Week 52: Nothing ever seems to change; I just love Alabama (Don't take that wrong, I really do. It's hilarious here)

Dear Family and Friends,

We'll start with an update on Brother White.  We didn't hear of any change after last Monday, and Tuesday we were in Tuscaloosa for District Council so we stopped at the hospital before we came home.  The staff told us he still wasn't responding to anyone but they said we were welcome to go into his room and see him.  We did and he was sound asleep, so we didn't want to disturb him.  I haven't seen him so restful for several weeks.  He usually is constantly moving because his shoulder causes so much pain.  We texted his niece twice during the week for an update on his condition but never heard from her.  Friday our car was in the shop for some repair and they called and said the parts supplier sent the wrong part and they couldn't get the right one until Saturday and they would be able to do the work on Monday.  So we got the car back with nothing scheduled for the day (gee whiz that was just what happened last time we had it worked on).  So we went to see a branch member in Eutaw and then decided to go to Tuscaloosa and see Brother White.  We called his niece and she said she had just been there and he was doing well.  We went up and visited with him for over an hour while he ate his supper.  He really was doing much better and said he was glad we stopped by and wanted to ask our advice on what he should do.  We told him he should stay in the hospital until after the weekend and then check in to the Greensboro Nursing home for three weeks of physical therapy and if that didn't improve his situation he should talk to the surgeon who said another surgery would probably help get rid of the pain (he said earlier that he does not want to have another surgery).  He said he is not giving up and he will go ahead and do that.  We told him we would bring the sacrament on Sunday. He said he would be expecting us. So today at church I got a call from his friend, Joanne.  She said she called the hospital and was told he is not listed as a patient and she can't get in touch with him.  I told her we would find him and let her know where he is. We had the sisters over for lunch today and when they left I called his cell number and he answered.  He said he hadn't had a chance to call me yet and that he would call me back tomorrow.  I asked if he was at home.  He said, "No, but I'm in Greensboro."  I started to ask him if he wanted the sacrament but he hung up. So apparently he checked himself out of the hospital again just like the last two times he was there.  I guess we'll find out more tomorrow.

So we have been having some really strange noises coming from the engine compartment of our car, but every time we go to the shop it stops making the noise.  It finally got to where it was pretty well constant so we got to have them hear it.  They wanted to take the belts off and check everything so they would know for sure what it was.  So we scheduled it in for an hour Wednesday morning.  We hadn't heard from them by 11:30 so we called them.  They said the car was ready but she didn't want to call me until she knew what the total bill would be.  So at least we got the car back for the afternoon.  They said the AC compressor clutch was going out and the compressor needs to be replaced.  We cleared our schedule for Friday and they were going to do the work.  An hour after we took it in they called to tell us there were two possibilities and the parts house ordered the wrong one and they couldn't fix it until they ordered the correct compressor.  So we were able to get to the hospital to see Brother White.  We had tried to schedule our apartment inspections for Friday and it turned out the missionaries couldn't be available because of follow up trainer meetings with the Mission President, so we scheduled all of them for Tuesday of next week.  Then they needed the car at the shop Friday.  Then they had to reschedule but they can do it on Monday so it will be fixed by Tuesday.  It is always interesting to see how the Lord takes care of the details.

Thursday we went to celebrate Larry's birthday with him.  It was a really big deal that he let us come.  He was a crotchety old man with PTSD from Viet Nam.  When Ollie was baptized he wouldn't talk to anyone from the church.  The Morgans (he is President James first councilor) and us and the sisters all came to the party and Larry was happy to see us all and sort of visited with all of us, but mostly watched his basketball games.  Sister Beaugez brought her violin and played Happy Birthday while we all sang to him and then played several hymns and some old protestant hymns.  Ollie couldn't remember the tune to "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and she asked Larry to sing it for us and he did.  It is neat to see how much he has warmed up to members of the church.  He told the sisters if they come back in ten years and bring their kids maybe he will get baptized then.  Thursday was his seventieth birthday.

We had to leave the party so we could get to Greensboro in time to pick up Sister Borden and go to Book of Mormon class.  Another fun Alabama taxi service experience.  We were about ten minutes late to pick her up.  She didn't answer her door.  We called her home number to see if she was there and she didn't answer.  We called her cell phone and she didn't answer.  We left her house and drove down the lane to the road that goes to the main highway while we were calling her on her other cell phone.  She answered.  We asked her if she was going to Book of Mormon class and she said yes.  We asked where she was.  She said she was coming home from Tuscaloosa. I mentioned to Sister Owens that it seemed like they should be able to just drop her off at class. Hoping we could meet her on the road somewhere, we asked her where she was.  She said she was at her house.  We said we were just at her house and she wasn't there.  She said she was almost there. There is only one road to her house so we pulled over and stopped and turned on our flashers.  We saw a car coming toward us and saw her in it and they just drove past us and went to her house.  We turned around and followed them to her house.  Her brother had taken her to Tuscaloosa and back. She went in the house and came right back our and got in our car.  We asked who else was in the car with them and she said it was her sister.  We both assumed it was her sister-in-law.  They pulled out and we pulled out right behind them.  They stayed right ahead of us all the way to Book of Mormon class where he stopped to let her sister out of the car for Book of Mormon class while we were parking the car (I just love Alabama).  Then after class we took Sister Borden home and had to drive back to Ollie's to pick up Beth (she also went to the party) and take her home to Linden.  Then we had another appointment with the sisters that actually held up.

Saturday we had another good discussion with Joe Davis at the trucking company.  He only made it two days without coffee. He drives about 150 miles getting from his home in Moundville to his farm outside of Demopolis and back every day.  He started having some really weird things going on with his vision while on the road.  A paramedic told him he was probably experiencing caffeine withdrawal.  So he is drinking about a half cup a day and wants to get to the point where he can stop all together.  In our discussion last week we assured him the Lord would help him overcome the coffee if he really wanted to quit.  He texted the sisters on Monday and said he got up in the morning and looked at the coffee pot and he didn't even want to drink any.  "Day one after 63 years."  This week he told us he actually started drinking it when he was five years old. We asked him to come to church today and he said he might and he might not.  He said he won't tell us he will if he is not sure that he is going to come.  He usually works all night Saturday and all night Sunday.  This week he also worked all night Friday so he was actually on his second night when we met with him.  He says he will not go to church if he might fall asleep because that is disrespectful. He didn't make it today but we are hoping he will be there next week.

