Sunday in Lockhaven

Today, we had a fun-filled, family togetherness Sabbath Day even though I was in Lockhaven, PA covering call for another doctor.

We all attended a Stake Conference Broadcast that was broadcast by satellite to PA, MI and MS and all the states in between.  I saw it in Lockhaven, and Larisa and the kids in State College. It was a great broadcast with messages from Richard C. Edgley, M. Russell Ballard, Sister Esplund and President Henry B. Eyring.

Bishop Edgley spoke about standing up for our beliefs in a world so full of the enticements of Satan. He was very forthright about the terrible things we face and that are being done today and how it is all meant to bring us into captivity and misery.

M. Russell Ballard spoke about missionary work and how we need to feel an urgency to do the work with our friends and families. He talked about a vision that Wilford Woodruff saw of the great patriarchs of the church in the spirit world and how they were rushing around in the spirit world and he could not even ask them a question. When he did finally ask the question, "Why is there such a hurry here? I thought in the life hereafter it would be peaceful and unhurried," Joseph Smith said that the work of all the dispensations was complete except the work of this the final dispensation and that we had to be more "about" that work. What an amazing thing to think about, that the spirits feel rushed and need to be engaged even after death. How much more do we need to be hurrying and engaged?

Henry B. Eyring's talk was about being wisely optimistic about the work of the Gospel and the growth of the kingdom of God on the earth. He spoke of a missionary that was finishing up his mission in Japan.  He had been serving as an assistant to the president, and was now going to the most remote part of the mission.  When President Eyring asked him about it, he said it was "deadest" part of the Japanese mission..."until I get there!"  He spoke of the need for us to expect the church to continue to fill the earth and that while there will be ups and downs, the church will grow and we need to do whatever we can to hasten the work. Rather than let ourselves be pessimistic, we need to be optimistic and work to that effect. They were all great messages and I really appreciated them.

Then, Aris and the kids came to visit for lunch. The fourth floor is labor and delivery and post partum and no one is here currently, making my call coverage nice, so we used the conference room for our lunch. They brought bacon (cooked at home) and home-made waffle batter and orange juice.  We cooked up the waffles right there in the conference room and sprinkled them with powdered sugar.  It was such a nice lunch, and it was tasty.  Larisa makes the best waffles!

Then we played Nertz, until fighting broke out between the girls. Then we played Zum um Zug, a train track game that is quite fun, but Hannah beat us all and that was unfortunate, except for Hannah. Throughout it all, Cletus and Fetus and a model Newborn were passed around, as this was the room where classes about birth and post partum are given. The kids especially loved it when Larisa demonstrated the nursing baby position. What is funny is that they were all in that position for a year each in the last 17 years, but to them now it was disgusting. We all had a good laugh. I also tried to demonstrate a fetus vs newborn boxing match with the babies doing ninja-like moves at times, which was also quite funny.

Then we went down to the river to see the Lockhaven segment of the Eastern Branch of the Susquehanna river which I run along every day when I am here in Lockhaven. It is pretty and fun to run along the dike which is built to protect the town from flooding. Back in the past, the river flooded and actually ruined the Piper Aviation factory which eventually led to the company leaving town. The dike is fun to run along as it has a 2 1/2 mile trail.

Then we got to the main event, that which Glo had been waiting for--rocket launching. We had a garage sale last week with our neighborhood. While Larisa was cleaning out the closets to find treasures to sell, she found a complete Rocket plus launcher kit. It had everything needed to launch a model rocket including a prebuilt rocket, a launcher, and an ignition system. A treasure like this was too good to be sold cheaply at the garage sale! Glo has been anxiously awaiting a time to get it set up and launch the rocket. There is a small airport in Lockhaven with a nice open field so they brought the stuff and we set it all up. We got the rocket on the stand, connected the fuse to the engine, connected the ignition system to the rocket, had gotten new batteries from the ER and were ready to go.

Mark and Glo, getting the rocket ready to launch

To launch the rocket, we needed to put a pin in the ignition system and push a button. Well, when we did those steps, the little ignition light did not light up. I tried it over and over, checked the battery placement, smacked the device (always a last resort, and frequently effective) but the light would not light up and the rocket would not launch. We have experience with these rockets and one thing we know is that oftentimes, the kits do not quite work right. The problem was, I had no tools to take it apart, I had nothing with which to check the device out and we were ready to go.

So, I thought about this: I had a rocket with a battery powered ignition system. I had new batteries, I had wire, but I suspected something in the igniter device was messed up.  I also realized that all I really needed to launch the rocket was the batteries and the wire. So I took the junky igniter, cut the wires off of it (with a butter knife, courtesy of lunch), took out the batteries, taped the batteries end to end with tape Glo found from the package the rocket came in (Mark didn't have any tape or pliers in his car), stripped the ends off the wire and we were theoretically set to go. Glo clipped the igniter clips on the end of the cut wires to the fuse in the rocket engine on the launcher, and I pressed the one wire to the bottom of the taped together batteries and told Glo to touch the other end to the top of the batteries.  It worked!

Glo and me, working things out

The rocket launched about 300 or 400 feet in the air and the parachute deployed and as the rocket drifted to earth, Glo caught it in mid air. We repeated the procedure and while running for it, she actually tripped over a fence, but she was okay and caught the rocket. It was an epic move!  We had three extra engines so we shot the rocket off all three times and it went great!! I love those rockets!

One of the big problems is we often lose them because they drift into trees or forests or so high, I cannot follow them, but this rocket did great and we recovered it five times out of five. Glo was happy, Mommy and the kids were impressed by my innovation and creativity (they kept calling me McGyver) and so I was happy.

Success!

One other blessing was that the weather was perfect when we were ready to go out.  It's been raining here for the last two days which is good because we have 32 new raspberry bushes and 4 new magnolia trees that need a lot of water.  Even when the family got here, it was pouring rain.  However, by the time we finished lunch and games, the sun was shining and Lockhaven is really very beautiful, so it was perfect.

They brought me back to my self-imposed prison and I returned to my OB/Gyn lair feeling much lighter hearted and glad the time with them had passed so enjoyably. I really appreciate them coming here and driving all that way. They could have had a nap instead but they chose to come see me.  Thanks Aris, Mark, Johannah and Glo for visiting me today and making my Sunday alone so much better than it would have been. I love you guys.

P.S.  Cletus and Model Newborn are still sitting there waiting for you and they already miss Aris and her loving care for them while she was visiting.

Love, Papa Juan