Dear Family and Friends,
We started our week making the rounds for our four apartment inspections. We altered our route to the first one to go past some vines we saw on our way to the American Village on the 4th of July. We were so impressed we wanted to get some pictures and we didn’t have time to stop on the 4th (attachment #1&2). We see it along a lot of the roads here during the summer. If you let your imagination run wild you can come up with all kinds of things that they look like and of course it is different everywhere you see it.
Tuesday was our first encounter with the dental profession since we got to Alabama. They were very accommodating and scheduled both of us at the same time for a cleaning and exam. Our appointment was at 1:00 PM. We have been to several doctors since we got here and we always have to get there about 15 minutes early to complete new patient paperwork, so we arrived at 12:45. I so wish I had taken a picture of it. It was a small brown building with a hand painted picture of a tooth on the front window. It looked like it was straight out of the 1890’s. There was room to park three or maybe four cars out front. There weren’t any cars there when we arrived except one on the side of the building. We went up to the door and tried to go in but it was locked. Well, there were two doors, so we assumed we went to the wrong one and went to the one toward the other end of the building (both doors were on the front of the building). It was locked as well. We commenced to walk around the building and actually found another door on the side. It was also locked. Thinking there was a chance they had relocated, I called their number to find out and there was no answer. We finally figured they must be at lunch and would be back at 1:00 to open the door. So we sat in the car, engine running and A/C on, of course, until 1:05. Then we saw a person come out of one of the doors in front and wave at us indicating that she would be back in just a few minutes. Then she went and got in the only other car by the building besides ours and drove away (she was the dentist). We waited another ten minutes and another patient drove up and tried the locked door. A few minutes later another employee drove up and unlocked one of the doors and went in and then opened the door where the other patient was standing and let us come in. The inside of the office actually looked much better than I was expecting having seen the outside. After we completed our paperwork and they finally called us in (after the other patient went in), they had us both go back and pointed to two rooms and said one of us could go in one and one in the other. I went in and sat in the chair and the hygienist came in and got things started. She said she was going to start with x-rays and proceeded to walk around the foot of the chair to get to the other side. There was about six inches between my feet and the wall. I moved my feet so she could get by. The x-ray machine was in the wall between the two exam rooms behind a cupboard door (accessible to both rooms, obviously). Apparently they were going to do the x-rays on Sister Owens after her cleaning. After about four trips around the chair the hygienist told me I didn’t have to keep moving my feet. She does this all day every day and she is used to it. She finished the cleaning and said things looked pretty good for being a year and a half since they were cleaned last and told me the dentist would be in to give me an exam. The dentist came in and said, “Are you having any trouble anywhere other than that root canal you are going to need to have done?” I said, “Say what!” Then she and the hygienist spent about two minutes trying to decide the correct tooth number to identify the tooth where I need the root canal. She proceeded with the exam and at one point taped on one of my teeth with her instrument until I was convinced she was trying to get it to break in half. She didn’t find any other problems and started discussing the root canal again with the hygienist and said he didn’t really react at all when I tapped on it (it was a good thing she stopped when she did because I was about to react when I thought it was going to break in half). I actually started to think I was being hustled by a snake oil salesman. Then they broke the news to me that my policy doesn’t cover root canals so that would be an out of pocket expense. I told them I would talk to my insurance company and get back to them. Sister Owens had about the same experience but they really tore up her gums pretty good. I must have gotten the better hygienist (I do love Alabama).