Everybody where Brother White lives calls him "Blue." When we found him Monday last week and were trying to get him to respond, everyone kept yelling "Blue!....Blue!"  Sister Owens thought it must be something to do with the kind of music his band played.  He is a drummer.  While we were visiting with him Friday night Sister Owens asked him where he got that name.  He didn't say anything for a minute or two.  Then he said, "I heard you, Sister Owens."  Then he went another couple minutes without saying anything and started wiping tears from his eyes with his napkin.  Sister Owens apologized and said she didn't intend to make him feel bad.  He said it was okay.  Then he told us a little bit about his childhood which apparently wasn't very happy. He had four sisters and a brother and they didn't really like him when they were young.  He had a pair of blue jeans and three blue shirts and that was all the clothes he had.  He left home when he was pretty young and went to Tuscaloosa to find his dad.  He got a pair of blue Khakis from his dad that he had to grow into before they would fit him.  That was where he got the name.  He was weeping all the time he told us about it and Sister Owens felt bad to have brought up the subject, but I think he was glad to share a little bit with us about his past.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 51: Satan is alive and well in Alabama and darn that Daylight Savings

Dear Family and Friends,

I’ll start by explaining the above attachments.  We mentioned last week that the Kirks got to move from their old neighborhood into a new two bedroom apartment.  Number one above is the house the four of them have been living in for the last several years. It had a small living room, a bedroom, a closet sized Kitchen without a stove or table, and a tiny bathroom that was added onto the back of the house.  I took some pictures of the depressing neighborhood that I am not sending.  Number two is the Kirks outside their front door at their new apartment.  I told them they all had to smile this time.  Tasha almost did but Cedric never looks any different (He actually smiled once in church when I called him Captain Kirk, but that was the only time I have ever seen it happen).  Zeryonia (second from the right) is turning seventeen this Wednesday.  Number three is Tasha with Sister Owens in front of the new apartment.

We do apologize for this being a day late.  Daylight savings starting along with a very busy Sunday just made it too hard to get the email done last night before we had to go to bed.

So this was mostly not a really exciting week.  It definitely had it’s ups and downs.  Monday was a good, busy day.  Sister Owens had her RS Presidency meeting in the morning.  They finished up their plans for the RS birthday party which was Friday.  We were supposed to read with Larry and Ollie in the afternoon but we started with Ollies finances and check register and three hours later it was too late to read (It was getting too hard for both of us to breathe anyway because of the “Cigar” smoke.  We went with the sisters in the evening to follow up on some appointments which fell through and then met with a young man who really doesn’t seem interested in finding a testimony of anything but doesn’t tell the sisters to get lost (I think he enjoys the attention of two nice looking young women).  The sisters keep working with him even though he isn’t really keeping any of his commitments.

Tuesday we went to District Council and went home through Greensboro to check on some people the sisters have been trying to contact and see some of the branch members.  As Sister Weaver put it, “That’s missionary work.”  Everywhere we went there was no one at home.  Then the appointment they had in the evening that we were going to go to with them fell through as well.  Lisa salvaged the day for us when she called and told us their kids got to go help clear the land for the Pocatello Temple ground breaking.  The ground was too soft for any heavy equipment so all the youth from the temple district were invited to come to do the job. What an awesome experience for them.

Wednesday was coordination meeting.  We found out the golden sister that came to church by herself from 30 minutes away and Sister Owens has been to discussions with her has cut off all contact with the sisters.  She was on baptism date for next week.  They had a discussion last Sunday evening that went really well and since then she has not answered her door or responded to any texts or phone messages and does not answer phone calls.  No one has any idea what happened with her.

Thursday morning we took the sisters out to Uniontown and Faunsdale to check on some people.  They met a woman store contacting who was very anxious to meet with them.  We got to her home in time for the appointment and no one answered the door.  We checked on an old bible referral in Faunsdale.  An old gentleman answered the door and we told him who we were trying to contact.  He said he didn’t know her, we should check next door.  We went next door and the lady there said she lived next door with her father who is sick and never answers the door.  She was a nice lady and invited the sisters back on Sunday to talk.  We haven’t heard whether anything came of that.  We went to Book of Mormon class in the afternoon.  Brother White wasn’t there.  We went up to see him after class.  He is very weak and in a great deal of pain but refuses to go to the hospital.

Friday was the RS birthday Luncheon.  We only had to make one trip to and from Greensboro before and after.  We didn’t take Sister Jones with us because we thought we would have to get two sisters but one had to work and couldn’t come.  Sister Jones was a little put out with us for not taking her but finally warmed up to us by the end of the meeting (I just love Alabama).  After our Greensboro run after the meeting, we came back and cleaned up the building and checked some of the videos on the church website and went home and crashed for the night.

We have been trying to change our P-day from Saturday to Monday so we don’t get so far behind when the sisters need us to go with them on Saturday.  It’s not working very well yet because we keep running out of clothes by Saturday and have to do the laundry.  We had another meeting with the sisters and Jonah (the one that enjoys the attention).  He said he would come to church on Sunday but his mother was using her car to go to her church so he would need a ride.  We met in the evening with Joe Davis (the dispatcher at Dana Transport).  He feels he has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration but says he can’t be baptized because he likes to drink coffee.  He knows he needs to stop in order to be baptized and says he won’t be until he decides he is going to stop.  We have very good discussions and we are hoping to get him to understand the blessings that are available to him through baptism and membership in the church.  He told us he would come to church.

We were all kind of excited about Sunday after all the things that fell through during the week, we had five people that said they were going to come to church.  We usually go get Andrea and her mother for church but Andrea called and said she wasn’t feeling well and they weren’t coming.  So we were free to go get the two single men that said they were coming and needed rides.  The sisters had called both of them and reminded them Sunday morning.  Jonah actually didn’t answer.  We went to get the first one, James, and while we were knocking on his door the neighbors told us he just left about five minutes before.  We sent a text and told him we were there to pick him up for church and wondered if he was around.  He texted back that he was gone grocery shopping in Tuscaloosa with his sister.  We went to get Jonah and knocked about three times on the door and he yelled from inside wanting to know who it was.  I told him we were there to take him to church.  He said he just got up.  Maybe he could come next week. So we struck out but the two people the sisters had invited came on their own.  They were related to the Kirks.  We had thirty-two people there and at least twenty of them were under seventeen.  A lot of members were gone due to illness.  I taught the lesson in Priesthood meeting because the quorum president had to work.  It was on “One in Christ” by Elder Soares.  All about how we should be more welcoming to new members and visitors that come to church.  I had a questionnaire for everyone to fill out about how much they knew about our most recent convert (Brother Kirk).  Those in attendance were Brother Kirk, his non-member nephew, myself, the Branch President’s son, and the first counselor to the Branch President, and two Aaronic priesthood boys. Lamar, Cedric’s non-member nephew, was the only one that knew the answers to the questions.  It was an interesting class.  After church Cedric came with me to administer the sacrament to Brother White in Greensboro.  He has been helping pass the sacrament in church.  I asked him if he wanted to bless the water when we went to Brother White’s.  He said he would.  It was the first time for him.  It was a neat experience. Brother White was in bed and was having so much pain in his shoulder he couldn’t even sit up to take the sacrament.  Before we left Sister Owens asked if there was anything we could get for him (so he wouldn’t have to try to get out of bed after we were gone).  He asked for some white bread and sliced cheese. I went to the kitchen and found some cheese in the fridge but couldn’t find any bread.  I went back to ask if he wanted me to slice some of the cheese for him and found out he wanted us to go to the store to get bread and sliced cheese.  He had plenty of food in the house so I told him we would rather not go to the store on Sunday but we would get the things for him and bring them out first thing in the morning.  He said that would be okay.  After we got home we went last night to another discussion with the sisters.

