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

Fwd: Week 81: 101 degrees!?!? Excuse me, this is OCTOBER!

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday we went out to Greensboro and met with Brother White to fill out another application for a different apartment complex here in Demopolis and a request for a primary care physician to fax to Tuscaloosa.  We got the doctor request faxed over and found out Thursday that Brother White broke his phone so we don't know if they called him or not to set up an appointment.  We will have to check on that this week.  We had another discussion with Otis in the evening.  He is looking forward to baptism but hasn't quite kicked his word of wisdom habits yet.  I'm not sure what he will do if they put off his baptism again, but I guess that will be up to him whether it has to be postponed or not.

Tuesday we had a great district council.  One of the sisters shared some training from the Book of Mormon on repentance and our Sisters gave some training on what to do to help our people when they don't think they are getting answers to their prayers about the things they are being taught.  As always, we are quite impressed with the maturity and ability of these young missionaries.

Wednesday we spent quite some time with Ollie working on her finances.  When I went over her bank statement I noticed a check she had in her register made out to her husband for twenty-five dollars was cashed for one hundred dollars.  There was no question.  The bank sends copies of all the processed checks.  Needless to say, she felt betrayed.  We spent quite some time again talking about how she had to cut back on her spending because she is running out of money.  We are spinning our wheels here.  About three hours later Beth called us and said she just got back from going to Thomasville with Ollie for Chinese food.  Of course she said Ollie told her not to tell Sister Owens because she would probably be mad.  So Ollie paid Ross at least twenty dollars to drive her car to take them an hours drive from Demopolis and then bought dinner for her and Beth.  It seems like all we are doing with a lot of things here is beating our head against the wall.

Thursday we had Book of Mormon class.  The sisters were on exchange with the Camden sisters.  So Sister Noble from Nampa, Idaho attended with Sister Allen.  She has been out on her mission for four and a half weeks.  Brother White was not there.  We were going to get his documents that needed to be submitted with his rental application.  That was when we found out that he lost his phone.  We couldn't get him on his cell and he didn't answer the door when we went to his apartment.  He had been to dialysis earlier so we figured he was probably sleeping.  Sunday we found out from him that he actually broke his phone and got a new one Friday.  We had an appointment with Otis in the evening, but when we got there he was waiting for us to tell us he had to spend the night with his mother and had to leave right then.  We rescheduled for Friday night.

Friday we went back to Greensboro to try to find Brother White but he wasn't home.  We still couldn't get him on the phone so we had to wait until we could see him at church Sunday.  We met with Otis in the evening and the sisters reviewed the baptismal interview questions with him.  He seemed to understand them and said he was looking forward to being baptized.  He will probably have an interview this next week and I guess we'll see how he is doing with the word of wisdom.

Saturday was Conference😊😊.  We have been looking forward to it for a while.  The only difference between this conference (our last one for our mission) and the first one in April of last year is that we were there at the branch building alone this year when it started and the first time the sisters were there with us.  After it started though, the Smiths showed up (with all the kids).  Sorry to say it but it actually felt more like we were trying to watch the broadcast in the nursery.  Otis told us Friday that he would try to come Saturday, but he called me in the morning and said he wouldn't make it but he would be coming on Sunday. Don't get the wrong idea.  Most of the valiant members here have BYU TV at home and that is where they watch conference.  We set up at the branch for those who don't have that channel but they don't seem to be that anxious to listen to the brethren.   Saturday night Sister Owens and Sister Smith and her daughters were there for the women's broadcast along with the missionaries and one of their investigators.

Sunday Otis called to tell me he didn't need a ride.  He was going to be driving his sister's car.  I found out why when he leaned over half way through the session and told me he wasn't staying for the whole meeting and would be leaving now.  I was a little disappointed.  The sisters had another lady show up for the morning session.  She was still there when we had to leave to take Ollie home during Elder Uchtdorf's address (she wasn't feeling well).  As we were entering the parking lot on the way back we saw the lady that was there with the sisters leaving.  Then we made it in to hear the last of President Nelson's address.  I couldn't help but remember the talk yesterday telling us that we couldn't build someone else's faith nor can we expect someone else to bolster our own.  People came to the meeting but I guess it is up to them how they respond.  We were just glad we were there and we got to hear the brethren.  The afternoon session was just us and the Sisters and the Smiths with some non-member primary children that the Smiths brought.  Another session in the nursery, but it was great.  You all got to hear Elder Peter M. Johnson, our former Stake President here.  He is a great man.  We hope you enjoyed conference as much as we did.

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

And study Joseph Smith's account of the first vision.

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

PS:  101 degree Octobers do make some pretty unique things.  The attachments are pictures of some flowers that sprang up in the middle of our lawn that they had just mowed four days before.

Week 80: A new tooth for Sister Owens and flash back to Princess Bride

Dear Family and Friends'

Monday we got Sister Owens in to see the dentist, Tom Whitaker (no relation to Tom) then we drove to Meridian to return the van we used to go to Stake Conference on Sunday.

Tuesday Sister Owens went with some of the women in the branch to have lunch together to celebrate the previous RS President's birthday.  Then we spent the afternoon with Ollie balancing her checkbook.  She can't write very well because of her tremors.  It is really hard to read her writing and she doesn't usually remember what she wrote since it is always several days since she wrote it when we meet with her.  She often has her son or her husband or her help write some checks and they are not very clear what they are for.  It is always quite a frustrating experience for us.  When we finished we took her home and had to sit down and talk to her husband with her about how they are running out of money in three months and will probably lose their house if they don't make some serious changes right away.  That wasn't very fun either since he is a schizophrenic Vietnam vet with PTSD.  It actually went better than we thought it would.

