Week 85: This was the week that wasn't; too many doctors here

Dear Family and Friends,

Sister Owens got up Monday morning feeling quite poorly.  She thought it was just because the day before was such a long day with the training meeting in Tuscaloosa after church.  She took a nap hoping she would feel better and when she got up she was pretty sure she was coming down with a bad cold.  We were going to take the sisters and a lady they are teaching over to the church for a church tour and then go have a discussion with Otis.  We had to call and cancel.  She went to bed early hoping she would feel good enough to go to District Council on Tuesday.

We are in a different district now than before.  We no longer have the Hursts (the YSA senior couple) in the same district.  We are a little bummed about that.  We only see them at Zone Conference now.  Our new district meets in Tuscaloosa still, but at a different building which is a little farther away.  At Zone Conference our district leader told us we would meet at 10:30 instead of 11:00.  So we picked up the sisters and left about 40 minutes earlier than usual Tuesday morning.  As we drove up to the building and saw no cars we were a little worried if we had the right place.  The sisters said it was the right building but they had gotten a message the night before that the meeting would be at 11:00 instead of 10:30. We didn't get the message because we don't have internet at our apartment.  For some reason they send all the important messages on FB Messenger instead of sending out texts (??).  Our Zone leader is in our district now.  At 11:00 we were still waiting in the parking lot for the elders.  The sisters from Fayette were also there waiting.  We decided to walk around the building and found that the elders park on the other side of the building.  We went in and the ZL and his companion were there waiting for us.  The district leader still wasn't there.  He and his companion had an earlier appointment and didn't get there for about another twenty minutes.  Anyway, Sister Owens was feeling a little better and she asked our new district leader to give her a blessing after our meeting.  When  we got home we got a call from the pulmonologist telling us that Dr. Simpson had advised her that he saw no reason to consider a biopsy at this time.  So she wants Sister Owens to come in next week to have a high density CT Scan and another breathing test.  We are pretty sure the breathing test will be much better than her last, as long as she gets over the cold she is having now.  We went to meet with Otis and he said we were going to have to hold off on meetings with him for a while because he has to be in deep prayer for his mother.  She was in the hospital for a day or two and is back home now.  We told him we would prayer for her.

Wednesday she stayed home and nursed her cold until it was time to go to Coordination meeting.  We talked about how Brother Smith and Sister Owens have to counsel together and plan everything for the branch so we can take the load off President James and he can devote his time to the youth.

Thursday Brother Foote drove down from Tuscaloosa to attend our Book of Mormon class with us and get to know the members in Greensboro a little better.  He is the high councilor that has been assigned to our branch.  He was pretty excited when Sister Borden said we were going to have catfish next week.  We were a little surprised since we just had some a couple weeks ago.  We didn't have the heart to tell Brother Foote how many times they say that before we actually have some.  Thursday night the sisters had us over for dinner at their apartment (see attachment).  All the missionaries have to be in their apartment for the evening by 6:00 pm on Halloween.  They made chicken spaghetti for us which was really quite tasty.

Friday was my semi-annual check up with the Dermatologist in Tuscaloosa.  He assured me nothing had to be cut off today.  I was quite pleased about that.  No more doctors to see now until Sister Owens' CT Scan and breathing test next Tuesday and her check up with the GP next Friday.

Saturday we took our turn cleaning the branch building and then did our P-day chores.

Sunday we had a good Fast and Testimony meeting.  They seem really short now that they are only an hour long.  Brother Morgan had his eightieth birthday Friday.  We took a pan of cinnamon rolls over for them to share with their boys.  We were sure they would be coming to see them.  They asked if we would come over Sunday afternoon so we could meet their grandkids.  We went over and took a family picture for them.  They have such a neat family.  Three boys.  They have all been baptized but only their second son is active.  He is in the Stake Presidency where he lives in southern Alabama, and  all of their children have been on missions (one in Boise several years ago).  They brought their youngest son with them this weekend.  He just got home six weeks ago from Taiwan.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 84: Good news from the Doctor and a different focus for the future in the mission

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday we took Sister Owens to a cardiovascular and thoracic specialist as directed by her pulmonologist.  He was going to explore the possibility of a lung biopsy because of the persistent infection and cough she has had since May.  I guess it would be a pretty involved procedure if they decided it would be necessary.  Thanks to the prayers and faith of many of you the doctor didn't seem to feel that anything is really necessary at this time.  She actually has been showing some improvement in the last couple of weeks and he looked at the scans she had done a few months ago.  He said what he saw does not seem to be anything serious enough to consider a biopsy at this time.  He suggested considering it again in about six months if she is still having problems.  We did take some sandwiches and salad with us to Tuscaloosa and stopped at a park to have lunch before her appointment (attachment #1).  I think it helped to relieve her apprehension about the visit with the doctor.

Tuesday we had to catch up on P-day chores and we worked on RS and EQ lessons for Sunday.

Wednesday we worked on bulletin board ideas and got some logos printed at the print shop.  The branch council is trying to find a way to enlist the help of the non-member parents of all the children that come to church most weeks.  We want them to support their children in their personal goal setting in the four areas of improvement in the new child and youth program.  We want to have some kind of activity this fall that the non-member parents will be encouraged to come to and then we hope to convince them that it will be in their best interest as families to support their children in their goal setting.  We usually have more non-member children in primary than we do members and the children have no gospel learning or support at home during the week.  The branch has several serious challenges among which is the two deep leadership with all the youth and children.  There are only about five sisters in the branch that would be considered qualified to serve in leadership positions with the youth and children and they are utilized as presidencies and teachers already.  Sister Smith is struggling with major challenges with the primary in that the age range of the few children that attend is from two to eleven and right now she is the only adult in the primary.