Since we are a day late, I will jump ahead and let you know we got out to Brother White’s a little before noon today and he didn’t answer his door or his phone.  We went and told the manager and they went up and unlocked his door and he was lying in bed non-responsive and they had to get the ambulance to take him to the hospital again.  His niece just called us to say he had to be sedated and is still out of it but she will be back up in the morning and will call us and let us know how he is doing. Life is not easy here for a lot of people.  They need all the help they can get.  Brother White always says, “The Lord is still in charge.”  It is true!

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day and PRAY FOR BROTHER WHITE

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 50: Remind me never to say we had a busy week

Dear Family and Friends,

So last week wasn't all that busy after all.  Monday morning we walked an extra lap on our walking path since Sister Owens hadn't walked for a few days because of her training meeting Saturday.  My foot was a little sore toward the end of the walk.  When we got home I noticed that old familiar pain when I lifted my foot off the floor and was a little ticked because I have been taking my Allopurinol faithfully since December.  I was going to get some customized ward lists made for the Branch Council but ended up sitting in the chair with my foot up for the day instead.  Ollie called to postpone our Book of Mormon reading with she and Larry until Friday so that worked out well.  We were going to go with the sisters in the evening for some appointments.  I stayed home and Sister Owens went with them.  The man they were going to meet was in Birmingham at his cousin's house.  They went to read with an older blind black lady.  She had taken some pain pills for some pain in her back and leg and didn't seem all that coherent.  They invited her to come to church but she said she couldn't come because she has to play the drums at her church.  They stopped at Walmart on the way home and bought some fresh ginger and we wrapped my foot in some ginger and raw honey for the night.  The next morning I could walk pretty well.

We went to Tuscaloosa Tuesday for interviews with the President and then for District council.  It was a little strange.  We had interviews the last week of the transfer three weeks ago and we are having them the first week this time.  On the way there Sister Weaver said she hasn't even had time to think of any questions to ask him yet.  It is always good for us to get to visit with him and Sister Sainsbury whenever we get the chance.  We told them about how we found the Bullards and what they told us last time we were there about our first visit with them. Elder Widtfeldt shared several excerpts from the Riciardi letter with us in District Council.  It was a letter President Uchtdorf used in a talk to the missionaries a while back.  It is about the relationship between a missionary in England and his trainer, who was from Italy, and what he learned from his trainer.  It was some very worthwhile information for any missionary companionship.  He made a copy of the whole letter for each of us.

Wednesday we got the branch lists done for the branch council.  I separated the list into lists for each of the communities that are included in the Branch.  As a Branch Council we are going to try to identify all the people that don't ever come to church and give them an invitation to come back.  Sister Owens and I have been trying to do that since we got here but we get busy with other things we need to do to support the people in the branch.  We have so few active people that actually have transportation that it is impossible to assign all the members to ministering brothers and sisters.  Unfortunately, we are going to have to find out who is the least bit interested in being involved with the church and then try to utilize our resources to help them and check on the rest of them sometime later.  The Stake Relief Society President told Sister Owens that that is just what we are going to have to do here because of our situation with so few active members.

Thursday was an interesting day.  When we started the day we asked that the Lord would help us know who we needed to minister to during the day.  After breakfast the phone started ringing.  Beth needed to arrange for a ride to her diabetic class for the next six weeks.  Sister James called to discuss getting beds for the Kirks when they move into their new apartment.  Then we talked to Brother Smith to make arrangements for him to use his trailer to get the beds transported to Demopolis.  Ollie called and said Larry and Ross were in Linden at the gas station and needed to start their car and she had the key at her house and she needed somebody to take it to them (proximity key).  We told her we would come and get the key and take it to them.  Just as we got the key from Ollie Sister Patterson called and said she was at her storage unit and her king size mattress had fallen over and she could not get it back up and needed our help.  Her storage unit is located right on the road we take to Linden so we stopped there to help her and continued on to Linden with the key. Then Sister Jones called us (we have been trying to contact her for a week but there has been no answer on her phone and we stopped at her house this morning and nobody was home.  She said she was home and wanted a ride to Book of Mormon class in Greensboro.  We had to pick her up about twenty minutes later to make it to class on time.  Last week when we got to class Brother White's wheel chair was in the lobby (that is never a good sign).  We found out he went to the hospital that morning because he had so much pain in his shoulder.  When we got to church last week he was there in his car and said he was going to stay for the sacrament and then he was going to go home.  He was still in a lot of pain.  We gave him a blessing before church and he left right after the sacrament and went home.  The next week (last Saturday) they found him unresponsive in his apartment.  The paramedics got him stabilized and took him to the hospital in Tuscaloosa.  We have been calling the hospital everyday since Saturday to find out his condition and all they would ever tell us is that he was in ICU.  When we called Thursday they said he was not listed as a patient so he must have gone home. When we arrived at Book of Mormon class Brother White was sitting in the passenger seat of a car at the front door.  His brother had picked him up and brought him home.  He was very tired and weak and went to his apartment to rest.  His brother said he should still be in the hospital but he refused to stay any longer.  He missed church again today but we were able to reach him finally on his phone and he said he is slowly regaining his strength.  We are going to stop and see him on our way home from District Council this coming Tuesday.

