September 15, 2011

Elder and Sister Blattman’s Missionary Weekly Journal
September 15, 2011

We are back to our usual routine, studying making, Power-Point slides, fighting traffic to get to one of the chapels to teach a class, and then coming home late to collapse at the apartment only to repeat it all again perhaps but with an umbrella in hand the next day. Nancy bakes cookies every other day. Nothing invites the spirit like homemade oatmeal and raison cookies. The Elders from next door have a standing dinner appointment every Wednesday. They are such well-mannered and hardworking puppies.

We really look forward to being with each group of students. One young mother broke into tears on Monday morning as she recounted the relief she felt in being able to have a spiritual break in her week by attending institute class. The ladies all rushed to comfort her and Elder B. looked for a door to escape through. On Wednesday evenings we have a large class of mostly elderly students. These geriatric students, as we fondly call them, do share one thing with the younger students in that most of them are single. Many of the women have outlived their spouses. They too crave the feelings of shared spirituality that institute classes provide. We are sometimes a little hoarse after class from shouting because several don’t hear well. “Eh? What did he say?” is a frequent refrain in that class. Our class from the inner city also has unique individuals but the same sense of finding comfort in sharing the scriptures with others. One young man from the city ward has started attending community college. He is a little nervous about his English class and sent us a paper he wrote so we could correct errors. Reading his experiences was a reminder that most of us have no idea of the difficulties of growing up in impoverished cities.

We have our fun days. We went to the movie ‘Contagion’ this week. It made us more conscious of the practice that Mormons shake hands with everybody which pretty much negates opening doors with your elbow and wiping the handles of shopping carts. So we also went to WalMart and got our flu shots soon after seeing the movie.

These two photos are taken from the “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Art Museum after we had seen the Rembrandt exhibit on “The Faces of Jesus.” Next week we will be going to the Brandywine Art Museum. At this rate we shall be some of the most cultured people we know pretty soon. Perhaps we can become more discriminating yard sailors when we get home and find great art treasures.

And this is the view from our apartment window during one of the most recent rain storms. We love the rain. Besides being refreshing, the rain keeps the college kids from partying in the parking lot.