Wednesday we spent the morning at the dentist office getting Sister Owens' temporary crown and the afternoon at home while she recovered.  We had coordination meeting with Brother Smith and the Sisters that evening.  Elias Smith will be leaving on his mission in a few months and was just called to serve as the Branch Young Men President until he leaves.  He looks at things a lot differently than his father (Brother Smith) does.  It is quite entertaining to sit and observe the two of them as different things are discussed.  Elias always refers to his dad as "some random person" when he tells about things that happen that he does not agree with.  Then his dad explains that he is the random person that Elias is talking about.

Thursday was our joint Zone Conference with two other zones.  It was President Allred's birthday so we all sang Happy Birthday to him.  Elder Montoya of the Seventy was our visiting General Authority.  For all you Princess Bride buffs, the first slide in his presentation was a picture of him and the caption said, "Hello, my name is Elder Hugo Montoya, you came to conference, prepare to be edified."

It was a great conference.  Sister Montoya spoke to us in Spanish and one of the Spanish speaking sisters translated for us.  Then at the end of the conference Elder Montoya bore his testimony in Spanish and had one of the Elders translate for us. At one point he said something and the elder translated it and Elder Montoya looked at him and told him in English what he was supposed to have said.  Everybody chuckled a little bit.  It is always exciting to go to joint conferences.  We usually get to see other missionaries that served at one time in our area. We got to see Sister Weaver and Sister Beaugez and get a picture of Sister Owens with them and Sister McCreath (attachment #1).  At Zone conference the missionaries that are returning home at the end of the transfer bear their testimonies.  We felt kind of badly because our Sister McCreath bore her testimony.  We are really going to miss her when she goes home in two and a half weeks.

Friday we spent most of the day preparing for the joint Relief Society / Young Women activity we were having Saturday.  That night we had a lesson with Otis.  We had him watch the first Book of Mormon video that was released last week.  He said he loved it.

Saturday was the activity that Sister Owens had to accommodate the young women so they could do a project for their Personal Progress program (Attachment #2).  One of the young women wanted to have everyone bring a sample of their favorite family recipe and a copy of it that she is going to assemble into a book for everyone to have.  A few people brought samples but several just brought their recipes to share.  This was the first time we didn't go to Greensboro to pick up ladies for the meeting.  We asked if Brother Borden would bring them in to Demopolis, which he did.  The food was a little sparse and everything was eaten.  When Brother Borden came to pick up the ladies we felt bad because we didn't have anything to feed him.  But he jumped in and started helping put away tables and chairs.  I got the vacuum out and he came over to take it from me.  I told him he couldn't have it.  I would do it.  I told him he should take his wife home.  That night Sister Borden called us to tell us he was in the hospital, and was going to be kept overnight.  His blood pressure dropped quite a bit and the doctors were worried about him.  If he had something to eat after the RS activity it might have been different.

Today a senior couple (the Turnbows) that came out a week after we did came to our Sacrament meeting.  They have been serving in Clanton, AL.  They are on their way home to Denver, CO.  They served for eighteen months.  Second hour we had the video presentation that everybody had on the new children and youth program.  After church we called Sister Borden to see how her husband was doing.  His blood pressure was too high today so they are keeping him again overnight and he will probably go home tomorrow.  He is seventy-four and still works two jobs.  Both of his bosses came to see him today and told him he had plenty of sick leave and he should take a couple of days off.  Hopefully he will.  We got to go out to Greensboro to visit with them for a while this evening.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 79: If you want a leisurely picnic lunch after Stake Conference, DO NOT enter "park with pavilion" in your GPS

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday was basically a recovery day after the pot luck we had at the church on Sunday.  We had to finish some chores we didn’t get to Saturday because of preparation for the pot luck, then we went and did a little clean up at the church.  Then sent some thank you notes to people that helped at the pot luck.  Then we rested our tired old bones for the rest of the day.

Tuesday we picked up the sisters and went to District Council.  For the last half of the meeting we got to watch the BYU devotional with President Nelson as the speaker.  He told about five important truths he wanted all of the young adults in the audience to be aware of.  It was an hour well spent.  I don’t know if it is still on the church website but if it is you should all watch it if you haven’t already.

Wednesday we had coordination meeting with Brother Smith.  Then we had a discussion with Otis and the sisters and taught him the word of wisdom.  Sister Allen said Otis just keeps surprising her.  She thought the word of wisdom would probably break him but he accepted it and said he was going to quit everything the next day.  The sisters were overly helpful offering to make a calendar and line him up with a friend for support, etc.  I told Otis that they sounded a little doubtful but I believed he could really quit.  He said he was sure he could.  After our discussion I told him we wouldn’t have any meeting at the church Sunday because we are having a special conference in Birmingham.  I explained the purpose of the meeting and he said he would like to come.   I told him we would have to leave by 7:30 AM and wouldn’t be home until 4:30 PM thinking he would change his mind but he said he would still like to come.  We asked President James to check in Meridian, MS for some rental prices for minivans.  Here in Demopolis they make us rent them for three days on the week end.  We can’t rent them for just one day. We were a little hesitant after renting a 15 passenger van a month after we arrived here and after having it booked up for every seat we ended up taking five people to conference.  But, we thought if people want to go they should have a way to get there.

I got a call from Otis Thursday morning during my walk.  He said he prayed about the word of wisdom and he felt he needs to “ween himself off.”  He thinks it is going to be a little hard.  I told him that was great as long as he does just a little better each day.  We decided we would have to get a van.  We originally were going to take the sisters with us so they wouldn’t have to drive but they said they could drive if they needed to.  I won’t go through all the details but it was up and down, go and no go, all week as far as who would or wouldn’t go to conference.  At Book of Mormon class we found out President James was going to drive Borden’s van and they could take everyone from Greensboro so we just had to worry about people from Demopolis and Linden.  Oh yeah, and Sister Owens broke her molar in half eating her Hershey bar Thursday (kind of added to the frustration of the day).

