Week 53: Not so hot on the details after all, and some true Alabama outback experiences

Dear Family and Friends,

So we took the car into the shop Monday morning and walked home.  An hour later we got a call and were told that the right part came in with a damaged box and the part had a hole in it, so they would not be able to fix the car until they could get another part on Tuesday.  So we walked back and got the car and took it back at the end of the day after we rented a car to use on Tuesday to drive around and do our apartment inspections.

Tuesday we got away on time and all went well for our first inspection in Selma (except that we forgot to get all of our supplies that we normally take with us to replace lightbulbs, mop heads, batteries, etc.—to much fiasco with the car rental).  Half way to our second inspection we were fifteen minutes ahead of schedule and came to the junction where we turn to go to Greenville and the road was closed to thru traffic.  A detour sign was attached to the stop sign at the corner with an arrow that pointed to the left, so we turned to take the detour.  After about thirty-five miles and no detour signs we turned around to ask a highway worker we passed on the way for directions.  He wasn’t from around here and said the only other way he knew that we could get to Greenville was to go back to Highway 80 and go to Montgomery and then back to Greenville (would have taken the rest of the day). We went the rest of the way back to the original intersection where the road was closed.  There were trucks and equipment there when we first arrived, so we planned to ask them which way to go for the detour.  Not a soul anywhere.  We went around the sign and headed down the road.  We went several miles and started to think we were going to reach Greenville before we got to the road repair.  Nope.  We came to a pile of dirt across the entire road higher than the car.  A culvert was washed out and of course there wasn’t anyone around.  We had passed a car just a mile or two back that apparently had reached the same point and turned around.  I watched him in the rear view mirror and saw him pull over in a driveway behind us.  We turned around and went to the same driveway and were trying to get an alternate route on the cell phone but had no satellite coverage (of course).  Then a mail delivery person drove by headed in the direction of the wash out.  We turned around to chase him down and ask him how we could get to Greenville.  We caught him just as he was coming back to the road from a driveway.  He said that stop was as far as his route took him and then he goes back the other way and had been wondering why the road was closed.  We told him he would know if he went a mile or two further.  We asked him for an alternate route to Greenville.  He also told us the only way he knew was to go back to Highway 80 and go to Montgomery and then back to Greenville.  Since we still had two other inspections and had to be back to return the rental car by 4:30 we decided the Greenville inspection was not going to happen and called the sisters to let them know.  Sister Sactomah was being transferred and had to go through all her bags to find a map and then guided us back along the county roads to a different route to Greenville.  After we turned around at the closed intersection and headed back the way we came we saw detour signs at each junction where she told us we needed to turn but there was nothing at the intersection telling us to make a U-turn and go back the way we came.  We got to Greenville about an hour late instead of fifteen minutes early.  We did get to the rest of our inspections without further incident and got to the car rental office at 4:15 and then picked up our car at the shop and the repairs were actually done.  Apartment inspections are one of the perks of being a senior couple we get to see the missionaries and buy things for them that they need (we are reimbursed) and they are really happy and appreciate us a lot (attachment #1).

Wednesday was transfers and we always stop at Costco on the way home from transfers.  This time we had to make changes to our membership status and wouldn’t you know, this was the second time so far on our mission that we did not have to take one of the sisters to transfers.  They are both staying in the area for at least another transfer.  So we had to take a little more than half the day driving to Costco and back anyway. The sisters called and asked us to take them out to see Joe (the Dana Trucking dispatcher).  We found out we were going to see him at his farm.  It is on the way to Greensboro.  Sister Weaver, our missionary from Chicago, who spent her entire life in south side Chicago has learned many new things since coming to Alabama.  That day I think her knowledge about the animal kingdom increased exponentially. She now knows about cows and bulls, rams and ewes, lambs and kids, roosters and hens, etc., etc.  Quite the eye opening experience for her (attachment #2).  They were pretty excited to be up close and personal with the farm animals and to feed the goats chocolate chip cookies (attachment #3).  Sister Owens even demonstrated the fine art of loosing your shoe in the mud (attachment #4).  You might also notice the typical Alabama farm in the background in attachment #2.

