Mission Journal

December 25, 2011

Today we were instructed to just have Sacrament meeting.  With the grown children and their children visiting the members today we had a large crowd. If only every Sunday could be like today.  We went back to Brother and Sister R’s house for Christmas.  They are such nice people.  I truly wish Sister R would let us teach her the lessons.  She’s only allowed us to teach the first two lessons – I believe she knows the gospel is true; I just can’t figure out what her reservation is.  I need everyone’s prayers for her.  Just call her Sister R – the Lord knows who she is.

December 24, 2011

We delivered some of the cakes and candy today.  We spent the evening with the branch mission leader and his family.  We had food, told Christmas stories, (Thank you Sister Hill for the stories!) and sang Christmas songs.  Today was a good day.

December 23, 2011

Brother and Sister R invited us over to their house.  We were hoping they would let us teach another complete lesson.  They had two couples visiting, one was a Baptist Minister.  The minister told me he was having trouble with his Open Office program.  I know what to do with the problem he’s having.  I got his card and plan to fix his computer problem and give him the first lesson.  (The plans of mice and manJ.)  Wish me luck!

December 22, 2011

Today was a double zone conference in Murray, Kentucky.  The Leitchfield Elders came to our house to ride the rest of the way with us.  It’s a two hour drive to get to Murray from Hartford.  Fran’s legs were already swollen from the ride yesterday, so we put the couch cushions in the car with one of the back seats laying down, that way she could lay down and keep her feet up to prevent them from swelling.  It was an extremely  spiritual meeting.  President and Sister McKee were there along with all the missionaries of both zones.  We were glad we went.

Just before we got home we got a phone call from the branch mission leader.  One of the investigators was at his house doing a Christmas project with him and his wife.  He asked if we could come over and stay for just a little while.  They were making homemade wrapping paper using potatoes cut into shapes such as trees or stars etc. and stamping colors on the paper.  It was kind of neat.

December 21, 2011

We drove to Clarksville to pick up the Spanish speaking sisters and came back to Hartford.  We had two appointments, one with Sister L, and the other with T.  The sisters bore their testimony to Sister L, and we were glad they were there.  They have good spirits and the spirit of the Lord was evident.  Next we went to T’s house and they gave the lesson in Spanish, and we bore our testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel to his family.

It takes an hour and a half to drive from Hartford to Clarksville.  We made two trips today and will do it again if that’s what it takes for T to learn the gospel.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is true; Christ did atone for our sins and we owe everything to Him.  Christ gave everything for us, what are we willing to give for him?

December 20, 2011

We met the branch presidency at the church today.  Church members gathered food for needy families and we put the food in boxes according to the family’s needs and each of us took a box to the family we were assigned.  Fran and I took a box to Brother and Sister Y.  Brother Y’s electric wheel chair was on the back of his pickup sitting in the rain.  The branch president and I both tried to let it down so we could put it in the garage and neither of us could figure out how to operate the lift.  He finally went back into the house for further instructions – all we didn’t do was lower an arm on the lift.  Well, we did get it in the garage after all.

We took the video “Joy to the World” to the V family.  It will play in many languages, and it’s worth watching, especially at Christmas time.

December 19, 2011

Even on a mission Christmas time is a lot of work.  Fran baked most of the day and I helped her.  She made baby cakes, candy, and chocolate covered pretzels.  We intend to give them to members of the branch and investigators.

Mission Journal

December 18, 2011

T and his father-in-law were both at church this morning, also brother R, but sister R wasn’t there. L Brother P’s son is visiting from Utah, so guess who gave the talk, Yeah, Brother P’s son.  He’s a good speaker.  T did have to go to work right after sacrament, but he was there as much as he could.

This afternoon we went to Brother T P’s house, we finally got to meet his wife.  She is very nice and knows a lot about the church.  We’ll try to meet with her again.

December 17, 2011

The Spanish speaking sisters were a little late, but it takes us an hour and a half to drive from Clarksville – it’s a long drive.  We asked them to challenge T to baptism during the lesson.  They gave the lesson on the Word of Wisdom.  T hasn’t drank in over a year and said the only thing he didn’t like was not drinking tea, but his wife wouldn’t let him have any anyway, and it’s been years since he has – so no problem.  Fran and I didn’t exactly know what was going on, but everyone including T had a smile from ear to ear.  Then we learned his baptism date is January 8^th.  We’re so excited – YeHaa.

