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.