Thursday the sisters said they were running out of miles and asked us to take them to Book of Mormon class.  So we took them and Sister Jones to Greensboro and dropped off the sisters at class then drove back with Sister Jones (she likes to go with us wherever she can to ride in the car instead of sitting in her apartment) to pick up Sister Borden and go back to class.  Then we made two trips afterword to get everybody home (our Alabama Taxi service is still going strong).  Class was really good.  Brother White was there for the first time in more than a month, I think.  He was really tired though.  He just listened instead of taking a turn to read.  He had already had dialysis for six hours before class.  On the way home from class we got a call that Ollie needed to get to the med-center and couldn’t find anyone to get her there.  We drove into town just in time and took her over.  We left her there and went home and just got sat down to rest when she called to say she was done and we could pick her up.  Our appointment that evening cancelled and we were actually glad as we were quite tired and ready to retire for the day.  It was rescheduled for Friday at 11:00 AM.

Friday we went to the discussion with James and the sisters.  He can’t come to church with us because he has to teach Sunday School at his church.  He is in Mosiah with his reading of the Book of Mormon.  He actually listens to it every day on his phone.  We can tell from the answers he gives us that he understands our message, and he says he has to decide if he wants to be baptized or not.  He is typical of so many here.  He just seems to like the churches that only expect you to come on Sunday and listen to the sermon and drop a donation in the plate instead of one where you are asked to actually serve and give of yourself.  He tells us every time that he feels the Book of Mormon is true and understands that Joseph Smith has to be a prophet if the book is true.  After our discussion we pretty much spent the rest of the day preparing food for the Potluck on Sunday.  In the morning Sister Smith brought us a house guest, Gonzo.  They needed someone to take care of their hedge hog while they are camping for spring break (attachment #5).

Saturday we did our P-day chores and cleaned the church and had a discussion scheduled with Joe Davis in the evening.  He called the sisters and told them he was not feeling well and would rather not have a lesson.  He said if we just wanted to stop by and say hi, that would be okay.  We all went over and visited with him for about an hour.  He said he was glad we came and that he was feeling a lot better.  He said if he had a good night he would try to come to church.  He told us he cooked up a great big batch of cornbread for the potluck but he didn’t put enough eggs in it and it was really dry so he fed it to the animals.

Sunday has been a good day.  We were expecting a pretty good crowd at church because we were having the potluck.  When I took the attendance count we only had 32 people there.  That was actually not too bad with the Smith family out of town for spring break (all nine of them).  We did think there would be a few more because of the potluck.  We felt bad when the meeting started and Joe wasn’t there, but he walked in about ten minutes late and sat behind us.  Yesterday Sister Owens and I were discussing the lesson for Priesthood and Relief Society which was based on Elder Holland’s conference talk about the ministry of reconciliation.  We wondered if anyone in the branch other than the five leaders actually even had heard it or read it.  We thought it would be good to just play the video of his talk and then discuss it.  We were right.  No one had heard it but the five active leaders of the branch.  We really had a very good discussion after viewing the video.  During the potluck Joe asked the sisters if we wanted to come over about 4:00 and teach him a lesson.  We had a great lesson with him and discussed the possibility of baptism in about a month.  I think he is thinking he just about has to be perfect before he feels like he should be baptized.  Coffee is the only problem he really has to overcome and he has a plan to do that.  As we were leaving I got the impression that next time we see him I need to tell him that you don’t get perfect to join the Lord’s kingdom, you join the Lord’s kingdom to get perfect.  We are kind of feeling bad that he has put his home in Moundville up for sale and plans to move down to Mobile by about June.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon everyday.