Thursday we picked up the sisters at 6:45 AM and headed to Bessemer for our Zone Conference.  President and Sister Allred just got back from training with Elder Bednar and had several things to share with all of us.  The mission is shifting focus to working a great deal with prospective elders, less active, and part member families.  A huge emphasis from the mission, going forward, is going to be in the area of family history.  A senior couple is here on their third mission to help with family history.  They will visit each district in the mission to give us training and we will go back to our areas to train the members (and non-members) so they can submit names to the temple.  The missionaries will get to go to the temple once in every transfer (six weeks) and will take names that have been found by the members of the wards and branches if the people do not have recommends to go themselves.  Sister Snarr (who was trained here and is now serving her last transfer before returning home) and Sister Allen (who was just trained by Sister McCreath) are the Sister Training Leaders for our Zone so they are doing exchanges with the sisters throughout the zone.  They split with another set of sisters and we took Sister Snarr and Sister Woods (from Bessemer) back with us to Demopolis so they can work together for a day.

Friday we drove out to visit a less active member to see if he would accept a visit from the Stake President this Sunday but he wasn't home.  We started getting some pretty good rain from the storm they are having down on the coast.  There were several tornado watches issued for counties just south of us.  We went in the afternoon to help Ollie again with her Bank statement.  It was raining quite a bit so we didn't want to try to get her into and out of the car to take her to the church.  We just sat out on her covered patio and worked on her statement.  I wish our counsel and advice would make a difference but it doesn't seem to.  She just keeps giving money to anyone that asks her for it.  She knows she doesn't have the money to keep paying so many people, but they offer to do any little thing for her (defrost the freezer, put drano in the sink, etc.) and she says they did work for her and pays them $20 or $40. 

Saturday was laundry day for Andrea and her Mother and for us.  We went and picked them up with their two huge bags and two laundry baskets of dirty laundry (I really didn't think it was going to fit in our car) and drove them to the laundro-mat. Then we went out to see Brother Harbin again (the one we tried to catch on Friday)  He was home and we had a good visit with him and his wife.  He said he would be home and the Stake President could come and visit him on Sunday.  Then we stopped to see the Kirks on the way back and they agreed to a visit as well.  Andrea and her mother weren't quite finished with their laundry so we got to go home and get ours started.  Then we went back and took them back to their apartment.  When we got home we got a call from Ollie.  Ross had a bit of a tantrum and walked out after he splashed drano all over the sink and she was worried about the sink and wanted us to come over and check it out.  Her husband had been quite rude to her and the lady that comes to bathe her and the lady said she was never coming  back as long as he was there (she later relented—I think she realized she was cutting herself off from some really easy money).  While we were there to check the sink Ollie asked if I would give her a blessing and asked if I would give her husband one as well.  I said I would if he wanted one.  He said he would like one.  That was an interesting experience!  He is a drug addict, compulsive gambler, and abuses his wife (and just about everybody else that comes to their house except his supplier and his bookie).  But the Lord did have a blessing for him.  We will see if things get better.  It is hard here.

Sunday we thought the Stake President was visiting the branch.  We got there and it was the entire Stake Presidency plus the Stake Clerk, Executive Secretary, and our High Councilman.  I had told Brother Harbin and Brother Kirk that the Stake President would like to visit them and that President James would come with him.  When I told them what appointments I had for them, President Lewis said, "Great, we can go see them as a group!"  I hope it went well.  Sister Owens went to a training meeting in Tuscaloosa after church along with the rest of her presidency and the EQ Presidency (which is Brother Smith and Brother White).  So Brother White stayed in Demopolis until it was time to leave for the meeting.  We had him come to our apartment for lunch and a little rest before they left (attachment #2).  I went to the church to work on membership records while they were gone to their meeting.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

--

Rob and Suzie

Week 75: A Day in the big city; and a marathon meeting for the sisters

Dear Family and Friends,

After getting home at 8:30 Sunday night from Stake Priesthood meeting we had to get up Monday and go to Greensboro to pick up Brother White to take him to Birmingham to see a spine surgeon. His surgeon in Tuscaloosa made the appointment for him and wrote the time and address on the back of a card for us.  The time was 2:30 PM.  We didn't know what traffic problems we would run into and how easy it would be to find the office so we left plenty early.  The trip went pretty well and we arrived at the office at 2:00.  We went to check in and they said our appointment was at 3:00.  So we sat in the waiting room with the eighty other patients (according to Sister Owens' count—she quite counting at eighty).  They took him back for a cat scan and mentioned that they were running a little behind.  At 4:00 they called him back and I went back with him.  After quite a wait in the exam room we talked to the surgeon for less than ten minutes.  He told us he definitely had a problem and he wasn't sure what they needed to do without an MRI and he would have to get established with a general physician and get his diabetes, high blood pressure and other health conditions under control before they could consider surgery. He said they would make some calls and line up a family doctor for him and schedule the MRI.  He told us to wait because they had some paperwork to fill out.  We waited for at least 30 minute and then the surgeon opened the door and was surprised to see us.  He said, "Oh, you are still here.  Yah, wait just a minute and we will be right with you."  And backed out and closed the door.  After another fifteen minutes Brother White opened the door and said, "I think they're all gone home."  I stepped out into the hallway and startled a young nurse that was standing there packing her purse to leave.  She was surprised to see me and asked why we were there.  I told her they were supposed to be getting some paperwork for us.  She didn't know anything about it and went down the hall to the surgeon's office where he was shooting the breeze with three other colleagues and asked him.  He said to her, "Oh yah, we need to get them a general physician and schedule an MRI."  She came out of the office and said to me, "You don't have to wait for that, we can call you.  You can leave."  So at 6:00 we went back out to the waiting room to see if Sister Owens was still there.  She was, and the other seventy-nine chairs were empty (they were closed).  If I hadn't stepped out when I did that nurse would have been gone within 30 seconds.  The next person we would have seen would probably be the custodian (I love Alabama).  Needless to say we got home a little late to try to get last week's email out that night.

Tuesday was District Council (just a short jaunt to Tuscaloosa).  Training was supposed to be a discussion on the characteristic of patience.  We took so long with the other portions of the meeting that we didn't get to have the discussion.  That tried Sister Owens' patience.  We met with Otis and the sisters in the evening.  He was so excited after Stake Priesthood meeting.  He told the sisters he wanted to get ready and be baptized.  They set a date for him for the end of September.  Then he told us about the time he got baptized three times in one day.  And he got a ring and a watch for it from the pastor.  The sisters have a lot to teach him in the next month.