December 16, 2011

The R’s called, I was afraid they wanted to cancel their appointment but instead they wanted us to go with them to Owensboro to another Christmas party.  It wasn’t as good as a lesson, but it was something gospel related, so we went.  The Owensboro branch is much larger than Hartford’s and they actually have a building built by the church.  Some of the people at the party didn’t even know Hartford had a branch.  I did print off an Ensign article written by Elder Holland to leave with her.  I’d rather give the lesson. J

December 15, 2011

We were so tired that we rested, and of course read the scriptures together.  But we didn’t even open the door.  We fell asleep trying to read once, not just me but Fran too.

December 14, 2011

We didn’t sleep well last night.  We were in the bedroom President and Sister McKee give to General Authorities when they come.  The bed was good, but – we just didn’t sleep well.

Fran and I put together the finger foods we brought, and Fran made her devilled eggs, and then the conference started.  It was wonderful, learning from the president and his wife.  After lunch we met for two more hours and took some pictures.  I forgot my camera, so when we are e-mailed the pictures I’ll post them.

After the conference we hightailed it back to Hartford for the Christmas party, and just barely made it.  About 35 people showed up, and the food was excellent.  The primary put on a play about the birth of Jesus, and then Santa gave out presents.  When we got home – we crashed.

December 13, 2011

We are scheduled to go to the Senior Missionary Zone Conference tomorrow and the Nashville Temple tonight.  We spent the morning packing, and getting some more of the food to another sister.  But before hitting the road we stopped by Sister D’s house.  She is inactive because this branch is so small and the visiting teaching is weak.  Fran told her that the branch would continue to be weak unless more people start coming out and help with such things as visiting teaching.  We reminded her of the Christmas party – hope she comes.

We got to Nashville about 5:30 and met the other seniors at the Temple.  To our surprise we were asked to be the witness couple.  Big old tears ran down Fran’s cheeks, she was so moved.  It was sooooo good to enter the Temple again.

December 12, 2011

It seems as if we go to Owensboro every Monday, but this time it was to get ready for the Christmas party.  We picked up a few things for the children’s stockings, and some food.  Then spread the food among several of the sisters to prepare.

We went to T’s house to give him a lesson.  The trouble is that we don’t speak Spanish, and he prefers his native language when taking lessons about the Lord.  We did have a DVD to show him.  We set it to speak Spanish with closed captions in English.  We’re calling the Spanish speaking sisters tomorrow.  He is a humble man, and I believe he knows that Jesus is the Christ.

December 11, 2011

Brother C’s ten year old daughter gave the sacrament talk today.  She did a wonderful job.  Her talk was better than many adults I’ve heard – wow.  We had lunch with her grandparents after church, and when we mentioned how good her talk was, we could see buttons almost ready to pop.

We taught the R’s again tonight and could feel the power of the spirit.  I think it may have scared Sister R a little, I’m not sure if she has ever felt the spirit so strong.  We’re to come back on Friday.

December 10, 2011

We studied the Book of Mormon today.  There is beauty in the writings of Nephi – he uses Hebrew poetry and stirs the heart.

2 Nephi 4

15 And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven upon the plates of brass.

For my soul delighteth in the scriptures,

and my heart pondereth them,

and writeth them for the learning and the profit of my children.

 16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord;

and my heart pondereth continually upon the

things which I have seen and heard.

 17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord,

in showing me his great and marvelous works,

my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am!

 Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh;

my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.

…

26 O then, if I have seen so great things,

if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy,

why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow,

and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?

 27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh?

Yea, why should I give way to temptations,

 that the evil one have place in my heart

to destroy my peace and afflict my soul?

Why am I angry because of mine enemy?

 28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin.

Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no

more for the enemy of my soul.

…

30 Rejoice,

O my heart, and cry unto

the Lord, and say:

O Lord,

I will praise thee forever;

yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God,

and the rock of my salvation.

