My goodness this has been a busy month! Just after I wrote last month I assumed the chairman position for Relay for Life for the branch team. I didn’t realize how much work it was. If you would like to participate in any way, feel free to drop by. We will be selling drinks and snacks as well as having a few silent auction items available to bid. Another thing would be to come and walk, if you don’t know about Relay for Life it is the largest fundraising event for the American Cancer Society and it’s held each year in many different locations throughout the country. Teams organize and raise money and people from each team are asked to be walking from 3pm this Friday through 3pm this Saturday (for our location this year). We will be at the Calhoun County Fairgrounds. Another part of the Relay this year is a study that people can participate in to sign up with a small blood sample and then answer some questions. Every few years for many years to come they will send new surveys to those who join to use that new information to help cancer research.
The Youth Trek is also this weekend. Although I am not going to the actual Trek I have been helping sew the last several days as the youth are asked to dress somewhat in period clothing. I have now made a bonnet, seat cushions, and bloomers. We tried to purchase the skirts and such that needed to be worn by the girls. The youth will gather at the building at 4:45am on Thursday and check in at 9:00am in Manistee National Forest. They will finish on Saturday at 3:30pm. I am sad not to be able to attend, but my daughter Megan isn’t old enough yet anyway, so I guess it’s for the best. They do the Trek every four years and we all plan to go then.
This week I finished my Math class. Now I’ll take a few weeks off to catch up on other things and then plow back into the next course I need to take. This class has been rather difficult for me as I haven’t taken math since the fall of 1993. I never did really grasp one of the chapters, but I’ve decided that for the tiny difference it would make to my grade it’s not worth retesting for.
About two weeks ago we picked up 25 new chickens, all girls this time. We have one that is picking, literally, on the others, so we had to separate it. We are also working on building an actual coop. We have the four walls up, but then the heat/humidity combination was too much for us and we stopped. We still need to build and shingle the roof and then finish the inside. Still, we are glad to have the four walls up as that seems to be the hardest part.
I will be very glad when this week is complete, it’s a busy one. The Open House was wonderful, as were the actual dedication of the building and the special session of Stake Conference. I always enjoy Church events. I’m not really sure why that is exactly, but they fill me with joy. One of the speakers at Stake Conference spoke about the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is fleeting and joy is long-lasting. It was wonderful to hear much of what was said, the theme was about the joy we find in the Gospel. I know that the Gospel has filled my life with joy.
