Week 74: Elder Owens has to repent: there really are miracles

Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry this is late.  Things kind of piled up on Sunday and we were both just too tired to get this out Sunday night.  Monday we spent the day in Tuscaloosa and Bessemer for Sister Owens to have some tests to figure out why her cough isn’t clearing up.  She had a cat scan on her lungs to follow up after the one she had in May when she came down with the bronchitis.  After her scan we checked to see if she could go ahead and have her bone density test which was actually scheduled for Wednesday.  They did the test so it saved us a trip on Wednesday.  Then she had to see the pulmonologist and have another breathing test.  Then the doctor couldn’t compare the two scans because her office didn’t have a copy of the original scan.  It was sent to them last month and then they gave the disc to Sister Owens (???).  Then they told her she would have to bring the disc in sometime so they could compare the two (I do love Alabama).  By the time we were done with the tests and the doctor Sister Owens was pretty disgusted with the medical profession here and thought they are all just trying to make as much money as they can and don’t really care about the people at all.  It kind of ruined her whole day and she ended up pretty negative about everything.  We stopped at the mission office to pick up a package that they received for us from the Silver Sage Young Women.  It was “just what the doctor ordered.”  It had ten gifts for each of us and ten quotes from President Hinckley about what he hoped every missionary would take home with them from their mission.  It totally changed her attitude and saved the day.  Thank you to the Young Women for thinking of us.

Tuesday was District Council.  They sent out an agenda on FB Messenger.  Sister Owens’ facebook account is the only one attached to the group and she has no idea what her password is and hasn’t even opened it since we set it up.  So we were totally unaware of the agenda and the assignment for the training.  It was good training on Faith.  They said they would text the one for the next week to us so we would have it.  Then we took the sisters to lunch and drove to Bessemer for interviews with the President.  We had a great visit with him.  He told us he has been really impressed that Alabama is about to blossom.  He thinks the government is passing laws that agree with the gospel and the people are prepared and the work is really going to move forward.  I really tried to agree with him but find it a little hard.  I’m sure nobody has noticed my attitude degrading over the past few weeks.  I have just about decided we are just biding our time here until its time to go home.  I haven’t felt like we have been able to do much of anything to move the work forward here.  Our Stake Presidency as well as President Allred has asked us to pray for miracles for Demopolis.  I have found that to be really hard to do.  It has seemed to me that they just aren’t going to happen.  Nothing has changed here since we have been here and President Sainsbury told us months ago that regardless of who he sends to Demopolis, it always stays the same and never changes.

Wednesday we went to coordination meeting and the sisters told us about all the people they are teaching from their tracting and they don’t seem to remain interested much past a couple of meetings.  Then we went to the hospital here in Demopolis to see a member of the branch that has dementia.  She was very tired.  The staff said she hardly slept at all the night before.  She was actually sleeping when we came and we didn’t want to wake her but they said they had to wake her and take her to the restroom anyway and then we could visit her.  We went in and said hi and read one scripture and she was totally asleep.  Short visit.  But it was good she could finally sleep.

Thursday we met with Otis who called us last week to take him to church.  We read from the Book of Mormon with him.  He declined to read when asked but said he will study over it when we are gone.  It is hard to know yet whether he can actually read or not.  He hasn’t opened up to us enough to let us know.  He is very positive about the message but he is very positive about everything.  Its hard to know if he really is accepting the message or just being agreeable like so many others here.  Then we went to Book of Mormon class in Greensboro.  Deborah wasn’t there again.  They told us she is still in the hospital in Tuscaloosa.  It was a good class.  We read from Romans 7 and then a chapter from the Book of Mormon.  The managers wanted us to try to keep it short because the tenants go outside while we are there and wait for us to leave and it was quite warm Thursday.  We always tell them they are welcome to come in while we are there but nobody ever does.