Mission Journal

December 9, 2011

Planning is always a good thing when there are several things to do.  We spent this morning praying about the people in the branch.  Today we checked on the Y’s – they seem to be doing better, but we’re still worried about them.  We drove north about twenty-five miles to Brother C’s house.  We pulled into the drive and an old man met us in the drive way.  I asked, “Are you Brother C?”  He answered that he was, so we went inside to talk to him.  After a few minutes I realized that something wasn’t right about our conversation.  I saw a Bible on his chair and asked if he was having trouble seeing the letters inside his Bible.  He said no, so I offered to give him a Book of Mormon.  He said he wouldn’t have one in his house.  I was truly confused, so I asked again if he was Brother C.   He said I must be talking about his son who lives up the driveway in the mobile home.  I attempted to talk to him further, and he turned his TV on to a TV evangelists.   For some reason people are afraid to think for themselves and they listen to these evangelists rather than read, study, ponder and pray for themselves.  I don’t know if it’s just laziness or fear that these people’s lies instill into them.  All I know to say is follow the money.  These preachers and evangelists are paid for what they do.  Are they afraid they will lose money if their so called people listen to the spirit of the Lord?  I haven’t seen anyone injured by the Book of Mormon.  On the contrary, I’ve seen souls strengthened.  I’ve seen peoples testimonies of our Savior, Jesus Christ grow.  My testimony to anyone reading this blog is – I know God lives, I know that his only begotten son is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I know his church has truly been restored as it was when the Lord was on this earth.  I know that our Lord called Joseph Smith to restore His church on the earth.  I know the Book of Mormon is an inspired scripture written by ancient people in the American continent.  That’s why I am here.  I am not receiving money for what I do, as the evangelists.  I am here because I want to share truth about our Father in Heaven, and His son Jesus Christ.

December 8, 2011

Mission Journal

We just called the R’s, and Brother R said he was throwing up, just as Fran had done, so we’ll miss seeing them again today.  I was reading and studying and I was so struck with this scripture in the Book of Moroni that I had to put it on the blog.  Moroni 7:45-48

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

 47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

 48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

In this Christmas season, especially, we need to have charity for one another and learn to love one another – as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ loves us.

Mission Journal

December 7, 2011

Fran was feeling a little better this morning, so we drove to Leitchfield to meet with the Elders there.  We had a good meeting.  I gave the opening prayer and Fran gave a lesson on record keeping.  Afterwards we had lunch together at the Golden Dinner.  As spiritual as these young missionaries can be, they are still young men.  They can really put away the food.

On our way back to Hartford I listened to a voice mail I received while we were meeting.  B had called and canceled our appointment, she had forgotten about her dentist appointment.  We’ll catch her latter, any way Fran said she was beginning to feel bad again; it’s probably a good thing that we could go home and rest.  That’s when the diarrhea started.

December 6, 2011

We wanted to check on the Y family, but they had several cars in the drive way as we passed so we went on.  Next we went to E’s house and waited for the school bus, that’s when the little girl gets home and the family is usually home at that time, but we were too early so we decided to find another members house.  Fran had been complaining of a head ache all day, but after driving through the winding road, going up and down the hills, she got sick and we had to stop the car.  I guess that what K had was contagious.  Anyway, we had to call the R’s and cancel our lesson with them.  When we got home Fran was freezing, she just climbed into bed.  She said she finally got warm and sleep for about three hours.

December 5, 2011

On P days we go to Owensboro to shop, but today on our way home we got a phone call from the Branch President.  He wanted to do some home teaching while his wife was gone from home, so we got into our good cloths and was ready to go by 5:00 pm.  Oh, it’s still raining.  First he took us to Center Town; there is where a young lady (K) and her son live with K’s mother.  K was alone and very sick – she’d been vomiting she said.  Even though she is a member, she’s been going to church with her mother in Center Town.  I gave her a Book of Mormon and admonished her to read it.  She doesn’t drive and the Branch President asked her if her mother could bring her to church.  She said she would ask, but I won’t bet on it.

Next we went to the A’s house.  She is an active member and they have active children.  Her husband said he was born Baptist and will die Baptist.  We will also try to schedule an appointment with this couple.

December 4, 2011

Today was fast Sunday.  There were only 16 people at church today.  There’s some kind of bug going around – I hope we don’t catch it.  Almost everyone bore their testimony, and that was good.  We have a very good Gospel Doctrine teacher.  Oh, it’s raining again.

Right after church Fran made Salmon patties and a fine lunch.  We shared this with the Y family, but when we got there they had family there making them lunch.  We told them to keep it for later; we don’t want them going hungry again.

We went home teaching with the mission leader.  At the first place we stopped the member was off hunting, and his non-member wife didn’t let us in the house.  We were hoping he was home, because we believe she is a good candidate for the gospel.  Next we went to Sister R’s house.  She always has to give us something to drink, this time it was a can of Sprite.  Her husband smokes like a sieve and is in very poor health.  Finally, we went to the G’s house.  They are investigators the mission leader knew about.  They were on the floor with their grandchildren playing a game, and invited us to play the game with them, so we did.  He is retired, but works more now than he did before he retired, go figure.  Anyway, we will try to set up an appointment with them.

December 3, 2011

Today we were supposed to teach a member’s husband, T. T is a chef at a Mexican restaurant in Beaver Dam, but the chef in another town quit his job and T had to drive several miles to work in his place, so we had to put off the lessons. 