Friday we helped Cedric move from their house to their new apartment.  He said he was not moving any of their furniture except two televisions and a couple tables.  He said he got everything off the street and it was full of bugs and they weren't taking any of it.  He was going to get into the apartment at 10:00 AM so we went to his house at 9:40 to get a load to take in the car.  All of his furniture and beds were out on the side of the street, including the bed frame the Smiths loaned to him and the mattress we bought to put on it.  Cedric was not there so we drove to the apartment empty.  He wasn't there either.  We talked to the manager while we were waiting for him and she finally told us he was there about 9:40 to get the key and then left.  So we drove back to his house and got there about 10:15.  There was still no one there but the entire pile of furniture that was on the street when we left thirty minutes before was totally gone.  There was no clue there had ever been anything there (I do love Alabama). Two trips, three cars, and ten cousins under the age of twelve later everything was out of the house and into the new apartment.  The James had two beds for them that they were going to bring to Demopolis the night before and leave at the church.  They never made it.  All the furniture they had for them was in their garage in York.  We had to have Brother Smith's trailer to transport it and they were planning on getting it from the church.  They were not going to be able to go to York until late Saturday, after they got back from the temple.  We were just getting ready to go to the store to get a couple air mattresses for them to use for the night when Brother Smith called and said they were just leaving York with two beds, two chairs, two futons and two end tables and an old office chair.  We went to help get it all moved in and left them with the apartment fully furnished.  They had another bed that was left in storage at the apartments and the manager gave it to them.  Now each of the two girls have their own full size bed in their new bedroom after living with their parents in a one bedroom house and nothing to sleep on except the couch in the living room.  We were pretty happy for them. It was interesting that we had an appointment with the Bullards at 6:00 pm.  They called early in the afternoon and said they would have to cancel again.  They ended up needing to leave town sooner than they had planned.  So we were free for all the moving in the evening.  We just walked in the door after moving the Kirks and the sisters called to see if we could go to an appointment with them right then.  We told them we couldn't be available for at least an hour and ten minutes.  They called and changed the appointment and said we could go then.  We went with them to a single man (college age).  He lived with his mother who got up and left the room when we got there.  We invited her to stay.  She said she doesn't believe in our teachings so she was going in the other room.  His older brother stayed with us but didn't agree with what we were teaching them.  We just read the introduction to the Book of Mormon with them and Jonah said he would read chapter one of I Nephi and we could come back to discuss it with him.  His brother, Anthony, said it didn't matter what book you read as long as you accept Jesus and have the spirit when you die, you will go to heaven.  We offered him a copy of the Book of Mormon to read.  He said, "I'm good."

We had a great discussion with Joe Davis, the dispatcher at Dana Transport.  We meet with him at the terminal where he works on the weekends.  We think he is very sincere and willing to learn.  I think he is about seventy-four years old.  He has been to church before and all the leaders in the branch remember him and think he is a wonderful man.  He is the one that says he is not a candidate for our church because he likes to drink coffee.  Our goal is to help him understand that the Lord doesn't want him to drink coffee, it is not just a rule in "our church."  We committed him to pray about the restoration and Joseph Smith.  He told us he feels the Book of Mormon is true.  He has already read it.  I think we kind of ganged up on him with the four of us testifying to him and committing him.  He seemed to take it all in stride though.  Later that night the sisters took Sister Owens to a discussion with Betty Purse out in Boligee.  She is a lady in her fifties who lives with her mother while her home is being repaired.  She loves everything the sisters have shared with her and is reading the Book of Mormon. 

She told them she was coming to church today.  She drove her own car (what a miracle) and got there this morning thirty minutes early (well before the sisters arrived).  Andrea and her Methodist mother came to church today for the first time in over a month.  I think Helen only came because she wanted to "bear her testimony."  As soon as the time was turned over to the congregation she got up and went to the podium.  She proceeded to tell us all about the dream she had where she was in a big group of people and they were captured by terrorists and blindfolded.  She kept telling the terrorists they didn't want to do what they were doing because they were just following Satan and he didn't care anything about them.  She finally got loose and got the head terrorist's knife and stabbed him eight times before he could shoot her with his gun and she saved everybody there.  They escaped and got outside and found out the army was having maneuvers there and they all rose up from the ground.  They thought they were going to rescue them but they just wanted them so they could give them information about the terrorists.  She wanted us all to know that Satan doesn't care about us and we should stay away from him.  Then she said "thank you" and started back to her seat.  Half way there she said, "Oh, wait.  I wanted to tell you about my daughter."  She walked back to the podium and told us all about her experience in the hospital when they almost lost Andrea.  When she finally finished President James got up to bear his testimony and did a tremendous job of getting the spirit back into the meeting.  What a great meeting for the counselor in the Stake Presidency to visit.  Betty was there and still had another appointment with Sister Owens and the sisters tonight (it is such a comfort, sometimes, to know the church is true).  She must be golden.  Although she did mention that that was very interesting. Oh yes, when Betty left after church in her own car she had to have it jumped by Brother Smith because the battery was dead (I do love Alabama).

We hope y'all had a wonderful week.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 48: A long busy week for these old folks

This week we went to a subsidized apartment complex with Cedric to see if they could rent a two bedroom apartment for his family.  The manager is an inactive sister we have been trying to see ever since we got here last March.  We actually talked to her once through her front door (she didn't open it).  She asked us if we could come back in fifteen minutes and we said we could.  We came back and she was gone.  So anyway, with Tasha's new job and Cedric's disability they actually make too much money to qualify for the apartment.  However, we and the manager don't think Tasha's job is really going to be quite so steady as it is right now.  It is at the fish factory and is seasonal.  She suggested they just report Cedric's disability for now and move in and after a couple months they will have a better idea of what they can expect from Tasha's new job.  They currently rent their dump of a house (sorry, but that is literally true) for two hundred dollars per month.  It has a small living room and a bedroom and a kitchen so small they can't put a table in it and a small bathroom.  Their two bedroom apartment is going to cost ninety dollars per month.  They could have moved into it months ago.  Now after they claim Tasha's income and some medical bills they are paying for Cedric's recent surgery they are going to have to pay about five hundred seventy-five per month.  It is going to be so good for them to get out of the neighborhood where they are right now.  We are hoping for the best.  He will find out if they are approved tomorrow.

We went on several appointments with the sisters through the week.  Most of them fell through but we did teach a good restoration lesson and left a Book of Mormon with a nice old black gentleman.  As he invited us into his home he asked us just which church we are from.  We told him The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints and he said, "That's good enough for me."  Then as we visited, he told us about the Jehovah's Witnesses that he invited to leave when he found out they don't believe Jesus is the Son of God.

We had another visit with the Bullards this week and sadly found out the church has no record of Rick's patriarchal blessing.  As we visited about it we came to the conclusion that the blessing he received was when he was ordained an Elder.  It just happened to be the Patriarch that ordained him.  But there were several people in the room at the time so we were pretty sure it wasn't his patriarchal blessing.  He still remembers a lot of things that were mentioned and was convinced it was all wrong but it has all come to pass in the last thirty years as it was pronounced in the blessing.  He explained that the reason he left the church was because of a falling out he had with his Branch President.  The president was making some statements about doctrine that Rick was sure was not correct.  Rick corrected him and he didn't take it very well.  There were a few other details that I won't really go into here.

Friday we had our New Beginnings combined with Young Women in Excellence.  We  combined them because everyone has to travel so far to get to the building and we really wanted the parents to come. We had eight young women (attachment #1&2) and only one parent came other than Sister Smith, the Primary President, who has a daughter in the program. It was really neat.  They all gave talks and sang.  Two of them were the Kirk girls that have been in the church for less than a month and one was a non-member.  We felt bad that Cedric brought the girls and then left instead of staying for the program.

