Mission Journal

May 29, 2012 – Tuesday

The new young couple that moved to Hartford this week is so friendly.  The Mrs. –  HS – volunteered to go with us to BP’s house.  BP and her granddaughters are a little slow when it comes to reading, so we decided it would be good to show them the video Finding Faith in Christ and then give the primary lesson on the Plan of Salvation.  The primary lesson only talks about how Jesus was willing to follow Heavenly Fathers plan, and how Lucifer wanted to force men to return to heaven and take all the glory for himself.  HS bore her testimony and was a great help, we’re glad to have her.

We also went to JS’s house this afternoon, just Sister Oakley and me.  We love going to their house, and they are beginning to understand the gospel, and I believe their love for the Lord is growing.  To begin the lesson JS asked me to say the prayer, but when it came to the ending prayer he wanted to say that himself.  He is reading his new Book of Alma and loves it.  Mrs. JS wanted to know more about forcing people to follow Christ, and JS said he thought that was wrong.  I had him read from the D&C section 121:41-43.  

41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

 42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—

 43 Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;

JS was really moved by this scripture, the spirit was strong.  He said that he had always felt this was the right way, and he was so glad that he has finally read a scripture that said these things.

May 28, 2012 – Monday

Today was P-day, but we had promised BP’s granddaughters that we would watch them play fiddle and guitar at the strawberry festival.  We were unsure about the time when they would be there so we called BP and asked.  She said one would play at 10:15 and the other at 10:45.  Well, we got there at 10:00 but no children playing blue grass.  At 11:00 they had a memorial service that lasted until noon, which was good and I’m glad we were there.  Except the temperature was 97 degrees.  Finally the Blue Grass Young’uns played at noon until 1:30 pm.  We left a little early because we were about to burn up.  It was good to get back inside an air-conditioned car. We drove on to Owensboro and took care of a little shopping we had to do.

May 27, 2012 – Sunday

Mrs. JS said she wasn’t feeling well so she wouldn’t be coming to church this morning. L  But TV’s daughter is ready to be baptized, and TV was able to do the baptism! J J  His daughter asked for me to confirm her.  TV blessed the sacrament for the third week in a roll; he has come a long way.  After church AC’s daughter was baptized by Br. Pieper.  She also asked that I confirm her a member of the church.  I was humbled today by two eight year old girls.

Br. and Sister Pieper asked us to eat with them.  We always enjoy being with these wonderful folks.

Our little branch is being blessed by a new couple moving in and they’re living just down the road from us.  They dropped in to meet us this evening, and they are a very nice young couple.   They will add strength to the branch.

We have a corn field just outside our kitchen window!

May 26, 2012 – Saturday

We’re so sore this morning! L We drove over to BN’s house and he and his boys were sanding patches on the wall.  We helped with that and discussed how the Lord blesses us.  BN has never repaired or painted a wall before.  When I mentioned that where he patched was smooth and the other parts of the wall had a texture they looked shocked, they hadn’t thought of that.  They asked, “What can we do about that?”  I explained that the only thing they could do to make it look right is put another texture on the wall from corner to corner.  Mrs. BN went to the store and bought some more mud and I showed them how to mix it so as to match the rest of the room, and when we finished they were extremely happy.  We felt good and set up a time to come back and teach about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tomorrow two eight year old girls are going to be baptized.  We drove over to the church to fill the font and found that we couldn’t get to the switch to turn on the water heater.  We got ahold of Br. C at the Strawberry Festival in Beaver Dam and got a key from him.  Since we had his key we decided to empty the garbage can in the president’s office and discovered that the floor was wet.  We called Br. Pieper and he came with a shop vac to vacuum the water from the floor, and said he would watch the font since he and his brother-in-law were there anyway.

May 25, 2012 – Friday

We decided to help WE with her tree limbs, especially the one hanging over the electric wire.  I borrowed a pole saw from BC and we drove to her house, she wasn’t expecting us and was surprised when we pulled into her driveway.  It was very hard work for the three of us, being that none of us are in very good shape, but we did get the limbs off the wire and off the roof of her house.  She was cutting the grass and me and Sister Oakley were cutting limbs and stacking them in the back of her truck and then moving them to a stack of limbs on another part of her property.  We worked from about 9:00 am till about 1:00 pm when my hands started cramping and I couldn’t get them to stay open, I guess I’m a wimp – what can I say.  Sister Oakley packed a lunch and we ate at WE’s house then drove home and showered – boy that felt good.

When we got to BN’s house they told us that they had called and left a message that they weren’t ready for us to help with the wall, but they did invite us to watch their boys play in a little league game.  Their youngest boy is a little sick; they said strep, so he and his mother were to stay home, so we went home to get ready for the game.  When we got to the field both boys were out playing.  Their team was one man short so he volunteered to play even though he didn’t feel good, what a trouper.  By the second game the other boy showed up, so the sick boy went home with his mother.  It was fun to watch boys play baseball, I’ve always loved it.

May 24, 2012 – Thursday

Visited with WE today and as usual she had questions from the Book of Mormon, I love that she is asking questions about the Book of Mormon.  Sometimes it’s best to go back to the basics.  God is our Heavenly Father – He has a body of flesh and bone.  Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God and was the Jehovah of the Old Testament and today has a body of flesh and bones.  The Holy Ghost is also a member of the Godhead and is a body of spirit.  She read something in the Book of Mosiah that confused her about the Godhead so we reviewed other scriptures that explained this concept better.  She is sooooo upset about all the wars in the Book of Alma and wanted to know why they continued to fight all the time.  She’s such a wonderful person and wants peace for everyone.  She has trouble seeing that in our time we are having wars as often as they did in the Book of Mormon. 

