Elder and Sister Urban: A Snowy Week in Charlotte

Red Rocks Cafe

We left the Mission Office early, about 6:30PM to go out to dinner for our Anniversary.

The food was delicious and the company was even better! We'll be eating there again.

After dinner we drove to the beautiful South Park Mall which was close by.

I wanted to go to Macy's to find an inexpensive comforter set for our bed.

Every little thing we do makes our apartment feel more homey.

A funny thing happened in the half hour we had in Macy's before the store closed.

Tom went to find a restroom and I heard a voice over the intercom say,

"It's 8:45 and our store will be closing in 15 minutes." I was debating about my choice of bedding when soon that same voice blared through the intercom,

"Our store will be closing in 10 minutes."

I quickly made the decision to purchase the least expensive bedding I could find

and headed to a register to make my purchase.

Tom had not come back yet.

Then I heard, "It's 8:55 and our store will be closing in 5 minutes. Please complete

your purchases and exit the store." I lugged the bedding to the front door then

tried to call Tom's cell phone. It went to voice mail. I stood at the doorway

when immediately most of the store lights went off,

leaving me in a very dimly lit strange place, getting a little panicky.

Shoppers were passing by me rushing out the doors.

I continued looking up and down the isles hoping to get a glimpse my husband.

No such luck. Instead I heard that soft menacing voice saying, "Our store is now closed."

I expected the doors behind me to lock instantly with me standing inside the store and no way to get out. I felt like a 4 year old child who'd been separated from her mother and I was near tears (I was really tired, OK) when my phone rang and it was my Knight in shining armor. "Where are You?" he impatiently asked. For some reason that was a VERY annoying question but I tried to stay calm as I said, "Standing at the door waiting for you." He had come out of the bathroom into a dark store and couldn't find the right door. Soon the lost was found and I discovered that Tom had been talking on the phone to his son, Mike. Who does that in the bathroom?

South Park Mall is a very large upscale mall and though it might be fun to shop there sometime,

I'm not sure I ever want to go back.

Tuesday, a light snow began. It was lovely to see.

Sister Jacot and Sister Webber surprised us

with a miniature snowman peeking at us through the window.

These are trees on the side of the Mission Home parking lot

This is the front of our Mission offices. My office is on the left. Tom's office is on the right.

Our friendly colorful Cardinal seems happy on his branch of the tree.

Wednesday we went to work about 10 AM and the snow got heavier so the state basically shut down. President Craven called and told us to all go home at noon to be safe.
The traffic was light to almost non existent but it still took us 45 minutes
to get back to our apartment when it usually takes less than 20 minutes.

The roads were becoming icy.

We're almost to our garage. Tom had to scrape the car off after we parked it in the garage.

We've learned that because the garage is not insulated, all the ice and snow that is on the car

when you close the garage door will be there when you open it even the next day.

All night we could hear the ice drops (like hail but not) hit our bedroom window.

In an ice storm, the roads and walkways are treacherous so no one leaves home.
We've been blessed because we have had electricity!
It's Thursday afternoon and we are still stranded in our apartment.
We're not sure if we'll be able to travel to the Mission office tomorrow.
Schools, government agencies, and even stores have been closed because of the storm.