Week 31: Shots but no cuts, and a harvest celebration and another Priesthood holder in the family

Dear Family and Friends,

After our district council meeting this week the sisters asked us to go with them to the outlying borders of our area to find a single man named Glen Jones who had requested a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We actually located the address out on a country road, before dark even.  There were four mobile homes though none of them had the number we were looking for.  We picked one and no one was home except the cows in the back yard, who were very happy to see us (it actually made us a little homesick).  Another trailer was vacant so we ruled that one out, and both the others looked like they had families in them rather than a single man.  A man drove up in a pickup truck and we found out that Glen was actually his brother-in-law who used to live with them but had moved in with his father on another country road.  We got to go in and visit with him and his wife (Glen’s sister) who had just had surgery that day.  We had a nice visit and as we were leaving he said we would have to come back and “missionary” his wife sometime.  We said we would be glad to and would call them after she has had a couple weeks to recuperate from her surgery.  So we left to find Glen again (by this time it was dark).  They gave us good directions but started by asking if we new the way to York.  We had been there before so we told them we did.  We didn’t know they were talking about a shortcut by way of Livingston.  We went back to the highway and turned toward York and drove forever looking for the left turn on County road 13.  We finally found it but it turned to the right and not to the left.  Remembering that they told us if we got to the bridge we had gone too far and would have to turn around, I started looking for a bridge and there was the trailer right on the left side of the road just AFTER the bridge.  It looked like nobody was home but when we rang the bell a light came on and we met Glen and his dad and gave the Book of Mormon to Glen and read part of the first chapter with him.  The sisters asked if we could come back and discuss it some more another time and he suggested the next day and then he said a prayer before we left.

The next day was my first visit with the Dermatologist since our arrival in Alabama.  I haven’t been looking forward to it because they always want to take a sample or two just to check and I was not very excited to start dressing wounds again.  GOOD NEWS!  He looked me over and said he didn’t see anything to worry about right now and didn’t think we would have to do any cutting this time (HOORAY).  I’m good for another six months.  The sisters wanted us to go out with them to see Glenn and we were a little worried that we wouldn’t get back in time, the way Doctor appointments usually go here in Alabama.  We actually got through earlier than we thought we would so we called them and told them we would be there to pick them up.  Then we stopped to look for some groceries that are not available here in Demopolis and the store where we stopped was advertising free flu shots plus a $10 in store coupon.  How could we go wrong.  An hour later we got our flu shot and were to late to get to the sisters on time.  We called them and apologized and hurried as fast as we could.  We actually got to Glen’s only about seven minutes late.  He wasn’t home.  We called him and he said he was going to call us but forgot.  He has been looking for work and had a chance to do some work for a friend and went to do that.  Business as usual, I guess. The sisters had another appointment with a student at Western Alabama University in Livingston.  The appointment wasn’t until later and the girl is out of minutes so they couldn’t call or text her.  We got to the university and the sisters went and did some contacting and after two trips in two days from Demopolis to Tuscaloosa and back to York, I’m afraid I just leaned my seat back and took a nap.  They tried to message the girl they had the appointment with on messenger several times but she never responded.  Then when it was time for the appointment she wasn’t there either.  After the first of the month they will be able to call her again.  Another day, I guess, in the life of a missionary.

Thursday we went to pick up a couple of pork butts for our Harvest celebration and then went to Book of Mormon class in Greensboro.  We had a full house (probably because Brother White fried catfish for everyone), but everyone read and we had a really good discussion about II Nephi 9.  It is a really good chapter and was quite helpful to the group who are all very limited in their gospel understanding.  Chris was there and came to church today also.  He is getting serious again about getting ready for baptism.  He still has a few challenges he has to overcome.  Deborah was there, as she is every week.  She was in much better spirits than she was last week.  She told Sister Owens that someone had come from DHR to speak with her but we didn’t get to get any details from her.

Friday was the Harvest Festival at the Branch which was organized by the youth and was quite a success.  There were about forty-seven people there and at least half of them were youth.  We found out later that most of the non-member youth that came were brought by Cedric and Tasha Kirk and their family (Attachment #1).  One of the Priests in the ward took them all around the church building and explained what we do in the church.  His brother, a teacher, (attachment #2) showed everyone the family history library and explained what we do with family history and offered to help any of them set up an account in Family Search.  We all had a good dinner consisting of a salad bar, pulled pork sandwiches, and pizza along with cookies and cupcakes for dessert.  They had different stations throughout the building for games and we ended with a trunk-or-treat for all the kids.  I was going to take pictures and by the time I got to it we were done and everyone was cleaning up. President James won the candy count contest (attachment #3)

We finally had a senior missionary outing Saturday.  It was good to be with them again.  It has been a long time since we have been together.  We toured the Talladega raceway (attachment #4&5) and the Sloss Furnaces.  Sloss Furnaces is the nations only twentieth century blast furnace turned industrial museum (attachment #6).  It was once the largest manufacturer of pig iron in the world.  A bride was there having her wedding pictures taken while we were there.  It was a self guided tour and we kept getting lost because the community had it set up for a Halloween spook alley that was going to be at 7:00 PM that night. It was very interesting and quite educational (and scary).

We are so happy for Kyle.  He was ordained a Deacon today by his Dad.  We appreciate all the support from the rest of the family and are so proud of Kyle. We hope he will realize how great an opportunity he has before him to provide service to others.  He will recognize many wonderful blessings that will come into his life as he serves faithfully.  We are so proud of all our grandsons for accepting priesthood responsibility the way they do.  The Lord will bless you for it throughout your life.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 30: The miracle of the foot and Sister Owens gets reported

Dear Family and Friends,

We know many, if not all, of you have been praying for me and my foot problems.  Thank you so much.  After our email went out last week my foot started getting better and better, which made it a little embarrassing by Friday when I had my appointment with the podiatrist and there wasn't anything wrong with my feet.  Monday morning when I showered my heel hurt again and I could hardly lift it off the floor without crying out in pain.  Last time I had that problem it took weeks to get it cleared up, so I got on the phone and found a podiatrist and got an appointment for Friday.  My foot was feeling just fine by Thursday, thanks to all your prayers and those of several of the missionaries here in Alabama.

Monday we took a Book of Mormon to the librarian at the Demopolis High School for helping us deliver the bed board to Cedric last week.  Of course they didn't let us into the library but allowed us to leave it at the front office. We spent some time at the church clearing up some clerk issues.  I finally got through to Salt Lake.  All five of my questions stumped the first person I talked to and they turned me over to another one.  By the time we finished they had to address four of the five issues on their end and I could take care of one of them here.  They said they would email me when they got all the problems solved.  We went to the bargain box to look for crutches (since we don't have a chair with wheels for me to get around the house).    They had a boot that they said I could get real cheap if I thought I needed it because they are really expensive if you have to buy one.  They said they only wanted $5 for it so I thought I should get it.  I asked how much the crutches would be and the lady said, "If you buy the boot you can have them free of charge with my blessing."  So we bought the boot and a 25 cent puzzle and she said that would be $3.25.  I was a little puzzled at the price and asked her about it and she said, "Oh, what did I tell you?"  I said she said the boot was $5.  So she changed it to $5.25.  A pretty good deal even though I haven't used either the crutches or the boot yet.  We went out to Greensboro to meet with Brother White.  He is doing better and better all the time.  He told us since he started leaving the collar off, that the doctor told him he should always wear except when he is sleeping, the pain in his shoulder has been getting better.  We wanted to meet with him because he was baptized eight years ago the same time as Brother Borden.  The Bordens went to the temple a year later but Brother White has never been to the temple nor received the Melchizedek priesthood.  Stake Conference is November 10^th.  We hope we can have him ready to be sustained to receive the priesthood.

I was hoping wearing my old shoes would enable me to get to Zone Conference Tuesday.  It worked though I hobbled just a little bit through the day.  It was a great conference.  We left Demopolis at 6:30 in the morning and the conference ended at 4:00 in the afternoon.

Wednesday was the monthly Relief Society meeting.  The topic was Family History.  We tried to get all the sisters signed up for their own account so they could start building a pedigree chart (see attachment #1).  It went well.  I even got to call Sister Cragun to get her help restoring the account for one of the sisters who couldn't access it because it had been so long since she last used it.  She told me today at church that she was able to get into her account and has gotten some work done this week.  Thank you Sister Cragun.

Thursday at Book of Mormon we found out that our non-member sister that has attended all along whose family won't allow to be baptized is suffering a lot of other things thanks to her family's neglect.  The facility provides noon meals for $1.25.  Her family instructed the management that they are not to let Deborah eat at that meal.  So she sits out in the foyer or out in front of the building while every one else eats the meal. She has an open wound where her leg was amputated (she is diabetic) and they won't let her see a doctor.  There are several other issues that the other people in the class were telling us about and all Deborah could do was sit and weep.

Well, then there was Friday.  I got to spend about four hours of my birthday waiting in the Podiatrists office (attachment#2).  It was quite the experience.  My medical doctor's office gave me their name and address.  I got the appointment and went to the address I was given.  It was in the middle of a housing addition (very beautiful homes, by the way.  Better than we have seen so far in the entire state).  Her office was about 20 miles back the way we came. (I love Alabama)  The visit was a waste of time.  She just told me I have arthritis in my feet, it is caused by the gout, and I need to see my medical doctor to get bloodwork done to see what medication I need for the gout.  But she assured me she can build a low profile orthotic for me and I can come back Monday for the diabetic shoe clinic and buy some shoes for $139.  On the way home we stopped in Greensboro to visit the Department of Human Resources to advise them of the issues with Deborah from book of Mormon class.  As we walked in the door we saw a display on the wall saying that it was national Elder Abuse Awareness day.  When we sat down with the case worker I told her I was turning Sister Owens in for abuse.  It was my birthday and she was refusing to make a birthday cake for me. It didn't do me any good. I still didn't get a birthday cake. We did tell them about Deborah though.  We are pretty sure they are going to check into it and things will improve for her.

I have to tell you all that I told Sister Owens when we went to bed Friday night that I am going to quit eating sugar.  After all day Saturday without any sugar, when I went to bed Saturday night there was no residual pain whatsoever in my feet, which the Doctor told me was just arthritis. Today I have been walking around with my new shoes that have no support and haven't been limping at all.  I'm hoping they keep getting better.

Happy day.  Brother White brought his whole herd with him today.  Four of them all together.  Two less active men and Christopher, who has kind of dropped off the radar as far as taking the lessons from the sisters. The two students from Livingston that the sisters have been teaching were both out of town seeing family this weekend.  We are looking forward to seeing them next week.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Gout (AKA Week 29)

Dear Family and Friends,

Gout.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon

We Love Y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

PS:  Before the gout set in we had a tender mercy on Monday.  Cedric's bed was a little short for him so we were going to get some bricks to put under the legs.  We stopped at the bargain box first thing and they had a bed board for a bunk bed.  They let us have it for $5.  We were getting some rope from them to tie it to the luggage rack on the car and the lady right before us in line asked where we were taking it.  We told her and she said, "I have a pickup.  Just throw it in the back and I will follow you over."  We went over and put it under his mattress and when he got home from therapy he sent a text thanking us and said it was just right.

We took the sisters to district council in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday.  I was hobbling along behind everybody wondering why my feet hurt so much.  Then Wednesday morning when I woke up I noticed that I couldn't put any weight on my left foot.  By Thursday afternoon I really wanted to get to Book of Mormon class in Greensboro so we went.  It set me back a little so I spent Friday and Saturday in the chair with my  foot up.  The gout was all gone by Sunday morning but I am having trouble with my heal again and it caused a lot of pain to try to walk.  I decided I better stay home from church but thought I would put on my old shoes first and see how it felt.  I could walk with them with very little pain so we went to church.  Our Gospel Principles class was really good.  Two young ladies from the college over in Livingston were there for the second time.  They came the week before Conference and they both watched all the sessions of Conference last week.  They are both on date for baptism in the coming weeks.

Week 28: Unwelcome Realities and a Revitalizing General Conference

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been one of those weeks where you have experiences that you really shouldn't tell about in your email home.  Don't worry, nobody tried to shoot us. It was just a really discouraging week seeing the trying circumstances that these people have to put up with every day of their lives.  Monday wasn't so hard until the afternoon. We took the sisters to lunch since Sister Snarr was transferred Wednesday.  Then we went to the Salvation Army store to find a table to put in our spacious living room and a pot to plant our cotton tree.  They didn't really have anything that would work for either but Sister Owens did find a couple shirts for a really good price.  The week kinda went down hill from there.  We went to the church to work on the membership records and I wrote out the two questions I had for Salt Lake and spent some time trying to do a couple other things with some other records.  By the time I was done my two questions turned into five and I was ready to smash the computer.  I clicked on the "contact us" tab to find a phone number to call with my questions (Everybody tells me to just call the number, but nobody can tell me the number or exactly where to find it). It had a list of every language on the planet (actually I think they were regions) and wanted me to choose one so they could tell me how to contact them. I finally found the one I needed and clicked on it and a flag came up saying the website was down and to please try again later.  Go figure.  As we were getting ready to leave we got a call from one of the older sisters in the branch telling us she was sitting on the curb and had walked as far as she could and she couldn't go any further.  Her nose started bleeding at 11 in the morning and wouldn't stop.  She walked to the emergency room at the hospital to get some help and after quite a while they told her they couldn't do anything for her and sent her home with her nose still bleeding (we have been told in no uncertain terms that if anything ever happens to either of us that we definitely should never go to the emergency room.  We should go to the Med Center).  So it was about 5:30 and we went and found her sitting on the corner about a mile from her apartment with a shopping bag full of bloody towels and wash clothes.  We got her to her home and she was locked out.  She gave her key to her son before she left because he had lost his. She called his cell phone and he didn't answer.  She thought she knew where he would be so we got back in the car and started driving around the neighborhood in the dark trying to find him.  Sister Owens went in at the first place we stopped and found out they never heard of the lady or her son.  We kept looking.  We finally found him after about a half hour and got the key from him.  He said he would be home later to check on her.  He is 40 years old, by the way, and has two children that live with their mother to whom he is not married.  Her nose was still bleeding through all of this.  I had gone across the street to ask for some ice when we first arrived at her home.  When we got in finally we found that they had no ice in their freezer so I had to go ask for some more ice so we could try to get the bleeding to stop.  Her son finally came home.  They talked quite loudly to each other a little while (we really couldn't understand anything they were saying) then he left again.  Nothing we did stopped the bleeding and she refused to go back to the hospital.  Soon her neighbor came over to check on her.  He is a very polite and helpful gentleman.  He checks up on her often.  She wanted me to give her a blessing so the bleeding would stop and then she was going to go to bed.  I walked over to give her the blessing and her neighbor stepped up like he was going to assist me.  I wasn't sure what I was going to say to him since he is not a member of the church.  He just stood close to me so I really didn't have to say anything.  As I gave her the blessing, every couple sentences he would say a nice loud "Uh Huh." It was definitely a different experience than I have had before.

That was our Monday. Tuesday morning we got a call from another sister in tears because she needed help writing checks to pay her bills and she was just so confused that she didn't even know if she had enough money in her account to pay them.  We told her we would come over.  When we got there she said that a fellow was coming to help her.  We stayed and tried to help her feel better about things until he arrived.  He would not come in until we left.  He is a little less than upstanding.  He has a drug problem to be sure.  He used to "work" for her quite a bit.  He would drive her to appointments or go to the store for her and would charge $20 every time he did anything.  She asked if we would come back later and make sure everything was done correctly.  When we got back we found out he had taken about 30 minutes to write a few checks for her and charged her $40.  She hasn't balanced her checkbook in months.  It was all a little frustrating.  We went through all her income and expenses with her and are going to meet with her again.  She is paying her own son $400 a month to come and mop and sweep floors for her.  It is truly a sad state of affairs.  The sisters called us and asked if they could each have a blessing that evening since transfers were the next day.  Sister Snarr is going to her second area for her mission and Sister Shreeve is getting a brand new missionary to train her in Demopolis.

Wednesday morning we got to the sister's apartment to load up all of Sister Snarr's belongings and her bike and head for Birmingham for transfers.  We left her there and picked up Sister Shreeve's new companion, Sister Tennyson, from Utah.  One of the new Elders that arrived this week is from Meridian but we didn't get to meet him. Elder Barfuss gave us a bed frame to replace the broken one in Selma.  We told him about Cedric having hip surgery Monday and that we had a bed for him but we needed a frame.  He said he would get one for us. We told him we shouldn't do that without asking.  He said, "I'm the one you ask."  I told him if he was going to do that, I would use the one he had just given us for Cedric and get another one for Selma.  Cedric was coming home from the hospital that day and needed the bed.  We got back to Demopolis in time for Coordination meeting and Brother Smith had the bed so we were going to deliver it after the meeting.  He had told us he had everything but the frame but it was actually the box springs he didn't have. It was okay since it was part of a set of bunk beds and had enough slats to support the mattress.  Cedric is pretty short so it is just about right anyway. We set up the bed in the living room.  While we were there Sister Owens went back to the kitchen with Tasha.  Their house consists of a living room, a bedroom with a queen bed (no closet) a kitchen (about the size of a closet) and probably a bathroom, though we didn't see it.  They have a fridge and a microwave oven.  They have no range because the wiring in the house is not sufficient.  They had to choose between a fridge and a range.  They chose the fridge.  If we were serving in a third world country it would be hard but maybe we could accept that that is home for a family of four but it sickens me that it is that way in the USA.  Their oldest daughter is 18 and has to live up the street with Tasha's aunt because there isn't room for her in the house.  After seeing their home we are feeling pretty guilty about our new apartment.

Book of Mormon class was really great Thursday.  We were going to take the sisters but they called and said they had too much to do and wouldn't be able to go.  We still had to drop off Sister Jones and Sister Borden at the class and double back for Sister Nixon because the car isn't big enough to take them all at once.  Brother Borden buys chicken for the group just about every week even though he is usually working and can't be there and we try to bring cookies often.  Without the sisters it was just Sister Owens and I with seven black people. After we finished reading a few of them bore their testimonies about what the Lord had done for them in their lives.  After we ate the chicken they all just started talking and laughing like you would see in an old movie. Somebody would say something and then somebody would point at them and start laughing and then everybody would laugh.  We just laughed along with them but really didn't understand hardly anything they were saying.  It was so neat to be there.  We had a visitor there this week.  He didn't want to read but he just sat at a table and listened.  Of course we are reading the Isaiah chapters right now.  When we finished, he said he really liked it and wanted to know if I was a preacher.  I told him it was sort of like that.  I told him that from listening before we got started it seemed like he was related to somebody there.  He pointed to one of the ladies and said, "That is my ex wife."  I said, "Oh, I see." (awkward). He asked when we would be back.  I told him we are there every Thursday.  He said he will come back next week.  We all made plans for our meal Sunday after Conference.  We felt really bad because Debra was there.  She is the non-member whose family won't allow her to be baptized or to come to church.

Friday we took the bed frame to Selma and then did our laundry and cleaning and prepared the food for Conference so we could enjoy the conference on the weekend.  Last conference was on the second weekend we were here in the mission.  We were totally shocked when the two of us and the Sisters were the only ones that attended the Saturday conference sessions.  And then President James and his son were the only ones there with me for the Priesthood session.  It was a little discouraging this time after being her six months and we and the sisters were the only ones at the morning session of conference. The sisters went to Livingston for the afternoon session.  We would have been alone for the afternoon session but a sister that was released this week had served in Demopolis.  Her parents came to pick her up and they were here for conference Saturday afternoon and evening.  There were ten of us at the Sisters session Saturday night including her and her parents (and me).

Brother White came by himself for conference this morning.  He said it was like a ghost town when he looked for the guys that were going to come with him. Everybody at the morning session was from Greensboro except one carload from Linden and President and Sister James from York and Brother and Sister Morgan came (they live right around the corner from us and usually watch it on TV).  Everybody left right after the session but the ones from Greensboro and us and two girls from Linden.  After we ate they all went home except the Sisters and the two girls from Linden (they had to wait for us to take them home).  We felt so badly that more of them don't appreciate the feast that conference is.  Of course the James and the Morgans do watch it on TV as well as a few of the other active white members.  So many of the members don't see or hear any of the conference.

We love the prophet and are so excited about the changes that are coming. It looks like only one of the rumors ended up being true.  How about that.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon (every day)

And study what the prophets said in conference.

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 27: A tree for Christmas (already), a trip to the Temple, and the Sacrament

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been another busy week.  We started with apartment inspections in Thomasville and Demopolis on Monday.  We always enjoy doing inspections because we get to visit with the missionaries and hear how the work is going.  Elder Waltman just transferred in to Thomasville.  He is from Middleton, Idaho.  They told us about the Smith family they found and started teaching.  After their first lesson the family said they had some relatives and wondered if they might be able to sit in on the next lesson (duh).  Everybody on the street they live on is related and they all seem to be interested.  The elders told us there are about thirty of them.  About a month ago President Sainsbury asked all the missionaries to start praying everyday for more converts and more baptisms in the mission.  It's exciting to see how our prayers are being answered.

We didn't schedule anything for Tuesday since we had to have our car in the shop in the morning. It was supposed to be ready about 11:00 AM and we got a call about 10:00 to let us know they found a couple parts that have to be replaced and they had to order them so the car wouldn't be ready until around 4:00 PM.  At 3:30 they called again to tell us the mechanic punctured something putting it back together and they couldn't get the replacement part until the next day.  We ended up getting the car back at 11:30 the next morning.  It's neat to see how the Lord takes care of the details in this work.  We had the Selma and Greenville inspections scheduled for Friday morning and afternoon.  We got a call from the Sisters in Greenville telling us they had to reschedule so Wednesday at 2:00 PM was the only time that would work out.  We felt bad because Selma is right on the way to Greenville, but we really didn't think we would be able to reschedule the Selma inspection on such short notice so we would just have to go back Friday for their inspection.  We just picked up the car and were getting ready to go to Greenville when we got a text from the Selma Elders telling us they had to go to a meeting at the mission office Friday and wondered if we could do the inspection on Saturday.  We responded and told them we could do that unless they would be around in about an hour and we could stop on the way to Greenville and take care of it then.  They were available so we got both the inspections done on Wednesday and were only fifteen minutes late for Greenville.  What about that tree?  On our way from Selma to Greenville we saw a cotton field being harvested.  It was very interesting to see.  We stopped to take a short video of the harvester doing its work.  There were some workers there so we asked one of them if we might get a piece of cotton from one of the plants that had been harvested.  He said that would be fine and asked if we wanted a whole plant that hadn't been harvested.  I told him that would be great and would make my wife very happy.  He went out and uprooted a plant and brought it to us (attachment #1).  Sister Owens got out of the car and came to thank him.  He said it was no problem, they have about 23,000 others so it wouldn't be missed.

Thursday was another really good day.  We had our interviews with the President.  He and his wife are always so inspiring.  Sister Owens asked the President about reading a book that is not on the approved list for missionaries.  He informed us that senior couples can do "anything they want" reinforcing the fact that senior missionaries really do "get away with murder."  He said he really did mean that.  He said we should tell the young missionaries to go home and get married and convince their spouses to go on a mission with them and then they can do anything they want.  After interviews we had our district council.  The missionaries always split up and conduct phone audits as part of the meeting where they check the history of each other's phones for the past week.  The seniors don't participate in that and now that we have another senior couple in the district we had some one to visit with.  He is an engineer from silicon valley and he monopolized the conversation wondering what kind of physics God uses to accomplish his work.  It was really quite an interesting conversation.  When we were through the district leader mentioned to me that it sounded like a very interesting conversation we were having.  He started to ask a question and said he better wait until later.  He never did ask the question.  I was curious what it might have been.

Friday we got to take Cedric and Tasha and their two girls to the temple (attachment #2).  The Raybons (attachment #3)  that the sisters have been meeting with (they came to church last week) drove and took the sisters with them.  When we got there Cedric and Tasha went in to do baptisms and their girls stayed outside and toured the grounds with the Raybons and Sister Shreeve and Sister Owens.  Elias Smith is one of the youth in the ward that was just ordained a priest about a month ago.  He baptized Cedric and Tasha.  They were baptized for ancestors of the Owens and the Smiths.  Cedric served as witness when Tasha was baptized.  Brother Smith and I got to perform the confirmations.  Cedric is going in for hip replacement surgery tomorrow.  They told him he will probably miss about six weeks of work during recuperation.

We definitely have more apartment to clean on Saturday than we used to.  I'm having to help now (darn).  We are really starting to miss the senior couple outings.  We haven't had one now for several weeks.  None of us wanted to do anything outside during the summer anyway.  As a matter of fact we drove over to our walking path Saturday morning with the windows down.  The first time they have been down since we arrived in Alabama.  It was only 69 degrees when we left.  It's the first time the temperature has been that low since we left Utah in March.  Of course it was approaching 80 degrees by the time we were driving home.  It was almost 9:00 AM.

So Sunday when I came out of Branch Presidency meeting and went in to the chapel I saw Brother White at the Sacrament table.  I think it had to be the highlight of my week.  It was so good to hear him bless the sacrament again with Brother Borden.  President James bore his testimony today and said how much he loves and appreciates Brother White.  He said if Brother White can get out of bed, he knows he will be there on Sunday to bless the sacrament.  Brother White bore his testimony also.  He told about he and his sister having surgery the same day and finding out while he was still in the hospital that his sister had passed away.  He told Sister Owens, before he went home, that he is rounding up his herd next week.  Before his surgery he always brought two or three brethren with him to church.  None of them have been there since his surgery.  The stake clerk visited the branch today.  I got to spend time with him during third hour.  He went over some things with me and then I thought of a couple questions that I had been wanting answers to, so I asked him.  He said he would really like to know about that himself.  He asked me to call Salt Lake this week and then to call him and let him know what I found out.  That makes it sound like he doesn't know his job, but he really is a very good clerk and a spiritual man.  When he left he told President James that I had asked him a couple questions that he had never really considered.  That is just the branch.  We just have really weird situations that take some complicated clerk work in order to get the records correct.

We had an interesting "South" thing happen again today.  In Branch Presidency meeting we were talking about different things we can do to encourage reverence as we start our sacrament meeting.  President James suggested that we might turn   the volume up on the prelude music about five minutes to the hour.  Thinking they would just start talking louder so they could be heard, I suggested that he might consider turning the volume down.  When I went in to the chapel and sat down by Sister Owens I wondered why there was no prelude music playing.  It was really strange (and uncomfortable).  The organist was just sitting there at the organ and not playing.  It was very quite, though.  No one was saying a word.  Then when President James bore his testimony he related what we had discussed in Branch Presidency meeting and that he had suggested turning up the volume.  Then he said Brother Owens suggested we just "turn it off" (excuse me) so that is what we did this morning and he thanked everyone for their reverence and said it was really easy to feel the spirit. Also when Brother White was bearing his testimony there were a couple people in the congregation that were having a really hard time stifling their hallelujahs and amens.

We will be driving to transfers this Wednesday.  President Sainsbury confirmed during interviews that we will be losing Sister Snarr. She started her mission here eighteen weeks ago Wednesday.  We will miss her but know that she will have some great experiences as she moves on to other areas and other companions.  We will probably see her from time to time at conferences or transfers. It will be exciting, too, to have another sister come to Demopolis.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon

And listen to the Prophets next weekend

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 26: Our first Antebellum Mansion Tour and my second professional haircut

Dear Family and Friends,

We took the sacrament out to Brother White last Sunday after church because out of all the people that he has brought to church for so many weeks, none of them would help him load his wheelchair into his own car so he could come to church.  His doctors told him he should stay in the wheelchair for a while until he builds up his strength.  He decided he was coming to church and asked two or three men in the apartment complex, in advance, if they would help him Sunday morning with the chair so he could go to church.  After saying they would help, Sunday morning none of then answered their door when he knocked.  This week he got commitments again for help and again no one was around to help him.  So he loaded the chair in his car by himself and drove 30 minutes to church by himself.  He was late and everyone was in the meeting when he arrived so he got the chair out of the car by himself and sat in it and came into the meeting.  Everyone was really excited to see him come in the door of the chapel.  He has missed six weeks of church since his surgery and was so happy to be there again.  Since he was late we took him into the Branch President's office after Sacrament meeting and administered the sacrament to him.  It was a special day today, having Brother White back and a couple that the sisters have been meeting with came to church for the first time.  Her best friend is a member of the church and she came to the weekday Relief Society meeting last month and enjoyed meeting the sisters in the branch.  They have been in Tuscaloosa for about six weeks with his brother who had open heart surgery.  Her husband is the one that wanted Brother Smith and I to come and give him a blessing several weeks ago when the sisters first started meeting with them.  He has never participated much and claimed he wasn't interested.  He said he learned a lot about the church when he was younger and doesn't really agree with their teachings.  They stayed for the whole block today and he participated in our discussion in Priesthood meeting.  He told us he enjoyed being their and we invited him back.  They were both positive in their response.  The sisters went out to help them fix supper this evening.  They will probably start meeting with them again now that they are back home.

We were a little surprised when a couple from the branch came in to Sacrament Meeting.  They didn't stay for the rest of the block.  It was a couple that we tried for several weeks after we arrived here to see, but were never able to catch them home.  They only live here during the winter and then go to Paris, Idaho to spend the summer.  I talked to him for a while on the phone after they returned to Paris and got his address to forward his record.  He was a little surprised that I wanted to do that.  He said they never really did that before.  I told him since they moved there we would go ahead and forward their records.  The records showed up in the branch a couple weeks ago and we finally caught them at home Monday of this week.  We had a very lengthy visit with them and a tour of their antebellum home (built before the civil war).  It was packed full of antiques and old furniture and carpet and items that came across the plains with the pioneers.  He had several furnishings that they bought when other antebellum mansions were remodeled.  He took us through room after room that were each so full of memorabilia that we barely had room to walk through the room.  China cupboards that were stuffed full of different styles of china.  They had a very impressive silver tea set on displayed in their formal dining room.  They said people are usually quite surprised when they ask where they got it and they tell them Kmart.  They attended a grand opening where they had the high end silver set on sale and they picked it up a couple weeks later when the price was drastically reduced. He is descended from one of the original twelve apostles after the restoration and informed us that they have held about every calling in the church and they are retired now and they don't really have time to hold any callings.  They are very involved in the community and travel to see their children and grandchildren.  He told us the Stake President came last year and "begged" him to be the Branch President but he told him he just couldn't because they are only here part of the year.  He told us they are just "back row members" now when they have time to come, and don't really participate.  It really makes me worry how a person comes to the point where they think that is an acceptable way to live the gospel after being so involved throughout their life.

Sister Owens had the weekday Relief Society meeting this Wednesday for this month.  It turned out to be a bit of a logistics nightmare.  Brother White and I both had doctor appointments in Tuscaloosa and mine was so early that we couldn't do the extra runs to Greensboro to transport ladies to the RS meeting like we did last month. One thing that really has a negative effect on this branch is to have one of the five available vehicles unavailable.  We think everyone that wanted to be there got there and it turned out to be a good meeting.  There were about eleven sisters there this time.  Brother White needs an eight week follow up visit, but we were smart enough to schedule it on a Monday instead of Wednesday.  When I got home and checked, I saw that we scheduled his appointment for exactly the same day and time as my next appointment.  So that one will be a challenge.  At least this time mine was in the morning and his was in the afternoon.

I got my second professional haircut this week.  The barber is a sweet old black lady.  It was almost eight weeks since I was there for the first time.  When I sat in the chair she said, "Same as last time?"  Sister Owens was quite surprised and asked her if she remembered.  She said, "Sure."  I told her to do it the same as last time, but I think she wised up and made it about half an inch longer everywhere so I will probably need to go back again in about a month.  I really can't complain when it is only five dollars for the haircut.  And she does do a great job.

Friday the sisters made lemonade and set up a lemonade stand at the church (on the main highway through town).  They didn't charge for the lemonade but gave everyone a card with a scripture on it with the cup of lemonade.  They were open for three hours and only gave a lemonade to a sister in the branch.  I guess it wasn't really a great success as far as finding goes.  After that they went with the youth from the branch to a roller skating rink in Linden that everyone was supposed to invite their non-member friends to.  I guess that was a little more successful.  The Kirks were there with their girls.  So that was good for them to get to know the youth in the branch a little better. Sister Owens made a batch of peanut butter popcorn and asked the sisters if they wanted to take it with them to the roller skating activity, which they did.  We heard at church today that it was quite a big hit.  She is giving me some real competition now with my cookies.

Finding addresses where there are no houses or houses where the people we are looking for haven't lived for two or three years is still keeping us busy when we can devote time to looking.  And the people we do find are still telling us just what we want to hear but never actually do what they say they will do.  But that seems to be life here in the south.  We have to keep looking though,  that is exactly what we were doing when we found Tasha Kirk.  She was baptized in 2004 and was only active for a few months before she moved.  The address on her record was incorrect but we were able to find her.  Now her husband has been baptized, the sisters are teaching her children, and we are taking them to the temple this Friday to do baptisms for the dead.  The gospel is true and it blesses people's lives when they are willing to live it.

Two weeks until conference.  We are so excited.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon

And Listen to the Prophets at conference.

We Love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 25: We have windows, wait a minute; I've lost my wife!

Dear Family and Friends,

Here we sit writing this email more than twenty feet from our kitchen table (in a whole different room, attachment

#2).  We couldn't get that far from it last week without going outside. I can't believe how different you feel when light shines through a window in the morning.  I had forgotten what that is like.  We love our new home.  Okay, it's a little old, but we love being here. We have hardwood floors throughout except the kitchen and bathroom.  They are well aged and seem to have a lot of gum on them (chewing not pine).  Single pane windows nailed or painted shut (but we don't care because it's still very hot outside).  We have central air and heat.  Sister Owens has only seen two tiny spiders since we got here (you know, the ones you squish with your thumb).  I am sorry to report, however, that we saw our first cock roach on our second day in the apartment.  We never saw a single one in the garage.  Sister Owens still won't walk barefoot in the house.  The best thing is that the bathroom is down the hall instead of next to the kitchen table.  Suffice it to say we are very happy here.

The week didn't start off so well.  We drove 110 miles to our appointment at Costco to buy new tires and when we arrived they informed us they didn't have our tires in stock.  We were going to go on Saturday but the sale didn't start until Sunday.  We asked how they could be out of stock when the sale just started the day before.  They told us they changed the date and started the sale on Wednesday the week before.  So they ordered the tires online for us and said they would have them the next day.  We had Zone Conferenced on Thursday so we set an appointment for that afternoon to have them installed.  Aside from the extra trip it worked out pretty well.  The tires were eighty-five dollars cheaper than they quoted the first time.  Another tender mercy.

We had an awesome zone conference this week.  We love our mission president and his wife.  They are so good at building up the missionaries and inspiring them (and us).  Everyone was so excited for us that we were getting a new apartment.  The president always starts the conference by having missionaries share mission miracles.  I thought about telling them how we came to rent our apartment but didn't say anything.  Then the president told everyone that the Owens had a miracle.  It really was a miracle.  We still had no prospects when they submitted our 30-day notice.  The housing coordinator had exhausted all of his resources and hadn't come up with anything.  We ended up renting a unit that we had previously told the rental agency we really weren't interested in(sight unseen).  But he felt we really would be quite happy with it and convinced us to look at it. We both felt right about it when we first walked in.

They told us when we looked at the unit that they would have it all cleaned up when we were ready to move in.  I guess we are still having a hard time understanding what people mean by what they say.  The place was filthy.  Luckily, two senior couples came from the mission office and the sister missionaries and a sister from the branch was here to help us clean the apartment before we moved in.  We did have one minor wrinkle.  They promised they would have a washer and dryer installed and they did not.  We didn't finish the laundry at the garage until about ten thirty the night we moved.  Hopefully they will get them installed by this weekend.

We spent Saturday getting moved in after spending Friday cleaning.  We still have a whole room that we haven't put anything in except empty suitcases and boxes (attachment #3).  The only thing so far that has proved to be a challenge is that we keep losing track of each other.  That never happened when we only had one big room for a house.

Attachment #1 is our spacious living room.

We hope y'all are excited for conference next month.  We certainly are.  Sister Owens informed me that the rumors are flying in Relief Society.  We know it will be a great conference.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

PS.  Brother Kirk passed the sacrament today after being ordained last week.  They had their interviews after church for their recommends to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.  We will probably be going with them in a couple weeks.  The gospel is pretty exciting.