Dear Family and Friends,
Monday we were without the car all day long again. They asked us to bring it in early in the morning so they could replace the lug and nut from our little incident at Costco during our tire rotation. After 92 degrees on Sunday and noticing it took about an hour for the car to cool down, we asked them if they could check the AC since they just replaced the compressor in March. We kinda thought it ought to be work a little more efficiently than that. They said they would change the oil for us also. We called at noon and they told me they had replaced the lug and nut and changed the oil and had started to check the AC but needed to go to lunch. She was going to call us when it was ready. We waited all afternoon for them to call us and finally called them at 4:50 and, like last time, they said, "Oh, you're all ready, Hon, sorry I forgot to call you." I was glad I called since they closed at 5:00. They added two pounds of coolant because the core in the fill port was lose (we weren't charged for it). They said it was probably due to the age of the car and to keep an eye on it. We might have to replace the line if we still have problems. So far it's working pretty good.
Tuesday we had a new experience. All three of the Smith boys had their Eagle Board of Review in Tuscaloosa and they needed some one to go with them to serve on the board that were not members of their family. With limited transportation in the Branch, we were pretty much the only ones that could go. The man that was released as the High Council representative for the Branch the week before we came also said he would come (he lives in Tuscaloosa).
We were up bright and early Wednesday to go to Zone Conference in Inverness. Our cruise control has not been working most of the time we have been here, which is very irritating on long trips. As we drove out of town I noticed it was working. We used it all the way to and from the conference and the next day it quite working again. On the way there I realized in our prayer that morning we had prayed that the car would function properly. Another tender mercy. It was a special Zone Conference. It was the last one we will have with President Sainsbury. We change Presidents and realign the mission boundaries July 1st.
Thursday was happy birthday to Sister Owens. We made a cake and took it to Book of Mormon class but we couldn't mention the birthday because we had overlooked a few birthdays in the Branch while Sister Owens was dealing with her Bronchitis. Sister Owens doesn't think her funeral will be as nice as her birthday. There were too many kind wishes and nice things said by so many people. Thanks to all of you who sent her special greetings.
Friday three of the sisters in the branch took Sister Owens to Lunch at the Mennonite bakery. She thoroughly enjoyed the dozen shrimp she had for lunch but the cake wasn't really all that great. They didn't get to use the private back room because of a family reunion that was having lunch there, so they had to make do with a table among the Cowboy church folks that were there for lunch. A truly unique experience.
We had a special pot luck for all the senior couples in the mission on Saturday night with President and Sister Sainsbury and then another pot luck for the branch on Sunday so we made cinnamon rolls for both of them. Due to a slight miscalculation on my part, there were only half as many as I intended and they were extremely bready and really didn't have that much cinnamon in them. I should have divided the dough before I rolled it out and I just didn't do it. They did get eaten though. It was the last time we will see the Sainsburys on our mission. We are going to miss them. He has been a great President. He has been encouraging the missionaries to support and sustain the new President when he comes. He shared with us, at zone conference, how he was duped by a zone leader when he was brand new. The elder told him he had hurt his back and that the equipment at golds gym would help him in his recovery. President said he thought if you can't trust a zone leader, who can you trust? So he gave him special permission to use the gym. A couple months later he noticed that all his missionaries were walking around like they were pushing wheelbarrows and he was getting letters from all the parents wanting to know why they were having to pay for memberships at Golds Gym. The zone leader had told everybody that the president had given them permission to get memberships at the gym. He put an end to that and had everyone cancel their memberships. He said if anyone tried something like that with the new president he personally would hunt them down and shoot them. All the elders now in the mission get to have two exit interviews. President Sainsbury had the elders meet with him during conference and the sisters with Sister Sainsbury. He said since he didn't get to talk with them when they leave to go home he was going to share some things with them there. So he gave all some very sound advice for when they are released from their missions that will help them for the rest of their lives. I hope they paid attention.
We had another little tender mercy Thursday night. We happened to see the red hornet between the sheet and the blanket on our bed as we were turning down the sheets to go to bed, rather than discovering it during the night when one of us got stung. I'm glad the Lord is watching out for us.
Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day ("for the rest of your life until you're dead,"—President Sainsbury)
We love y'all,
Elder and Sister Owens
PS. We got a group picture of the Zone with the Sainsburys and one of the senior couples with them but we didn't take them. We hope they will be posted on the mission facebook page before long so we can download them and send them with our next email.
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