Friday we confirmed the reservation for a minivan to pick up on Saturday afternoon.  Then we did most of our P-day chores since we were picking up the rental in Meridian on Saturday.  We had a couple of appointments with the sisters in the afternoon, one with Henry and one with Otis.  Otis called and postponed until Saturday afternoon.  We drove up to the appointment with Henry (the one we met last Sunday evening).  He was sitting at the picnic table in the yard where we have our discussions with him.  He waved at us as we drove up.  When I got out of the car and turned around he wasn’t there anymore.  The sisters came walking up and we told them he was at the table but must have gone in to get his books.  They went to the door and we heard his mother yell “NO.”  The sisters came back from the door and said, “Today is not a good day for him.”

Saturday we went to Meridian to get the rental.  We got there early enough to stop for lunch.  We looked at the list of restaurants  on the GPS and decided on a seafood deli that was part of a grocery store.  We got there and it is now a church.  We looked at the list again and saw Pappy’s BBQ close by and thought that would be a good place to try.  We got there and it is now a Red Lobster.  We only had about forty minutes by then before we had to get the rental so we decided to go for seafood after all.  So the attendant at the rental office asked us if it was going to work for us and I told her it was actually one seat short (we had six people committed to go and the sisters would have to drive because we only had room for one more person).  She told us she had a Suburban with seating for eight for ten dollars more per day.  We upgraded and texted the sisters telling them they could ride with us.  When we got home a sister that was riding with us called to tell us another sister that had been sick and wasn’t going was better and wanted to see if we had room in the van.  We said yes and called the sisters and explained that they would have to drive after all (unless we have cancellations again like the last time).

Naturally nobody cancelled, which is actually good, but the sisters ended up having to drive (they can only use so many miles each month).  Otis came for all nine hours. He called me just as we were on our way to pick him up and asked if I could take time to take a picture of him and me with my phone before we go.  I told him we could do that (Attachment #1)  The meeting was a special conference involving five stakes but mainly the Birmingham and Bessemer stakes to create a third stake out of the two.  Elder Stanfield and Elder Johnson were there from the Seventy and called three new stake Presidencies.  Elder Johnson was our previous Stake President.  We got to meet him the day he was released and made an area authority seventy.  He was sustained as a General Authority Seventy at April conference.  Elder Johnson was eating lunch with another general authority and Elder Holland came and sat down with them.  He said they are going to send Elder Johnson back to Alabama.  Elder Johnson said he thought, “Oh no, what have I done!”  Elder Holland put his hand on his arm and said, “Not for good.”  Then Elder Johnson went to his office and opened the letter from Elder Ballard assigning him to come here and participate in the organization of the new Gadsden, Alabama Stake. Otis called me this evening to tell me he wanted me to know he cried about seven times during that meeting.  He didn’t know if it was the Holy Ghost or not.  I assured him that it was.

So, we brought sandwiches and chips and cookies to eat after conference before we came home.  What could be simpler than entering “park with pavilion” in the GPS (just about anything).  The one thing I did not want to do while here is end up in downtown Birmingham with all the reconstruction of all the freeway bridges they are doing.  So I selected the closest park (about five miles away).  It took us right to the heart of downtown Birmingham to the PARKING GARAGE for the UAB Hospital. Of course the sisters were following us all the way there.   Sister Morgan said she thought there was a little park right by a statue that was up a hill from where we were so we turned toward it and drove a ways away from downtown and noticed the sisters were no longer behind us.  We parked on the side of the road and called them and told them where we were and they found us.  Assuming I had somehow selected the wrong destination, I entered “park with pavilion” again and there was one just five minutes away (of course we thought it was the one Sister Morgan mentioned).  We followed the GPS and ended up back at the parking garage again (duh).  We drove down the street until we found an empty parking lot and stopped to reconnoiter with the sisters.  Sister Morgan said she thought Avondale Park was around there somewhere but she couldn’t tell us how to get there.  I had a sudden stroke of genius and thought I should enter “Avondale Park” in the GPS.  It was only five minutes away.  There it was, ponds, ducks, geese, pigeons, and all.  It even had a pavilion and tables.  Actually I just wanted everybody to be good and hungry when they ate their lunch.  They were (attachment #2).  I will bore you with the story of getting out of Birmingham with all the freeway bridges under construction some other time.  Right now we are kind of tired and need to get to bed so we can get up in the morning and get Sister Owens to the dentist and then go to Meridian to return the Suburban.

Keep the commandments and read your Book of Mormon everyday.

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 78: On the road again; and special guests at Book of Mormon class

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday we took Brother White for his MRI that should tell his new surgeon what might need to be done to improve his situation with his neck.  I really can’t get started again on the Alabama medical community so I won’t.  Suffice it to say we were supposed to arrive at 10:00 for a 10:30 appointment and when the waiting room had cleared out and filled up with new patients I went to the desk and asked when they were going to take him back for his test.  They got his sheet out and called the MRI people and, from hearing our side of the conversation, it seemed obvious that they did not have anything scheduled for him.  She hung up and said they would be calling him back soon.  The technician was very understanding when we finally went back and said he didn’t know what might have happened but the test was scheduled for 11:30 on their system.  The surgeon originally told us we could have the test done in Tuscaloosa and the results would be sent to him in Birmingham.  Then they scheduled it in Birmingham.  I had to call and make them cancel it and schedule the test in Tuscaloosa.  But I digress.  I wasn’t going to get off on the medical community here, so I won’t.