Wednesday we kind of took a breather from all the traveling we had been doing.  We had coordination meeting with Brother Smith and the sisters.  We are all pretty excited about Otis. And there is another young girl with a baby son that the sisters have been meeting with quite a few times.  After the meeting we went to the drug store to pick up Sister Owens' prescription for "fossil-max" (according to her text to our daughter).  The doctor was not really pleased with the results of her bone density test.  Sister Owens spent the evening trying to follow up with the sisters that said they wanted to go to the Women's Conference on Saturday.

Thursday we were off to Tuscaloosa again for Sister Owens to get an ultra-sound of her liver.  They noticed a cyst on it when they did the cat scan of her lungs.  The technician told her she just had a small cyst about the size of her litter finger tip.  She doesn't have to worry about it (in her professional opinion, I'm sure).  We got a call from the pulmonologist after she saw it and were told to call her family doctor and see him right away.  Sister Owens is getting a little tired of seeing all the doctors lately and has decided her appointment in November is plenty soon enough to see him.  You know, she's so patient and all.  We got back to Greensboro in time to visit with Sister McCleskey for a few minutes before Book of Mormon class.  She shared with us the experience she had in the hospital a week ago that prompted her attendance at Sacrament meeting last week. She woke up a few times during the night and each time there was an older lady with white hair sitting on the stool next to the computer in the room just looking at her but not saying anything.  The last time it was an older gentleman with white hair instead of the lady.  That was when she decided to get up and go out and stay in the waiting room the rest of the night.  She related the experience to the nurse on the floor and was told not to tell anyone in the hospital about it or they would be checking her into the Psych ward.  Anyway, she didn't really know what to think of it but decided it was time to get caught up on her tithing and start coming to church.  She said she would be at Sacrament meeting again this week. 

Friday we did laundry and prepared our talks for Sacrament meeting this Sunday.  We had an appointment with Otis in the morning but he called the sisters and said he was called in to work and couldn't meet with us.

Saturday Sister Owens had to be at the church at 7:30 in the morning so the sisters could get to the Stake Center in Bessemer by 10:00 for their Women's Conference which lasted until 2:00 and then they made the two hour trip back home.  The sisters called us in the evening and said they called Otis to see if he would need a ride to church.  They asked us if we could call him.  They thought maybe he blocked their number by mistake.  I called him and our number was blocked as well.  It was a real downer.  We spent the evening wondering what had happened.  Then we got a group text from President James that said, "I won't be in church Sunday.  Take care of things"  I started to wonder if our Branch President was apostatizing, now.  Sister Owens called Sister James to see if something serious had happened with her mother or something.  Their son answered the phone and explained that they were on a business trip and were delayed getting home (whew).  We were just feeling bad all night for the sisters.  They have been working so hard and it was looking like Otis was going to actually be baptized.

Sunday morning we got to the building an hour early.  Branch Council was scheduled and nobody said we weren't having it even though President James wouldn't be there, but apparently we weren't because nobody came (it would only be Brother and Sister Smith anyway).  The sisters were the first ones there after us and they came in smiling and happy and Sister Owens complimented them on how they just always stay positive, no matter what.  Then they told us they went by to see Otis before they came to the church and he said he has to go to Walmart and get minutes put on his card so his phone will work again (I was puzzled, because he has a land line and not a cell phone and I didn't know you have to get minutes on a card for a land line).  Anyway, he can't come to church because he has to help his mother today and he is looking forward to our next lesson on Monday night (Oh, we of little faith).  I guess everything is just fine.  We did feel a little bad that the fellow we met at the pharmacy last week who told us he was coming to church didn't come.  But that is really not that uncommon here.  Sister McCleskey was there again this week, though.  We are hopeful for her.  She told us Thursday that it is really hard to be motivated to come when it is thirty minutes away.  It used to be right down the street from her when they had the branch in Greensboro.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

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 66: Out with the old; In with the new.

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 1^st.

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.

Week 65: One for the books

Dear Family and Friends,

Other than a persistent cough, Sister Owens seems to be getting quite a bit better.  This was a very busy week and she went through it like a real trooper.  Of course it was probably the cut and perm she got Monday that made all the difference.  We had the sisters over for pizza at lunch since we were taking Sister Weaver to transfers Wednesday.  It was a little unnerving making pizza for a Chicago native, but she said she liked it.  The pulmonologist said Sister Owens should take an antihistamine in addition to the Flonase she is taking every morning, so today she took one of the Zyrtec pills that I got for my pneumonia shot reaction.  It didn’t sit with her any better than it did for me.  We think she is allergic to the active ingredient in it.  Her cough got worse and her air way tightened up.  Now we still have three more of the pills we need to figure out what to do with (man, they’re expensive).

Tuesday Sister Owens had presidency meeting to plan out the rest of the year for the monthly RS meetings.  Then we went and did the shopping for the luncheon for the meeting this Friday.  Neither of us recording anything for that day and we can’t remember anything else about the day so there is nothing more to tell.

Wednesday we drove to Gardendale for transfers.  Sister Weaver had more luggage than any sister we ever transported from California, and I let her know it.  We couldn’t have stuffed one more thing into our car for that trip.  As soon as we arrived at the chapel Sister Hurst came over and asked us if they had talked to us about bring a third sister back with us and dropping her off in Tuscaloosa.  No one had said anything to us so we did not bring our car top carrier with us.  I told her we could make room for the sister but we only had room for luggage for one sister.  We got our new sister.

