April 2015 in Kensington, MD / Washington DC Temple Mission

Happy April, everyone.  I think Spring is finally just around the corner.  I can hardly wait - I'm so tired of winter.

Conference weekend.  We were able to view it at the Visitors Center.  It was so great.  My favorite talks were:

Wilford W. Anderson of the Seventy - "I can teach you to dance, but you have to hear the music. Our hearts need to be in tune with the music of the dance.  We must keep practicing."

Dale G. Renlund of the Seventy - He talked about how a Saint is a Sinner who keeps on trying.  And the God cares more about who we are and who we are becoming, rather than who we were.  No failure ever needs to be final! The Savior's atonement is for all!  The church is like a big hospital.

Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles - He told the story of two brothers who had climbed a large mountain and how the younger brother had saved his older brother from falling off a ledge and certain death.  Very powerful message!

This picture was taken between sessions.  It was so fun to watch Conference on the really big screen.

There are over 500 seats.

We saw some little Spring flowers trying to make their way to the surface.  It gives me hope.

I love Ladies' Night Out!

My friend, Pam Lewis, and I decided we wanted to have our own little get-together with whomever wanted to join us for dinner and then go to the bookstore.  I put up these flyers in each of the buildings.  We had a great turn out.  And every missionary sister who was there won something!

When the brothers go to their meeting on Saturday night, the church bookstore has an event for the sisters.  There is fun food, sale items and even an author signing her book.  The book is called "Sharing the Gospel through Social Media" by Erin Ann McBride.  She also has three other books that she has written - fun novels.  Two of her books were free from Amazon if we downloaded them that weekend.  So, of course, I did.  I have only read one because I have so many other books I want to read.

Right now I am reading "Your Endowment" by Mark A. Shields.  I just finished reading Boyd K. Packer's "The Holy Temple."  They are both wonderful.

This was our fun group.  We asked our server if she would take our picture.  Funny story:  she wasn't real techy, but we were able to show her how to take a picture with my phone and with another sister's iPad.  When she handed them back to us, she said, "I took one for each of you." And she did - there were at least 15 pictures on my phone. (Maybe you had to be there, but we all thought it was hilarious.  And we are still laughing.)  This will be a joke here until the end of our mission.

Clowning around.

But I'm not the only one.

Such a beautiful place.

Some of my cute little kiddos in Utah (Hallie, Abbey and Annie).

My cute little Max in Oregon.

My cute little Allyson in Oregon - award-winning dancer.

Allyson and her daddy - my cute son.

I just love to receive pictures from home.

It really is looking like we may get Spring here.

On the Monday following General Conference, we went to George Washington's Mt. Vernon.

This was a group of really fun people.  We had a great time.

View of The Mansion.

Another view showing some of the scaffolding on The Mansion.

These docents in time-period dress were talking to us as we waited in line to get into The Mansion and onto the grounds.  They could not be 'tricked' into getting out of character.  They were very good.

The beautiful grounds.

So peaceful.

Wouldn't it be fun to ride around in this fancy carriage and wear a big fancy hat and fancy dress?  I don't know what the guys would want to wear.

George Washington died at Mt. Vernon on December 14, 1799, and his will directed that he be buried on his beloved estate.

His beloved wife, Martha, and other family members are buried here as well.

In our wanderings we came across some oxen that were being taken to the barn after a long day's work.

My friend, Vickie Jackson (from Ogden, Utah), wanted to touch one.  I opted to just take the picture.

More beautiful countryside.

It was just so peaceful.

We were happy to board the shuttle back to the main part of the plantation.  It was a gorgeous day and we had walked a lot.

The end of the Mount Vernon visit.  Ice cream cone and phone in hand - ready to go.

So beautiful.  I never tire of seeing this beautiful building each day.

Cherry Blossom Festival Boat Trip

Walking to get on the boat in downtown DC.

Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument in the background.

Washington Monument and cherry blossoms.

Pretty array of cherry blossoms.

More beauty.

It was a fun activity; but we actually saw even prettier blossoms not too far from our apartment.

A group that decided to walk to Union Station for lunch after the boat ride.

Can you guess where we are?

We discovered the Shake Shack.  What an (expensive!) amazing hamburger, fries and milk shake.  We plan to go back for at least a milk shake. (Union Station).