Tuesday we were back to Tuscaloosa with the sisters for District Council.  We have a new district leader this transfer.  He is Elder Bailey.  He transferred in from the Florida Mission in July when they combined the missions.  We had some good training on helping people keep commitments.  We had another lesson with Otis in the evening and the sisters reviewed the lesson on the restoration.  It is really hard to determine how much the people here really grasp about what we are teaching them.  They never seem to answer questions directly.  They are so vague in their answers it is hard to tell if they know the concept we are trying to get them to understand.  He always tells us he feels really good about what we talk about as we are leaving, but never mentions anything in his prayers about wanting to know if it is true.  I guess we will see how it turns out.

Wednesday was off to Bessemer with the sisters for interviews with the Mission President.  It was great, as always, to visit with President Allred.  We always have to be sure we are not late.  No matter where we are on the schedule, he is always ready for us at our appointed time.  He is very good at keeping on schedule.  We didn’t quite make it ten minutes early but we did have five minutes to spare when we arrived after our two hour and ten minute trip from Demopolis.  We were kind of excited.  My brother, Kelly, and his wife, Laurel, were arriving to spend a day with us.  They drove down from Tennessee and arrived in Demopolis about five minutes after we got back from Birmingham.  We got to have a nice visit with them that evening.

Thursday Kelly and Laurel picked us up and we drove to Greensboro.  They got to see the catfish ponds (attachment #1) on the way (Greensboro is the catfish capital of Alabama).  They used to grow cotton in the state and then went to soy beans and, in recent years, replaced many of the soy bean fields with catfish ponds.  When we got to Greensboro we toured Magnolia Grove, one of the antebellum homes in the area.  The man that lived there was the commanding officer of the group that volunteered for the suicide mission to sink the Merrimac in Santiago bay in Cuba to bottleneck the harbor and keep the ships from sailing against the states in the Spanish American war.  None of the crew died although they were captured and imprisoned for a time.  They came home as heroes.  We took Kelly and Laurel to Eutaw for lunch at West End Grocery for a true Alabama experience.  A member of the branch does all the cooking there and she changed the menu for Thursday just for us.  We had her famous chicken pot pie, succotash, mac and cheese, and peach cobbler.  The flies came free of charge and there were plenty of them.  It was definitely a true Alabama experience for them.  On the way back to Greensboro we stopped along the way at Owens Circle and took some pictures (attachment #2 and #3)  After lunch there was time for a twenty minute nap at the local park (attachment 4) before we went to Book of Mormon class (attachment #5).  They decided to feed all of us fish and chicken this week.  Fine time for that to finally come through.  It was really neat to have Kelly and Laurel meet some of the people that we have come to know while we have been here.  They got to meet the Morgens and Sister James Wednesday night but we missed President James.

Friday we took Vanessa Walker (our non-member friend) to get signed up for some food and clothing services at the Salvation Army.  It turned out to be a little more complicated than we originally thought.  We were making a few trips back and forth between her house and the store and the distribution center but we finally got it done.  On the way she told us she is at a point where she wants to get God more in her life.  She said she would like to come to church with us.  I told her she should meet with the sisters and have them explain a little bit about the church.  Since we had her right in the car we just called the sisters and had them talk to her and set up an appointment.  We had an appointment with Otis later in the day and just as we drove up he came out with his phone in his hand and said he was just trying to call us.  His friend’s girlfriend’s dad had just died five minutes before and he was with them so he needed to cancel.

Saturday we did chores and got some food ready for the Potluck on Sunday.  In the evening we had our appointment with Otis and told him about tithing and fast offering.  He said he was anxious to pay his tithing and fast offering.  Of course he also told us he just quit his job that day as well.  It sounded like there were some influences there that he just doesn’t want to have in his life right now, so he decided to quit instead of being exposed to them right now.  Vanessa called and told us she really enjoyed the bible study with the sisters and asked if we would pick her up for church the next morning.

We called Brother White from Otis’s house during our appointment to have him stop and pick up Otis for church.  Sunday morning we were unloading food for the potluck and Otis drove up in his sister’s car and said he didn’t need Brother White to pick him up so we called Brother White and told him.  As of Book of Mormon class on Thursday there were three people from Greensboro that would be coming with him to church.  He ended up driving in alone again.  His dialysis treatments start at 5:00 AM again like they used to.  That sounds hard but he really seems to be doing quite a bit better since they changed his schedule.  He is a lot more rested and seems to be in much better spirits.  We hoped to increase our attendance a little bit with the potluck today but we only had thirty-six people there (last week we had forty-four).  The Morgans were out of town so everybody brought a little extra since they wouldn’t be bringing anything and we ended up with way more food than we needed (but we always do).  Vanessa and Otis were both there and Vanessa got to visit with Ollie and it might be that she will be able to do a little work for Ollie as a care giver.  We are going to see how that develops. After church we went with the sisters to teach the restoration to a single man they met this week.  We stopped by there a few months ago and his mother was quite rude to us.  He had a pamphlet and Book of Mormon that we left with him then and his mother had thrown them both away. He seemed to be happy that we were there again and we have another appointment with him later this week.

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

We love y’all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 77: A minor $1,000 banking error; if they say "catfish" don't you believe it

Dear Family and Friends,

In some ways it has been a routine week and there have definitely been some firsts, even after eighteen months.  We went with the sisters to meet with Otis on Monday and discussed the importance of keeping the commandments, and what some of them are.  We are still a little concerned that he might just be wanting to get another baptism under his belt  His mother and sister are really excited to come and see him get baptized the end of this month.  We are hoping he is going to be truly converted by then.  We met with him again later in the week and discussed some more commandments and he came to church this Sunday.  We had arranged to pick him up but he called before church and said he didn't need a ride.  He borrowed his mother's car again.  His baptism date is three weeks away and the sisters still haven't discussed the word of wisdom with him  I don't know why they seem to put it off so long but they all do.  That is a common comment we hear in District Council, "They are on date for baptism in two weeks but we haven't told them about the word of wisdom or tithing yet"(???).  Anyway, I guess they are the teachers.

Tuesday we took Ollie to the branch building and worked on her checkbook with her.  She was quite concerned because I told her she still had money in her account and the bank said she was overdrawn.  I told her we would have to look at her statement when it came and find the problem.  We did.  She told us earlier in the month that she called Aretha (the lady at the bank that handles her trust fund) and had her pay off a loan that she had from the bank.  She still owed over nine hundred dollars.  We thought that was good since she wouldn't be paying interest on it every month.  When I went over her statement I saw that the payment came out of her checking account.  She didn't tell us it was paid from her checking account.  We thought she had the money taken out of her trust.  So I guess we found the error.  Sister Owens got her hair cut Tuesday, so she was pretty happy the rest of the week.

Wednesday morning we went bright and early to get Ollie and Vanesa (a non-member we have been trying to help out) and took them down for the annual sign up for assistance with a food bank ran by a church in Tuscaloosa.  They bring a truck load of groceries to Demopolis to distribute to needy people once a week.  People can come down to a church here and pick up a grocery sack of canned goods for their family.  We took Ollie last year to sign up and tried to dump her out of her wheelchair when we were leaving.  Ollie stayed in the car with me and Sister Owens went in to sign her up and told them she was out in the car.  They said, "Oh, please.  Don't bring her in." (they remembered us from last year)  So Sister Owens came out to the car with some papers for her to sign.  At coordination meeting the sisters told us about the people they have been meeting that are so interested in learning what they have to teach.  They have been so faithful and dedicated and just have not seen a lot of success but they have kept working (they are awesome sisters) and lately they have been meeting people right and left that want to learn more.

Thursday was Book of Mormon class.  For several weeks Sister Borden and Brother White have been saying they are getting catfish for Sister Nixon to cook for everybody and last week they said they were definitely going to have it this week.  That was what they said last month and we fixed a big bowl of cole slaw and had all the fixins for fish tacos and Sister Borden told us when we picked her up that they couldn't get the fish.  So this week we checked with her twice during the week to make sure they would have the fish (the last time was Wednesday).  She assured us we were having the fish so we made another batch of cole slaw and got the tortillas and beans and were all ready Thursday.  We had even told Brother White to call us if something happened that they wouldn't have the fish.  Just as we were loading up to go get Sister Borden, she called and said they couldn't get the fish. We put the beans and tortillas in the fridge and took the cole slaw (Sister Borden said she was getting some chicken).  After we picked her up we stopped to get the chicken and she had ordered a side of cole slaw.  So now we have a couple weeks worth of cole slaw to eat again. Brother White said the plant stopped selling to the public.  I don't think we will try again.  At least if they do, we aren't bringing cole slaw.  The sisters brought cookies and lemonade.  Sister McCreath said the cookies were her grandmother's recipe.  Her Grandmother told her they are "Marry me cookies."  She told her that you make them for someone that you really like and after they taste them they will want to ask you to marry them.  They were very good cookies!!

Friday we had another fun experience finding a member of the branch.  We drove all the way out to her address in Jefferson and the trailer looked deserted.  The phone rang just as we arrived so we pulled over and stopped so Sister Owens could talk on the phone.  I noticed a man walking toward us from back up the road on the other side.  As he walked across the highway I assumed he was coming to talk to us.  He was a tall rather rough looking black man.  He walked up to my door so I got out and introduced myself to him and asked if he knew who lived in the trailer.  He said, "Yes, I live there."  I asked if he knew the lady we were looking for and he said she lived in Demopolis by the Hospital.  He gave me very understandable directions based on a building called "New Era" that was on the street next to the hospital.  We drove there and there was no building called "New Era"  so we didn't know where to look for the white house that was supposed to be behind it.  We pulled into a parking lot and decided to google "New Era in Demopolis."  It was a hat shop that was no longer in business but it had an address which was in the same block we were in at the time (we were in the parking lot of the dentist office where President James daughter works).  It ended up that we were stopped about one hundred feet from the house we were looking for and got to meet the member and her family.  Good old McDonalds has her working weekends and won't change her schedule so she can come to church.  We aren't sure if being off work would mean she would come to church but that is what she told us.  I updated her address and phone number in the ward list and Sunday we were all excited to tell the branch council that we had found her and got to meet her.  President James said that was nice that we got to meet her.  We said she lives in Demopolis now.  He said, "Yeah, she is right over behind the Dentist's Office on Chestnut, she used to live out in Jefferson." (Duh)  So much for our brilliant detective work.

Saturday was our turn to clean the church building, then we did our P-day chores and fixed a big lunch to take with us on Sunday to eat with Timothy on the way home from his Patriarchal Blessing in Hoover.  Sister Morgan called us and invited us to their home for supper.  Since they were having the sisters come, they decided to have us over as well.  Brother Morgan is getting so old and is having such a hard time. He can't hear and has a very hard time speaking clearly enough for people to understand him.  He has to have help standing up when he is sitting down so President James told him he doesn't have to conduct Sacrament Meeting anymore.  He just wants him to sit with him behind the podium.  He helps me with finances every week he is there and he can't really do anything but punch in his password with the end of a pencil when we finish.  His hands are so crippled it is painful for him to try to write his initials on the paperwork for the finances.  He has asked to be released a couple times in the last few months but there really isn't anyone that can replace him so President James has not released him.  He is such an example of dedication and willingness to serve at all costs.

