February 20 (fun creations, celebration)

Tonight I taught Crochet 101 to my girls. I've never taught anyone to crochet before, so I was pretty nervous. The last time I was a witness to a teenage crochet lesson, it was pert-near disastrous; the teacher, who was very skilled in the craft, was not patient or good at explaining steps, and she gave up and left early, irritated. Most of the girls in the class went home mad or aggravated. So I prayed a lot and Googled a lot to get ready for my Martha moment. It turned out to be a blast, and nobody went home angry or in tears.

In fact, our evening was a smashing success, not only because everybody learned how to do the basics, but ALSO because we met an apostle! See how we're sitting in the soft chairs of the foyer, instead of the fold-'em-out aluminums in a real church classroom? We'd gotten a hot tip from the bishop's daughter, who is one of our little band, that Elder L. Tom Perry was conducting some interviews at our building. I insisted that we get comfy in the upholstererd chairs and put ourselves in Elder Perry's path of retreat. Long story short, our collective and somewhat goofy anticipation grew over the next hour and a half, and right before it was time to take the girls home, Elder Perry emerged from the office. I went to him and shook his hand and asked if he would have time to meet a group of girls who'd been eagerly waiting for him. He was so warm and gracious, as was his companion, Elder Sitterud. They shook hands with all the young women and praised their handiwork, and told a funny story or two. It was just lovely! I'd placed a call earlier in the evening to Rob, who'd walked my camera over to the church, so we were even prepared for a photo op. The girls were no end of enthused about meeting Elder (and Sister) Perry. I was so glad we were in the right place at the right time for this to happen, and so glad I didn't end up wearing my Communist Party t-shirt tonight!