Sister Allred, Sister Cook, Sister Lifferth

Last week was a busy but great one. Thursday dad and I picked up the first counselors of each of the General Auxiliary Presidencies. We brought them to our house and Gail Kelley helped me prepare a luncheon for them including three of the four Stake Presidents and their wives that were attending the meetings that night. Sister Slyvia Allred from the Relief Society, Sister Mary Cook from the Young Womens, and Sister Margaret Lifferth from the Primary. We had a very nice luncheon that they seemed to enjoy and were able to visit with the Stake Presidents about concerns and needs for our area. Afterwards dad took them to their hotel to freshen up and prepare for their afternoon meetings. They began by each having focus groups. Sister Allred with Young Single Adults, the others with Leaders. Then the 6:00 meeting they had with just Stake Leaders and the 7-9:00 meeting with all the Ward and Stake Presidencies and Priesthood Leaders. It was a long day for them. I had a bag prepared for them with an apple, orange, goodies and cookies and a little bag of bath salts they could use to relax after it all. The next morning dad and I picked them up about 8:00 and drove them to ABQ for a luncheon and training over there. It was interesting to learn and talk to them on the way. Of course Sister Allred was born and raised in El Salavdor. She joined the church with her sister at 15, served a mission where she met her husband as a missionary and they later reunitied at BYU. Her husband had been called as MTC President in Dominican Republic and they had only been there three months when she received the call to be a counselor to Sister Beck, so they moved back and he was released. Sister Cook was 37 when se married her husband. His wife had passed away four years earlier from Breast Cancer. They had four children the oldest being just 3 years younger than her. I asked dad if he would like to marry someone just three years old than Chanel right now. It didn't seem to appealing, but who knows if I wasn't around. They were the first Mission Presidents in Mongolia and he was a seventy. Sister Lifferth we didn't get to hear much about her. She was more on the quiet side. Her husband is the managing director of all Welfare for the church, that means humanitarian and all. It sounds fascinating and alot of hard work. They all were lovely, wonderful women. We had lunch Friday at a Stake Presidents house. It was very nice. She had flown in her two daughters to help. I had wished I had offered to have Brittani, Chelsey, and Christi help, but I am always afraid it will just be to much extra work. It would have been fun for them to meet the sisters. After the luncheon we went for a quick tour of the temple and then on to the same schedule as the day before. On Saturday dad had to get them to the airport by 5:00am to fly to Pheonix were they were doing a morning training and then they drove to Tucson for training that night, and then drove back to Phoenix that night. So I am sure they were exhausted by the time it was all finished. Sister Lifferth then had to fly to Dallas on Sunday for Scout meetings on Monday and Tuesday. What a schedule! Dad and I flew to Lubbock, TX. We had dinner with the Mission President and his wife and then he had a council meeting on Sunday. We got home pretty early, around 6:00pm which wasn't bad at all. It was nice to spend time with dad. The last few weeks have been very pressured and busy with several unexpected things coming up, so hopefully he can relax a little, even though he has many assignments in the next few months. I had prepared my institute lesson last week because I knew I wouldn't be able to do much. Yesterday I worked on it some more until late night, got up and got ready this morning to come to find out it had been cancelled because of snow. So today I am catching up on things that have been waiting. Even though the streets are clear I am planning on Institue being cancelled tonight also. There is always plenty to do!