She is Sister McRaney from (you guessed it) California.  Then I was sure we would not have room for any luggage for the third sister. Now our missionaries in Demopolis are Sister McCreath and Sister McRaney.  Sister McRaney is a Temple Square missionary.  She has been out about a year.  About half way through their mission they have the opportunity to go to another mission and serve as a proselyting missionary.  She came to our mission last transfer and is now in our area.  She seems like another really good missionary.  We felt bad losing Sister Weaver.  She had been in Demopolis for six months and is a super missionary.  We still have two really great sisters to work with here. We loaded Sister McRaney’s luggage and I was flabbergasted.  She had one Suitcase and one bedding bag.  We laterally had half the luggage area still empty.  We got all of the third sister’s luggage in except for one big box.  She insisted on holding it on her lap for the hour ride to Tuscaloosa.  I was surprised she and the box both actually fit in the back seat, besides the other two sisters sitting with her.  Then, of course, we stopped at Costco on the way home to get lunch and it was time to have the tires rotated.  They called me just as they finished the rotation to advise me that one of the lug nuts seized half way onto the lug when they were putting the wheel back on the car.  Now we have to take the car into the shop tomorrow morning to have that repaired.

Thursday we were just sitting down to eat our lunch and our Branch President’s wife called to say one of the sisters in the branch had been in intensive care since Sunday and they just released her and needed someone to pick her up and take her home.  She couldn’t go because she was at work so we told her we would go get her (we assumed she would be there waiting for us).  We got there and I waited in the car at patient pick-up and Sister Owens went in to let them know we were there.  They told her they were getting her dressed and had to check her blood pressure once more before she could leave and I couldn’t park where I was. I would have to move.  So I went and parked in the sun for twenty minutes with the A/C on which really wasn’t doing much to cool the car.  Then I finally saw Sister Owens come out and I started to pull up to the door.  She shook her head and motioned for me not to come to the door.  She came out and said they were still getting her ready to come down and that she was probably making sure that she got her lunch before she left.  Sorry, but I was a little put out by then and told her to tell them that we would leave and they could call us when she was ready and we would come and get her.  Sister Owens disappeared back into the hospital and I waited another fifteen minutes in the sun and by then the A\C was really not keeping me cool.  I assumed they told her she would be right down any minute so she decided we would just wait.  I decided I was going to go park in the shade at patient pick-up and wait until they came and told me I had to move, and then I would tell them to have my wife come out and we would go.  About five minutes later they wheeled her out and got her in the car and we had to go to the pharmacy and buy her medication for her before we took her home (I love Alabama).  On the way to her apartment she said she hoped her son was home because she didn’t have her key.  He wasn’t home so we left her at her neighbor’s apartment and about an hour and a half after we left our apartment we headed home to eat our lunch.  Before we left, she asked if she could give us some money and we could bring her some dinner on our way home from Book of Mormon class.  We only were about twenty minutes late for class by the time we got there.  After class we went to HR again to report elder abuse.  The non-member that meets with us each week is still living in deplorable conditions and is not being treated right by her daughters.  This was the third time we have been in to talk to them about it.  We aren’t really seeing where it is making much difference for her (I do love Alabama).  After we delivered dinner to Sister Jones and got home we made the taco salad for the luncheon the next day and then went down and set up for the meeting at the church.

Bright and early Friday we fired up the taxi and headed for Greensboro to pick up sisters for Relief Society.  The meeting was a success.  A sister from the other end of the branch did a class on flower arranging (see attachment #1).  After we got the sisters back home to Greensboro and straightened up a bit at the church we texted the sisters who were at a mission leadership meeting all day and asked them if they were going to be back to Demopolis in time for dinner.  They said they would just be getting back about 6:00 PM.  We told them we could bring dinner over to their apartment so they could eat when they got there.  They said that would be great.  We got there at six and they weren’t there.  We realized we had the spare key to their apartment in our car (several sisters back they kept locking their keys in the apartment and had to keep calling their landlord so they asked us to keep the spare for them). Just as we were putting the leftover taco salad on their table they texted and said they were almost home.  We told them we left it on the table and they could eat when they got there.

We had gotten a call Wednesday night and were asked if we would speak in church for Father’s day.  We set aside Saturday to devote to making cinnamon rolls (attachment #2) for the dads in the branch and finish preparing our talks.  We decided that was our plan for Saturday and we wouldn’t commit to anything else until that was done.  So Friday afternoon we got a call from the substitute housing coordinator telling us that the senior couples decided they were going to go Saturday to see the Civil War battlefield in Shiloh Tennessee since in two weeks it will no longer be in our mission. They are re-aligning the boundaries when they change mission presidents on July 1^st.  We told him we had a pretty busy day planned and would have to call him back to let him know if we would make it.  It was an opportunity we really didn’t want to pass up so we called and said we would be there.  Then after we got dinner to the sisters we went home and started the dough for the cinnamon rolls and got them made Friday night so they would be ready for Sunday.

Saturday morning we had to leave Demopolis at 6:00 AM to get to Birmingham by 8:00 AM to join the other couples and go in the van for three hours to Shiloh.  We went all the way to northern Alabama and then through part of Mississippi and into Tennessee to get there.  It was a long, but beautiful, drive. We didn’t really have time to do much when we got there but we did tour the visitor center (Museum) and watch a 45 minute film explaining the battle that took place there.  Then we got to see the national cemetery they have there (attachment #3).  We stopped at a famous restaurant nearby, The Catfish Inn, but the wait was forty-five minutes to get a table (at 2:20 in the afternoon) so we headed home and stopped to eat on the way at Jack’s (a bit of a disappointment).  We finally got home about 9:00 PM.  Sister Owens went to bed and I worked on my talk until after midnight (I really wasn’t expecting to have time to give it anyway).

Sunday morning President James started the meeting and mentioned that we had a new sister missionary and said he would have Sister McRaney introduce herself later in the meeting. So for the meeting we were going to have the sacrament (which is actually about seven minutes, tops, in the branch).  Sister McRaney introducing herself, a message by Ollie about fathers, a message by Sister Owens, a congregational hymn (I looked it up; “Oh My Father”), and then a message from me.  Sure enough, when I stood up there was ten minutes left in the meeting for me and the closing hymn.  It didn’t matter a bit because Sister Owens gave an awesome talk about how the Savior set the perfect example of honoring His Father by being perfectly obedient to Him in all things. I bore my testimony and we closed the meeting.  Brother and Sister Morgan invited us and the sisters to their home for dinner today and then we got to come home and talk to the kids for father’s day.  It was a great day.