Sunday the sisters spoke again in Sacrament Meeting and both did a fantastic job.  At dinner Saturday night they told Brother Morgan they would be happy to speak any time he wanted them to.  Brother Morgan is the only one that arranges all the speakers for Sacrament meeting all the time.  Relief Society and Priesthood went very well today.  We reviewed the talk by Elder McKay on The Immediate Goodness of God.  In Priesthood meeting hardly anyone in the branch can read well if at all.  I typed up four questions about what they learned or felt as they listened to the message and then had everyone give their answer to at least one of the questions before the whole group.  Several weeks ago in Book of Mormon class Brother White said he wished he could teach a lesson or something like Brother Smith or the missionaries do but that he just can't do things like that.  He was feeling inadequate at the time because he had just been sustained as Brother Smith's counselor in the Elders Quorum.  When he answered the question today he spoke to the brethren for at least five to seven minutes and taught a powerful concept.  He connected with many of them more effectively than Brother Smith or I ever could have.  It was really neat to be there and to witness that.  Otis was there as well and took his turn to respond to the group.  After church we drove Timothy to Hoover so he could get his Patriarchal Blessing.  It was a really great Sabbath all around.  It was a good week.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 76: Busy Busy week; on again off again (Sister Owens loves Alabama)

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday we were going to do three of the four apartment inspections that we normally do.  We contacted each of them last week to schedule the inspections and the first ones said they had a district activity so they wouldn't be home but we could come anyway (same as last transfer),  The second set said we could come, and the third set said they had a district activity and asked if we could come a different day (we found out they were all at the same activity).  We went to the first apartment and were quite disappointed.  The apartment really wasn't up to standard.  Last transfer things were not as nice as we expected they would be but they had always been good so we just left them a note and told them some things they needed to do to tidy up.  This time it was a lot worse and we decided we needed to talk to them.  We went to the next apartment and found four elders there.  They said they just got back from fishing for a district activity.  We saw the muddy shoes at the front door when we arrived and were proud of them for working in the garden (the apartment complex has raised garden boxes for the tenants) but they had just been fishing.  Their apartment looked pretty good (it always has) and as we were leaving we found out the other elders there were the ones from Selma (our first inspection).  I got my ipad and showed them the pictures we took of all the things that were sub-standard and told them we would come later in the week and they needed to be there when we came.

Last week when we took Brother White to the doctor he told us he might not be able to get to Dialysis the next day because he didn't have enough money for gas (he spent his whole check buying his car).  Sister Owens asked him if he had food in his fridge.  He didn't say anything so I repeated what she said.  He said, "I heard you Sister Owens."  He told us he doesn't like to ask people for help (WOW! That's the first time we ran into that since we've been here).  Sister Owens said we would stop by the next day and see what he needed and get some groceries for him.  When we dropped him off I gave him some money for gas so he could get to dialysis and get some groceries and told him we would check at Book of Mormon class to see what else he needed.  I mention all this because we totally forgot to ask him anything Thursday at class and he didn't say a thing.  We didn't remember until Sunday.  So after inspections we went and got some groceries and took them out to him.  Monday night we met with Otis and the sisters again and taught him about the plan of salvation.

Tuesday morning we were just leaving to pick up the sisters for District Council and Otis called and said he needed a little help getting his phone working again.  I asked him what he needed and he said he needed the fifteen dollars to pay for the card for the month.  I told him we had our day pretty full but we would come buy in the afternoon and see what we could do to help him.  We just got home from District council and were picking up Ollie to take her to the church and help her with her finances and Otis called again.  I told him we would come by after our appointment with Ollie and we could have him wash our car and I could give him the money he needed for his phone card.  He said that would be great, he would be ready for us.  He called again before we finished with Ollie and said he had been waiting for us for an hour and all he wanted from us was a little help and we didn't come through for him so we could stop coming to see him and he wasn't going to come to our church with us again.  We had an appointment scheduled for Saturday so I asked him if he wanted us to come for the appointment.  He said no and not to come to see him anymore.  We went home when we finished with Ollie and called the sisters and apologized for losing their most promising contact.  They assured us that it was okay and that it was better that it happened now and not after he got baptized.  We got a call that night from a sister that had called Sister Owens last week to tell her she needed help paying her power bill.  Sister Owens told her she would have to talk to President James about that.  She was not authorized to commit to anything about that.  So Tuesday night she said she found a way to pay her power bill but now she needed help buying some food.  She was a little disappointed to find out she still had to talk to President James.  She did and President James called Sister Owens and told her to buy some groceries to last until the first of the month (when she gets her food stamps).

Wednesday we went to Tuscaloosa for my doctor appointment.  I told him I feel a little light headed when I stand up after I bend over and he said it was probably a minor inner ear thing going on and just to give myself enough recovery time and be careful and I should be okay.  Then I told him about passing out on the fourth of July at American Village and he said we might cut back a little on my blood pressure meds.  Then he said to just stop taking it and let him know if it goes up very much in the next little while.  After my appointment we went to re-inspect the Selma apartment and then on to inspect the sisters' apartment in Camden.  The Selma apartment was next to immaculate and we congratulated the elders.  One of them is from the Florida mission and one is from the Arkansas mission so I guess they both know now what the standard is for the Alabama mission with respect to apartment upkeep.  When we got back to Demopolis we went to write up a grocery list for the sister in the ward that had called Sister Owens, then Otis called us. He apologized for what he said the night before.  He said he was just upset that day and he was sorry.  He said he sent for us and he is not going to turn us away.  He is ready to talk to us whenever we are ready to talk to him.  I told him I would still like to have him wash the car.  He said he was going to get his phone working and that I could call him.  We went to coordination meeting and the sisters started to give an update on Otis and I interrupted and said I had something to say about Otis.  They were pleasantly surprised since they had been over to talk to him that morning and he had been quite cold to them and when they tried to confirm the appointment for Saturday he said he would have to call them about it.  We went shopping after the meeting and took the groceries over to the sister in the ward.  Sister Owens wanted to take some soup and eggs and meat to a non-member that we are getting to know a little bit.  It was a long hard day for Sister Owens.  She said Alabama is starting to get to her, she is starting to wonder just where are the honest in heart.  She is starting to agree a little bit with Ollie who asked if everyone in Alabama is crazy.

