Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Yesterday was very nice.  We went to the Washington DC Temple with Elders Chee and Stevens.  This coming Saturday the temple will be closed for about two months for major HVAC updates. Elder Stevens had never been to the visitor's center, so we took some time in there as well.

About 4:15 we had our list of members to visit, but first we were going to Xfinity to pick up our cable box an then stop at Best Buy to pick up a modem for the Internet. About a quarter of a mile down the road we saw a woman in the street just off the sidewalk and not in the crosswalk.  I slowed down and motioned for her to go on across, but she backed up a bit toward the sidewalk.  Her face told a story that caught both Irene's and my attention.

We stopped to ask her what was wrong.  She told us that she needed a ride to Walmart to charge her phone so could call her daughter.  She had been staying with a friend of hers in his girlfriend's condo just across the street from us.  They kicked her out and put all of her stuff out on the lawn.  We asked her to get in and we would take her to Walmart.  While enroute to Walmart we got a lot more of her story.  We told her that if she could not get a ride from Walmart we would be back in about an hour and then we could help her.

About an hour later we pulled into the Walmart parking lot and went inside.  She was still there.  There was a police officer who works the store in his off duty time that was very helpful in assisting us in assisting her to find a place to stay for the night.  Nothing seemed to be working to get her a place for the night.  She has burned a lot bridges with her mother Margarite, and her two daughters, Karla and Stephanie.  We found out her name is Mimi.  After about an hour of trying to help Mimi find a place to stay, Irene and I decided to drive her to her mother's place in Waldorf, Maryland.

I forgot to mention that Mimi is an NA.  Now, neither Irene nor I knew what NA is.  Mimi told us that it is "narcotics anonymous" and that she is a recovering abuser; pain killers.

After loading her stuff into the car we headed out a about 6:00 for a very long trip.  I did the driving, Mimi did most of the talking, an Irene did all of the counseling!  It was very obvious that Mimi has a troubled past and needs the gospel in her life.  I'll have Irene tell you more of her feelings and some of the counsel she gave, but I have to tell you, Irene was at her best.  I wish I had a tape recorder going,  I know there were a lot of: "why do you think happened?" and "If you did know, what would it be..." and "What our you going to do differently now..." and "What are you going to do now..." type of questions.

By the time we got Mimi to her daughter Stephanie's it was after 8:00. I checked the milage coming home; little over 75 miles.  It as after 10 when we got home and over 150 miles.  Neither of us felt good about leaving her on the street, and both felt that the Lord had put her there in our path for a reason.  After seeing the negative reaction of her daughter toward Mimi, we both felt that we had left Mimi in place where her emotional state would be taxed.