Our Monday was wasted with another gout flare up. A good slathering of ginger and raw honey limited it to only one day though. We weren't sure whether the sisters would be driving themselves to district council on Tuesday or if we would be going. Tuesday morning I could put on my tennis shoes and they seemed to support my foot enough to walk so we went to the meeting with me in my shirt and tie and my tennis shoes. It was an interesting fashion statement. We are already the talk of the district because they all kneel for prayer except us. We really don't want to embarrass ourselves screaming out in pain when we get leg cramps. The last few weeks the Hursts (the new senior couple in the district) have been joining us in sitting. He says his wife is supporting him because of his problem knee. We're not sure if that is really the case or if they just don't want us to feel bad.
On Wednesday we got up and drove to Selma to deliver some medication to one of the Elders from the mission nurse that we got on Saturday at the Senior Couple activity. I was still wearing my Tennis shoes so I didn't put on my tie to make the drive. I didn't say anything to them when we got there so I am sure they were wondering about me. We will have to explain when we go to do their inspection next week. After we got back to Demopolis we picked up the sisters and headed to Sawyerville to deliver a Book of Mormon that had been requested. They got a text on the way advising them that the person would not be home for the day. We got the text just a few miles from the turnoff to Sister Roger's home who lost her husband in June. She just got home from staying with her daughter in Northern Alabama. We had picked up some Pero for her the day before in Tuscaloosa and we went to see her and deliver the Pero. The bank had just repossessed her car because she could no longer make the payments. Her house is out by the river in the middle of nowhere. We told her we would come and get her Friday and take her to town to do her shopping and pay her bills. We went back to town and met with Ollie to help her make out checks to get her bills paid. The man who charges her $20 to go to the grocery store for her (in her car) helped her last month and charged her $40 to sit for 30 minutes and write checks for her. Her hands shake so bad she can't write them. I messed up on two or three of them and had half my signature on them before I remembered she was supposed to sign them. We came home to pass out candy and didn't have anyone knock on the door all night.
We had told Ollie we would pick her up Friday to take her to a cousin's lunch at a restaurant to save her an additional $20 that Ross would have charged her after the $20 for taking her to her hair appointment earlier in the day (in her car-always). Thursday morning we were figuring out how we were going to work that in to our day of shopping and bill paying with Sister Rogers when the phone rang. Sister Borden was calling to make sure we were planning to pick her up for Book of Mormon class later that day. I told her we would be there to get her and then she asked me what time we wanted to leave for Birmingham the next day (Friday). She told us a couple weeks ago that the doctor said he couldn't do the test that was scheduled because she was considered high risk because of the health problems she has. When she told us that we mistakenly understood that meant the appointment we had committed to take her to was cancelled. I mentioned that to her and she said, "Oh no that was going to be in December, my appointment with the doctor is still scheduled for tomorrow." I told her we thought it was cancelled and we had a full schedule already for Friday. We would have to make some phone calls and get things worked out and we would be there to take her to Birmingham. Book of Mormon class was awesome. The sisters called to say they couldn't make it and Sister Jones was under the weather and said she wasn't coming so all we had to do was go to Sister Borden's to pick her up and go straight to class. When it was over we just had to stop to drop her off on our way home and then go straight home. We always make one trip to Greensboro and drop off Sister Jones and the sisters and then go back to the outside of Greensboro to get Sister Borden and bring her back to class then repeat the process after class is over before we go home. It was the shortest trip we have ever made for Book of Mormon class.
So, Friday morning with someone else picking up Charlotte to taking her shopping, we went to get Sister Borden and headed for Birmingham. It was a pleasant drive and the trees are dropping their leaves and several of them have yellow and some red leaves. It actually looked like Fall. It was a nice thing to see. It has finally cooled off enough around here that a person can actually be outside without feeling like they are in a blast furnace. It feels so good and people everywhere are walking around with coats and gloves and hats on. I don't understand it at all. It was our first time to be right in the heart of downtown Birmingham. The appointment was at a clinic right next to the Hospital. It is a very large impressive hospital (we didn't even think to take a picture of it). They didn't have patient parking. They had a patient drop off area and valet parking only. We dropped her off and drove about four or five blocks away and parked in an empty restaurant parking lot and waited until she was through and ready to go. We got a good picture of the changing leaves while we were waiting (see attachment).
Saturday we got our P-day chores done and then went over and helped Ollie with a couple more checks she needed to get done. We were ready to call it a day and we got a call from the sisters. They wanted to come over and have me give them a blessing. It is a privilege but certainly one I don't relish. It looks like it is a pretty regular thing every time transfers roll around. I was a little puzzled this time because neither one of them are anticipating being transferred. Brother White called us Saturday and asked us to ask Bordens to pick him up and bring him to church. He was in the hospital for the last three days because he had problems related to his Diabetes and didn't feel like he could drive but he didn't want to miss the sacrament. We called Bordens and they said they wouldn't be to church because they had to go out of town. We called Brother White back and told him we would be there to pick him up.
Alabama has been talking about opting for year round daylight savings time, so when our phone changed time last night we woke up this morning not knowing for sure whether we knew the right time (since we have no connection with the outside world—internet, television, news, etc.). We finally sent a text to President James to advise him I would miss Branch Presidency meeting so we could bring Brother White to church and confirmed the time with him. Then we got a call from Brother White at 7:00 AM sharp wondering where we were because we were going to be there at 8 and he forgot about the time change. He and Christopher were both there waiting. I told him they could relax and we would be there in an hour. I didn't say anything because I knew there would be room for Chris in the car. We were half way there and we received a text from them that said "It 3 R US GOING." We weren't quite ready for that since it was just Brother White as of the night before. We responded telling them we weren't sure there is room but we will try. We loaded up Chris and Thomas on either side of Sister Owens in the back seat, since Brother White can only sit in the front seat (with the seat all the way back and reclined quite a ways). We made it to church and Sister Owens stayed at the church when I took them home, but I watched Thomas get in the back seat behind Brother White and I couldn't believe he actually got his legs in there, even though I watched him do it. As always it was a great fast and testimony meeting. I always love to hear the testimonies of the members here. Especially President and Sister James. They bear such strong testimonies of the Savoir and the sacrament.
Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon
We love y'all,
Elder and Sister Owens
PS. I apologize for the quality of the picture. The cell phone doesn't do all that great.
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