Wednesday morning I had just started my walk and Brother White called and asked if we could come to get him in Greensboro and take him to Tuscaloosa to the hospital. He needed to have a doctor sign his prescription that he forgot to sign the day before and the pharmacy wouldn’t fill it without the doctor’s signature. So we got to Tuscaloosa and told them we needed the signature and they called Doctor Stevenson down to the desk and he put his figure 8 (literally) on the prescription and then chuckled and said “Oh, I forgot to sign it.” (I do love Alabama). We had gotten a call from Brother White while we were waiting for the Dentist to open the office the day before. He was at the hospital waiting to go in for x-rays. He blacked out while driving himself to Dialysis in Eutaw that morning and rolled his truck three times (attachment #3). The paramedics had to pry him out from between the front and rear seats to get him out. He had his x-rays and he hadn’t broken any bones so they gave him a prescription (which they didn’t sign) and sent him home because they were busy and didn’t have a bed for him. His son drove him home from the hospital. He never did get his scheduled dialysis treatment (they didn’t bother to do it at the hospital). After we got him home from getting the signature we took him to Eutaw. They said they would get him in for a two hour session (he usually takes three to four hours three times a week). He went on Thursday (his regularly scheduled day) and his son got married Saturday in Birmingham so he didn’t go for Dialysis yesterday because of the wedding. He won’t go again until Tuesday. We hope he will be okay until then. Brother Borden brought him to church today and he was there to bless the sacrament as usual. We are taking him to Tuscaloosa again Monday to see his surgeon who put the pins in his neck. The extent of his injuries seems to be some abrasions on his left hand from flying windshield glass and the same on his head above his ear, other than feeling like someone beat him with a baseball bat.
Thursday we had a good Book of Mormon class. It was really neat to see Deborah there. She looked really good. We could tell she was receiving much better care and she seemed happier than the last several times we saw her. She hasn’t been to the class for about three or four weeks (her daughters wouldn’t let her come). President James asked us to see if they wanted to spend some time reading over the lesson for Come Follow Me in the class. They said they would like to do that. We don’t know if we will alternate weeks or try to read some from both each week, but it will be good to spend some time on the Sunday School lesson. We’re not sure how many of them really do much reading during the week.
Friday we had a great District Council. We read from II Nephi chapter 9 about the Plan of Salvation and the atonement and had a really great discussion. Sister Hurst (the other senior sister) told us they learned at the CES training that chapter is the heart of the Book of Mormon. It really does explain so well the need for the Savior’s sacrifice and what that means for all of us as God’s children.
We had gotten a text this week from Sister Snar (trained here in Demopolis). She received a facebook message from a girl they taught while they were here that she would like the missionaries to drop off another copy of the Book of Mormon. Since we have no sisters here this week she called us and asked if we would deliver it. So after we finished our P-day chores Saturday we drove to York to deliver the book. Alliah was sleeping and her roommate answered the door. She went and woke her up and they invited us in. We gave Alliah her book and asked her roommate if she would like a copy for herself. She did so we gave her one as well. She showed us a very worn copy of the Gospel Principles manual and said that Alliah had been letting her read it and she really likes the things that are in there. Alliah had the manual from last year when we were holding that Sunday School class.
Also during the week we got a call from a lady named Vanessa who we do not know. She asked what time we pick up people for church. We asked her where she lived and said we could stop by for her about 9:45. Sister McCreath had already gone to Clanton so we texted her to see if she had talked to someone and given her our number. She had not. A member of the Stake Young Women visited our branch last week and brought a visitor with her. We found out the visitor lived in Demopolis. The sisters contacted her and taught her the restoration and she told them she would like to come to church again this week. They gave her our number so she could ask us if we could pick her up. We didn’t have her number so we couldn’t contact her. She finally called us this morning about 8:00. We found out Vanessa is her friend and we were picking up both of them for church. They both told us they want to come again next week and the sisters will be contacting both of them to teach them this next week. It was very interesting in church. All during the first speaker’s message Vanessa would say amen whenever she agreed with anything she said. After the talk Vanessa and Rebecca (the friend that came the week before) both started clapping and several more of the recent converts joined in. President James looked up from his seat at the front of the chapel and we had never seen his eyes opened quite that wide. I wondered what was going to happen after the final speaker, but there actually wasn’t any applause, Just amens.
So when we had our interview with the President, he told Sister Owens we need to start praying for miracles for Demopolis and then when they start happening she is supposed to call him and tell him about them. So Brother White’s survival is definitely a miracle, although we have now lost 50% of our transportation from Greensboro . I’m not sure how that fits into the miracles other than Brother White won’t black out anymore driving himself to Eutaw. And we now have at least two and maybe four sisters without husbands, without jobs, and without transportation, that are interested in coming to church. I’m not sure, as yet, how that fits into the miracles either (I really do love Alabama).
Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day.
We love y’all,
Elder and Sister Owens
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