The Metro escalator (on our way back to our apartment).  Very awesome - a little scary.  I may have said this before, but my mother would NOT have gotten on this escalator!

Some more beautiful cherry blossoms not far from our apartment.

Spring has arrived!  :)

A fun Easter egg tree on our way to the temple.

We are thinking about buying this house -- just kidding!!!  We went for a walk one evening and found this lovely house.  

No one lives here but wouldn't it be fun - we could all live there together!

I'm still fascinated with the trees here.  When we got back to our apartment from our walk, I went across the street to the little neighborhood park and sat on the swing for awhile.

You can see our apartment building in the very back to the left.

I just love the signs of Spring.

Michael picked these out of the yard.  Aren't they cute?

It still fascinates me to see the temple suddenly appear as we are driving on the freeway.

Three lovely sisters who live in our same building.  Sister Hernandez, in the red jacket, was just preparing to leave for Spain (her home).  The sister in the orange sweater is Gini Wiltbank from Salem, Oregon.  The sister in the white sweater is Vickie Jackson from Ogden, Utah.  And I'll let you guess who the sister in the purple is.....

One of our missionary couples giving their 'farewell' speech at the Visitors' Center.  They were very funny.

This is our mission president and his wife, President and Sister Colton.

One evening as we had finished our shopping at Costco, we decided to have some dinner at the local Panda Express.  These cute missionaries were also there.  All but the Elder in the middle were ordering their food.  We asked the Elder why he wasn't ordering and he said he was having to learn a lesson.  He had spent too much money the month before on fast food and was having to 'tighten his belt.' We said we didn't want to interfere with his learning a lesson so we didn't offer to buy his dinner.  But as we were bringing our food back to the table, we just couldn't bear not to at least SHARE our food with him.  So we picked up a fork and napkin for him so he could eat off our plates.  He took home our left-overs.  We had an enjoyable time visiting with them.

More Spring pictures.

One evening we went for a walk in the rain.  Our little town has this area called Antique Village.  These are beautiful metal sculptures.

Trip to Amish Country

It was a little early for some folks.

This is Bishop Mieremet.  He, too, found it a good time to take a little nap.

And then, there were those of us who are always ready for a good time.

Sleep?  when you can laugh?

...and some who wondered if we would ever get there...

It was wash day in Amish Country on this Monday.  I loved seeing all the laundry out on the lines.  It reminded me of when I was a kid and we hung our clothes outside to dry.

More beautiful white laundry.  My mother used to have beautiful white laundry.

And more beautiful country.

I think we would have a hard time adjusting to this mode of transportation.

But the Amish people seem very happy in their lives.  It was not uncommon to see cars, buses and horse-drawn carriages on the same roads.

Their fields were beautiful and well cared for.

Our friend, Bert Wasson, who used to drive the horse-drawn wagons for the tours in Nauvoo, loved the animals.

Only these are not horses.

They are mules.  And such cute mules.

It was an interesting and enjoyable trip; but I'm afraid I would miss my car, electric lights in my house AND my washing machine and dryer.  (not to mention my cell phone)

Part of our day was a stop at an amazing Smorgasbord.  This is usually not my favorite sort of eating establishment; however, this one was over the top - delicious.  As you can see, the restaurant was huge.  And the selection of food was awesome - and it didn't all taste the same!  The dessert counters - two of them - had so many choices, that I decided to have self-serve ice cream with chocolate and caramel syrup with lots of nuts.

Ed Fillmore (from Aurora, Colorado) - really wanted to drive this bus.

We never tire of coming to 'work' each day in this beautiful place.

And to end the month of April, Jefferson Chandler and Amy Christensen, from our Willamette Ward, came to visit us.  What a special treat.

They left us with these beautiful flowers and a sweet note.

One evening we saw eight head of deer walking through our parking lot.  This isn't a very good picture but it was an amazing sight.

We are so blessed to be serving in the Washington D.C. Mission as ordinance workers.  Every day we are blessed to feel the spirit of the Lord and to assist the patrons as they perform the ordinances that will bind their families together in the eternities.

Happy Spring!

We love you all!

Remember who you are!

Elder and Sister Cannon