afterwards  we took an hour tour of the sand dunes in Cape Cod National Seashore.

 Wild and rugged and windy and isolated!

  Did I say windy?  Hold on to your hats!

 Those from Orange County know about the Crystal Cove Cottages.  The shanty in the background is their version.  They are on the historical registry.  One can rent them but there is no:

electricity, running water, gas, indoor plumbing...you really rough it here.  Back to nature at its core.

And you can't drive out here.  You are dropped off and picked up again in a month! 

Back to exploring the town.

 I really love this photo.

Lunch at the Lobster Pot.

Phenomenal! View, wait staff, and food!

Lobster tacos and a stacked avocado, lobster and mango salad with avocado mousse.  Truly one of the best things I've ever eaten.  Dale agrees. 

 Interesting.

So long PTown and hello Harwich.

Heard raves about the hot fudge sundae here and as you know, we brake for homemade ice cream stands!

Chatham Light

Ummmmm..... Great Whites live in these waters? !!!!!

And they celebrate that fact? 

What a shame.  Chatham is my favorite town on the Cape. This puts a damper on things however.

Can you say dream house?  

Sigh.

Oh well.  This is truly my dream house. 

The House of the Lord.

I love it here.

It was our last time working here with the Millers, Catherine and Jud.  Beautiful hardworking souls.  They remind me of two of my heroes back home, Gary and Mary Nelson  They are wearing themselves out in the service of the Lord.  It has been a blessing to rub shoulders with them.

We went out to dinner after with them and our temple sealer and his darling wife, Richard and Margaret Kennedy.  They just lost a daughter to cancer on Mother's Day. 

The Braithwaites, the Kennedys, and the Millers.

No pics from district meeting this week.

And the room was full of new faces from our last transfer too. 

Shame on me.

Remember the sister I mentioned a few posts ago who needed some dental implants before a job interview and turned to us for help in finding what to do, where to go and what kind to get and Dale's brother, Dentist Larry, advised her?  I wanted to follow up...

She got the job!!

Also, I want to share a tender moment we had visiting with our artist friend, Loretta.  When it was time to go, we asked who she wanted to say a prayer.  She responded she wanted to since she didn't get many opportunities to say them out loud. 

It was one of the best prayers I have ever heard uttered. 

So extremely humble, child-like, without guile and straight from the heart.  No pretense whatsoever.

Her prayer reminded me of how I've heard Joseph Smith's prayers described...

it was if she were talking to a friend who was right there in the room with her. 

These are the kind of moments that make our mission. 

One of my very favorite people passed away on Saturday.

He has been an Apostle of the Lord since 1974.

He was my Stake President when I lived in Massachusetts during my high school years.

My dad was the branch president of the Foxboro Branch at the time and worked closely with him.

When I would see him some 35 years later, he would remember my dad and talk about specific things about him. 

See that smile?  He always had it.  

I looked up to him for it.  I remember sitting in a congregation and seeing that man up on the stand who was always smiling.  I looked around at the rest of the congregation. I decided you look much better when you smile and decided then to try and always wear a smile. 

Thank you beloved Elder Perry. 

I can only imagine your glorious reception on the other side!

We ended the week the way we started it... with the temple.

Today's temple preparation lesson was on the great blessings we receive there. 

We rejoice in the opportunity to teach and share our testimonies of its blessings each week in our class.  It is indeed a house of prayer, a house of faith, a house of learning,  a house of glory, a house of order , a house of God.  A place of peace and hope and love.