Tiffany Travels to Pennsylvania

Today was Tiffany's trip to Pennsylvania to see Angie. She drove to the train station in Mattoon to catch the 9:30 train to Chicago. Only the train didn't come at 9:30--it was 40 minutes late! That caused her to have some crunch time on the Chicago end of her trip. Once she arrived in Chicago (probably about 1:45), she had to walk four blocks to the CTA station to catch another train to Midway airport. That train ride is about 45 minutes. Fortunately, she had printed off her boarding pass last night, and she didn't have to check a bag, so she made it to her gate on time to catch her 3:10 flight to Baltimore. Whew! That's cutting it close. Angie's dad met her in Baltimore, and drove her to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where Angie is living with her parents while she awaits the birth of her first baby. She left her job at Melrose in Natchez, Mississippi, for a better job in Pennsylvania; unfortunately, her husband, Matt, is still in Vicksburg, Mississippi, trying to sell their home and find a job for himself in Pennsylvania. In the meantime, Tiffany thought it would be fun to take a trip and spend a few days with Angie over the Marin Luther King holiday. So, hopefully, they'll have lots of fun and see lots of interesting things--if the weather isn't too bad. I was checking the weather yesterday on weather.com and the map on the home page (which usually shows where the nasty weather is taking place) showed the area right around Baltimore to Harrisburg. It was showing rain, icy rain, and snow from Baltimore to Harrisburg. The other day the map was showing the tornado areas in Missouri and Illlinois, right where Tiffany was. How come she ends up where the bad weather is? Anyway, she said the drive from Baltimore to Harrisburg was a little snowy but not too bad. We're glad she made it safely and hope she has a great time and a bit of a break from school.

Steven was home for dinner tonight, so that was nice. We had bean burritos. Then later, Bro. Sanders and Talmadge came home teaching. Bro. Sanders gave us a lesson on Pres. Monson's message in the Ensign this month: "The Master Bridge Builder." In this article, Pres. Monson says, "...we are all travelers--even explorers of mortality. We do not have the benefit of previous personal experience. We must pass over steep precipices and turbulent waters in our own journey here on earth." He goes on: "...our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was the supreme architect and builder of bridges for you, for me, for all humankind. He has built the bridges over which we must cross if we are to reach our heavenly home." Then he asks, "What personal bridges did He build and cross here in mortality, showing us the way to follow?...(He) provided the bridge of obedience. He was an unfailing example of perssonal obedience as He kept the commandments of His Father...The second bridge provided by the Master for us to cross is the bridge of service. We look to the Savior as our example of service. Although He came to earth as the Son of God, He humbly served those around Him." Pres. Monson quoted Elder Richard L. Evans, who said: "We can't do everything for everyone everywhere, but we can do something for someone somewhere." And finally, "The Lord provided us the bridge of prayer. He directed, 'Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing.'" I thought that was a good lesson and it motivated me to read the article. Sometimes I need to be reminded.