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 52: Nothing ever seems to change; I just love Alabama (Don't take that wrong, I really do. It's hilarious here)

Dear Family and Friends,

We'll start with an update on Brother White.  We didn't hear of any change after last Monday, and Tuesday we were in Tuscaloosa for District Council so we stopped at the hospital before we came home.  The staff told us he still wasn't responding to anyone but they said we were welcome to go into his room and see him.  We did and he was sound asleep, so we didn't want to disturb him.  I haven't seen him so restful for several weeks.  He usually is constantly moving because his shoulder causes so much pain.  We texted his niece twice during the week for an update on his condition but never heard from her.  Friday our car was in the shop for some repair and they called and said the parts supplier sent the wrong part and they couldn't get the right one until Saturday and they would be able to do the work on Monday.  So we got the car back with nothing scheduled for the day (gee whiz that was just what happened last time we had it worked on).  So we went to see a branch member in Eutaw and then decided to go to Tuscaloosa and see Brother White.  We called his niece and she said she had just been there and he was doing well.  We went up and visited with him for over an hour while he ate his supper.  He really was doing much better and said he was glad we stopped by and wanted to ask our advice on what he should do.  We told him he should stay in the hospital until after the weekend and then check in to the Greensboro Nursing home for three weeks of physical therapy and if that didn't improve his situation he should talk to the surgeon who said another surgery would probably help get rid of the pain (he said earlier that he does not want to have another surgery).  He said he is not giving up and he will go ahead and do that.  We told him we would bring the sacrament on Sunday. He said he would be expecting us. So today at church I got a call from his friend, Joanne.  She said she called the hospital and was told he is not listed as a patient and she can't get in touch with him.  I told her we would find him and let her know where he is. We had the sisters over for lunch today and when they left I called his cell number and he answered.  He said he hadn't had a chance to call me yet and that he would call me back tomorrow.  I asked if he was at home.  He said, "No, but I'm in Greensboro."  I started to ask him if he wanted the sacrament but he hung up. So apparently he checked himself out of the hospital again just like the last two times he was there.  I guess we'll find out more tomorrow.

So we have been having some really strange noises coming from the engine compartment of our car, but every time we go to the shop it stops making the noise.  It finally got to where it was pretty well constant so we got to have them hear it.  They wanted to take the belts off and check everything so they would know for sure what it was.  So we scheduled it in for an hour Wednesday morning.  We hadn't heard from them by 11:30 so we called them.  They said the car was ready but she didn't want to call me until she knew what the total bill would be.  So at least we got the car back for the afternoon.  They said the AC compressor clutch was going out and the compressor needs to be replaced.  We cleared our schedule for Friday and they were going to do the work.  An hour after we took it in they called to tell us there were two possibilities and the parts house ordered the wrong one and they couldn't fix it until they ordered the correct compressor.  So we were able to get to the hospital to see Brother White.  We had tried to schedule our apartment inspections for Friday and it turned out the missionaries couldn't be available because of follow up trainer meetings with the Mission President, so we scheduled all of them for Tuesday of next week.  Then they needed the car at the shop Friday.  Then they had to reschedule but they can do it on Monday so it will be fixed by Tuesday.  It is always interesting to see how the Lord takes care of the details.

Thursday we went to celebrate Larry's birthday with him.  It was a really big deal that he let us come.  He was a crotchety old man with PTSD from Viet Nam.  When Ollie was baptized he wouldn't talk to anyone from the church.  The Morgans (he is President James first councilor) and us and the sisters all came to the party and Larry was happy to see us all and sort of visited with all of us, but mostly watched his basketball games.  Sister Beaugez brought her violin and played Happy Birthday while we all sang to him and then played several hymns and some old protestant hymns.  Ollie couldn't remember the tune to "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and she asked Larry to sing it for us and he did.  It is neat to see how much he has warmed up to members of the church.  He told the sisters if they come back in ten years and bring their kids maybe he will get baptized then.  Thursday was his seventieth birthday.

