Dear Family and Friends,
It was a very busy week this week. It is the end of the transfer and we had our eight apartments to inspect. Only two left to do tomorrow. They closed one of the areas where we had an inspection last transfer so we got another one to do this time in Fayette. So we got to see some more of Alabama that we had not yet seen. Friday was our day for Selma and Greenville. They used to have elders in Greenville and they put sisters there this last transfer. The sisters at the apartment told us we were only twenty-three miles from the fried chicken voted best in the state of Alabama (how could we pass that up). So our day Friday was a little longer than it actually had to be, but it was well worth it. The fried pickles were very good and we were not disappointed in the fried chicken at all. The sisters told us about one of their contacts. They said they cannot tract at their apartment building. They decided to stop at Walmart one night and do some store contacting. They usually just tell people about the Book of Mormon and try to set an appointment with them but with one lady they just told her they are sharing the message that there are prophets on the earth again and that God has revealed additional scripture through them in addition to the bible. The lady said she had noticed a lot of inconsistencies in the bible and she would be very interested in learning about this new scripture. They set an appointment and found out she is their next door neighbor at the apartment building. She is very interested in the lessons they have been teaching her and she is married with a little baby. Her husband wants to take the lessons too but has been too busy to sit in with his wife so far. We have never seen any missionaries more excited about the work they are doing than those two sisters. One has a twin brother serving in the Florida mission who is currently assigned to an area in southern Alabama. They are actually in very close proximity to each other. She called her brother last week to give him a referral she received for a person that lives in his area. Her companion, Sister Sanfilippo, is a tiny girl and started talking the minute they opened the door and didn’t really ever stop. She reminded us a lot of Amanda (that is a compliment). Her companion is Sister Soctomah. It reminds me of the time Elder Satterfield and Elder Degrafenried served as companions in my mission in Arizona.
Monday was my doctor appointment in Tuscaloosa that was scheduled for 8:30 AM and wasn’t over until after 11:30 so we had to reschedule the apartment inspection in Fayette for Thursday. Then we went to visit Brother White. He was doing a little bit better. Tuesday we stopped to see him again after we finished our inspections in Tuscaloosa. He was doing better still and told us he was anxious to come home, but he wanted to stay as long as he was supposed to so everything would be alright when he was discharged. I told him we would get to see him the next day because we would be passing through on our way back from one of our inspections. After we left Sister Owens reminded me we rescheduled the inspection for Thursday and not Wednesday. We had to drive up to see him Wednesday so we wouldn’t let him down after telling him we would be there. Then we had to get back to Demopolis for our coordination meeting with the Branch mission leader. Before the meeting was over Brother White called and said he was discharged and he wanted us to come and get him and bring him home. So we headed back to Tuscaloosa right after the meeting. Alabama is beautiful in the daytime but I really don’t enjoy driving here on the state highways in the dark. It ended up being quite a long day again and we had to get up in the morning and drive back the next morning for our Fayette inspection. When we got there to pick him up we found out he discharged himself against medical advice and they refused to do anything for him. No wound care instructions, now medication, no therapy orders, nothing. They didn’t even let us use a chair to take him down to the car. A lot of things went on the night before and he told them he refused to spend another night there. That is a story for another time. Anyway, he is home now and he is getting better every day. His Kidney Doctor is getting things worked out for his medication and therapy. We took the Sacrament to him again tonight. Brother Borden helped me. He was there with his wife and we took the sisters with us. After the Sacrament Brother White said he wanted to bear his testimony. It was a choice experience.
That was the good news, the great news is that Cedric was baptized Saturday. I think I am getting too old for this. I was sure it was scheduled for 11:00 AM. We got there about twenty minutes early in case anyone needed any help getting things ready. At three minutes to 11 we were there and the sisters were there. About five minutes later Cedric and Tasha came with Cedric’s mother. At 11:10 there was still nobody else there. I was really disappointed. The sisters assured us the Smiths were coming right after their soccer game. The Branch President wasn’t there yet and neither was the mission president and his wife. The sisters told us they were coming. Then the sisters said it was scheduled for 11:30 and the Smiths had just arrived in their soccer clothes. Sister Owens and I left at that point to get plates and napkins for the refreshments since nobody brought any. So we were the only ones late for the service. I’m afraid baptismal services are about the same as church around here, with respect to attendance. Several of the people who said they were coming ended up not coming. Of course when the driver is one that can’t come from Greensboro that takes out at least four others who don’t have any other transportation. By the way, Brother White couldn’t make it to the baptism because his sister’s funeral service was the same day. We found out, though, that after his brother picked him up and took him to the service, he got to the door and had to go back and sit in the car because he was too weak. We felt bad for him.
The attachment is a picture of Cedric with the sisters. He really isn’t as scary as he looks. He is just really shy. I got to confirm him today in Sacrament meeting. He and Tasha participated pretty well in Gospel Principles class. I just remembered today that Sister Owens and I were the ones that found them and got the sisters set up to teach them. After I was called as clerk I was reviewing the records and the one whose address was “1st street” in Demopolis stood out to me and I felt compelled to find them. We only walked up and down a couple streets before we found them on Wolf Drive instead of 1st street.
I did survive my first financial audit this morning as Branch Clerk. It went fairly well. We didn’t have quite enough transactions each month to be able to randomly chose some to audit. The auditor just looked at every expense transaction we had for the first six months of the year.
We have our last inspections tomorrow so we need to get this mailed and get to bed. The greatest news is that neither of the sisters are transferred this week so we don’t have a day trip to Birmingham Wednesday. We get to stay here in Demopolis. Which is nice because Sister Owens has a Relief Society Luncheon that day (always something). Things are going well. We are staying busy.
Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon!
We love Y’all,
Elder and Sister Owens.
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