We had another busy week but it was a rewarding one. Monday morning Sister Owens had a Relief Society Presidency meeting at the church. The President wore pants. She told her councilor that she was going to and her councilor said, "Well that's good because we are going to anyway." They didn't get very much done because they only had an hour and a half and then we had to leave for Birmingham. We got to have a lunch/BBQ with the rest of the senior couples and President and Sister Sainsbury. That is why Sister Owens wore pants to the presidency meeting. There were only four couples that went on the last senior couple outing but this was the first time that all of the senior couples in the mission were together for the same activity (see attachment #2). It was really a special time for all of us. As we have said before, we really enjoy the times we get together. It is renewing and refreshing for us.
Last Wednesday when we arranged to take Sister Rogers shopping Friday and then couldn't, we also told her we would come this Tuesday and paint her hallway for her. After our trip to Birmingham on Friday we came home and were a little chilly. The temperature got down in the 40s during the night so we decided to turn on the furnace. It was about 67 degrees in the house and after the furnace had been on for an hour we were wondering why the air blowing across our faces in bed was so cold. I got up and checked the thermostat and the furnace noticing that it was a degree colder than it was when we turned on the furnace. I saw a nice red glow coming from the gas furnace and thought everything should be alright, then I noticed that it was just the ignitor that was glowing and we had no flame. Long story short after several texts to our landlord the next morning (Saturday, of course), we had to contact the gas company to have the gas turned on. The housing coordinator had to do it and said he would get back to us Monday after he contacted them. When he called Monday he told us they couldn't come that day but would be out Tuesday morning. We had to be here so they could come in and check the furnace. They were going to call just before they would arrive. We thought it would work and we would just have to delay the painting until late morning or early afternoon. About 10:30 we finally called the company to get some idea when we could expect someone and they told us it could be anytime between then and 4:30 in the afternoon. At that point we had to call the sisters back, who were going to go with us to paint and tell them we were still waiting on the gas man and weren't sure when we would be available. He showed up about 3:00 PM and the sisters were finished with the painting at about 2:30. The tender mercy in all of it was that the sisters had an exchange for that day with the Senior Training Leaders and they were meeting halfway to trade companions. The halfway point is in Eutaw (that's Utah for you westerners). That is just miles from Sister Rogers house by the river. Also the senior trainers are in a threesome right now so they actually planned to have three sisters in our area for the day. So three sisters were there to do the painting and Sister Rogers said they all seemed like they had done plenty of painting before and knew what they were doing. She was very pleased and said they had done a very good job. We aren't so sure she would have been so happy with the results if it had been us doing the painting. After the gas got turned on we headed for Sister Rogers' home to take her to Eutaw to pick up her medication. The sisters couldn't do that since the mission rules prohibit any passengers in the mission vehicles unless they are on Team ups. She had us inspect the paint job and it really was well done. The sisters are real pros.
Wednesday we had our second visit with the Mission President when we took the three sisters to Tuscaloosa for Interviews and District council meeting. It made for a bit of a long day but it is always good to meet with the President and with the missionaries in the district. We got to take our bike rack so we could bring Sister Tennyson's bike back with us after the meeting. She had taken it on exchanges so they could use it in Tuscaloosa. All the missionaries use their bikes as much as possible, even when they are assigned cars, so that they can conserve miles on the mission vehicles. On our way home we took the sisters to see Greg and Cornelia. They were the ones that gave us directions to Cornelia's brother a couple weeks ago so we could deliver a Book of Mormon. Greg told us to come back and missionary his wife after she got better from her surgery that she had that day. Greg went in the other room as soon as we got there so we thought he probably wasn't really interested. We visited with Cornelia for a while and Greg came back and during our discussion he shared a lot about how he recognized God's influence throughout his life. We ran out of time and the sisters asked if we could leave a Book of Mormon and come back next week and discuss it with them. They were happy to get the book and said they would read it. We have an appointment to see them this Tuesday.
Thursday we took Ollie to see her attorney, Colonel Thomas H. Boggs, a seventy-nine year old retired Green Beret. He is a very nice man and was a little skeptical of us (since we were there with Ollie to discuss her financial situation) until he found out who we were. He had known members of the church in the service when he spent time in Utah and Idaho and was very impressed with them. He was glad that we were there to help Ollie. Our hour with him flew by and Ollie got some very good advice from him. He and Ollie have apparently been friends for a good share of their lives and he was just a little upset with her when he found out how serious her situation is for not coming to see him a long time ago. Her concern all the time we have been talking to her is how expensive it would be to involve her attorney. As we left his office she asked him how much he was bill was going to be. He gestured with his fingers that it was zero and said he felt bad that she waited so long to talk to him. (He also got a little hot under the collar when he found out that her own son is charging her $400 a month to come once a week and sweep and mop her floors for her).
Friday we drove to Selma and Greenville to inspect the missionaries' apartments. It was good to get to visit again with the missionaries and hear how the work is going in their areas. The elders in Selma have been working with the fiancé of one of the members of their branch. They showed us the text they received from the fiancé that morning. It said, "Just wanted to let you know Kenny is dead, they found him this morning." The Elders told us he had been shot during the night. Selma is kind of a violent city. The elders say they hear gunshots right and left often. After showing us the text, one of the Elders told us it is the kind of thing you have to laugh about or else you cry.
We had Stake Conference this weekend (our third time to get to see President and Sister Sainsbury). It was a great conference. We had to drive almost two hours to Bessemer to attend Priesthood Leadership at 2:00 and then the adult session was at 4:00 and we started home at about 6:30. They broadcast the Sunday session so we only had to get members to the branch building this time. Last conference we only got twelve people to the session in the rented van. This time we had at least thirty there in the building. I feel kind of badly that they said the only reason they broadcast it is because they couldn't get a venue that would accommodate the whole stake. They really want to meet all together. Next spring they will be able to get the activity center on the Montavallo campus again and will not be broadcasting it to any buildings. It is going to prevent a number of our branch members from attending again. At the conference President Sadler told us about when Elder Bednar came as a visiting authority to Marianna Florida in the Hurricane Michael relief effort. He told them that if they thought the shortened Sunday meeting schedule was just to give them more time to do things like watch football, they were mistaken. He said this will be a part of the separation of the wheat and the tares. We will receive the kingdom in which we abide. The stake patriarch spoke Saturday evening. One of the things he said is that he always tries to tell people they need to "stop doing silly things." We really need to pay more attention to, and do, the things that are of eternal consequence.
Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon!!
We love y'all,
Elder and Sister Owens
PS. Attachment #1 is the sunset from Sister Rogers home on the river. It's dark here now by about 6:00 PM.
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