The trees around her house are completely overgrown, on the roof of her house and one limb is broken and hanging over the electric wire going to her house.  She doesn’t have money to have them cut and she is not in shape to do it herself.  She can’t get home owners insurance because of those trees.

Next we went to BN’s house, he’s a school teacher and his family is so nice. They’re making repairs to one of the walls of their house.  As we talked and gave a short lesson, I picked up a scraper and helped scrape some of the paint.  We told them that we’d come by tomorrow and help them with the wall.

May 23, 2012 – Wednesday

Sister Oakley was hurting very badly today and we stayed at home and studied as best as we could.  KS the nurse told us that the 5^th day after a Reclast injection would be the worst, and many people had flu like symptoms.  Some even had fever and chills, vomiting. At least Sister Oakley was only hurting.

May 22, 2012 – Tuesday

We had three appointments set for today, first we drove to BP’s house and nobody was home but the cats, so we drove over to GP’s house and she wasn’t home either.  Next we were to have a meeting with Brother Pieper at the church, but when we called him he was in a business meeting – deep breath.  Next we were to have a meeting with JS and his wife, but as we were driving the phone rang and they cancelled as well.  Then we drove to Olaton and finely found GP at home with her husband – a nice couple that we have been trying to catch for over a week.  They have a beautiful home with weeping willow trees, a well mowed lawn, and a front porch with humming bird feeders on it.   We watched the humming birds zip past from one feeder to another.  GP told us she was Methodist and wouldn’t change her religion, and had no desire to listen to us.  We did leave a video and a pamphlet on the plan of salvation.  We also left our card with her.

May 21, 2012 – Monday

We drove to the Elders apartment in Leitchfield and met with them and Elder and Sister Peterson, we had lunch and then went to Mammoth Cave.  It was beautiful and we only took the short tour because we didn’t think we could walk the hard trail. The 2nd picture is of the cave crickets. Scary looking things. I would like to go back and do the long tour.

May 20, 2012 – Sunday

We have been blessed with about thirty people in Sacrament meeting and most of the men are wearing white shirts!   TV continues to give the blessing on the sacrament and does a great job, and his English is improving.

May 19, 2012 – Saturday

For the life of me I waited too long to blog, and didn’t give myself any notes in the calendar book.  I know we were busy, but I can’t remember what we did.

May 18, 2012 – Friday

We were able to meet with BP again and talk about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I think I probably got a little long winded, sorry about that.  Each of the girls received a Book of Mormon.  Our next appointment with them is next Tuesday.

We also met with WE, her back is bothering her a lot.  We discussed what she has been reading in the Book of Mosiah, she always ask soul searching questions.  We have to be on our toes with her – that’s a good thing.

May 17, 2012 – Thursday

District meeting was held in Leitchfield this morning.  I gave the closing prayer and Sister Oakley gave some of the training.

We met BP this afternoon, along with two of her grandchildren, CP and JLP.  They were excited to talk about Learning Inner Beauty through Jesus Christ.  We gave them the video Our Heavenly Father’s Plan and were able to set up another appointment for tomorrow.

May 16, 2012 – Wednesday

We went back to the hospital for the last infusion of Iron this morning; Sister Oakley is glad about that.  She says that she doesn’t really feel any difference, not yet anyway.  Pray for her that this Iron will give her a little more energy, she needs it.

After the infusion we went to JS house and gave them another lesson on commandments.  When we asked if they have been reading the scriptures together and praying together they said they haven’t.  We were really disappointed and encouraged them to do so.  We gave Mrs. JM a how to quit smoking instruction and went over Baptism and authority again and asked if they would go to church with us on Sunday.  They agreed to go to church and we are to pick them up at 9:40 Sunday and give them a ride to church.  

JS has bad eyesight, so we ordered him an extra-large print copy of the Book of Mormon, but that only came as a triple combination.  When we left his house we went by the post office and it was in the mail – so we took it to him. J

May 15, 2012 – Tuesday

Today is transfers in Nashville.  We drove to Morgantown and picked up Elder and Sister Peterson and they rode to Nashville with us.  We really enjoy being around this couple.  We first went to the fireside where the new missionaries are introduced and those going home are presented.  It’s always a spiritual experience, and then we (the senior couples and those missionaries going home) eat together.  Then we get the opportunity to go to the Temple. It’s always so special to go to the temple. Our son Robert brought our temple clothes to us when he visited, and it was so nice to be able to use our own Temple clothes.  Going with all the seniors and the missionaries that are going home is always so spiritual.  One of the missionaries going home got quite a surprise; his family flew in and didn’t let him know.  When he approached the Temple he saw his mother and said, “Mom, what are you doing here?” It’s against the rules in the white handbook – he didn’t want to break the rules. J   We didn’t get home until after 9:00 pm, but it was wonderful.

May 14, 2012 – Monday

Today is our preparation day, but we did have to go for another Iron injection for Sister Oakley.  The nurse put the IV in her left hand and after the infusion was done she attempted to leave the catheter in.  We went to the store and Sister Oakley complained of it hurting a lot, so we pulled it ourselves and found that it had infiltrated. The whole top of her hand was quite swollen and it was even swollen up into her wrist, I’m glad we pulled it.  We put ice on her hand all that day, that night, and the next night.  It’s still swollen and I’m writing this blog ten days later!