Hartford had a Christmas parade today.  It started with the Hartford’s fire department and then every town in the area’s fire departments driving their emergency vehicles with their sirens going full blast.  Then Miss This and That sitting in the back seat of a convertibles.  There were a few floats, some quite good.  It seemed like everybody in all of the towns were lined up on Main Street.  It was fun!

December 2, 2011

The Elders from Leitchfield came over this morning to help us with record keeping.  They were able to show us how to use the books better, and that will help us stay better organized.  Afterwards we went to the Y’s house and they looked like death warmed over.  Fran asked if they had eaten anything and they said they may have had a piece of toast, so she rummaged through their fridge and was able to make them an omelet.  They ate as if they haven’t eaten in several days.  The people we were to teach this evening had worked in their garage all day long and asked if they could take us out to eat and skip the lesson.  We did as they asked, but even though I like to eat, she needs the lessons.  The catfish was wonderful!

December 1, 2011

Brother Y and his wife that we have been teaching are in very poor health.  We’ve taught his wife three lessons, but when we went by this morning she would fall asleep on the couch while talking.  I asked him if he thought it would be a good idea to try to teach and he said probably not.  She has gotten to the

Mission Journal

November 30, 2011

The Leitchfield Elders knocked on our door at 7:15 this morning.  We shared breakfast with them and drove to Clarksville for a Zone meeting.  It was good and inspirational meeting, but a long drive for us.  We’ve been listening to a church history dramatization disc while driving.  It’s given us a little insight into what it was like during the early 1800’s for the saints.  We have it good today.  We drove the Elders back to Leitchfield, about a 30 minute drive from Hartford; so, a two hour drive from Clarksville.  We had a 5:00 pm appointment with Barbara in Beavers Dam and had just enough time to get there, when we got a call from Rob.  He was at the hospital in Leitchfield and his car wouldn’t start.  We were just two blocks from where we were to the hospital and tried to give him a jump start, but it just wouldn’t start.  I called Barbara and told her that we would be late, and gave Rob a ride home to Olaton, then to Beavers Dam.  We arrived at Barbara’s house by 6:00 pm.  We explained what had happened and she said she understood – she’s a great lady.  Sister Lindsey was there with her, and we had a good lesson.  Barbara promised to be at church this week – that’s a good thing.  When we finally got home we were ready to eat and crash.  It seemed like we spent the whole day in the car.

On a sad note: As we were leaving the hospital with Rob, Fran received a phone call from Yvonne.  Lucky has had some kind of a stroke, or something.  Anyway, he is very ill.  I pray that anyone reading this blog will say a special prayer for Lucky and Yvonne, they need it.  Fran is keeping her phone close these days; she needs your prayers as well.

November 29, 2011

Judy is such a nice person; we were at their house at 11:00 am to teach her the first lesson.  She said, your only here to practice you know.  We assured her that she will always have a choice and we were there to help her understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Rob, her husband bore his testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel.  They insisted on feeding us after the lesson. 

Eric wasn’t home when we stopped by his house; I hope we haven’t lost him.  He has a good heart.

November 28, 2011

We went to Owensboro, it’s still raining.  The gas here is 3.019 a gallon, 26 cents less than in Hartford.  I’m chilled to the bone.  Fran and I decided to sit on the couch together and study under a blanket.  For the last month it has rained every P day, but we’re happy.

November 27, 2011

It’s raining again, and the rain is cold.  We had 32 people at church today, and that is good.

November 26, 2011

Today was a beautiful day, the sun shining and 76 degrees.  We attempted to visit an investigator the previous missionaries visited and drove out to the address and found the mail box, but the house was gone.  We drove to several places and either no one was home, or we couldn’t find the house.  Finally, we found a member home just before the sun went down.  She is only four weeks from graduating from college.  We encouraged her to become active again, especially after she graduates.  Two of her sons are still teens, the others are grown.  Then we drove over to John and Mary Lou’s house.  John is out of the hospital now and his knee is looking much better, but . . . he fell in his basement and injured his right hip by falling on the stump of his amputated leg, wow.  We’ve set up an appointment Thursday to restart the lessons for Mary Lou.

November 25, 2011

Today we visited Kristen’s house.  She is an active member with four active children.  Her husband is a non-member and said we could start teaching him the lessons starting next Saturday, we’re excited about this.  Her husband speaks limited English, so we’re going to try to get the Spanish speaking sisters to come up, along with Eric that will be two Spanish speaking investigators!