We had to leave the party so we could get to Greensboro in time to pick up Sister Borden and go to Book of Mormon class.  Another fun Alabama taxi service experience.  We were about ten minutes late to pick her up.  She didn't answer her door.  We called her home number to see if she was there and she didn't answer.  We called her cell phone and she didn't answer.  We left her house and drove down the lane to the road that goes to the main highway while we were calling her on her other cell phone.  She answered.  We asked her if she was going to Book of Mormon class and she said yes.  We asked where she was.  She said she was coming home from Tuscaloosa. I mentioned to Sister Owens that it seemed like they should be able to just drop her off at class. Hoping we could meet her on the road somewhere, we asked her where she was.  She said she was at her house.  We said we were just at her house and she wasn't there.  She said she was almost there. There is only one road to her house so we pulled over and stopped and turned on our flashers.  We saw a car coming toward us and saw her in it and they just drove past us and went to her house.  We turned around and followed them to her house.  Her brother had taken her to Tuscaloosa and back. She went in the house and came right back our and got in our car.  We asked who else was in the car with them and she said it was her sister.  We both assumed it was her sister-in-law.  They pulled out and we pulled out right behind them.  They stayed right ahead of us all the way to Book of Mormon class where he stopped to let her sister out of the car for Book of Mormon class while we were parking the car (I just love Alabama).  Then after class we took Sister Borden home and had to drive back to Ollie's to pick up Beth (she also went to the party) and take her home to Linden.  Then we had another appointment with the sisters that actually held up.

Saturday we had another good discussion with Joe Davis at the trucking company.  He only made it two days without coffee. He drives about 150 miles getting from his home in Moundville to his farm outside of Demopolis and back every day.  He started having some really weird things going on with his vision while on the road.  A paramedic told him he was probably experiencing caffeine withdrawal.  So he is drinking about a half cup a day and wants to get to the point where he can stop all together.  In our discussion last week we assured him the Lord would help him overcome the coffee if he really wanted to quit.  He texted the sisters on Monday and said he got up in the morning and looked at the coffee pot and he didn't even want to drink any.  "Day one after 63 years."  This week he told us he actually started drinking it when he was five years old. We asked him to come to church today and he said he might and he might not.  He said he won't tell us he will if he is not sure that he is going to come.  He usually works all night Saturday and all night Sunday.  This week he also worked all night Friday so he was actually on his second night when we met with him.  He says he will not go to church if he might fall asleep because that is disrespectful. He didn't make it today but we are hoping he will be there next week.

Everybody where Brother White lives calls him "Blue." When we found him Monday last week and were trying to get him to respond, everyone kept yelling "Blue!....Blue!"  Sister Owens thought it must be something to do with the kind of music his band played.  He is a drummer.  While we were visiting with him Friday night Sister Owens asked him where he got that name.  He didn't say anything for a minute or two.  Then he said, "I heard you, Sister Owens."  Then he went another couple minutes without saying anything and started wiping tears from his eyes with his napkin.  Sister Owens apologized and said she didn't intend to make him feel bad.  He said it was okay.  Then he told us a little bit about his childhood which apparently wasn't very happy. He had four sisters and a brother and they didn't really like him when they were young.  He had a pair of blue jeans and three blue shirts and that was all the clothes he had.  He left home when he was pretty young and went to Tuscaloosa to find his dad.  He got a pair of blue Khakis from his dad that he had to grow into before they would fit him.  That was where he got the name.  He was weeping all the time he told us about it and Sister Owens felt bad to have brought up the subject, but I think he was glad to share a little bit with us about his past.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day.

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 51: Satan is alive and well in Alabama and darn that Daylight Savings

Dear Family and Friends,

I’ll start by explaining the above attachments.  We mentioned last week that the Kirks got to move from their old neighborhood into a new two bedroom apartment.  Number one above is the house the four of them have been living in for the last several years. It had a small living room, a bedroom, a closet sized Kitchen without a stove or table, and a tiny bathroom that was added onto the back of the house.  I took some pictures of the depressing neighborhood that I am not sending.  Number two is the Kirks outside their front door at their new apartment.  I told them they all had to smile this time.  Tasha almost did but Cedric never looks any different (He actually smiled once in church when I called him Captain Kirk, but that was the only time I have ever seen it happen).  Zeryonia (second from the right) is turning seventeen this Wednesday.  Number three is Tasha with Sister Owens in front of the new apartment.

We do apologize for this being a day late.  Daylight savings starting along with a very busy Sunday just made it too hard to get the email done last night before we had to go to bed.