Saturday Sister Owens had to be at the church at 6:00 AM to go to Birmingham for the special training from the General Relief Society President (attachment #3&4). The Branch President and councilors and all the women's organization presidencies were invited, but no clerks, so I stayed home and did some laundry. I guess we really didn't learn our lesson about renting vans last year.  We thought it would be good to have everybody chip in and rent one to get to the meeting.  That was great until two of them that were planning to go decided they couldn't make it so we paid a little more than we were planning on paying.  President James dropped Sister Owens off in Tuscaloosa on the way home from their meeting and I drove up and met her there at Elder and Sister Hurst's apartment, then Elder Hurst drove us back to Birmingham to President Sainsbury's home where all the senior couples gathered to welcome the new senior couple that arrived who are replacing Elder and Sister Barfuss from Boise who are going home this week. (Wow! That's a long sentence)  It is a little different.  Elder Martin is replacing Sister Barfuss as the mission nurse and Sister Martin is replacing Elder Barfuss as the housing coordinator. The Martins have eight children and thirty-six grandchildren. She says she feels a little lost because she is used to preparing Sunday dinner for thirty-five people every Sunday.

Today we had one of those "glad we're here" moments.  The Bullards came to church again and enjoyed being there.  We went out to see them after church and took the sisters with us so they could meet Sister Beauquez.  After we visited for a while Sister Beaugez asked Rick why he left the church after he joined.  He explained the falling out with the Branch President and then she asked him what made them decide to come back.  He said, "When the four of them came to our door two weeks ago."  Sister Tennyson was with us at the time before she was transferred.  He said when he came to the door he knew who we were and felt his heart jump for joy inside of him.  He said his spirit felt like jumping up and down.  After we left that night and they both commented on how much they felt the spirit when we were there, Lynn said they have not felt the spirit like that in their home for thirty years.  We are bringing the sisters back again this Friday to teach them the Plan of Salvation.  Today in Priesthood meeting I tried to encourage the brethren to be a little more serious about making time for conference next month and not just see it as a day they don't need to come to church.  Rick asked if they have the conference talks anywhere in writing.  I told him they are all online clear back to 1971.  He is super excited to get the gospel library downloaded so he can start reading them.

We are both kind of tired after our long week so we're going to bed now.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day and watch conference next month.

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 47: The ups and downs and ups of mission life

Dear Family and Friends:

Monday we stopped to get gas on the way home from our walk for $1.88 per gallon.  We were pretty excited later in the day when we passed the station and saw that it was up to $1.94 (really not the typical Owens luck).  We were pretty excited about that. We spent most of the day at the church.  I was trying to clean up some of the records and Sister Owens was able to get a name ready to take to the temple the next time we go.  Most of the inactive members of the branch don't answer when I call them because of my area code, so I only call them when we have exhausted all possibility of contacting them in person.  A few months ago we caught a fellow at home and we think he was telling us a little fib about the man we were looking for having moved from there two years before.  After visiting with President James about him and realizing his neighbor told us he lived there just before we knocked on his door (doesn't seem logical if he hadn't lived there for two years), we decided it was probably the member we were looking for that we were talking to.  In the heat of the moment he actually answered his phone when I called him Monday.  It was actually kind of entertaining listening to him squirm when I told him who I was.  Of course it wasn't a good time to talk so he was going to call me back.  I told him we just wanted to know where he was living now.  After stuttering a bit he said he was in process of looking around right now and he would call me when he finds a place (uh huh).  According to President James, he had a "Joseph Smith experience" in  the woods and wanted to be baptized.  He was  baptized, and a few weeks later his mother informed him he would be disowned if he had anything to do with "that church."  That was in 2013 and he hasn't been to church since.

We had an interesting experience Tuesday.  The weather was not so great so we decided to take our walk in the Walmart (the largest building in Demopolis).  After our usual two laps we decided we would do another.  Then we stopped to pick up some ham hocks and an onion so we could cook the greens (attachment #1) that Roosevelt gave us when we visited him with the sisters last Sunday.  We were picking out an onion and Miss Connie from the local library came walking up to us, who just happened to be there to buy a lemon she needed.  She was the first non-member we met when we got here in March.  She had been to the Gladys Knight concert and told us she is a very good friend of our church.  She has been taught by several sets of missionaries over the years.  She came up to us and said the Lord had led her to us that morning.  Then she asked me if I would come and pray for her at the Black History meeting that afternoon at the library.  She had asked a person to pray and they called and told her they couldn't come and she had no idea who she would be able to have pray. So we went.  The guest speaker was Ray Orlando Williams.  He is a world champion weight lifter who was born and raised in Demopolis.  He grew up in the projects and thought that was probably going to be where he was going to die.  He woke up often when he was in school and was sure death would be better than the life he was living.  He wanted the youth in the audience to never let the vision of what they are going through obscure the vision of what they are going to.  He is now just months away from getting his PHD and wants to be a high school principal.  He got his start when he was in middle school and the football coach came up to his tall friend and asked him if he would come and play football.  Ray asked him why he didn't ask him to play.  He told him if he wanted to, he could.  He said he loved football and was very good at it.  All he knew was that you could hit people and you didn't get in trouble for it.  A nice black lady named Dorothy Jones (Attachment #2 – Ray and Dorothy) from one of the Baptist churches sang a nice song acapella about coming a long way carrying a heavy load in the heat of the day. Dorothy is 80 years old.

Wednesday we got started early.  We went and picked up Ollie and dumped her out of her wheelchair (definitely one of the downs – see subject line).  Actually we were on our way to walk at the sportsplex and Ollie called us at 7:20 and asked if we remembered that we were picking her up at 7:30 to take her to sign up at the foodbank.  We said, "Sure, we'll be there in about ten minutes."  We rushed back home and changed clothes and got to her house (one and a half minutes from our house) at 7:32 AM.  Everything went great at the foodbank, once we found a place we could get her out of the car.  They had a nice ramp up to their door (an old Jewish Synagogue).  We got her up the seven inch step into the building just fine.  Not so good on the way out.  I was on the front and Sister Owens was on the back.  When the rear wheels went down over the step the chair went over backwards and took Sister Owens with it (and Ollie).  No injury, just an upsetting experience.  Ollie assured us she was fine – after she stopped crying.

We were looking forward to the appointment we had with the Bullards who didn't get to church last Sunday.  Sister Bullard called in the afternoon and said Rick had to work and was going to be too tired for us to come over.  She rescheduled for Friday so we felt a little better.

Thursday was definitely the highest "up" of the week.  We had zone conference in Birmingham.  It was definitely a long day.  We left at 6:20 AM and didn't get home until 8:45 PM.  It was interesting that I don't really remember ever feeling as alert as I felt all the way home that night.  President Sainsbury reminded all of us that we were the only zone in the mission that got to have a zone conference all about love on Valentines Day.  We watched an address by Lawrence Corbridge (General Authority Seventy) from BYU Speeches of the Year https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/lawrence-corbridge_stand-for-ever/ We highly recommend that everyone watch it.  It is one of the most powerful messages I ever remember hearing.  It is not recommended for our kids.  If we have any authority as your parents, we are requiring that you all watch it as families. Since Costco is in Birmingham, we always stop there on our way home from Conference for gas and groceries and get something for the sisters to eat (I know, we're cheapskates – but they like it)  We picked up a bag of pot stickers for the Hursts (senior missionaries at the Tuscaloosa YSA).  They mentioned that they haven't been able to find them anywhere.  When we stopped in Tuscaloosa to drop them off, Elder Hurst said, "I'm sure we owe you something for this' don't we?" I said, "Well, lets see, how about a nice keyboard for my iPad."  He had just given me one last week that he no longer had any use for.  I think I convinced him they didn't owe us anything.  We were going to stop at the hospital in Tuscaloosa to see how Andrea was doing (The new mother mentioned last week).  We called her uncle when we got in town and he said she is doing better but they were limiting visitors because of her weakened immune system.  We said we would come another time.  We were trying to get off the freeway at Tuscaloosa when I had to slow down rather abruptly for an emergency vehicle that was half in and half out of our lane.  It happened to  be right when Sister Owens was on the phone with Andrea's uncle.  The three leftover cupcakes from zone conference that we were taking home were on Sister Owens' lap – until then.  They ended up frosting side down on her shoes and then on the floor.  Luckily the frosting was a little bit crusty by then.  We do still have to clean the floor mats. The chocolate frosting all over the mat really doesn't look very good.

Friday, Sister Bullard called to cancel again.  She said Brother Bullard had to go help a friend and they didn't know when he would be done.  She said it sounded like they were just putting us off but they really weren't.  We rescheduled for next Tuesday and I asked her if they were going to make it to church.  She said they were going to try.  Last week they said they were definitely going to be there.  I started to worry just a bit since it will be two weeks on Tuesday since we saw them last.  We decided if they didn't make it to church we would just drive to Greensboro and check on them so they knew we cared about them.

Saturday was our turn to clean the building.  Sister Owens said she is really thankful it is a small building.  After that we went home and got our regular P-day chores done.  The sisters called us in the evening and gave us some depressing news – another "down."  Shearstine and Kamiah (Kamiah was just baptized a couple weeks ago) don't need us to pick them up for church because they are going to church with Shearstine's Grandmother.  The sisters went over to see them and the house smelled like weed, and Shearstine asked them why they always talk so much about the Book of Mormon instead of the Bible.  The sisters think their family is getting to her.  Then they told us that Kirks are having a bit of a challenge again with the word of wisdom.  We were all crying on each other's shoulders (over the phone) and were realizing how much Satan is working against the church here.  We were all a little discouraged and wondered what kind of Sunday we were going to have.

Sunday morning we got there for Branch Presidency meeting an hour before the block time and Brother White's car was in the parking lot.  We wondered if somehow he forgot the new meeting time.  He was sitting in his car and we talked to him for a minute.  He had come all the way from Greensboro alone so he could take the sacrament and then he was going to go home because he is in a great deal of pain.  He is having pain in the other shoulder now.  The pain he was experiencing from his surgery has gone away.  They give him medication to lessen the pain but when he has dialysis it flushes all the medication out of his body.  He is having a hard time.  The surgeon wants to do another surgery on the shoulder but Brother White does not want to go through the hospital experience again.  He told us he doesn't know what he is going to do, but he knows God is still in charge.  When I came out of Branch Presidency meeting The Bullards were just coming in the door with their friend, Jessie.  I told them how glad we were to see them and Brother Bullard said he told us they were coming and they came.  Our sacrament meeting was about the best one we have had since we have been here.  There couldn't be a better one for the Bullards to come to.  The messages were about President Nelson's conference address about the correct name of the church and about the covenants we make when we are baptized.  Before the sacrament the Kirks came in late, as they usually do when they come, but they had nine people all together.  Two of Cedric's children came with them along with some cousins and friends.  It was really neat.  And Cece who the sisters have been working with that was actually on baptismal date over a year ago was there also.  Our week definitely ended on an "up."  The Lord is making things happen.  We just need to keep up.  The Bullards are looking forward to our meeting with them on Tuesday.  He told me he has been reading the Book of Mormon.  Hopefully his Patriarchal blessing is going to be available on line by then.  It will be two weeks since we ordered it.

In President Sainsbury's letter this week he quoted some of the council Elder Anderson gave the missionaries when he visited the mission a year ago (just before we got here – darn)  One of the things he said was:

" You will never stay firm and true to the Restoration and to the church if you do not know the Book of Mormon and have a testimony it is true. You must read it every day, every day, every day!"

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 46: The roller coaster week of our mission so far

Dear Friends and Family,

This week really was full of ups and downs.  Last Sunday was Sister Tennyson's last week here and this is where she started her mission four and a half months ago.  We were all a little discouraged with the poor turnout at church.  None of the people they have been working with that said they would be to church were there except Shearsten.  Then on Monday Sister Owens and I read with Ollie and Larry again.  Larry kind of surprised us and said he hoped they would be able to finish the book before we go home.  We told him they would have to read a lot more than one chapter a week to do that.  Maybe we can get him to do a little more reading.  Monday evening we took the sisters to Greensboro for a couple of appointments and to follow up with some other people.  Both appointments fell through and no one else was home.  I found the address of an inactive we have been wanting to see and asked if they wanted to go with us to try to see them.  I assumed we would have about the same luck finding them that we have usually had in the past but we decided we would try.  We drove about eight to ten miles out past Greensboro toward Tuscaloosa to find them.  The four of us went to the door and it was actually the people we were looking for.  I told him we were missionaries from the church and we have never seen them and came out to meet them.  He said if we would give him a minute to put a shirt on we could come in.  We had a great visit for more than an hour before we had to leave to get the sisters back to Demopolis for another appointment.  He joined the church in 1987 and had been ordained an elder.  He had served as the Branch Presidents councilor before he left the church.  He told us he left because people in the church were always talking about Joseph Smith instead of Jesus Christ.  They started attending the Baptist church.  Then I remembered that they had responded to an invitation to attend branch conference last year before we got here.  The letter was there when I was made the branch clerk.  They told us in the letter that they were attending another church.  They told us they had gotten quite close to different sets of missionaries right after they joined the church and several senior couples as well, who they have visited during trips to the west.  He told us that he got a blessing years ago from a man in the church that wasn't just an ordinary blessing but a really special one.  He said he told him in the blessing what kind of person he would become later in life.  He told his wife at the time that he didn't know what he was talking about because he would never be that kind of person.  He said that he has thought about that blessing several times because he has become the very person that the blessing talked about.  We explained to him that was his patriarchal blessing and that we could get a copy of it for him.  He said he would really like to read it.  I said we could come back the next night and set up an account for them on the church web site and order a copy of his blessing so he could read it within a couple weeks.  Before we left he told me that he had a strong feeling when he greeted us at the door that he wanted us to come in and talk to them.

Tuesday night Sister Owens and I went back to see them without the sisters.  I think we were there about three hours.  His wife told Sister Owens that when we left the night before they both looked at each other and said, "Did you feel that!?"  We played President Monson's conference talk he gave as an apostle about patriarchal blessings to help them understand more about their blessing, and then set up their account on LDS.org and requested his blessing.  He is anxious for it to come (digital copy).  As we visited we found out he never accepted Joseph Smith as a prophet.  He only joined the church because he agreed with several of the things that the missionaries taught him.  He said he had always thought that way and had never found those teachings in any other church.  I asked him how he felt about the Book of Mormon and he said he didn't have any feelings one way or another about it.  I explained that if he read it and prayed about it the Holy Ghost would tell him if it is true or not, but he would have to be sincere about it and willing to act on the answer that he gets.  He told us he never really gave it a chance when he joined the church but now he wants to read it and he really wants to learn.  He is a different person now than he was then. I asked him if he came to know the Book of Mormon is true, what that would tell him about Joseph Smith.  He said it would mean he was a prophet.  It was a great visit and they told us they are definitely going to be at church this Sunday. We also got to meet Abby, their lap pit bull (attachment #1). She has to hold the leash because Abby likes to nuzzle everybody to get pets.

Wednesday was transfers.  We were told we would pick up a sister in Tuscaloosa to take along with Sister Tennyson to transfers and leave Sister Weaver in Tuscaloosa until we brought the two new sisters back, which meant we would have to take luggage for two sisters both ways.  So we finally had a use for the car top carrier we bought months ago for transfers.  We got a call about a half hour before we left informing us that one of the Tuscaloosa sisters had a doctor appointment in Birmingham so they were going to drive to transfers from there and we would just have Sister Weaver and Sister Tennyson to take with us.  Sister Tennyson's new area is two YSA branches which made her super excited.  She loved working on the campus at the university over in Livingston here in our branch.  Our new sister is Sister Beauqez (Bo-zhay').  Her mother is white and her father is Hispanic from Biloxi, Miss. So her name is Cajun.  She was in our district before in a different area.  She was excited to come back to the district and we are excited to have her in the area.  She is a great missionary. We got home about 7:30 PM and realized that I left my iPad at the chapel in Birmingham during transfers.  Then I remembered how unwise I thought it was when I put it in the hymnbook holder in front of me and did it anyway.  When they announced our new sister we just got up and went to the parking lot to unload and load the car and never thought about the iPad until I got home.  I called our fleet coordinator and he said he had a key to the building and would pick it up the next morning.  Then I noticed we had a missed call right after we left the church (phone still on vibrate from being in the meeting).  The APs called to let me know they had my iPad.  So I called Elder Barker back and told him he didn't have to pick it up the next morning.  There was going to be a Missionary Leadership Council on Friday and the senior couple from Tuscaloosa was asked to come to it so they were going to give it to them.  I called Elder Hurst and asked him to get it for me and let me know when they were going to be home so I could get it from them.  And felt naked for the next two days because all my information and all of our schedule is on the iPad (I'm proud to say it is the first time I have left it anywhere in almost a year….except the time I left it in the shopping basket in the Walmart parking lot, but I went back for it after about 20 minutes and it was still there and didn't even get very wet in the rain—I don't use it for shopping lists anymore).

Thursday we were getting things ready for the RS meeting and Luncheon that was scheduled for Friday. And then that evening we had our coordination meeting with Brother Smith that is usually on Wednesday and then we were going to meet with James for another lesson but when we got there he was not there and didn't answer his phone.

We have our little mentally challenged convert sister of about a year and a half who is pregnant out of wedlock.  Her baby was due in February.  We got a text at 7:00 AM Friday morning that she was in Tuscaloosa in the hospital.  She had an emergency C-section and emergency hysterectomy and was hemorrhaging badly and would like the missionaries in Tuscaloosa to come and give her a blessing.  We called the only set of elders there (our zone leader and district leader) and they were both just leaving to attend the Mission Leadership Council).  We finally got our previous high councilman who lives in Tuscaloosa to go up to give her a blessing.  We went ahead and ran the taxi service for Relief Society and when the meeting was over we took Sister Borden home to Greensboro and only had to go another 30 minutes to get to the hospital in Tuscaloosa.  She was told in her blessing that she would have to fight for her life and if she did she would have angels attend her.  She had two surgeries to find the source of the bleeding and both were unsuccessful.  She depleted the hospital's blood supply twice.  She was given a 50/50 chance of survival in the first surgery.  At 3:00 AM  Saturday morning they completed a third surgery with five surgeons involved.  The one that found the source of the bleeding was operating with a 102 degree temperature, himself.  They were able to stop the bleeding and felt she would survive although she has several hurdles yet to get over.  When we were there during the day she was in her second surgery.  They were using dye to try to trace the blood and thought they found the leaking artery and stopped it.  We left and went to pick up the iPad and when we were on our way home we got a call advising that the bleeding had not stopped and they thought they were going to loose her.  They told us she was loosing blood faster than they could pump it into her.  And her body was rejecting the blood they were giving her (like it would reject a transplanted organ).  Anyway, to make a long story a little less long, we talked to her uncle this afternoon.  He said they have put her on a respirator and she is partially responsive.  She is scheduled for surgery again tomorrow to removing the packing that was absorbing all the bleeding.  She will have a very long recovery if she does survive.  The baby boy was born healthy and is in the well baby nursery ready to go home.

On a happier note we had 42 people at church today.  The whole Kirk family was there.  Tasha got a full time job this week and they are looking for a nicer apartment or home to rent.  Things are looking up for them.  We are planning to fast as a branch to ask the Lord to soften the heart of Aliah's aunt so she will give permission for her to be baptized.  The Bullards we met Monday did not come to church so we felt kind of bad about that.  After our appointments this afternoon I called them.  They said they both woke up with stomach issues this morning and didn't go anywhere today.  They want us to come and meet with them this Wednesday.

Attachment #2 is a picture of the group that went Saturday to help Sister Patterson transfer a lot of her furniture from one storage unit to another so she could stage it for a garage sale.

It has been a busy, rewarding, but challenging week.  We will close for now.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon every day (it saves you from a lot of unnecessary problems and challenges)

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 45: The snow storm that never was and no mumbo gumbo for sure

Dear Family and Friends,

The highlight of the week was Caleb's ordination by his father, Robert, today.  Our number four grandson is now a priest.  We are pleased with him and all our grandsons and their service in the priesthood.

We just love Alabama.  Monday we went to read the Book of Mormon with Ollie and Larry.  We read one chapter and Larry said that was really good, and if he could just go and get a cup of coffee he could probably make it through one more chapter.  He did and we did.  Monday night we had another discussion with James and the sisters, and set another appointment for Wednesday.  We were going to pick him up and bring him back to the church for the lesson on Wednesday but he was out of town with his sister and couldn't come so we rescheduled for Friday.  The PM group came Friday to clean the carpets so we couldn't meet at the church.  So the Friday appointment ended up in his apartment again with the two kitchen chairs and the five of us around the one light bulb in his table lamp. He was late because he was painting at the Baptist church.  He is in desperate need of food, lodging, transportation, and employment.  He was supposed to be out of his apartment Friday but he got home and his things were still in the apartment so he stayed there, for that night anyway.  He has two sisters in Demopolis but says he can't stay with either of them.  He has no friends that can help and the Baptist church seems to love his willingness to paint for them but doesn't seem to be willing to provide any kind of assistance.

Our interviews with the mission president were scheduled for Tuesday but we were informed Monday night that they were postponed until Thursday because of a forecast snowstorm on Tuesday that was going to bring 3 to 6 inches of snow to the area.  It messed us up because we all had the whole day clear for the trip to Tuscaloosa and interviews and District Council then we were home with nothing scheduled to do for the day.  All the schools and the banks were closed for the storm and all we had was a little rain in the morning (Attachment #2, Alabama blizzard).  I received a jury summons last week and took time Tuesday to go to the church and get on line to complete the questionnaire before I called them to  be excused.  I tried to put in the 2098 miles for the distance from my home to the courthouse but the field only accepted two digits.  Then I called them and they asked for a copy of my call letter, which I provided, and they sent a letter excusing me from service.  We tried again to see Sister Rogers out on the river but when we called to see if we could come she explained that her son had not slept for four days and was high on something and she wasn't sure what he might do, so she didn't want us to come.  Kind of a wasted day all around.

Wednesday we were going to take Ollie to sign up for free food at one of the churches.  We were going to pick her up between 7:30 and 8:00 AM and she called and said it was too cold.  She didn't want to go out because the roads would be icy.  Everything was canceling for us everywhere.  We decided to take Sister Owens to the Doctor to get a prescription for her Thyroid medication.  Two phone calls over the past week hasn't accomplished anything.  We only had to wait two hours and she got her blood work done and a prescription called in to the pharmacy.  It would have taken longer than that if we had made an appointment here in Alabama.  I think we are learning how to do things here.  We had coordination meeting with Brother Smith, and then our appointment with James fell through.  The sisters were on exchange with the STLs (sister training leaders) all day Wednesday so we kind of gave them a bad time because we had to go an hour earlier the next morning because the sister that was in our area with Sister Weaver had her interview scheduled an hour earlier than ours were scheduled.

When we picked them up Thursday morning we had to apologize to Sister Waite and make sure she didn't think we were mad at her.  We weren't sure she understood our sense of humor.  The time we spent with President and Sister Sainsbury was great.  We all visit quite a while with Sister Sainsbury while President Sainsbury is interviewing the missionaries individually then the couples each get to go in (us and then the Hursts) and Sister Sainsbury comes in too and we get to have a good visit with both of them.  Then after all the interviews we have our District Council and the Sainsbury's leave to go to their next round of interviews.  Our District Leader/Assistant to the President is going home this Wednesday.  I was quite impressed with him thinking he was very mature for his age.  Then I found out last week he is older than any of the other missionaries in the mission (senior couples excepted).  He is the one that did the back flip for the talent show at Christmas (video sent earlier).  On the way home Sister Tennyson got to choose where we stopped to eat because we are pretty sure she is leaving the area Wednesday.  She has been here now for three transfers.

Friday was the first day of a new month and Sister Owens got a little carried away and gave the Smith boys fifteen dollars for one lousy quart of Gumbo to support the High School Soccer team. We couldn't pick it up until Saturday.  We went with the sisters to two appointments they had scheduled with single men during the afternoon.  They both fell through.  The next door neighbor answered her door when we knocked on the door for one of the appointments (apartment complex) and Sister Weaver found another Chicago connection.  She seems to find people everywhere she goes that spent time in Chicago which is where she is from.  Then Friday night we had our meeting with James.

Saturday we got some of the laundry done and went to pick up the Gumbo.  We definitely found out we do not like Gumbo!! At least not Alabama Gumbo.  Their little ticket we had to redeem to get our quart said on it, "This is no Mumbo Gumbo."  Well, I might try the Mumbo Gumbo, but probably not.  That was the most awful tasting thing either of us have ever experienced.  We were sick the whole rest of the day.  We had to get a Hot and Ready cheese pizza from Little Caesars to try to cover up the taste and that actually didn't help much.  I think the Smiths were trying to do in the Senior missionaries.  We went with the sisters to an appointment in the afternoon.  He had the lessons about a year and a half ago and liked what he learned and agreed with it but, as he explained to us, he just isn't a candidate for membership in our church  because he likes coffee and doesn't want to give it up.  We met with him where he works.  He is a weekend dispatcher at a trucking company.  He is an older gentleman that is blind in one eye and has a hard time seeing with the other one.  He has worked there for about twenty years.  All he really does is handle problems that come up across the nation with any of the drivers that call in over the weekend.  He did get one call during the hour we spent with him from a driver in South Dakota that thought he had run out of fuel.  Four of the fourteen youth in the ward that were scheduled to go to the youth conference this Saturday in Bessemer didn't go.  They were all in the same family and one of them got the flu and they never go anywhere or do anything unless they go together, so they all stayed home.  Ten of them did go and didn't get home until about 9:00 PM.  We were going to get a group picture of them before they left but the Smiths didn't stop at the church before they left and the James had to pick up the Kirk girls on the way out of town.  We took a picture of the two youth that came in from Greensboro (attachment #2) because we thought they were the first ones there but it ended up they were the only ones that left from the church.  The boy is fourteen and is about eight inches taller than I am.

It was a little disappointing today.  We only had eighteen people in church.  President James, Brother White, and I were the only men there.  Aquavian (boy in Attachment #2)  was the only other male there.  Brother Smith had to work this week end and Sister Smith took the whole family to the youth conference and babysat the three younger ones there all day so all nine of them missed church today. It was a lot different than the sixty-six that were there last week.  It was the fewest in attendance since we got here eleven months ago. Our gospel doctrine class with five women (including Shearsten, our non-member that wants to be baptized next week) was really good.  We talked a lot about how doctrine differs between the church and others in the world today.  I wondered if Shearsten might be a little offended at some of the comments that were made.  When Sister Owens took her home she said she was so glad she was there today.  She really enjoyed the Sunday School class.  It is so neat to realize that congregation size is no indication as to whether or not it is the Lords true church.  The spirit was really strong and after the closing prayer everybody stayed about fifteen minutes talking about the new curriculum and how much they liked it and how everybody should read every week so they can share insights each week in class.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens