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
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