We hope all you fathers had a great father’s day.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 64: The saddle is still slipping a little

Dear Family and Friends,

We scheduled our three apartment inspections for Monday and the Housing coordinator called us and asked if we could inspect the sisters apartment in Camden also.  They just re-opened the area after several years without missionaries.  So we went to see the sisters in Camden.  They have a very small branch there with about fifteen members that come each week.  The sisters were so excited to be there.  They told us how "they" got into their apartment before they arrived and decorated the walls with welcome notes and stocked their pantry and put up signs.  We asked if it was the Branch that did that.  They told us it was the Vicks.  I said, "Is that a family in the branch?"  They said it was.  By the time we were leaving to come home we had found out the Vicks are the branch.  It is just one family and extended family.  Their son is on his mission right now.  The sisters told us the whole town came to his farewell.  Everybody in town knows the family. They go tracting in the town and ask people if they know Stone Vick.  They tell them yes, and then they say "We are doing what he is doing right now."  It seems to be a good approach for them to use.  Anyway we did our four inspections and it made Sister Owens pretty tired.  Kind of a long day for her.

Tuesday we didn't do much other than recuperate from the day before, except for taking our sisters halfway back to Camden to meet the other sisters so they could do their exchanges for the transfer.  They trade companions and each set works in one of the areas for twenty-four hours.  We did go with the sisters in the evening for an appointment with a single male.  It was a no show.  So we went to check on some less active members we have been unable to contact and still couldn't find them home.  We did get to see a recent convert (baptized a few weeks before we came)  who has never been to church since we came.  He avoided us for a long time and his brother told us he moved to Tuscaloosa a few months ago.  We had never met him but saw someone outside his apartment some weeks ago and I just went up and asked him if he was Johnny Braxton.  He was too surprised to say anything but "yes" and he wondered how I knew that because he didn't know me.  Anyway, his door was open Tuesday night so we went to see him.  His kids were there visiting so we didn't stay.  We just told him we would love to see him at church someday.  In typical Alabama style, he told us he loved the church and he would be coming.

Wednesday we took the sisters back to get paired up with their companions again.  Last week Sister Owens told the Book of Mormon class it was time we had a treat again (it has been a while) so we had to pick up some stuff and get a cake made to take with us Thursday.  We had coordination meeting with Brother Smith and then we were going to go to the appointment with the sisters to see Marquise who we had a discussion with on Sunday evening but he called them and said he would have to cancel.  It was kind of exciting for the sisters because usually they just aren't home when they go for appointments.

Thursday we took Sister Owens to Tuscaloosa in the morning to have her consultation with the pulmonologist.  I had to go in with her to make sure she didn't leave out any of the important stuff.  She seems to have a hard time telling the whole truth when she talks to doctors.  The doctor wasn't to excited to hear that she is coughing up some colored mucous again and put her on another antibiotic.  So we get to go through that routine again for another ten days.  She scheduled her for a CT scan in August and a follow up appointment.  Sister Owens says she is never getting sick again because it makes her too tired and depressed.  Of course, she might be right.  If she doesn't start following orders and getting the rest she needs she won't ever get better this time and then she won't be able to get sick again.  We did have a good Book of Mormon class.  I cut the cake and Sister Owens said I cut the pieces too small.  She was the only one that complained though.  We had enough left to give some to the sisters and to one of the sisters in the branch that wasn't feeling well.  She felt bad because Sister Owens missed her birthday and didn't bring her a cake.  That was the week we were seeing all the doctors in Demopolis.

Friday was our last District Council for this transfer.  The District Leader changed the time from 11:00 AM to noon so the sisters could go to lunch before the meeting because he said the elders were going to go to lunch.  A few months ago the President asked us to discontinue the occasional practice of going to lunch as a district with the elders and sisters together after District Council.  So for some reason the DL thought it would be alright to go to lunch before the meeting but not after.  He was right about not having the elders go with the sisters but there wasn't any reason they couldn't go after the meeting at lunch time, as long as they didn't go together.  Anyway, we drove in early so the Demopolis sisters could meet up with the sisters from the rest of the district and we got to have a nice late breakfast with them before the meeting. Then we took our traditional district picture since it was our last Council meeting (see attachment).  We got home in time to pick up Ollie and take her to the church to work on her finances again.  She had her hair done in the morning and just as we left the church we had some "car wash rain" as Sister Owens calls it.  We had lots of fun getting her into and out of the car and back into her house and still save the hairdo.

Our P-day was Saturday this week because we did inspections all day on Monday.  We just did our shopping and chores around the apartment.  We had our standing appointment with Joe Davis in the evening.  He is trying so hard to give up the coffee but his body is putting up a real fight about it.  We had a good discussion and then brought up President Nelson's conference talk, "Come Follow Me" on his computer terminal.  He made it about five minutes or less and went to sleep, but the four of us enjoyed the talk.  He felt so bad when we woke him up at the end and he apologized about eight times in the six minutes we were there before we left.  He is seventy-three and works about twelve hours a day on his farm during the week and then all night Saturday and Sunday at the Trucking terminal.  He told us he was coming to church though and he was there and stayed for Sacrament meeting and Priesthood meeting.  He would benefit from any prayers offered in his behalf to overcome his coffee.  He will be baptized as soon as he can stop.

Sundays are really renewing each week but they have been pretty long as well since we have been having the Self Reliance class after meetings and then we get everyone home after class.  Today was an easy day since the one from Linden didn't come and Elder and Sister Champion, who come from Tuscaloosa each week to facilitate the class, offered to take Timothy home for us because it was on the way back to Tuscaloosa.  They will be doing that now for the rest of the time we have the class.  So today we just had to take two people home that live here in Demopolis.  The guest speakers that came down from Tuscaloosa commented on how glad they were to be back in Demopolis again to attend our meetings because there is such a special spirit here in our building.  It made us remember how we felt the first week we were here for church when we got here last March.  Everybody that comes here always says that about being here.

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

We Love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Fwd: Week 63: Back in the Saddle again (with a vengeance)

Dear Family and Friends,

Sister Owens has been feeling better every day so we decided to start venturing out this week.  Monday she stayed home and did a little laundry and I went without her to the church and did some clerk work.  Then we took the sisters out to Greensboro in the afternoon and evening.  We had a couple of sisters we had to follow up with for addresses on their daughters and the sisters had an appointment with a single man at a park that evening.  He is a member who knew the elders when they were in Greensboro and they had a branch there.  He and his sister are on the branch list and we had tried to locate them before but could not find the address.  We were excited to find out where they lived and he was pretty excited to meet with the sisters.  Neither of the ladies we wanted to see were home (it was a holiday).  Neither of them would return my call I had made previously.  We all went to the park and waited for Jonah for twenty-five minutes and called him once and texted him twice with no response. We finally left to come home and on the way he called and asked if we were still at the park.  He said he was sorry but he was asleep and didn't wake up.  So we had a nice test run for Sister Owens but didn't really accomplish anything as far as the work goes.  It did tire her out quite a bit.

Since we tired her out pretty good we decided to keep her home Tuesday to get ready for Wednesday when we had committed to take a sister to get a medical test in Birmingham.  So other than some of our P-day chores she just spent the day resting.  Wednesday we had to leave at 6:20 so we could pick up Sister Borden in Greensboro by 7:00.  We were a little apprehensive about going to Birmingham because they have closed all the freeways into downtown to do some major revamping of the roadways into town.  We found out the test she needed was actually being done at a facility in the outskirts of town so we didn't have to deal with that at all.  On the way home we got a call from a sister in Greensboro and told her we would stop and see her after we dropped off Sister Borden.  We visited with her and found out she has been off work for a few weeks because of blood clots and heart problems and she was going to need help getting her rent paid for June.  We didn't get home until 4:00 and Sister Owens was too tired to try to go to Coordination meeting with the sisters and Brother Smith so we called and told them we wouldn't make it.  When we don't get there Brother Smith has to meet with them in the parking lot because he can't be in the building alone with the sisters.  It is starting to get pretty warm now so that isn't really very fun.  We discussed the rent situation with President James and he said we could use fast offering funds to help her.

Thursday morning we picked up Ollie and took her to the church to help her with her checkbook.  We can't take Sister Owens in their house anymore because of the heavy cigar smoke from her husband's smoking.  In the afternoon we went to Book of Mormon class in Greensboro.  Brother White was there after having his dialysis in the morning.  He looked really good.  Sister Owens told him he forgot to bring his pillow down  He said he wasn't going to use it.  He sat up in his chair for the whole class.  They removed a stint in one arm that has not been used for quite some time and placed another one in his other arm.  If it works they will be able to remove the port they currently have in his chest for his dialysis.  It should reduce the amount of pain he has been experiencing everyday lately.  After class we went to find the sister's landlord to give him the check for rent and get a receipt.  It was a very frustrating wild goose chase.  I've never known of anyone that makes it so hard to find them to give them money. We drove to his home, his daughter's home, and an employee's home trying to get a phone number for him.  We finally got his wife's phone number and didn't get any answer.  We finally told the sister to tell him to call us and let us know where we could meet him to pay him and left to come home.  He showed up at her house about ten minutes after we left and nobody ever called us.  I just decided if he wanted the money he would call us and I wasn't going to worry about it until we heard from him.

Friday we picked up the sisters and went to Tuscaloosa to District Council.  We have been planning to take Timothy to the temple to do baptisms but as yet he did not have his recommend.  President James was going to be in Linden for work and said he would come over to the church if we could get him there for an interview.  So we picked him up in Forkland on the way home from Tuscaloosa and brought him to the church.  We thought we would probably have to stop in Greensboro to deliver the check but nobody called us so we didn't worry about it.  Timothy had his interview  and we took him and the sisters home and then we got a call from Greensboro.  They said the landlord would be there at 4:00 for us to give him the check.  Since it was 3:45 we told them that wouldn't work but we could be there by 5:00.  Then we only had to wait about twenty minutes for him to show up and we finally got that done.  We had one more appointment at 6:30.  President James wanted us to go visit a recent convert who had sent a letter to the church asking to have her name removed from the records.  Her cousin and his wife live with her and are very hateful toward the church.  They have been pressuring her to remove her name.  We were supposed to find out if that was really what she wanted of if she had changed her mind.  We had to meet with her outside on the porch and his cousin was hanging around us the whole time listening.  Finally a lady that was living there came over and interrupted our conversation and accused her of lying to us and not telling us what she had been telling everyone else.  Everything went down hill from there pretty fast.  Her cousin called the Landlord and asked if it was private property, which it was, and he said those dang Mormons are here again and he wanted to call the police and have us removed from the premises.  He was being extremely rude and had the landlord on speaker.  It kind of backfired on him.  The landlord said, "Man, you don't want to call the police on a Mormon.  If you want them to leave just go out in the front yard and start yelling obscenities and they will leave."  Then the cousin said, "Yey, I have you on speaker, they're hearing everything you say."  We asked the member to give it some thought and address a letter to President James and let him know what she had decided and excused ourselves. It was definitely not a fun way to end the day.

The next morning we left about 7:30 to pick up the sisters and Timothy to take him to the temple in Birmingham (see attachment).  After stopping on the way to get gas, we arrived at the temple and drove into the parking lot and just happened to pass a group of people walking from their cars to the temple.  Sister Owens said, "That is our son-in-law's parents."  I thought that was crazy.  It might have been someone that looked like them but it couldn't have been them.  They live in Pocatello.  I hurried and followed them to the side of the temple were they were going to have some pictures taken and sure enough, it was them.  They were there for a niece's sealing.  Had we not driven into the parking lot at that precise time neither of us would have known the other was there.  It was such a perfect tender mercy from the Lord that just seemed to give us such a boost and made us so happy after the experience we had just had the night before.  Then we got to top it off with the opportunity to see Timothy baptized for the dead.  It has been two weeks since he was baptized.

Today we had an awesome testimony meeting.  Sister Weaver bore a beautiful testimony.  We and she knows she is leaving this transfer, but no one else in the branch does (except her companion).  She will be going a week from this Wednesday.  We are really going to miss her.  She is an awesome missionary. After we got everyone home following the Self Reliance class the sisters texted us that they had an appointment with a single male tonight and wondered if we could go with them.  We were pretty tired but told them we would go.  They had met his neighbor and had been invited to her home but had gone three times to see her and she was never there.  Marquise lived next door and opened his door every time they knocked on the neighbor's door.  Finally the third time they told him they were missionaries and they gave him a Book of Mormon and set an appointment to meet with him tonight.  It was a really good discussion.  He seems very sincere and says he has been thinking lately that he wants to get closer to God and find a church that is right for him.  He hadn't started reading the Book of Mormon but he said he was going to start reading it tonight before he goes to bed and he said the closing prayer.  We are excited to meet with him again this Wednesday night.

It is so neat to know the gospel is true and see the Lord's hand in the work.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon everyday.

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 62: Ministering to the sick and afflicted; The shoe's on the other foot

Dear Family and Friends,

So this week wasn't too much different from last week except we didn't spend any money on doctors and hospitals.  Sister Owens stayed in the apartment all week recuperating.  She has been very tired and weak all week long.  She has been improving little by little.  It seems to take a lot longer at this age, especially with the heat, humidity, and pollen we have to put up with here.  Wednesday she was doing pretty well so I joined the two active families in the branch at a service project in Livingston.  A family in the branch had a visit from the insurance agent while they were gone.  He went all around the yard and took pictures and then sent them to the family and said if things weren't cleaned up and repaired within two weeks they would cancel their insurance.  So about ten of us, including the sister missionaries, did some mowing, trimming, weeding, and fence repair for a few hours before the sun went down.  I was glad we got to it in the spring while it was only 90 degrees and 85% humidity at 8:30 PM instead of waiting a couple weeks and having temperatures in the 100s.

Interviews were scheduled for next week and we planned on missing them because we were going to be at girls camp that week, but they posted the schedule Wednesday and interviews for our district were going to be this Friday.  We decided that whether Sister Owens is fully recovered or not that it will not be wise to go to girls camp.  She felt she was letting Sister James down because she wouldn't be there to help her.  I finally convinced her that she would not be any help to her and would actually just add to her burden, because she would have to be in the cabin with her dust mask on every day and Sister James would have to take care of all the girls and worry about Sister Owens all week as well.  She finally admitted it would be better for everyone if she stayed home.  Our little branch has more girls (9) going to camp than any other ward in the stake.  One ward only has two girls going, so they are going to have them join one of the other wards and their leader can come and work with Sister James for the week.

My routine doctor's appointment was scheduled for this Friday and we had our interviews scheduled.  Sister Owens wanted to see how she would do getting out and about after being in the apartment since last Thursday night, so we both took off for Tuscaloosa bright and early Friday morning.  She did pretty well for the two and a half hours in the waiting room at the Doctor's office.  The other people in the waiting room were probably a little puzzled when they called me back to see the doctor instead of the woman sitting next to be with the mask on her face.  The doctor was happy with everything but suggested that since I didn't get my second pneumonia shot last year (I thought I was only supposed to have one) that I should go ahead and get it while I was there.  So I had my Prevnar shot and we went to get a little bit of brunch before we went to the church for interviews.  Sister Owens was pretty tired by then so we went to the church so she could lie down for a couple hours before the interviews started.  We arrived two hours before the interviews started and all the missionaries cars were there (??).  We went in and they were having District Council and they had two empty chairs in the circle.  We sat down and apologized for being late, but we were not informed that there was a meeting.  We missed the mission temple trip the day before so they were pretty sure we wouldn't be coming to District Council and they didn't let us know the meeting time had changed (they usually schedule it for right after the interviews).  After the meeting the elders and sisters went to eat some lunch and we relaxed for a while in the foyer waiting for President and Sister Sainsbury.  When they arrived we crowded to the front of the line (we were second on the schedule anyway) and had our interview.  We didn't want to miss this one since they are going home July 1^st, so we won't have a chance for another one.  We left to come home as soon as our interview was over.  Sister Owens was pretty tuckered out by the time we got home.

Sitting in meetings or waiting for interviews being the only thing we did after my appointment with the doctor, I really didn't move around or use my arm much.  On the way home I noticed that my shoulder was pretty sore.  When we got home it was a little swollen and pretty hot to the touch.  It itched a lot but really hurt if I tried to scratch it.  We called the doctor's office and asked why they didn't bother to tell me how much it was going to hurt by the end of the day.  They said I was having a reaction and told me to pick up some pills to take for a couple days and I should be okay.  So Saturday I was in my chair with my sore arm and Sister Owens was in here chair recovering from the long day the day before.  Great way to spend our first (second, actually) Saturday that wasn't our P-day.  We did go with the sisters to visit Joe Davis at the trucking company in the evening.

Sunday Sister Owens felt she was rested up enough to go to church.  We got there at 9:00 AM for Branch Council and it was about 4:00 PM  by the time we got home from taking everybody home after the Self Reliance class.  She decided Sunday was a pretty long day as well.  We got a text that the sisters were teaching a Hispanic man in Linden and wanted to know if Sister Owens could come with them.  Brother Smith was going to meet them there to interpret for them.  She was pretty tired but thought she should go with them.  Then they sent another text and said the man was coming to Demopolis to the Walmart and they didn't know if they would meet with him or not.  Then they said he texted them and they were going to meet with him at the branch building and wanted us to meet them there.  The sisters had some extra time one evening last week so they decided to make a face book post about the Book of Mormon in Spanish because face book would translate their comments to Spanish for them.  This man, Ezekiel, recognized the Book from seeing it a couple years ago in Mexico and responded to their post.  They have been posting back and forth using the face book interpreter since then.  He is from Vera Cruz and comes back and forth to the US to get work when he can.  He is a very nice and humble man and was very excited when he found our what the Book of Mormon is about.  He said the closing prayer in Spanish and the sisters are going to introduce him to the Spanish missionaries in Tuscaloosa who will be teaching him using face book messenger.  He will come to church at our branch.  Sister Owens was really glad she said she would come even though she felt so tired.  She says she is really glad the Lord even has a calling for the dead grandma in the closet (family joke we will have to explain sometime).

The work goes on.  We are glad we are here and hope to be back up to speed soon.   We love you all and appreciate your faith and prayers in our behalf.  We feel it all the time.  Thank you.

Keep the Commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day (it's a special gift)

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 61: Definitely our worst week yet; The Owens are an easy mark to the Alabama medical community

Dear Family and Friends,

After Timothy’s baptism and our standing appointment with Joe Davis on Saturday evening we finally got our P-day changed over to Monday (we never had time to do chores on Saturday).  So after a nagging cough for two weeks we decided to call the clinic on Monday to see if Sister Owens could come in and see if they could do something for her.  They said they do not schedule same day appointments but we could come in and get our name on the list.  We went in at 11:00 AM and left with a prescription at about 5:00 PM.  The first thing they did when they got her in about 3:00 was take a blood sample and do a chest x-ray.  They assured her she didn’t have pneumonia but she does have an infection in her lungs.  They gave her a sample COPD inhaler and said to use it and take her pills and she would feel like a new woman in two days.

Wednesday came and she felt worse than she did on Monday instead of better.  We ate lunch and went to the Emergency Care center (MedCenter).  The first thing they did was a full blood workup and do a chest x-ray.  The blood work caused them to suspect a possibility of blood clots in the lungs or the legs.  So they sent us to the hospital for a CT scan and MRI.  They gave us a prescription for a different antibiotic (turns out the one we got from the clinic was for deep tissue and skin infections).  We went to the hospital at 6:00 PM for the tests and got home about 8:30.  Her breathing was becoming quite labored.  We called our mission nurse again and she listened to her on the phone and said I should get her to the hospital in Tuscaloosa either by car or ambulance and admit her to the ER. She told us to get all of her meds and make sure we took them with us.  We sacked them up and after being on the road for forty-five minutes we realized they were all still in the sack back home on the kitchen table.  We got to the Hospital in Tuscaloosa a little after 10:00 PM.  After midnight we actually got to a treatment room in the ER and of course the first thing they did was a complete blood workup (I was a little surprised she had any left to give).  The ER doctor ordered a chest x-ray and called Demopolis to get the results of the CT scan and MRI.  He said they ruled out blood clots but they were very concerned about her shortness of breath (the clinic said they detected a sleight heart murmur, no one else noticed one).  He felt they should admit her and have an ultrasound done on her heart and consult with a cardiologist and they might let her go home after that.  So they moved her (and her bed) to the hallway of the ER where we waited until 5:00 AM when they moved her up to room 549.  The first thing they did there was take a blood sample (which they did every three hours from then until we left at 7:00 PM that night).  A different nurse came in every hour on the hour for one reason or another (check vitals, get blood sample, see if we needed anything, etc.).  We didn’t see a doctor until just before lunch when the cardiologist came in and listened to her heart.  She told her it sounded good. She ordered the ultrasound and said she suspected it was just some bronchitis.  She went after lunch for the ultrasound and then we spent the rest of the day waiting for the results of the test and to see the admitting doctor.  The nurses said it sounded like things were okay and we would probably get to go home, so Sister Owens got dressed.  About 6:00 PM the Doctor walked in to the room and looked at both of us and said, “Where did she go?”  We said, “Who?”  She said, “The Patient.”  Sister Owens showed her the wrist band.  I guess she was a little puzzled that she was dressed.  She hadn’t gotten the test results yet and had not spoken with the cardiologist and was just finding out where we were with everything.  We told her what had been done and that things seemed to be good.  She said she just had to confirm all that and left the room.  The nurse met her outside the door and confirmed everything and the cardiologist had told them everything was good on the ultrasound (we never saw her again after she listened to Sister Owens heart before lunch). They ordered a wheelchair to take her down to patient pick up, so I left to walk around to the ER parking lot to get the car and come around to pick her up.  We weren’t sure how long it would take for the wheelchair since it took three hours for someone to come and get her to take her up to the room in the first place.  She finally went to the nurses desk and asked if she could just walk down since her husband was waiting in the car.  The nurse said she would walk down with her.  Thus ended our first (and hopefully last) in house experience at the hospital in Alabama.  We got home about 9:30 PM and went to bed and slept through the night and most of the next day, getting up occasionally to take pills.

We had planned to take Timothy to Stake Conference this weekend and we had to make other arrangements.  Sister Owens takes her medication and just feels like sleeping and has been doing just that for a couple of days now.  Most of the Branch members have been calling us to see how we are doing and offering to help in any way they can.  Brother White calls us about once a day to check and see how she is doing.  I had gone without her to walk last Wednesday and one of the grounds workers that we always see on our walk asked how my wife was doing.  I told him she is fighting a bad cough.  He said to tell her he would be praying for her.  We had never said anything but good morning to each other as we passed him while he was working (I love Alabama). President and Sister James stopped by our apartment on their way home from conference today to see how we are doing.  They are really neat people.  We will be laying low for this next week to try to get her over this in time for Girls Camp, since they won’t be able to go if she can’t go with them.  She will have to take her Flonase and her dust masks and stay inside the cabin all week so it doesn’t flare up again.

Sister Richetto, the mission nurse assigned to our part of the alphabet, told us they have about two and a half times the amount of pollen here than we have in Utah and Idaho.  Of course the Magnolia trees are in bloom right now (see attachments).  Maybe that is what got her so bad.  They all have told us her bronchitis is from her reaction to all the pollen in the air right now.

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

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens