Cribbage and Rutabaga

On P-day we agreed to go to the home of a recently deceased member to help sort through some of her belongings. A marvelous beloved member of the branch, she passed away under suspicious circumstances, her house represented at least 30 years of accumulated stuff. Her daughter and son-in-law were stymied as how to even begin to begin to clean and take care of the clutter. They invited an auction company to come and give them a bid on disposing of the entire house and its contents. This sister and her husband had worked and served the world over and had antiques of all sizes and varieties. The auction company said they should realize $20,000 after expenses and before the house was sold. The biggest thing, however, was the peace of mind this process brought. I hadn't realized this option even existed.
On Tuesday we started going over to the church so that Sister J can practice the piano. That same evening our adult investigator plays cribbage with the Branch President. I thought I would sit in and pick up a few pointers. As near as I can tell you get points for straights, runs, scoring 15 or 31, playing the last card, something called the "nub?" and of course the crib. There is this cute little track with streets for your pegs but you don't want to end up in the stink hole. I think I still have a lot to learn about the game before I will be able to challenge ANYONE.
On Wednesday our investigator in Iron River told us she didn't want to talk to us anymore and to please not come back. We wished her well. We visited other members whose addresses may or may not be accurate. We found another member's address where no member has ever lived. At that address, however, was a very nice family who among other things, sells maple syrup. We bought a bottle. It was great. They tap hundreds of Sugar Maples every year that grow on their property. Later that evening we were finally able to meet Jason Kopski who along with his wife has been meeting with missionaries for five or six years. They first met the missionaries in NM and now they are in MI. They are very bright people (He is an engineer and she is learning Russian) and have worn out many pairs of missionaries. she is more interested but said she had some questions others could not answer. I told her we would like to try to help her with her questions and concerns. I hope that is not pride talking. We will see.
At 6:30 Thursday morning I started our pasty making adventure that we agreed to last month. I helped peel and dice 300 pounds of potatoes and a bin of rutabagas (look it up). Sister J made dough balls on Friday. On Saturday we put it all together and made 620 pasties. People were coming to pick up the ones they had pre-ordered before we had even finished baking them all. I say we, we means the volunteers of which their were about 20 of us. Pasties are made of potatoes, ground chuck, onions, seasoning, with an occasional rutabaga all wrapped in tasty pie crust. Verrry good! Also on Saturday we attended the memorial service for the sister who just died. It was a very sad, very spiritual service.
Today we attended branch council meeting to which we able to contribute and from which take important information about the branch. These are good people with strong testimonies.
Remember to do unto others, to quote Yoda, "no try just do".
We love you,
Elder Dad and Sister Mom