Friday we got a call from Human Resources advising that they were going to court to have Deborah placed in a nursing home and they needed a sponsor for her to help her apply for Medicaid.  They asked us if we would be willing to do it and we said yes.  They said they would call us back bur we haven’t heard from them yet.  We went to Tuscaloosa again so Sister Owens could give the doctor another blood sample and copies of all her records from the fun time she had at all the doctors here in Demopolis back in May.  We stopped at the hospital to see Deborah.  She looked better than she ever has since we have known her.  She was so alert and happy.  It is amazing the difference it makes when someone is properly cared for.

Saturday we did our P-day chores and had another meeting with Otis and the Sisters.  We read chapter 31 of Second Nephi about the Saviors baptism and why we need to be baptized.  He was very agreeable again but we still weren’t sure why.  He was planning on coming to church again Sunday.

Sunday morning I was with President James in Branch Presidency meeting and I got a text from the sisters and a phone call from Otis.  The sisters were telling me that I didn’t have to pick up Otis because he was driving himself and he was going to call me and tell me.  I missed the call form Otis but he left a message saying he was driving himself to church.  He borrowed his mother’s car.  They told us about Stake Priesthood meeting last week and Otis was there.  We told him he was welcome to come if he would like to come with us.  I figured he would end up opting not to go since it would be a two hour drive to get there and then a two hour drive home after the meeting.  So this Sunday I asked him if he still wanted to come to Priesthood meeting and he said yes.  As we were sitting waiting for Sacrament meeting to start Sister McCleskey walked in and sat on the front row just as the meeting was starting.  We had tried several times to see her a year ago and she would not come to her door.  She finally let us in one time and then stopped responding again.  She was the Relief Society President when the Greensboro branch was still in existence.  She hasn’t been to church as long as we have been here. We greeted her and she was very happy to see us and told Sister Owens she was in the hospital for a couple of days and was not on any medication and had an experience that she knew was real and she is convinced it is time for a change.  She invited us over to her house this next week so she can tell us about it.   So after church we had time for a bite of lunch and had the sisters over to eat with us along with Timothy so he wouldn’t have to go home to Forkland and have to be picked up for Priesthood meeting. Sister Owens had the three Smith girls stay at our house while we went to Priesthood meeting because Sister Smith is out of town this week.  Then Brother Smith drove his Suburban and eight of us went to Priesthood meeting and met President James and his son, Terrell, there.  Brother Smith said that was the most people from the branch that has ever gone to Bessemer for Priesthood meeting.  They talked about Priesthood responsibilities, Keys, and Family History work.  I figured Otis would have plenty of questions on the way home, but he didn’t ask any when I invited him to do so.  After we dropped everyone off in Greensboro and just had him in the car going to Demopolis we had a little discussion going and learned that his Dad was killed in an auto accident 20 years ago and we told him how he could be baptized for his dad in the temple after he is baptized.  We found out later, talking to the sisters, that he called them after we dropped him off and said he wanted them to help him so he can get baptized.  He is really excited to be baptized for his dad.  It made him feel so happy that he went over to his mother’s house and told her that he would be able to do that.  He said that made her happy too.

The miracles are continuing this week but we will tell you about that next week.

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

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 44: It was the best of times and the worst of times

Dear Family and Friends,

In her journal Sister Owens called Monday the day of minor miracles.  We experienced some tender mercies.  After our walk we decided we better drop the car off and get the oil changed before our Temple trip on Tuesday.  The shop is about half a mile from our apartment so we asked them to call us when it was finished and we walked home.  We just turned into our cul-de-sac when I realized our apartment key was on the ring with the car key back at the shop.  Then I remembered I was scraping the windows with the car running before our walk and Sister Owens came out of the house without locking it.  So we didn't have to walk back to the shop for the key.  That was good because Sister Owens decided to wear her new snow boots to walk and they were more like Frankenstein shoes than sneakers and she ended up with a very sore heel.  Later we were feeling badly that we were unable to get any initiatory work done so Sister Owens could take a family name to the endowment session with the mission on Tuesday.  We checked the new Family Tree app for the cell phone to check for names ready for ordinances and there was one name ready for endowments that we were able to print out so she could do a family name.  We delivered several invitations to branch members here in Demopolis for our Branch Conference on Sunday and then read the Book of Mormon with Ollie and Larry.

Tuesday was a great day spent in the temple with the missionaries.  We both got to do family names and they asked us to attend both sessions, once with our zone and then with the Tupelo zone after that.  They need all the senior couples because they don't have the young missionaries stand in the prayer circle.  The temple is open just for the missionaries so there isn't anyone else there but us.  They asked us to be the witness couple in the second session which is always a special privilege.  We didn't have the sisters with us this time.  All the missionaries had to drive their own cars because they were installing second generation TIWIs in all the vehicles.  We had to stop at Costco on the way home to have the tires rotated on our car.  We sat around there for two hours waiting for that which was not the most enjoyable way to end the day. We did see President and Sister Sainsbury there before we left and got to visit with them.  That seems to happen just about every time and it is always special.

Wednesday was about the lowest day of our mission so far for us.  We normally do not have district meeting in  the week when we have zone conference or mission temple trips but the sisters texted us Tuesday night and said the district leader said we were going to have District Council at 10:00 AM in Tuscaloosa anyway.  It didn't make for a very good day after such a long day on Tuesday.  It seemed to be a very discouraging day all around.  We decided something pretty special was going to happen on the weekend since Satan was exerting such a strong influence. I had tried to schedule ministering visits all week for the priesthood leaders to make tonight in conjunction with branch conference.  Out of six appointments I tried to schedule, nothing worked out except the first one I scheduled last week.  So I ended up driving to Greensboro to make that visit and Brother White was supposed to accompany me.  I got there and went to Brother White's apartment and he wasn't there and didn't answer his phone (the last thing in the world I thought would happen).  I went to the visit alone which I thought wouldn't hold up anyway.  I waited a long time at the door after knocking about three times and he came to the door just before I was going to head home.

Thursday was a much better day.  We had a good nights sleep and the sun came out for the first time in several days.  Our driving the past couple days was mostly in rain.  Sister Owens made some visits with the Primary President and invited some sisters to come to branch conference. We bought some things at the store for a gentleman the sisters have started to teach.  Sister Owens went with them Wednesday  night while I was gone to Greensboro.  He hadn't eaten anything since Monday.

Friday we fixed some things to take for the pot luck after branch conference on Sunday.  Then we went to Kamia's baptism that night (see attachment #1).  Her mother decided she was not going to be baptized because she didn't feel she would be able to live the law of chastity.  Her boyfriend is a truck driver and stays at their house whenever he is in town.  She said she was not going to marry him because that would end her benefit check from the government, and she didn't want to break up with him.  When we got to the baptism she told the sisters we could make next Friday her night.  We were all shocked.  She said  Tony asked her to marry him so she wants to be baptized. I guess we'll see what happens with that.

Saturday and Sunday were the best days of our mission so far.  We left at 8:00 AM to go to the temple in conjunction with branch conference.  We've been going back and forth all week trying to work out transportation.  President James wanted the branch council to attend the 9:00 AM session because Kamia was originally going to be baptized Saturday.  We had to change it to Friday so she could have some medical procedures done on Saturday so we wanted to change it to 11:00 since the rest of the council (Smiths) has seven kids and it would be hard to get there that early.  He said he was still going to go at 9:00 but texted us at 3:00 AM advising they were at the hospital in Birmingham with their granddaughter and weren't sure they would get to the temple.  Saturday was the day the temple invites any new converts to come to do baptisms for the dead.  So we took Ja'Nylia and the sisters (see attachment #2) in our car and Smiths took Cedric and Tasha and Zyreonia (correct spelling) in their car and they went to the 10:30 baptism session.  Brother Smith and his kids and the sisters stayed in the baptism session and Sister Owens and I were the only ones from the branch council that attended an endowment session.  We found out Sunday that The James were in the hospital for the birth of their great grandson, Zion.

Sunday was a great day that started at 7:30 AM (some of the stake leaders had to drive two hours to get here).  President Lewis (counselor in the Stake Presidency) came representing the Presidency.  He told us while he was in the Temple yesterday he was seeking inspiration as to what he should do to help the saints in Demopolis.  He said the question came into his mind, "Why can't Demopolis become a ward?" He kept thinking of all the reasons why it cant be a ward and the question just kept coming more and more forcefully.  He finally decided the Lord was trying to tell him something and he should pay attention.  So that is the question he presented to us today.  He told us miracles can happen.  We just need to pray with faith for the things we need to make it possible for us to be a ward.  We had sixty-six people in attendance.  More than 30% higher than we have ever had since we have been here.  I guess we have our work cut out for us for the next year.

Three tithing envelops were turned in today. One of them was from one of the Kirk girls, baptized two weeks ago.  What a group of special kids here!

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon.

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 35: Thanksgiving-Blessings all around

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday was my doctor appointment bright and early at 8:00 AM in Tuscaloosa.  Everybody said my blood pressure was awesome (118/68).  I guess everything else was okay as well.  Of course the doctor said a low cholesterol, low sodium, low sugar, low fat, low red meat diet is always good for everything.  But, hey, a guys got to eat, right?  After my appointment we went to the Fed Ex office in Tuscaloosa to check on the package that they tried to deliver twice to the branch building during the last week.  There was no indication on the tag they left who it was for or who it was from and nobody at the branch seemed to know what it might have been.  Since we go to Tuscaloosa at least once every week, we told them we would check on it.  Wouldn't you know, we had no reason to go to Tuscaloosa that week (they had transfers and we don't have District Council the week of transfers and neither of our sisters were transferred so we didn't have to go).  As I walked into the office the lady behind the counter was just explaining to the fellow ahead of me that his package had been processed back to the shipper because no one came to pick it up.  He had his phone in his hand and explained that he just received the notice that day that it had arrived.  She just told him they shipped it back and turned and asked me how she could help me.  I handed her the tags and said I hoped this one hasn't  been shipped back.  She went in the back room and hollered something to me which I didn't understand.  Then she came out and said it had been sent back to the shipper.  I asked her if I could find out who it was for and who it was from.  It was from a Bio Med company for the son of one of our branch members.  His dad was the first one that said he had no idea who it would have been for.  It was shipped back the Friday before we came to check on it.  We called the family and explained the situation and they asked us for a bunch of information that we couldn't give them because we didn't have it.  Later we found out that it was shirts that the Red Cross was having shipped directly for the blood drive we were having on Wednesday as an eagle project for the boy the package was addressed to.  Needless to say, there were no free shirts for the blood donors on Wednesday.  Things got way better after that.  We found the transmission specialist that was recommended to us by a mechanic in Greensboro who said that, from the symptoms I told him about, it sounded like we need a new transmission.  We found the shop and explained what the car has been doing.  The mechanic was going to drive it.  He went to the end of the lot and then came back and drove it into the  bay.  He checked the fluid level and came and asked us if we had any work done on it lately.  We told him we hadn't.  He said it was really low on fluid.  He told us it took three quarts of fluid but he could not find anywhere where it had been leaking and it was not wet anywhere.  He couldn't explain how it could be missing so much fluid.  We were totally puzzled because the day it starting having problems, I suspected it was low on fluid and took it to a shop to have it checked because we were driving to Zone Conference the next day.  They told us the fluid was good and it was not low.  That of course was news I didn't want to hear because I was sure the transmission was bad if the fluid wasn't low.  We were convinced we were going to be spending a lot of money either on transmission repairs or a new car and it ended up being $65 to add fluid and the car has been running like a charm ever since.  They said to bring it back again this week and they will check it out again.  We will stop by when we go for District council on Tuesday.  The Lord is certainly taking care of us.

Tithing settlement is coming so I spent Tuesday morning getting reports ready for President James while Sister Owens did some Relief Society stuff and Josh and his family were setting up for the blood drive the next day.  In the afternoon we took a bunch of chicken out to Deborah in Greensboro.  She is the non-member who comes to Book of Mormon class every week and her family won't let her be baptized.  We barbequed the chicken for the baptism that didn't happen last Sunday.  Then we went to see a recent convert that just got married.  We were invited to the wedding but couldn't go because we had other commitments.

Sister Owens says Wednesday was a truly beautiful Fall day (attachment #1).  If the leaves aren't all gone from the tree in front of the Funeral Chapel across the street from the branch building, we will have to get a picture this week to send.  They are all bright red.  We picked up a member in Linden and brought her to the blood drive early because she wanted to do some family history work on the computer at the church.  She used the wrong user name and password so many times she locked herself out of her account.  Then when enough time passed that she could try again, they were ready for her to give blood.  The nurse couldn't find a vein and she ended up not being able to give any.  Sister Owens donated but I didn't because I always faint.  Well I almost fainted last time I donated blood and I don't like it.  I gave at the doctor's office just a couple days before anyway.  So after the blood drive we took Beth home and went shopping for Thanksgiving.  The only turkey breasts they had were frozen and we didn't know if one would thaw in time to cook it the next day so we bought a couple Hungry Man Turkey dinners just in case.  We haven't had TV dinners for a long time.  The turkey thawed out pretty fast so we ate the TV dinners for supper.  Then we remembered why it has been so long since we ate TV dinners. Our family sent us leaves made from construction paper where they each wrote a note about why they are thankful for us.  We finally got a vase to put our cotton plant in and we put all the leaves on the plant with tiny clothes pins that Sara sent us with her family's leaves (attachment #2). It is a neat addition to our little apartment.

I guess we are not true southerners because we did not have ham and potato salad and sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving.  But we did have our turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy and corn.  We made real cranberry sauce and we stopped in Linden the day before to buy some yams from a farmer.  Two of them filled a bread loaf pan after we baked them.  We doctored them up real good.  So we came pretty close to the sweet potato pie, we just didn't have the crust and whipped cream.  They even had some Vernor's Ginger Ale at the store so we had that to drink (the BEST Ginger Ale ever made).  In keeping with tradition we had a nice nap after dinner. 

Our Thanksgiving week ended with Zone Conference.  They had us attend with the Montgomery Zone so we only had to drive two hours instead of two hours and fifteen minutes.  It was special, too, because we got to see the missionaries for whom we do inspections.  Their areas are not in our zone.  Sister Snarr was transferred to that zone when she left Demopolis so it was neat to get to see her and hear how she is doing in her new area with her new companion.  Of course all the sisters just love everybody and they always tell them so.  After the conference I was holding the door for some people that were leaving while I was waiting for Sister Owens and our sisters.  Sister Snarr noticed me and came running over and shook my hand and said, "I love you."  I just looked at her for a very pregnant pause and then said, "I'm sorry, I just can't respond to that."  She realized what she had done and looked at all the elders that were looking at her and then said, "I shouldn't have said that." And went back over and stood by her companion.

The Montgomery Stake President was in the building while we were there for conference.  President Sainsbury went out and asked him if he would come in and speak to the missionaries for a few minutes.  He was reluctant because he wasn't in his "Stake President Uniform," but he came in anyway and shared some scriptures with us.  He talked about how blessings are attached to each of the commandments that are given to us and that promised blessings come to us when we are obedient to the council we receive from the Lord.  One of the sure blessings that I liked that he mentioned is in D&C 45: 57-59.  The council we are given is to be wise, receive the truth, and take the Holy Spirit for our guide.  If we do this we will abide the day when the Lord comes again.  In verse 58 an awesome promise is given to those who do those things faithfully:

58 And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation.

What a promise!

Be wise, receive the truth, and take the Holy Spirit for your guide,

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon.

We hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving!

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

--

Rob and Suzie

Week 12: Plodding along and seeing the hand of the Lord in the work

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday this week we spent the day preparing food for the family and going to the funeral for Johnny Rogers in Tuscaloosa.

Tuesday was district meeting in Tuscaloosa.  I had to be there for a follow up appointment with the opthylmologist.  I saw him a month ago and he actually didn’t think I have glaucoma.  He took me off the eyedrops for a month (right after I purchased a new 30 day supply)  and wanted to see how things were this month.  He said my pressures are fine and he says to stay off the drops and we can check it again in six months.  Yay!!  I hated those drops.

Wednesday we worked on records again and went out to extend personal invitations to the Priesthood celebration we had planned for Saturday.  We got to see Latasha Vaughn and Cedric and invite them to the celebration and we set an appointment to meet with them in their home next Tuesday.  We have been trying to meet a non-member family whose two children have been baptized but have never caught them at home.  We went there with a flyer and their son met us at the door.  He is fifteen.  It was the first time we had ever seen him.  He hasn’t been to church since we arrived here.  The first thing he said before we even told him why we were there was, “I’m coming for sure this week.”  We told him we were glad and we would be excited to see him.  We told him about the celebration and gave him a flyer and he said. “I’ll be there, I’m coming for sure.”  When we left we weren’t sure he even knew we were talking about an activity on Saturday as well as church on Sunday.

On Thursday we spent the day in Greensboro looking for people who haven’t been to church and trying to find people who have insufficient addresses on the branch records.  Our appointment with Sister McCleskey that we set last week did fall through, but we called her from her doorstep and she told us she forgot about an appointment they had in Jacksonville.  She said she really didn’t do it on purpose because she really wants to meet with us.  We re-scheduled for next Thursday and later we noticed that I have a doctor appointment scheduled for the exact same time in Tuscaloosa that I have been trying to schedule since we got to Alabama.  Now we have to call her and re-schedule.  We actually got to visit with one sister from the ward who had all of her siblings at the house when we got there.  They were all siting on the porch visiting.  They were all in their 50s and 60s and had  been helping her cut her grass which had grown about 3 feet tall.  They were just taking a break when we arrived.  We had a nice visit and stopped for a selfie on the way home (see attachment).  We had no luck at all trying to find any of the people with bad addresses. We had our Book of Mormon class in the afternoon.  There are only two drivers among the active members in Greensboro that can get people to Demopolis for church.  Brother White has dialysis on Saturday  so he was not coming to the celebration.  Brother Borden was scheduled to work so they wouldn’t be coming either.  So nobody from Greensboro would be at the activity.  We decided to make arrangements with the apartment management to use the lunch room (where we have study class) for two hours and we would show the video next week instead of having class.  We would just have to arrange for access to the Internet somehow because as far as I could tell we could not download the broadcast,  All we could do was re-play it.

Friday we spent most of the day at the church laying out our plans to accommodate everyone in our one room building for the viewing of the “Be One” event we were going to have on Saturday. I had the thought cross my mind that I should hook up the laptop and check and make sure everything was going to work to re-play the broadcast.  I did so and clicked on “play video” and it just came up with an unknown error and said to try again later.  I tried again 3 or 4 times with the same result and ended up calling the IT person in the stake for some guidance.  We talked through everything and still couldn’t get it to work, so he told me to call the person over him because we had reached the limit of his expertise.  I made the call and he was not home.  His wife said she would do some research and get back to me.  Then the IT guy called me back and said it must be a problem in Demopolis because he brought it up on his computer and it played just fine. Sister Hearle called me back and gave me a link to the media section of the Church website and said to play it from there.  I brought it up and it actually gave me the option to download it, which I did (for an hour and thirty minutes).  So I had it and didn’t have to worry about buffering during the activity Saturday. And now we don’t need the internet in Greensboro next Thursday to be able to show it.

The Sisters dropped by while we were at the church and told us about a biking miracle (the missionaries across the mission post them everyday showing how the Lord guides them when they decide to use their bikes instead of their cars so they save miles on their cars)  They decided to bike to a teaching appointment and when they stopped at an intersection a lady hollered at them and was running to meet them.  The Sisters didn’t recognize her.  She said, “Hey, aren’t you LDS missionaries,  I was baptized into y’all’s church, I’ve been trying to find you”  She is one of the members who no longer lives at the address shown on the branch records and there was no phone number for her.  She moved out of state to help take care of her niece who has cancer and just moved back to the area.  She was excited to come to the activity on Saturday and to church Sunday.  I don’t know if the Lord was rewarding us for our efforts or just getting the work done in spite of us.  The Sisters never would have met her if they had driven to their teaching appointment.  The appointment fell through, by the way.

Saturday we had about 40 people come to the activity.  After the video started I noticed the boy sitting at the table next to ours was the young man we visited Wednesday that promised he would be there.  After about an hour Latasha and Cedric came in (they are super shy, she hasn’t been to church for about 8 years).  Sister Owens and I were both pleasantly surprised and jumped up to go greet them before they turned around and left.  Since they were late they only got a hotdog each and a spoonful of baked beans, but they stayed and watched the video.  We visited with them for a few minutes afterwards and they said they would come to church Sunday.  Our big disappointment was that that the Webbs (Baptism date set for July 6) said they were coming but didn’t show up.  They were going to come to Stake conference in the van with us and didn’t make that either.  Sister Ramirez that chased the Sisters down on their bikes was there with her children and we got her current address and phone.

So church today was great.  A member of the Stake Presidency and his family were our speakers.  Unfortunately, none of the new people that said they were coming showed up, but we’re getting used to that.  Sister Ramirez actually spent the day in the emergency room with a terrible toothache.  So I had the video from yesterday on my start bar and decided this morning to close it.  I went to open it this evening to make sure I would know where to find it Thursday for Greensboro and it is nowhere to be found on my laptop. I chose the open option instead of Save Friday when I downloaded it and it did not give me an option to save it to a location when I closed it this morning.  So here we are at the church downloading it again (saving it this time).  Since it’s Sunday it is taking about three to four hours this time instead of the hour and a half it took last time.  At least it was good to find out it was gone tonight instead of Thursday at Greensboro.  I’m so glad the Lord takes care of us and helps us get the work done even when we do some dumb things.

Week 8: A couple minor miracles

Dear Family and Friends,

This was a very, very busy week.  We started Monday by inspecting three of the four apartments we were asked to inspect.  It was a neat privilege to get to visit with the Elders for a few minutes and find out a little bit about them and their families.  I asked one of the Elders in the first apartment we went to if he was hearing from his family each week.  He said his girlfriend writes to him each week.  I asked about his family and he told me they are not members.  He has an aunt that is a member but she really isn’t very active.  I was amazed at his dedication.

Last week looking at the map, we saw that we just needed to jog over three or four miles to the east when we were coming home from one of the inspections and we would be able to go through Magnolia where the first Mormon chapel was built in the south, which is still there.  Something one of the Elders said Monday reminded me that we intended to do that so we put Magnolia in the GPS after the second inspection, as we were headed home.  We had to choose between two routes and we chose the shorter route, though it was about 10 minutes longer.  After driving about 45 minutes on a dirt road that was seriously washed out in about three places (so much so, I did not want to go back over them ever again).  We had about five miles to go and came to a pile of dirt across the whole road that was higher than the car.  I got out and looked at the hill which I thought looked like a hill for a motocross track.  I was sure if I went up the hill I would high center before I could get down the other side.  When I climbed to the top I thought it went far enough that the rear wheels would be up before the front ones started down the other side. We went over the hill and found ourselves on a bridge with another bike jump immediately at the other end of the bridge.  I figured if we got over the first one we could probably make it over the second one as well so we went for it.  About five miles down the road we turned onto a paved road and Sister Owens looked back and noticed a sign where we came out that said “Bridge out, do not enter.”  We never saw a sign at the other end of the road. That is miracle number one (I’m sure the Lord just looked down at us and shook his head on that one).  We got home just in time for our last scheduled inspection here in Demopolis.  After we got home we realized we had intended to stop in Magnolia after the inspection we did Friday not Monday.  We actually drove quite a ways out of our way.

Brother Smith told us the Chevy dealership in Demopolis had an Enterprise rental car branch at their facility, so we stopped there Tuesday before leaving for district meeting in Tuscaloosa.  They checked and said all their vans were reserved.  We got a number for the Tuscaloosa office and called them and were told the same thing.  They even checked the Birmingham airport for us and nothing was available.  We were going to check some other places but meetings went too long and it was 5:00 PM before we could check and everything was closed.  We were going to Linden to pick up a sister on Wednesday to bring her to the family history library to do some work and we decided to stop on the way at Enterprise and go ahead and reserve a minivan so we would have something in case we weren’t able to find the 15 passenger van we wanted. We got to the desk and saw a sign saying they were gone to the carwash.  We waited for about 10 minutes and thought we better go to pick up Beth.  As we were walking out a lady drove up in a wet car so we waited and it was the lady from the rental desk.  We asked if we could go ahead and reserve a minivan for the weekend.  She said, “did you decide you don’t want the 15 passenger?”  We told her we do want one but we were told there was not one available.  She said, “you’re from Demopolis, right?”  I said yes.  She said, “We have it reserved right here for the Church of Demopolis.” And told me the phone number she had and it was not ours.  I told her we would love to have the van but that was not us.  She said, “When do you need the van?”  I told her we only need it for Sunday but I was told they don’t have rates for the weekend.  She told us that was right, that we have to rent it on Friday and can’t bring it back until Monday.  She said the van was coming back at noon on Friday and we could have it for the weekend if we wanted it.  We reserved it.  Miracle number two.

Thursday we worked at the family history library with the non-member we mentioned last week.  She told us that when she was four and a half years old her grandfather shot and killed her father because of a disagreement over some money.  That is about the strangest (and saddest) thing we have heard so far here in the south.

Thursday afternoon we went to Book of Mormon study class and were happy to report that we had the van for conference.  Brother White had a non-member friend there for the class and he said he would love to come to conference with us.  We had another lesson with the Webbs  Thursdaynight and they said they were planning to come to conference also.

We were excited to have the van for the weekend because there was room for the whole branch council to go to leadership meeting.  Since they were changing the Stake Presidency, President James had to go early for his interview.  We ended up with only five of us going over in the van for leadership meeting and staying for the Saturday night session.  We got home about midnight and had to get on the road by 6:10 AM to pick up everyone in Greensboro for the Sunday morning session.  Sadly, the non-member friend decided not to come and the Webbs woke up just after we had to leave so we could get to the meeting on time.  So we only had eight of us for the Sunday trip.  The meeting was awesome.  We heard Elder Wakolo’s conversion story.  He didn’t tell us it was him until the end of the story.  I felt bad because he was last and I was so tired from driving for two days that I couldn’t stay awake for the first half of the story.  It would have been so awesome if the Webbs could have been there for the meeting.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon!

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

PS  Last week when we were teaching the Webbs about the Book of Mormon I told them about the promises President Monson made to us if we would read and study the Book of Mormon daily.  I told them if they read every day they could enjoy those blessings because they were promised by a prophet of God and it didn’t matter whether you are a member of the church or not.  They read every day and told the sisters that they noticed the difference it made in their home.  It is just like going to church or praying or paying your tithing, you have to do it before you realize the blessings that come from it.  We know what a blessing it is to attend conference and hear from general authorities of the church because we have experienced it.  We tend to think if we tell others how exciting it is, then they will feel the same anticipation and desire to attend.  But, having not experienced it, they don’t know what a blessing it can be. Elder Johnson is such an amazing man.  What a privilege it was to here him bear testimony of the Savior.  These people are awesome.  Words cannot express what it feels like to be in their presence.