So this was mostly not a really exciting week.  It definitely had it’s ups and downs.  Monday was a good, busy day.  Sister Owens had her RS Presidency meeting in the morning.  They finished up their plans for the RS birthday party which was Friday.  We were supposed to read with Larry and Ollie in the afternoon but we started with Ollies finances and check register and three hours later it was too late to read (It was getting too hard for both of us to breathe anyway because of the “Cigar” smoke.  We went with the sisters in the evening to follow up on some appointments which fell through and then met with a young man who really doesn’t seem interested in finding a testimony of anything but doesn’t tell the sisters to get lost (I think he enjoys the attention of two nice looking young women).  The sisters keep working with him even though he isn’t really keeping any of his commitments.

Tuesday we went to District Council and went home through Greensboro to check on some people the sisters have been trying to contact and see some of the branch members.  As Sister Weaver put it, “That’s missionary work.”  Everywhere we went there was no one at home.  Then the appointment they had in the evening that we were going to go to with them fell through as well.  Lisa salvaged the day for us when she called and told us their kids got to go help clear the land for the Pocatello Temple ground breaking.  The ground was too soft for any heavy equipment so all the youth from the temple district were invited to come to do the job. What an awesome experience for them.

Wednesday was coordination meeting.  We found out the golden sister that came to church by herself from 30 minutes away and Sister Owens has been to discussions with her has cut off all contact with the sisters.  She was on baptism date for next week.  They had a discussion last Sunday evening that went really well and since then she has not answered her door or responded to any texts or phone messages and does not answer phone calls.  No one has any idea what happened with her.

Thursday morning we took the sisters out to Uniontown and Faunsdale to check on some people.  They met a woman store contacting who was very anxious to meet with them.  We got to her home in time for the appointment and no one answered the door.  We checked on an old bible referral in Faunsdale.  An old gentleman answered the door and we told him who we were trying to contact.  He said he didn’t know her, we should check next door.  We went next door and the lady there said she lived next door with her father who is sick and never answers the door.  She was a nice lady and invited the sisters back on Sunday to talk.  We haven’t heard whether anything came of that.  We went to Book of Mormon class in the afternoon.  Brother White wasn’t there.  We went up to see him after class.  He is very weak and in a great deal of pain but refuses to go to the hospital.

Friday was the RS birthday Luncheon.  We only had to make one trip to and from Greensboro before and after.  We didn’t take Sister Jones with us because we thought we would have to get two sisters but one had to work and couldn’t come.  Sister Jones was a little put out with us for not taking her but finally warmed up to us by the end of the meeting (I just love Alabama).  After our Greensboro run after the meeting, we came back and cleaned up the building and checked some of the videos on the church website and went home and crashed for the night.

We have been trying to change our P-day from Saturday to Monday so we don’t get so far behind when the sisters need us to go with them on Saturday.  It’s not working very well yet because we keep running out of clothes by Saturday and have to do the laundry.  We had another meeting with the sisters and Jonah (the one that enjoys the attention).  He said he would come to church on Sunday but his mother was using her car to go to her church so he would need a ride.  We met in the evening with Joe Davis (the dispatcher at Dana Transport).  He feels he has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration but says he can’t be baptized because he likes to drink coffee.  He knows he needs to stop in order to be baptized and says he won’t be until he decides he is going to stop.  We have very good discussions and we are hoping to get him to understand the blessings that are available to him through baptism and membership in the church.  He told us he would come to church.

