Week 92: That's as close as we want to get, thanks; and Merry Christmas to y'all

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday we took a sister in the branch to do some shopping for her three grandchildren for Christmas.  We commented on how warm the weather was and she said, “That’s because a bad storm is on the way.”  In the afternoon we went to see the Kirk family and brought them some milk and orange juice that we didn’t use for the breakfast last Saturday.  They haven’t been to church for a few weeks.  We told them we hoped we would see them at the special Sacrament meeting this Sunday.  They said they were going to try to come.  A tornado warning was issued for Demopolis.  We got a call from the senior missionaries in Tuscaloosa telling us about it and also from a family in the branch.  The tornado touched down five miles west of our apartment and damaged twelve homes.  One mobile home was completely destroyed.  The family was at home when it struck.  The ambulance drove past us on their way to the home.  The mother was admitted to the hospital with a broken ankle and several bruises.  The tornado moved to the northeast and missed Demopolis.  No one in the branch was affected by it.

Tuesday we went to Tuscaloosa for our District Council.  Everyone showed up but the District leader and his companion.  There seemed to be some kind of problem in the use of their GPS and they drove for forty-five minutes in the wrong direction. They called us and said to start the meeting without them and they would get there as soon as they could.  Of course, at that point, our ninety minute meeting would be over by the time they arrived anyway.  After the meeting I went to see my doctor for the last time before we leave to come home.  He seemed to be pleased with everything.  I removed my bandages and showed him my burns just so Sister Owens would be happy.  He said they looked good and that I was taking good care of them and they should heal just fine.

Wednesday we drove out to Greensboro to talk to Brother White’s apartment manager.  He has been behind on his rent since he spent his whole benefit check to buy a car to replace his totaled vehicle a few months ago.  We had coordination meeting with Brother Smith.  Brother Foote, from the high council, also came as well as President James.  Brother Foote had been out to the tornado site to find out how the church could help with clean up.  The stake is going to have about ten or fifteen people out Saturday to help.  President James said the branch could provide some lunch and snacks for them.  Sister Owens and I said we would prepare the food for the crew on Saturday.  Brother Foote started a group text to keep us informed as things progressed.  Then Sister James and Sister Owens assembled enough goody bags so that everyone could go home from Church Sunday with a little treat.  When we got home after the meeting we received our giant Christmas card from the Silver Sage ward.  It was so neat to read all the notes from so many members of the ward. It made us happy (and a little homesick).  That has been one of the best parts of Christmas both years that we have been here.  Thank you all so much.

We stopped by the hospital Thursday morning to check on the mother that was injured in the Tornado.  They told us she had been transferred to Tuscaloosa.  We went to Greensboro for Book of Mormon class in the afternoon.  Poor Brother White is having such a hard time.  He went to Dialysis in the morning (5:30) and the machine kept alarming so they couldn’t give him his treatment.  He has to go to Tuscaloosa Friday morning to have them clean out the port in his arm and then go back to Dialysis for his treatment and then he has to help his mother prepare for his sister’s funeral service on Saturday.  Then Saturday he has to go at 5:30 in the morning for his scheduled Dialysis treatment and then get to the service for his sister at noon. 

Friday we knocked out a few of our P-day chores and got things started for the lunch for the relief workers on Saturday.  We got a pork shoulder to make pulled pork sandwiches for them.  According to our group text we were going to have fifteen workers at the site on Saturday.  We purchased forty buns thinking we could use the excess for our branch pot luck next week at church.

Saturday morning we went to the church to assemble the lunches and noticed the water we bought was gone along with the cooler we had borrowed.  We called to confirm that the workers had taken it with them.  We asked if they needed us to pick up more water and bring it out with us.  Brother Foote started counting as he was talking on the phone and said it looked like they had about twenty-five there.  We asked again if they needed more water and he said they hadn’t used any yet and they would probably be fine.  So we went ahead and made all forty sandwiches (attachment #1) and hoped they weren’t going to be too hungry.  We took some pictures of the damage.  By the time we were there Saturday they had already hauled away the undercarriage of the mobile home.  Everything else was blown away.  You can see in the picture that the only thing left is the porch that was attached to the home (attachment #2).  It is amazing to see the damage the wind did to the trees surrounding the home (attachment #3).  They had also cleaned up all but one of the ten trees that had been blown down on the house on the next lot (attachment #4).  Brother Foote took a picture of us with the youth that had come to help with the clean up (attachment #5).

Today for our special Sacrament meeting our primary did a Christmas program.  Our primary is two of the Smith children and three other girls. Sister Smith (primary President) led the music, Sariah Smith played the piano, Elias Smith gave the opening prayer, Benjamin Smith gave the closing prayer.  Brother Borden and three of the Smith boys administered the Sacrament, and President James gave the closing remarks.  Our branch doesn’t rely on one family or anything like that.  We had 34 people in attendance which is more than we have had in the last five weeks.

We love and appreciate all of you and  the support we feel from you.  We also love our Savior.  We are grateful for Him and for His life and His Atonement.  We have really come to appreciate the love that the people here in the south have for the Savior, regardless of their religion.  We hope you all have a merry Christmas.

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

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 91: Must be Christmas party week; Finger steaks, anyone?

Dear Family and Friends,

We are kind of wondering what happened to this week.  Sister Owens met with her RS presidency on Monday morning.  The rest of the day Monday and Tuesday seemed to be used up doing some shopping we had to do to get ready for Christmas here.

Wednesday was our Christmas Zone Conference.  We were combined with some other zones in the central portion of the state and met for instruction for four hours in the morning and then had lunch.  After lunch they showed a movie—The Fighting Preacher (or parson as Sister Owens says). For those who don't know, the movie is base on the book, "A Lion and a Lamb."  It is about Willard and Rebecca Bean who were called to serve a mission at the Joseph Smith home in 1915.  It was supposed to be a five year mission to care for the property and try to improve relations between the local residents and the church.  They were hated and persecuted when they arrived but stayed for 25 years and raised their family there.  When they received their release from Heber J. Grant and left to return to Utah the community gave them a grand farewell to show how much they were loved and appreciated.  It is a great book and a great movie.  Our mission secretary was trying to obtain permission to show the movie in the conference.  She called a number and the person that answered asked who was calling.  She told him who she was and then asked who he was.  He said he was T. C. Christiansen and wanted to know where she got the number because nobody every calls that number.  She explained why she was calling and he assured her it would be fine to show the movie as long as they didn't charge admission.  After the movie we had a talent show and then by the time we got home we were gone for more than twelve hours.  Quite a long day.

Thursday Brother White called to tell us he wouldn't be to Book of Mormon class.  His older sister died the day before and he was going to be with his family.  He has been through a lot in the time we have been here.  Sister Jones, who we usually take with us to class from here in Demopolis, has had blood pressure issues and also was not going to go.  We would end up driving to Greensboro to read with Sister Borden and when we called her she said we could cancel for this week, so we did.  Then I remembered our high councilor was going to try to be there this week and he lives in Tuscaloosa.  So I hurried and sent a text to let him know it was cancelled.  A while later I got a text back asking, "Who is this?"  I told him and a while after that I got a call from Brother Foote asking if I intended that text to go to him.  Turns out I have too Footes in my phone (or is that Feet).  Anyway, the one I texted the message to has moved to Utah and works there for the University.  So I hurried and called the other one and told him not to come to class because it was cancelled.   I think I caught him in time.  We went to a middle school band concert at the high school in the evening.  Three kids from the branch are in the bands that played.  It was good to be there to support them.  We got a call from Ollie's son that Ollie was in the hospital.

Friday we spent most of the day getting ready for the branch Christmas party that would be on Saturday.  Then went to visit Ollie in the hospital.  She felt really bad because she planned to come to the party and her husband said he was going to come with her.

Saturday was the Branch Christmas breakfast.  We had everyone come in and sit down and fill out their menu choices and then President and Sister James waited tables and served all the branch members.  Sister Owens and I prepared the plates in the kitchen so everybody got to just sit and enjoy their meal and visit (attachment #1).  After the meal two of kids from the band played their instruments for the group and we finished by showing the Light the World video about the birth of the Savior.  It all seemed to go pretty well except for me trying to fry my finger along with the sausage in the morning when we were preparing the food for the breakfast (attachment #2). I have a couple of good blisters on my ring finger now that cover about the same area as the one in the picture.  They didn't bloom until later in the evening.  Then we had our turn to clean the building for the week.  It was a bit of a long day as well.  Turns come a little more often now that we no longer have sisters in the branch.

We have been looking forward to having President Allred speak in the branch this Sunday ever since he came to the mission in July.  We found out at Zone Conference that he was not going to be able to come.  With the combining of the missions we now have the whole southern part of the state in the mission and he is involved in Zone conferences down south this week and they couldn't make time for the trip back up to Demopolis and then back down south so they had to cancel.  We were a little bummed because we don't know if he will be able to reschedule the visit before we go home in February.  We also thought we would end up being the speakers in church since the sisters aren't here anymore.  But the Morgans actually asked someone else, so we're good for a few more weeks.  We were going to go see Ollie in the hospital but we found out she is home already (probably too soon).  She is really tired and can't walk.  She usually can get up from her wheelchair to move to another chair or get into the car and she can't even do that now.  We hope she will get better.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 90: Just when you thought you've heard it all; Life flight attendant cold conks parade spectator

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday we did our P-day chores and transformed our Thanksgiving cotton tree into a Christmas tree (see attachment #1) and put up our handprint reindeer wall decorations so we are ready for Christmas. I even put the lights on the tree and it isn't even Christmas Eve yet.  I'm sure that's a bit of a shock for my family.

Tuesday Sister Owens worked on ministering reports and I did some clerk work for the branch. Then we did a few more things to get ready for Christmas. We usually have District Council on Tuesday and we were told it would be on Wednesday this week.

Wednesday we drove to Tuscaloosa for District Council without the sisters.  It was a little weird for us.  We are missing them (as is everyone in the Branch).  After our meeting we met the Hursts for lunch. We are missing having them with us in our District Council meetings.  We had lunch just around the corner from the bakery where they make Dave's Killer Bread.  We used to eat it until it got too expensive for our taste, but we stopped and got a picture anyway (see attachment #2). We did some follow up on Brother White's doctor situation since they have never contacted us.  We found out they decided not to accept him as a patient but never bothered to inform us of their decision.  We got the name of another doctor and picked up their paperwork to submit to see if they will take him.  We stopped in Greensboro on the way home and checked on the lady we found a couple weeks ago that has been inactive for almost 20 years.  She was gone but we had a nice visit with her husband and she got home before we left.  She told us she intentionally did not complete the survey that we left with her because she did not want to put her experience in writing because it just hurt to much.  She then shared with us what happened the day she was baptized that upset her so much she has never been to church since and has no intention of coming again.   Sorry, but it would not be appropriate to share the details in this email. We had coordination meeting in the evening without the sisters.  It was a little different.  We mostly spent the time planning the Branch Christmas activity.  Brother Smith is also the Elders Quorum president and his wife is the Primary president so she came to the meeting also.

Thursday was a pretty busy day.  We made a batch of Turkey noodle soup out of Thanksgiving leftovers to take to Book of Mormon class.  Before we went to Greensboro we stopped to help Ollie with her finances and wrote some checks for her to pay her bills.  It saved about thirty dollars that Ross would have charged her if he had written the checks for her.  When we got home from Book of Mormon class, there was a package in the mail from someone in Mesa, Arizona.  We were both wondering what it could be.  Turns out that Sister Allen's parents sent us a Christmas countdown calendar and a gift card with a nice Christmas card thanking us for supporting their daughter during a difficult transition as she started her mission here. There daughter is an awesome missionary and certainly was not in need of support from us.  We miss her a lot and know she is going to do a great job the rest of her mission.  Sister Owens went with Sister Morgan to the Baptist Women's Christmas dinner.  They have more than a hundred women there and a speaker after dinner (it was Sister Morgan's granddaughter's mother-in-law this year). It is kind of like a Stake RS meeting back home compared to the nine or so people that attend our RS meetings here.

Friday we had some pretty heavy rain most of the day.  We decided it would be better if these old folks stayed in the house on the rainy day than to spend the next week in the house recovering after being out in it.  So we got some Christmas cards ready to mail and did some planning for the coming weeks. Sister Morgan called and asked if we would go with her and Brother Morgan to the COTR (Christmas on the River)parade on Saturday.  Brother Morgan is getting very weak and we were pretty sure she just didn't want to be there alone with him.

Saturday morning she came to get us alone.  She said Andy got up and got dressed and then said he wasn't going to go and for her to go without him.  So I got to tag along as they visited all the craft booths (what fun!!).  We sat on the bleachers in front of City Hall for the parade.  My jacket had slipped off my lap onto the sidewalk and I just decided I would get it when we left.  The nice lady in front of us looked down and saw the jacket and told her husband to retrieve it for me.  Just then one of the people on the Life Flight float cut loose with a rolled up 3X T-shirt that landed square on the lady's head and then fell into Sister Owens lap.  The lady thought someone behind her had hit her.  We told her she deserved the shirt and gave it to her.

Sunday was a good day.  Our imported speakers from Tuscaloosa were a father and daughter.  The daughter spoke about how she had grown closer to God during her parents divorce.  The father spoke about finding joy in adversity and depending on God when you need answers to life's big questions. The lesson in RS and EQ went right along with their topics as we discussed Elder Christofferson's message on the Joy of the Saints. There was only eight sisters in RS and six brethren in EQ including myself and the high councilor.  It always seems like the ones that can benefit most from our discussions are the ones who aren't in church.  We went after church to see the Kirks and invite them to the First Presidency Devotional.  They would not answer the door.  They didn't sound like they were in a very good mood.  We left a note on their door and went to the branch building and the two of us watched the devotional.  Some of the members watch it on BYU TV but I'm sure most of them didn't take the time to watch it.  It is a little discouraging to see the way so many of them suffer so many hardships when the gospel would help them so much if they would just give it a chance.  They all just keep asking us to pray for them, so we do.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 89: I guess things have changed now; We just had a rare thanksgiving

Dear Family and Friends,

Sister James finally got back to us about a family we were helping for Thanksgiving.  It seems the mother doesn’t really share much with Sister Owens so Sister James was reaching out to her to find out what she and her family wanted for Thanksgiving.  Turns out they just wanted a small turkey to cook and some frozen mac and cheese and something to drink.  So that’s what we took over to them.  The sisters called us that evening and told us that they were both being transferred.  We were all pretty sure Sister Allen would stay one more transfer just so they could familiarize the new sister with the area.  She said she asked the Zone leader several times if it was a joke, but he assured her that she actually was leaving.  We were a little bummed and started wondering if they would send sisters or elders or would possibly not replace them at all.

Tuesday was P-day for the sisters because of transfers being on Wednesday.  Sister Snarr is going home and has never had catfish yet.  We decided to pick them up and take them to Greensboro (the catfish capital of Alabama) to have catfish before she went home (attachment 1).  On the way there we asked them what they thought would be done with the area as far as missionaries to replace them.  We talked awhile about it but of course nobody knows until they tell us at transfers.  We were a little concerned about how we would get luggage and bikes for two sisters to transfers and the same for two coming back.  We bought a little cartop carrier several months ago when they asked us to take luggage back for another sister in Tuscaloosa but ended up not needing to use it.  So we were going to find out if it would do the job.  On the way home the sisters received an email that said if they were receiving this email no missionaries will be replacing you in your area and you will need to do some additional things to the apartment before leaving for transfers.  That answered our question about who might replace them.  We are now without proselyting missionaries in Demopolis (things do change).  Neither of them had ever been to the Gaineswood Mansion (attachment 2), and neither have we, so we took them over and went on the tour of the home before we took them home to pack.

Our luggage problem was solved.  Since no missionaries were coming back to Demopolis the sisters had to drive their car to transfers.  Since there was no one to bring back, there really wasn’t any reason for us to go.  We have been planning to go since the beginning of the transfer because we knew Sister Snarr was going home and we intended to see some Elders and Sister that we have known who are going home so we decided we were going anyway.  We told the sisters they didn’t have to worry about fitting everything into their car because they could put some of their luggage in our car.  We took one suitcase for each of them in our car and Sister Snarr had a big bag of clothing she was not taking home that she left with us to take to the church or the second hand store along with a couple boxes and some shoes that a friend gave to them a few days ago. We just kept it in the car while we went to transfers. It was a good thing we went.  Sister Allen was transferred to Clanton to be in a trio before one of the sisters there goes home next week.  They did not come to transfers and there was no way for Sister Allen to get to Clanton.  They asked if we would be willing to take her to Clanton before we went home.  We were happy to do so but we did not bring our bike rack so they had to have some elders drop her bike off for her.

Thursday we were going to have the sisters over for Thanksgiving dinner so we just spent the morning preparing the meal for us and a Sister in the branch and her son who we were bringing plates to.  We cooked the turkey in our borrowed roaster for as long as the instructions said to for the weight of the turkey.  We got the plates ready for Sister Jones and her son about 1:30 and carved the turkey and were lucky enough to find enough of it that was actually cooked to take to Sister Jones.  Then we came home and microwaved some for us to eat for dinner and we will cook the rest of it some time in the next few days.

We left Friday for an overnight senior couple activity.  The Hursts that used to be in the same district with us invited us to go down to Pensacola, Florida to see the Naval Aviation Museum (attachment 3) and the ocean—of course (attachment 4).  Their son from Utah called them and said he was coming to see them for Thanksgiving but he wasn’t going to get there until 9:00 Thursday night. Hursts have a daughter that lives in Florida so we thought we were going to be kind of intruding on their family holiday and told them we didn’t need to go.  They weren’t going to see their daughter (she is actually in another city quite a ways away) and they assured us they wanted us to come.  So their son chauffeured the four of us for the whole trip.  It sure was a change of scenery for my walk on Saturday morning (attachment 5).

Sunday there were quite a few of our members out of town for the holiday and several that probably didn’t  get up after Alabama lost to Auburn yesterday.  The fourteen of us that were there had a very nice testimony meeting.  After President James stood up to close the meeting three more people excused themselves and said they wanted to bear their testimony.  Sister Morgan told Sister Owens that the spirit she felt today was the spirit she felt when her dad took her to the Mormon church the first time.  That was the reason she joined the church.

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

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 88: Things haven't changed much in the last 130 years.

Dear Family and Friends,

"We have held 18 meetings here in about two months and have some more appointments out.  We have quite a number of good friends and have been treated very well by them, often have 150 present at a meeting.  Yet, some of the over-righteous people who do not come to our meetings say that we are very bad men; having a beam in their own eyes, they try to pull the mote out of others, but it is all for the best for none but the honest in heart can receive the true
Gospel and they are very scarce in these parts.  There is a great many that will take us in and do all they can for us, but the Gospel is too strong for them.  They want the good old-time religion (the broad road) so that no matter what they do, it's all right if they only pay the preacher.  But they help the Elders to gather out the righteous and tis better for them to remain in their present condition than to receive the gospel and then turn away.  Our doctrine is not popular enough, and although they cannot disprove it by the Bible, yet they think it would  be impossible for the majority to be wrong.  It reminds one of the Pharisees and scribes of old – Mathew 23, and ere long they will fare the same fate, if they do not repent and obey the Gospel and live up to its teachings."  We ran across the foregoing in a letter that my great grandfather wrote home to his mother 130 years ago while serving his mission in the county directly to the south of us.  A few generations have passed but the traditions are holding on very well.  We both thought it portrays the current state of affairs here in Alabama.

Monday Sister Owens went to lunch with the sisters that serve with her in Relief Society to celebrate another one of their birthdays (I really don't know why I wasn't invited—she did tell me I'm her favorite counselor).  Then President James had us track down a power bill for one of the branch members that we never see at church (except some of the times we have a pot luck after our meeting).  It is too bad they never come to him until they threaten to turn off their power.

Tuesday we picked up the sisters and headed off to Bessemer for Interviews with the president.  Then since it was our last district council for the transfer, we went to lunch as a district and then went back to the chapel for district council.  It is a little different for us.  We have been assigned to a different district this transfer.  We are used to more sisters than elders and for more than a year now have had another senior couple with us in the district.  Now we are in a larger district with more elders than sisters and the other senior couple was kept in our previous district.  We miss seeing them once every week at district council.  We also took our district picture as we always do in our last meeting before transfers (see attachment #1).  It was a pretty long day by the time we got back to Demopolis.

With Thanksgiving coming next week, we spent Wednesday planning and shopping for those in the branch that will probably need a little help.  The sisters scheduled an appointment for the same time that we usually have Coordination meeting so they decided to change coordination to Thursday.  Then they texted us and said the appointment fell through and we could have coordination.  Then they texted us and said Brother Smith said to just have it on Thursday.  Then we went with the sisters to another appointment with Otis.  We got there a few minutes before the sisters arrived.  Otis was very cool and standoffish.  The sisters shared the story of Enos from the Book of Mormon with him and we invited him to come to Stake Conference this weekend (it would be broadcast to our building in Demopolis, finally).  He said he has a lot of things coming up and he wasn't sure if he would make it to church.  He told us we didn't need to worry about him.  It isn't really that serious, things are good.  We definitely felt he was separating himself from us. He seems to be happier with the "broad way."  He wouldn't pray and we asked him to kneel with us to have prayer before we left.  It was very awkward but he said he would and then we all kneeled and he scooted forward on his chair but didn't kneel. 

Since Sister Snarr is being transferred home next week we planned to have Pizza for them Saturday but they told us they will be in Linden for the day Saturday and wanted to do pizza on Friday.  So we kind of spent the morning grating cheese and preparing toppings for the Pizza for Friday.  Then we went to Greensboro for Book of Mormon class.  After class we tried to contact the lady that we found last week but she wasn't home this time.  Sister Borden (who seems to know everyone in Greensboro) told us she works at the Hospital.  So now we know where to go looking for her the next time she isn't home.  Then we came back to Demopolis for coordination.  Brother Smith was excited to hear what the new vision is for our mission, combining reactivation, temple and family history work, and sharing the gospel with non-members.  The missionaries are taking on a much more versatile role in all of the units now.

Friday we had the sisters over for Pizza for lunch (attachment #2).  Then we were supposed to take Andrea and her mother to look at a possible new apartment.  We found out that Sister Smith took them in the morning but Andrea called and said they had to have a ride to Linden to get their background check for the new landlord.  So we drove them to Linden and, of course, the people who do the checks weren't there that day (I love Alabama).  I guess it was all for the best anyway, because we found out today that they are moving to a different place where they have lived before.

Saturday was the leadership session and the adult evening session of stake conference.  Both were very good.  I went to the training session for clerks and Sister Owens went with the EQ and RS Presidents to receive training from the Stake President.  In the clerk training two clerks showed up, myself and the other senior missionary in our stake.  We are both going home in February.  It wasn't quite as effective as the stake clerk had hoped.  In Sister Owens' training the president asked for input on the challenges we face in each of the units in the stake.  Sister Owens told him our hardest challenges are poverty, transportation (lack thereof), and illiteracy.   President acknowledged her comment and said we just have to take baby steps.  The Brother sitting behind her worked in our branch and was released the Sunday we got to the branch.  He said when he was in the branch his biggest challenge was that the people he worked with just didn't want it.  That truly is what we face with so many of the less active saints here.  It gets a little discouraging at times.

Sunday the general session was broadcast to our building for the first time since we have been here.  We actually had 33 people in attendance.  That is better conference attendance than we have witnessed since we've been here.  The last conferences we have only had about ten people go because of the lack of transportation.  We can pick people up for meetings at our building (usually one or two trips for those who have cars—we made two trips today), but you can't do that when the meeting is two hours away.  When we got there Otis was waiting in his car.  I just can't figure out what is going on with him.  We really didn't think he would be there.  I shook his hand after the meeting and told him I was glad he came.  He asked me if that was the end and I told him it was.  He said, "Okay, I'm leaving now."  The sisters came over to see us tonight.  Sister Allen asked if I would give her a blessing.  This is such a hard area for the missionaries.  Sister Weaver and Sister McCreath are among the best we have had and they were both here for six months each.  Sister Allen started her mission here and has been here for three transfers.  We are pretty sure she will be here at least one more since Sister Snarr is going home this transfer.  The end of next transfer will mark six months for Sister Allen.  She was trained by the best and is an awesome missionary, herself.  I'm sure she is learning some hard lessons in this area that will serve her well for the rest of her mission.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 87: A well deserved holiday; kind of a long Sunday (sorry this is late)

Dear Family and Friends,

Our district leader was telling us all last week that we were going to have a district activity on Monday this week.  Then Sunday night they cancelled it.  Monday was a beautiful day.  When I got home from walking I told Sister Owens we should call the sisters and see if they had plans for lunch and if they didn't we would offer to take them on a picnic.  She thought it would be a good idea so I sent them a text.  I told them if they didn't have lunch plans that we all deserved a Veteran's Day, P-day, cancelled district activity picnic.  I told them we wanted to take them to Payne Lake so they could see it.  While we were deciding to invite them they were feeling a little down because they had a couple discouraging days and were deciding what to do for P-day.  They didn't have enough miles to go anywhere and decided they were going to go to the branch building and have a "pretend" picnic.  Then they got our text and were grateful for the Lord's tender mercies.  We drove out to the lake (see attachment) and had a nice lunch of pork chops, baked beans, macaroni salad, and potato chips, and some spinach and feta cheese salad that the sisters brought.  The weather and the scenery was beautiful.

Tuesday morning Sister Owens got her hair cut so she has been happy all week.  We went to visit the non-member mother of a nine year old girl in the branch that wants so badly to be baptized.  We are trying to determine who her legal guardian is.  She lives with her aunt.  We want someone to come to the face to face on Sunday to learn what the program is that their daughter will be involved in next year.  The mother wasn't home.  We went to Greensboro to find a woman we have been looking for since we got to Alabama.  We had an address for her in Demopolis and have never had anyone answer the door yet.  We found an address in Greensboro online and decided to check it out.  We turned onto the street and drove down to where we expected the address to be and could not find a house with that number.  We were going back to the highway and just as we got to the intersection Sister Owens noticed that the house on the corner had the number we were looking for on the mailbox.  A couple was just getting out of their car when we drove into the driveway.  It was the lady we were trying to find.  We were confirming her name and she asked us why we were asking all these questions.  I told her who we were and she said, "OH, are you talking about the Mormons?"  And laughed.  She said she hadn't been to that church in nineteen years.  She couldn't believe we still had her name on our records.  We are going to try to see her again this week and see what happens.  Everybody here is polite and friendly when you catch them in a situation where they can't avoid you.  Unfortunately its often a whole different story when there is a door that they can "not open."  I don't mean to sound negative, that just really is the way it is here.  We stopped to visit with Brother White and Sister Nixon at Canterbury Manor before we left Greensboro.  We are still trying to get a primary care physician for Brother White.  We got some misinformation from the clinic here in Demopolis as to who in Tuscaloosa actually provides that service so we kind of have to start over.  We found out Sister Nixon's seven year old grandson died in a house fire this past week along with his adoptive mother.

Wednesday morning we substituted for Sister Smith and went to the food bank to pick up a couple food orders and deliver them to members of the Branch.  It was very cold (21 degrees).  We even had to scrape the windshield before we could go.  That was at seven in the morning so I went walking after we finished.  It still hadn't warmed up very much.  We tried to see Mary Kirk again  (the nine year old's mother we are trying to contact).  She still was not home (at least there was no answer at the door).  We had coordination meeting with Brother Smith.  The sisters most progressing person who was on date for baptism got a job in security at one of the paper mills.  She is working night shift Thursday through Sunday.  She hasn't responded to the Sisters' texts since she started working.

Thursday was rainy, cold, and gray, but we did have a good Book of Mormon class.  Brother White was there again but we missed Brother Foote (our new high council rep.).  Sister Borden missed again this week.  She was seeing her Migraine headache doctor.  Sister Jones answered her phone and said she would come to class with us so it looks like she might be coming regurly again.  She still isn't coming to church on Sundays though.  We tried again to see Mary Kirk, still no answer at her door.  It doesn't seem to matter what time we go there.  I'm starting to wonder if anyone really lives there other than the dog that in on the porch inside a kennel with a sleeping bag draped over it.  He whines every time we come.  We haven't ever actually seen him.

Friday was our district council this week.  We had Family Search training by Elder and Sister Price.  It was great training.  The goal is to get all the elders and sisters to develop basic skills in using family search so they will be able to provide one on one training to anyone that wants to start doing family history.  Their presentation is very good.  We received a booklet and viewed six training videos with step by step instructions for navigating the family search website.  We have the link to the videos and can refer back to them anytime we need to.  The mission is focusing on making family history a major part of the work for all the missionaries, as well as working to reactivate less active members and attending the temple once every transfer.  Before we left Tuscaloosa a member from Greensboro called and asked Sister Owens if she would make a batch of brownies for the family after the funeral for Sister Nixon's grandson.  The lady is bedridden so it was hard to say no, but some people really don't have much consideration for others when they ask for things.  Anyone in Greensboro would have been happy to go to the store and buy brownies for her (she has an ex-husband and two grown sons there in town).  Instead we bake the brownies and drive thirty minutes there to take them to her and then thirty minutes to get back home.

Saturday was Preparation Day and boy did we prepare.  We did the laundry and fixed ham and beans and cinnamon rolls for the face to face on Sunday. We gave up trying to find Mary Kirk and just went to Ella Mae Kirk, who has the nine year old living with her.  We asked her if she was the legal guardian for Aaliyah and if it is documented.  She did a little double take when we asked about the documentation and then said, "I have Guardian."  We asked Tasha Kirk about it and she assured us that Ella Mae really is the legal guardian so I guess I believe it (I have always been a little bit skeptical).  Ella Mae is single and works full time and has part time jobs (under the table, as they say) and has three children living in her house.  The oldest is thirteen years old.  We invited her to come to the face to face and bring the children.  She said she was scheduled to work from six to six, but if she got off earlier maybe she would come.  Brother White called us Saturday night and said he wasn't sure his car would make it to church because he has a bad tire.  He asked if we would call the Bordens or somebody to give him a ride to church.  This is a strange place.  They have been friends for more that nine years (I think a lot more).  I don't know why he just didn't call them himself.  Brother Borden has told him they would pick him up any time.  We told him we would call them.  We called and they said they would pick him up.

Sunday started with a call from Sister Borden at 6:12 AM to let Sister Owens know that she wouldn't be at church because she had stomach problems.  Sister Owens asked if Brother Borden was still going to come and bring Brother White.  She said he couldn't because he was going to take her to the emergency room.  We called Brother White and told him we would come to get him.  He refused to have us drive all the way there to get him and said he would get in to church.  We went a little early (Branch Presidency Mtg. starts at 9) so we could put the food in the fridge for the face to face. At 9:15 President James was not there.  About ten minutes later one person came (a lady that is actually an excommunicated member).  I started to worry a little bit.  I started sacrament preparation since there were no priesthood holders there yet and we had to leave at 9:40 to pick up Ollie.  I wasn't finished (and I had no bread anyway) and it was time to go to get Ollie.  When we walked out the door Brother White was just driving up.  He usually sits in his car until the meeting starts because the chairs are uncomfortable for him.  I went and asked him to go in and finish getting the sacrament ready.  There was still nobody there besides us, the sisters, and one member.  As we were leaving Sister James drove up and told us President James drove to Tuscaloosa to take Tirrell to YSA and was coming but would probably be a few minutes late.  Then the Smiths drove up with the Aaronic priesthood (their boys) and the sacrament bread.  We went to get Ollie and on the way back to the church President James called to tell me he would be a few minutes late but he was coming.  Brother Morgan asked Brother Smith to conduct since President James wasn't there.  A family was there from Tuscaloosa to speak but they were not the speakers that were listed on the program.  The ones on the program were not there. President James walked in at 10:00 and conducted the meeting.  After the sacrament another family walked in and sat down.  They were the speakers listed on the program.  Their GPS had taken them to the Church of Christ instead of our building.  So we had four speakers instead of two which was kind of a shame because we could really use two of them on the second week of December.  Speakers are hard to come by when you have average attendance of less than 40 and most of them wouldn't speak if you asked them to.  They all had very good messages.  It was a good meeting.  We had a total of nine visitors and still only had 34 people in attendance. A lot of the "regulars" were not there this week. After church we went home and had some lunch and then went to set up for the Face to Face.  Five minutes before it was supposed to start President and Sister James were there with the sisters and us.  We ended up with 16 people in attendance though, so it was pretty good.  Tasha and Cedric came but neither of their girls came.  One girl came but her mother didn't come with her. And the Smiths were there.  We had a pot of beans and a pot of Taco Soup from Sister James with some rolls and some cornbread that the sisters made and brought.  By the time we got home we were too tired to do anything but have prayer and go to bed.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 86: The seasons, they are a changing; there's been a drive by caking.

Dear Family and Friends,

Last week we followed a vehicle to the post office.  When we got there I got out and told the lady I really liked the sign on her back window (attachment #1) and asked if I could take a picture of it.  She said, "By all means."  Just an indication of how converted people are to the Savior her in the south.  There just aren't very many of them that seem to be interested in the message of the restoration.

Monday I got up about ten minutes late to go for my walk and missed the chance to take a picture of a beautiful sunrise from the path where I walk.  I stopped on the way to get a picture of it (attachment #2)  even though it was a couple minutes late for a really good picture.  Sister Owens had her RS Presidency meeting at the church Monday.  Ollie's husband, Larry, called us and asked if we would come over and say a prayer for his mother who had a stroke.  She is ninety-five years old and lives about an hour away from Demopolis.  When we got there he asked if I would include a prayer for his disability claim against the government to go through for him.  He has had a claim in for fifteen years and is hoping it will be resolved soon.

Tuesday we were supposed to have family history training at our district council meeting so we were supposed to be there a couple hours earlier than usual.  We got to the sisters apartment to pick them up and they said they just got a text that the training was cancelled.  The couple that was going to do the training had a flat tire on their motor home about 5:30 AM and wouldn't be able to get it repaired until about 8:30.  They decided to have district council one hour earlier than usual so we went back to our apartment for an hour and then went back to get the sisters and head for Tuscaloosa.  We ended up spending the whole day in Tuscaloosa since Sister Owens had an appointment for another scan on her lungs and then another breathing test and another visit with her pulmonologist.  We had the sisters with us the whole time which made us feel a little bad because it kept them from working all day.  We originally had family history training scheduled for Wednesday and were going to have district council that day so our doctor appointments weren't going to interfere with anything, but they wanted to accelerate the schedule for the training so it was moved up one day (then had to be postponed anyway).  Sister Owens had a scheduled visit with her GP this Friday so she rescheduled the monthly RS meeting to the following week.  Now the family history training has been rescheduled for the same day so RS will probably be canceled for this month and will not be until December.  Scheduling isn't working out so well this month.

Wednesday we ended up at the church cleaning out the RS closet which is a large metal cabinet with five shelves.  There were craft leftovers from projects and lessons from about the last fifteen years.  It was quite an adventure.  Then we had coordination meeting and President James came to sit in with us.

Thursday was a very rainy day (carwash rain as Sister Owens calls it).  It made the trip to Greensboro pretty fun.  Sister Jones came for the first time in a few months.  She has been upset with us for some time and hasn't returned our calls.  She just called today and asked if we were going to Book of Mormon class and wanted to go with us.  It was like she has been going with us every week (I love Alabama).  Of course there wasn't any catfish.  Brother Foote brought a gentleman with him because they were supposed to have catfish.  He took him to eat after class.  This morning in Branch Council I told Brother Foote I didn't have the heart to tell him last week that they usually promise catfish about three or four times before they actually have some.  He said it was good that I didn't tell him because that was why Brother Wilson decided to come with him.

Friday it was clear that Winter is on its way.  I had to use the scrapper on the all the windows on the car before I went to walk (I usually just have to wipe off the dew with a towel).  It was 30 degrees.  The day kind of reminded us of home.  I think we might be in for a little colder winter here than we had last year.  We drove to Tuscaloosa again for Sister Owens' doctor appointment.  It was a beautiful drive.  The leaves are changing color here but so many of them are still green.  There is really quite an assortment of colors as we drive down the freeway.  We got four email reminders about her appointment during the past week.  Each one was fifteen minutes earlier than the last one.  Then they called us Thursday with another reminder and told us it was fifteen minutes earlier than the last reminder we had gotten.  So we had to be there at 9:45 and at noon after forty-five minutes waiting in the exam room Sister Owens told them she couldn't stay any longer and she had to leave.  So now we have to go back again in December and start over (I love Alabama).  We went to help Ollie with her checkbook when we got back to Demopolis.  The poor lady is being robbed by her care givers and there is nothing we can do about it.  The lady that bathes her and does wash for her should get about $360 per month.  She tells her she doesn't want a check every time she comes.  Then she tells her how much Ollie owes her and Ollie writes a check for her.  I showed Ollie that she had paid her $620 in the last five weeks and told her to pay her every time she provides any service so that won't happen. Her "driver" has things in his possession that are against the law and instead of keeping them at his house he leaves them at Ollie's or in her car.  He left something in her car and she didn't know what it was and threw it away.  He told her she had to pay him $35 for it because she threw it away.  She just paid him because he said she should.  He had her pay a bail bond for him and he didn't show up on his court date and she was notified that she would be charged $500 if he doesn't appear on the 25^th.  The poor woman is afraid not to do what these people want her to do because she has to have the help they provide and is afraid to make them mad because they might leave and she would not have the help.

Saturday we did our P-day chores and then went to the church to do some facebook stalking.  I guess that's a popular way to find people you are looking for and we certainly have plenty of people we can't find here.  While we were there the sisters came to work on their talks they were preparing for Sacrament meeting.  They had a couple of pretty discouraging days the last two days.  All of their appointments were falling through and the people they went to see were not home.  It has been very cold and they were walking down the street, cold and a discouraged, and a lady stopped and gave them a cake and told them that Jesus loves them.  They were so surprised.  They had never had anything like that happen and they wondered if the lady thought they were homeless.

Today was a great day.  The sisters both gave awesome talks in Sacrament meeting on the plan of salvation and making Christ the center of our lives.  Sister Snarr shared an experience she had earlier in her mission teaching a man the gospel.  He has had a degenerative bone disease for the last several years of his life.  After he started learning the gospel his condition worsened.  He decided he wanted to be baptized and he started having a lot of pain.  It got to the point where it was so bad he couldn't dress to go to church or even to have lessons.  He saw the doctor and was told that he should have surgery.  If he had surgery he wouldn't be able to be baptized for a long time.  He was experiencing extreme pain constantly.  He couldn't understand why the Lord would let this happen in his life when he had accepted the gospel and wanted so badly to be baptized.  He prayed about it one night for a long time and finally told the Lord that he would accept whatever His will was for him.  Then he went to sleep.  He woke up pain free the next morning, has been riding his bike every morning since and was able to get baptized.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens