Mission Journal

May 1, 2012 – Tuesday

Sister Oakley had a doctor’s appointment this morning.  He told her that her iron level is very low and has scheduled her for several IV iron injections as soon as the insurance ok’s it.

We were able to meet with JS and his wife this afternoon.  We taught them the Word of Wisdom lesson.  JS said that he doesn’t smoke; don’t see anything wrong with an occasional beer once in a while.  He doesn’t drink coffee or tea, but he enjoys his chewing tobacco and he’s not going to quit.  Mrs. JS said her failures are coffee, tea, and smoking.  When I asked her which she thinks she could quit first, she said smoking.  Then she said to Sister Oakley, “I don’t see . . . well . . . if drinking coffee, tea, and smoking is a sin . . . well, I guess I’ve answered my own question.”  We really like this humble lady; she said she wanted to go to church with us on the 13^th. I pray that it works out, but I think we have a long way to go with Mr. JS.

CH’s grandmother called as we were still with JS and said that we were under thunderstorm and tornado watch.  I told her that if we had to we would hunker down with her so she said come on.  When we got there CH was angry with his grandmother and refused to come out of his room.  We discussed with her about some of the sisters of the branch, now that she is the Relief Society President; she had come a long way in the past few months.  Then we showed her a video we had planned to show her grandson, about agency.  We had a good meeting with her.

When we left CH’s house I asked Sister Oakley if she would be OK with stopping at JR’s house if her car was in her driveway.  She, many years ago was the Relief Society President of this little branch, but because of hurt feelings stopped going to church.  Please, anyone reading this blog, don’t let anyone – no matter who they are – come between you and your Heavenly Father, they’re not worth it.  If someone hurts your feelings, go to them and tell them.  If there is no way it can be resolved – sit on the other side of the chapel – but don’t ever stop worshiping Heavenly Father and Jesus.  Don’t ever stop going to church and don’t ever stop keeping your covenants that you have made with God! Anyway, we had a nice meeting with JR, and she agreed to go with us to teach non-members lessons.  I call that a success.

April 30, 2012 – Monday

We went to RR’s house this morning.  RR is scheduled for a colonoscopy and his wife has broken her kneecap and can’t drive her car at this time.  Sister Oakley stayed with Mrs. RR and I drove him to the hospital and back.  His procedure went well and we were able to teach them a short lesson before we came home, but this took most of the day.  We were able to do a little house keeping in the late afternoon.

Brother Pieper came over with 55 referrals we were able to get from the Celebrate the Child event.  He said that Sister Pieper will teach a lesson on parenting, and that he would teach a lesson on Genealogy and the remaining 25 people who wanted to know more about Jesus would be ours to teach.

April 29, 2012 – Sunday

After church we visited with two of the inactives that we have been working with.  Neither came to church today. L  WE said that her back was hurting so badly that she couldn’t come today, so we gave her a lesson and told her we would pray for her.  She said that she was calling her doctor sometime this week.

Next we visited WH.  He has a friend named Tim that we haven’t met.  Tim is not helpful as far as rescuing WH is concerned.  WH was reading the first part of 2 Nephi and said he stopped reading because of the prophecy about Joseph Smith.  We went through these prophecies with him and reassured him that prophecies are throughout the scriptures, and they are there to help us understand the will of God. We will keep working with this wonderful man, and I pray that he will feel the spirit in his life.

April 28, 2012 – Saturday

This morning we met the Piepers at the High School along with the Missionaries from Leitchfield and Morgantown.  We finished getting the room ready and then the children started coming in.  I was at the first station with the cotton balls; Elder and Sister Peterson were helping the children with the butterfly picture frames,

Sister Oakley was helping with the butterfly tree, Brother Pieper was helping them through the most beautiful creation box, Sister CD was handing out pictures of Jesus, and the Elders from Leitchfield were outside getting people to come inside the room.  Later, as needed we all changed stations and it was a lot of fun.  At one time I was helping the children through the most beautiful creation box and a little girl about five years old came through.  I heard he mother call her by name and say, “Come on, let’s go.” I peeped into the box and the little girl was looking at herself in the mirror and said, “But Mamma, I’m the most beautiful creation God has ever made!”

There were other organizations all over the school doing different thing to “Celebrate the Child” but we were too busy to go out and see what they were doing.  This has turned out to be the greatest event in Ohio County.  Brother Pieper told us that we have over 55 referrals of one kind or another – we’re excited.

April 27, 2012 – Friday

We had district meeting this morning in Leitchfield with the young Elders and Elder and Sister Peterson.  I love district meetings; we always learn so much, and Elder and Sister Peterson have brought an extra dimension – we love having them around.  Elder Peterson was a potato farmer in Idaho.  He gave a spiritual thought using the potato as an example.  As long as the potato gets nourishment it grows, but if the moisture becomes too low the top of the plant receives the moisture and the potato stops growing.  Then when the rains come, instead of the potato to just start growing as it was, it doesn’t.  It will grow from one of the eyes and cause what they call a knot.  Sometimes the knots will become as large as the potato itself.  The potato farmer gets only about one third as much money for a knotty potato as they do well formed potatoes, even though the knotty potato taste as well as any other.  So, the potato farmer has to irrigate and nourish the potato field and make sure the proper amount of moisture is in the soil.  That way the potato forms properly.  Our souls, like the potato requires constant nourishment.  We get that nourishment through reading the scriptures, obeying the commandments, and serving the Lord and our brothers and sisters.  Then our souls form properly, and the worth of a soul is much more than that of a potato.

When we got back to Hartford we went to visit Sister BL.  She has been sick for the last few weeks as well as feeling low because of an incident she had with a member that she was working with at work.  Sometimes it seems that we are our own worst enemies, at least it seems that way with

BL.  I believe that if she would be more willing to forgive she would be able to let the incident go.

We met Sister Pieper at the high school and helped her set up her room for the Celebrate the Child event they are putting on.  She started this event nineteen years ago.  She said that year they had only about sixty people show up, and last year over three thousand people came through.  I helped Brother Pieper put together a large cardboard box and decorated it with different things God has created, such as pictures of flowers, butterflies, and beautiful mountains.  Inside we put a long mirror on one of the walls.  Tomorrow we will ask the children to Enter to see the God’s Greatest Creation.  They have five stations inside their room.  First is a game with cotton balls.  The children will shoot a cotton ball and it will fall on a word, such as peaceful, loving, or something like that.  We will tell them that these things make them beautiful inside.  Second is a picture frame shaped like a butterfly.  They will be asked to write something that will make them be more like Jesus.  Third is a small shoe box they will look inside that has the manger scene of Jesus.  Forth is the table with cutout butterflies, they will be asked to write on the butterfly something they can do to be more like Jesus, and then put the butterfly on the butterfly tree. And fifth, the large box I described above.  As they leave they will receive a picture of Jesus.

April 26, 2012 – Thursday

RR and Mrs. RR bought several fruit trees and they were dying because RR has sever arthritis and Mrs. RR just broke her knew cap.  We have known this couple for several months and they are friends.  We volunteered to plant as many of these trees as we could and went over to their house and proceeded to do so.  We managed to get nine trees planted and then they took us out to eat.  It was a good day.