We were all kind of excited about Sunday after all the things that fell through during the week, we had five people that said they were going to come to church.  We usually go get Andrea and her mother for church but Andrea called and said she wasn’t feeling well and they weren’t coming.  So we were free to go get the two single men that said they were coming and needed rides.  The sisters had called both of them and reminded them Sunday morning.  Jonah actually didn’t answer.  We went to get the first one, James, and while we were knocking on his door the neighbors told us he just left about five minutes before.  We sent a text and told him we were there to pick him up for church and wondered if he was around.  He texted back that he was gone grocery shopping in Tuscaloosa with his sister.  We went to get Jonah and knocked about three times on the door and he yelled from inside wanting to know who it was.  I told him we were there to take him to church.  He said he just got up.  Maybe he could come next week. So we struck out but the two people the sisters had invited came on their own.  They were related to the Kirks.  We had thirty-two people there and at least twenty of them were under seventeen.  A lot of members were gone due to illness.  I taught the lesson in Priesthood meeting because the quorum president had to work.  It was on “One in Christ” by Elder Soares.  All about how we should be more welcoming to new members and visitors that come to church.  I had a questionnaire for everyone to fill out about how much they knew about our most recent convert (Brother Kirk).  Those in attendance were Brother Kirk, his non-member nephew, myself, the Branch President’s son, and the first counselor to the Branch President, and two Aaronic priesthood boys. Lamar, Cedric’s non-member nephew, was the only one that knew the answers to the questions.  It was an interesting class.  After church Cedric came with me to administer the sacrament to Brother White in Greensboro.  He has been helping pass the sacrament in church.  I asked him if he wanted to bless the water when we went to Brother White’s.  He said he would.  It was the first time for him.  It was a neat experience. Brother White was in bed and was having so much pain in his shoulder he couldn’t even sit up to take the sacrament.  Before we left Sister Owens asked if there was anything we could get for him (so he wouldn’t have to try to get out of bed after we were gone).  He asked for some white bread and sliced cheese. I went to the kitchen and found some cheese in the fridge but couldn’t find any bread.  I went back to ask if he wanted me to slice some of the cheese for him and found out he wanted us to go to the store to get bread and sliced cheese.  He had plenty of food in the house so I told him we would rather not go to the store on Sunday but we would get the things for him and bring them out first thing in the morning.  He said that would be okay.  After we got home we went last night to another discussion with the sisters.

Since we are a day late, I will jump ahead and let you know we got out to Brother White’s a little before noon today and he didn’t answer his door or his phone.  We went and told the manager and they went up and unlocked his door and he was lying in bed non-responsive and they had to get the ambulance to take him to the hospital again.  His niece just called us to say he had to be sedated and is still out of it but she will be back up in the morning and will call us and let us know how he is doing. Life is not easy here for a lot of people.  They need all the help they can get.  Brother White always says, “The Lord is still in charge.”  It is true!

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day and PRAY FOR BROTHER WHITE

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 50: Remind me never to say we had a busy week

Dear Family and Friends,

So last week wasn't all that busy after all.  Monday morning we walked an extra lap on our walking path since Sister Owens hadn't walked for a few days because of her training meeting Saturday.  My foot was a little sore toward the end of the walk.  When we got home I noticed that old familiar pain when I lifted my foot off the floor and was a little ticked because I have been taking my Allopurinol faithfully since December.  I was going to get some customized ward lists made for the Branch Council but ended up sitting in the chair with my foot up for the day instead.  Ollie called to postpone our Book of Mormon reading with she and Larry until Friday so that worked out well.  We were going to go with the sisters in the evening for some appointments.  I stayed home and Sister Owens went with them.  The man they were going to meet was in Birmingham at his cousin's house.  They went to read with an older blind black lady.  She had taken some pain pills for some pain in her back and leg and didn't seem all that coherent.  They invited her to come to church but she said she couldn't come because she has to play the drums at her church.  They stopped at Walmart on the way home and bought some fresh ginger and we wrapped my foot in some ginger and raw honey for the night.  The next morning I could walk pretty well.

We went to Tuscaloosa Tuesday for interviews with the President and then for District council.  It was a little strange.  We had interviews the last week of the transfer three weeks ago and we are having them the first week this time.  On the way there Sister Weaver said she hasn't even had time to think of any questions to ask him yet.  It is always good for us to get to visit with him and Sister Sainsbury whenever we get the chance.  We told them about how we found the Bullards and what they told us last time we were there about our first visit with them. Elder Widtfeldt shared several excerpts from the Riciardi letter with us in District Council.  It was a letter President Uchtdorf used in a talk to the missionaries a while back.  It is about the relationship between a missionary in England and his trainer, who was from Italy, and what he learned from his trainer.  It was some very worthwhile information for any missionary companionship.  He made a copy of the whole letter for each of us.

Wednesday we got the branch lists done for the branch council.  I separated the list into lists for each of the communities that are included in the Branch.  As a Branch Council we are going to try to identify all the people that don't ever come to church and give them an invitation to come back.  Sister Owens and I have been trying to do that since we got here but we get busy with other things we need to do to support the people in the branch.  We have so few active people that actually have transportation that it is impossible to assign all the members to ministering brothers and sisters.  Unfortunately, we are going to have to find out who is the least bit interested in being involved with the church and then try to utilize our resources to help them and check on the rest of them sometime later.  The Stake Relief Society President told Sister Owens that that is just what we are going to have to do here because of our situation with so few active members.

Thursday was an interesting day.  When we started the day we asked that the Lord would help us know who we needed to minister to during the day.  After breakfast the phone started ringing.  Beth needed to arrange for a ride to her diabetic class for the next six weeks.  Sister James called to discuss getting beds for the Kirks when they move into their new apartment.  Then we talked to Brother Smith to make arrangements for him to use his trailer to get the beds transported to Demopolis.  Ollie called and said Larry and Ross were in Linden at the gas station and needed to start their car and she had the key at her house and she needed somebody to take it to them (proximity key).  We told her we would come and get the key and take it to them.  Just as we got the key from Ollie Sister Patterson called and said she was at her storage unit and her king size mattress had fallen over and she could not get it back up and needed our help.  Her storage unit is located right on the road we take to Linden so we stopped there to help her and continued on to Linden with the key. Then Sister Jones called us (we have been trying to contact her for a week but there has been no answer on her phone and we stopped at her house this morning and nobody was home.  She said she was home and wanted a ride to Book of Mormon class in Greensboro.  We had to pick her up about twenty minutes later to make it to class on time.  Last week when we got to class Brother White's wheel chair was in the lobby (that is never a good sign).  We found out he went to the hospital that morning because he had so much pain in his shoulder.  When we got to church last week he was there in his car and said he was going to stay for the sacrament and then he was going to go home.  He was still in a lot of pain.  We gave him a blessing before church and he left right after the sacrament and went home.  The next week (last Saturday) they found him unresponsive in his apartment.  The paramedics got him stabilized and took him to the hospital in Tuscaloosa.  We have been calling the hospital everyday since Saturday to find out his condition and all they would ever tell us is that he was in ICU.  When we called Thursday they said he was not listed as a patient so he must have gone home. When we arrived at Book of Mormon class Brother White was sitting in the passenger seat of a car at the front door.  His brother had picked him up and brought him home.  He was very tired and weak and went to his apartment to rest.  His brother said he should still be in the hospital but he refused to stay any longer.  He missed church again today but we were able to reach him finally on his phone and he said he is slowly regaining his strength.  We are going to stop and see him on our way home from District Council this coming Tuesday.

Friday we helped Cedric move from their house to their new apartment.  He said he was not moving any of their furniture except two televisions and a couple tables.  He said he got everything off the street and it was full of bugs and they weren't taking any of it.  He was going to get into the apartment at 10:00 AM so we went to his house at 9:40 to get a load to take in the car.  All of his furniture and beds were out on the side of the street, including the bed frame the Smiths loaned to him and the mattress we bought to put on it.  Cedric was not there so we drove to the apartment empty.  He wasn't there either.  We talked to the manager while we were waiting for him and she finally told us he was there about 9:40 to get the key and then left.  So we drove back to his house and got there about 10:15.  There was still no one there but the entire pile of furniture that was on the street when we left thirty minutes before was totally gone.  There was no clue there had ever been anything there (I do love Alabama). Two trips, three cars, and ten cousins under the age of twelve later everything was out of the house and into the new apartment.  The James had two beds for them that they were going to bring to Demopolis the night before and leave at the church.  They never made it.  All the furniture they had for them was in their garage in York.  We had to have Brother Smith's trailer to transport it and they were planning on getting it from the church.  They were not going to be able to go to York until late Saturday, after they got back from the temple.  We were just getting ready to go to the store to get a couple air mattresses for them to use for the night when Brother Smith called and said they were just leaving York with two beds, two chairs, two futons and two end tables and an old office chair.  We went to help get it all moved in and left them with the apartment fully furnished.  They had another bed that was left in storage at the apartments and the manager gave it to them.  Now each of the two girls have their own full size bed in their new bedroom after living with their parents in a one bedroom house and nothing to sleep on except the couch in the living room.  We were pretty happy for them. It was interesting that we had an appointment with the Bullards at 6:00 pm.  They called early in the afternoon and said they would have to cancel again.  They ended up needing to leave town sooner than they had planned.  So we were free for all the moving in the evening.  We just walked in the door after moving the Kirks and the sisters called to see if we could go to an appointment with them right then.  We told them we couldn't be available for at least an hour and ten minutes.  They called and changed the appointment and said we could go then.  We went with them to a single man (college age).  He lived with his mother who got up and left the room when we got there.  We invited her to stay.  She said she doesn't believe in our teachings so she was going in the other room.  His older brother stayed with us but didn't agree with what we were teaching them.  We just read the introduction to the Book of Mormon with them and Jonah said he would read chapter one of I Nephi and we could come back to discuss it with him.  His brother, Anthony, said it didn't matter what book you read as long as you accept Jesus and have the spirit when you die, you will go to heaven.  We offered him a copy of the Book of Mormon to read.  He said, "I'm good."

We had a great discussion with Joe Davis, the dispatcher at Dana Transport.  We meet with him at the terminal where he works on the weekends.  We think he is very sincere and willing to learn.  I think he is about seventy-four years old.  He has been to church before and all the leaders in the branch remember him and think he is a wonderful man.  He is the one that says he is not a candidate for our church because he likes to drink coffee.  Our goal is to help him understand that the Lord doesn't want him to drink coffee, it is not just a rule in "our church."  We committed him to pray about the restoration and Joseph Smith.  He told us he feels the Book of Mormon is true.  He has already read it.  I think we kind of ganged up on him with the four of us testifying to him and committing him.  He seemed to take it all in stride though.  Later that night the sisters took Sister Owens to a discussion with Betty Purse out in Boligee.  She is a lady in her fifties who lives with her mother while her home is being repaired.  She loves everything the sisters have shared with her and is reading the Book of Mormon. 

She told them she was coming to church today.  She drove her own car (what a miracle) and got there this morning thirty minutes early (well before the sisters arrived).  Andrea and her Methodist mother came to church today for the first time in over a month.  I think Helen only came because she wanted to "bear her testimony."  As soon as the time was turned over to the congregation she got up and went to the podium.  She proceeded to tell us all about the dream she had where she was in a big group of people and they were captured by terrorists and blindfolded.  She kept telling the terrorists they didn't want to do what they were doing because they were just following Satan and he didn't care anything about them.  She finally got loose and got the head terrorist's knife and stabbed him eight times before he could shoot her with his gun and she saved everybody there.  They escaped and got outside and found out the army was having maneuvers there and they all rose up from the ground.  They thought they were going to rescue them but they just wanted them so they could give them information about the terrorists.  She wanted us all to know that Satan doesn't care about us and we should stay away from him.  Then she said "thank you" and started back to her seat.  Half way there she said, "Oh, wait.  I wanted to tell you about my daughter."  She walked back to the podium and told us all about her experience in the hospital when they almost lost Andrea.  When she finally finished President James got up to bear his testimony and did a tremendous job of getting the spirit back into the meeting.  What a great meeting for the counselor in the Stake Presidency to visit.  Betty was there and still had another appointment with Sister Owens and the sisters tonight (it is such a comfort, sometimes, to know the church is true).  She must be golden.  Although she did mention that that was very interesting. Oh yes, when Betty left after church in her own car she had to have it jumped by Brother Smith because the battery was dead (I do love Alabama).

We hope y'all had a wonderful week.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day.

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens