Dear Kids,

Bentley left for San Antonio on Wednesday, and he’s in a threesome there.  They actually do street contacting, which is lots better than sitting in the apartment looking at a screen.  (But of course they have to wear masks.)  I’m glad he can start missionary work in English, and save Cibuano for later.  There’s no word on when he might be able to go to the Philippines, but his application for a passport has been accepted.  It seems the state department had stopped issuing them, but evidently they’re doing it again.  Bentley’s mission president sent some pictures of him, and Tom said he looks happy.  Go, Bentley!

Sharon has finished three weeks of nursing school, and she had her first lab.  She wore her new scrubs and her white Danskos, and she learned to take blood pressure.  Now she practices on her family.  She e-mailed me a short paper she had to write, so I could go over it and make corrections before she turned it in.  It was actually pretty interesting, saying how she could communicate with her patients without putting up “blockers.”  Naturally Sharon can already communicate with anybody without “putting up blockers” so we know she’ll be a great nurse. 

Yesterday Dad and I went to Donna’s house to help her with a couple of projects.  She’s rebuilding her front porch, so we figured out how much cement to get and how to do it.  Also, she wanted an electrical outlet near her front door, inside, so she can plug in her boot dryer there.  Dad helped her figure where the wiring would go, and my job was putting in the electrical box.  I started by cutting a big hole in the wall, so there would be room to drill down through the 2x4 to string the wire down. Drew watch with amazement as I cut out the sheetrock.  I could just see his little brain wondering why that was OK, and if he could do the same thing.  When we left I told Donna to keep her power tools away from him.  I was just like Drew when I was little, and I would have loved to cut holes in walls back then.

Dad and I have church this morning, which is always exciting.  Starting October 11, we’ll meet every week! I wonder if we’ll be singing by then, or still just listening to the music.  At least things are moving ahead, and life is getting back to normal.

Lots of love, Mom