Thursday morning Sister Owens called Sister Morgan to have an announcement put in the bulletin and found out she had rubbed off a scab or something on her ankle when she was washing her leg in the shower.  It starting spraying blood all over the tub and bathroom and she couldn't get it to stop.  She was yelling for her husband at the top of her lungs.  He is seventy-nine, almost deaf, severely disabled from a boiler explosion thirty years ago, and was in the other bathroom with the fan on and did not hear her at all.  She banged on the wall between them with a laundry basket and he didn't notice that.  She wrapped a towel around her leg which didn't help much, the blood was still pouring out from under the towel.  She walked through her bedroom to the other bathroom and got her husbands attention.  They still couldn't stop the bleeding and called an ambulance.  When the paramedics got there they said it looked like someone had been shot, there was blood all over the bedroom as well as the bathroom.  They got the bleeding stopped and told her she didn't need to go to the hospital unless she wanted to.  She stayed home.  As soon as we got off the phone we went to their house and started helping clean up the blood from the carpet.  Her daughter in law arrived shortly afterwards and then her son came.  Otis had called us just before we talked to Sister Morgan and wanted us to come by so we left Morgan's and went to see Otis.  He asked if I could still help him with the phone card.  I told him I could and gave him the fifteen dollars and asked him if he would still wash the car.  He said he would so we were going to come by after Book of Mormon class and have him do it. On the way to Greensboro for Book of Mormon class we saw a huge smoke plume in the distance and knew there was a pretty major fire somewhere.  It was the first time we have seen something like that since we have been here.  It actually made us a little homesick.  I remembered that when I went to walk that morning I noticed it felt a lot like it did in Boise early in the morning.  I thought it was really quite dry for Alabama.  It must have been dry enough for a fire to start, finally.

It was a little late for the car wash Thursday so we took it over Friday morning and Otis did a very good job.  We'll probably have him do it for us the rest of the time we are here.  We kind of took it easy the rest of the day.  It was a bit of a hard week.  We got things ready for fixing pizza for the sisters.  We decided to make it a thing to have pizza for them the weekend before each transfer.  It doesn't look like either of them are going to be transferred this time.  We feel sorry for them (this if a very hard area for the sisters) but we are happy for us and the branch.  They are great missionaries.

Saturday we thought we were having a meeting with Otis in the morning but we found out the sisters met with him Friday night with Sister Smith.  It was good to have another member of the branch go with them to see him.  So they came at noon to have pizza.  After lunch Sister Allen read Alma 30:44 to us and said all things denote there is a God, "even Elder Owens' Pizza."  Gee, no wonder we like these sisters so much. Otis called us Saturday night to ask if we would pick him up for church.  We told him we would be happy to do so.

Sunday morning He called at 8:00 and said he woke up to late and didn't have time to get ready so he wouldn't make it to church today (at 10:00??).  Andrea had texted us needing a ride also.  After Otis called we got another text from Andrea saying her mother was coming as well.  That worked out since we only have room for two people.  Then before we left we got a text from Sister Smith that half her family was sick and wouldn't be to church.  Now Sister Owens is taking care of Primary.  Then Sister Smith texted saying she was being asked to give rides to a couple primary kids and wanted to know if we could pick them up.  It all worked out.  Andrea and her mother were ready early and we were there early to pick them up.  We took them to the building and went back to get Amaria and Kia and got them there before church started.  There  were only twenty-seven of us there today.  It was a great testimony meeting.  The James were out of town again (this time they were on vacation).  President Lewis was there (counselor in the Stake Presidency) and presided and Brother Smith conducted again.  Brother Borden and Brother White both bore their testimonies.  They are both awesome and humble men.  It is neat to hear their testimonies.  Sister McCleskey was there again (three times in a row) and bore her testimony.  She said the thing that has helped her the most even though she has been inactive for some years is the payment of her tithing.  It has helped her keep her testimony.  She hopes she can keep coming to church.  Several people told her how glad they were to see her there again.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 73: Brother White has a new ride and Sister Owens has green hair(?)

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday we got to minister to President and Sister James.  They were out of town for two weeks.  They went to California to see their son and then when they came back their nephew (age 45) passed away unexpectedly.  His mother was too upset to do anything so Sister James had to plan the funeral and take care of the family meals after being gone for a week.  She is also the caretaker for her invalid mother.  Linda was impressed Sunday that we should take some meals in to them and just called her Sunday night and told her we were bringing them Monday.  We fixed chicken tacos with beans and rice and jello and some cheesecake for desert, and fixed a pot of beans for them to have for another meal.  When we took the food to them Sister James was so grateful.  Both she and President James had had about four hours of sleep in the last twenty-four before church Sunday.  She said on Sunday she was thinking she just did not want to have to cook on Monday.  We were so glad we got to do something to help them.  They always do so much for the members of this branch.  That evening we went over to Ollie's to help her fill her pill box with all her prescription medications.  Her son usually does it for her but he was unable to do it this week.  She has so many pills she has to take Sister Owens was wondering how she makes room for food.  Ollie said she wonders if there are any calories in her pills.  It was quite confusing since she said she takes the ones in the PM side in the morning and the ones in the AM side in the evening.  We asked her why she does that and she said she isn't supposed to take her water pill at night and she doesn't know which one is the water pill.  We checked the prescriptions and identified the water pill for her and she said not to change it because she didn't want to get mixed up (I love Alabama).

Tuesday we had District Council.  We had to take the sisters with us to the doctor's office because Sister Owens had an early appointment.  It wasn't supposed to interfere with District Council because we had changed the council meetings to Friday and then after we had the appointment scheduled they changed the meeting back to Tuesday.  The sisters said they could do their study in the waiting room as easily as they could in their apartment so they could come with us early.  The appointment was at 9:15, we arrived at 9:00 and she got in to see the doctor at 10:00.  At 10:55 she was still in with the doctor so I had to take the sisters to the meeting and come back and get Sister Owens.  A nice older Pentecostal woman was talking to a patient. As soon as the patient was called in to see the doctor the lady immediately began talking to me.

She was telling me about all the wonderful experiences she has had over the last twenty-eight years with God in her life and all the gospel singing she has been able to do to influence so many people.  When Sister Owens came out from seeing the doctor and stood by us the lady looked up and said, "Oh, is this your wife?  Just let me finish telling him this story."  Then she went on with about three more stories before we could get an word in to tell her we were late for a meeting and had to leave (I love Alabama).

We had coordination meeting Wednesday.  The sisters are so busy.  But all the teaching they are doing is coming from their tracting.  They don't really get any help from the members here with finding.  Sister McCreath says they witness so many miracles.  She says she sees it like the tide on the ocean.  Teaching opportunities just come rolling in so fast they can hardly keep up with them.  Then they all just roll back out after a couple discussions and the people just no longer have much interest when they find out there is more expected than just coming to church for an hour on Sunday to listen to a sermon.  They are really staying positive though, and she is doing a great job training Sister Allen.  Sister Borden called us Wednesday night to say she wouldn't be to Book of Mormon class because her husband was taking her to the doctor in Tuscaloosa and she would have to stay overnight for observation in case she developed an infection.  She didn't know if she would be back in time for Relief Society Friday or not.

Thursday morning Sister Borden called again to let us know we could pick her up for Book of Mormon class.  The doctor rescheduled her appointment.  Deborah (Sister Bolden) didn't come to class and there was no answer at her door.  Nobody seemed to know anything about her.  We had a good class.  We read from the Sunday School assignment for the week in Romans as well as a couple chapters from the Book of Mormon.  After class Brother White started talking to me.  He talks so quietly and between that and his southern accent and my loss of hearing I hardly ever understand anything he says.  I only ask him to repeat it once or twice and then just let it go because I still don't understand most of what he says.  He kept talking and was driving his chair toward the door so I followed along.  Then I understood something about how he missed sacrament meeting last week (Brother Borden had gout and couldn't drive) and he just hated not being able to go where he needed to go.  He said something about seeing something in somebody's back yard and then told me he spent his entire disability check and bought himself a car and pointed to in in the parking lot.  My heart sank a bit wondering when he would wreck this one and if he would be as lucky as last time.  All the while trying to be happy for him and encouraging him to be very careful if he had to drive it.  He said he would be to church this week no matter what.  After class we went to the church to set up for Relief Society on Friday (all three six foot tables).

Friday it turned out we only needed two tables instead of three.  Only eight sisters showed up.  We were so excited that we might not have to take the trip to Greensboro because of Sister Borden's doctor appointment, but it canceled so we got to go after all.  Sister Nixon came anyway, even though her leg was bothering her.  Sister Owens gave a good message on ministering and then they had a game day and all the sisters played games for the rest of the meeting.  Sister Owens was at one table and taught them how to play nines with rook cards and I was at the other table keeping score while the sisters learned to play Farkle.  Then Sister Borden and Sister Nixon (they are sisters) played dominos.   Everyone brought their favorite snack to share except for the Greensboro ladies (we have to work on that).  It seems they just come to partake but never seem to contribute.  Sister Owens says I am the best Relief Society councilor she has ever had.  I told her she is the best Relief Society President I have ever been councilor to.  She also wants you to know that we took tuna with smoked almonds on cucumber slices to the game day.  She thought that was quite elegant. We found our from Sister Nixon that Deborah was taken by ambulance to Tuscaloosa and is in intensive care with blood sugar issues.  That was why she was not at Book of Mormon class.  Sister Owens says it seems they just let people get to the brink of death here and then get them to the hospital and get them better and start over again (I love Alabama).

We felt so bad giving away the cilantro lime chicken taco fixings to the James without getting any ourselves, we decided we better make it again and have the sisters over Saturday for lunch.  Of course we had to make another cheese cake too.  Just our luck, Sister Allen doesn't care for cheesecake.  They both really love street tacos, though, so it went pretty well.  In the afternoon a fellow named Otis Collier called us and said he got our number from a couple of young ladies who told him we would pick him up and take him to church.  I told him we would be happy to do that.  He hasn't met with them yet.  He just met them on the street but he would like to come to church.  I told him we would pick him up at 9:45.  Then we got a text from Brother Smith telling us that his son had to meet with President Lewis to be interviewed to be ordained an elder so he can't pick up Timothy and asked if we could go get him.  Things always seem to turn upside down between Saturday and Sunday here.

Sunday morning at 7:30 Otis called and asked what time I said we would pick him up for church.  I told him 9:45 and he said, "Alright, I'm getting ready right now."  Then we left ten minutes early to get Timothy so I could stop at the church and make some copies for the priesthood lesson.  We had gotten a text from Timothy saying he would be ready at 8:00 and we responded that 8:30 would be plenty early and we would be there then.  We ended up getting there twenty minutes early.  Just as we arrived we got a text from him saying good morning.  We asked if he was ready yet and that we were just driving up.  He came out the front door and we got back to the church by 8:30.  We hadn't planned to be there until 9:00 for Branch Council.  We walked in and saw that the chapel hadn't been set up for Sacrament meeting and had plenty of time to get it ready before Branch council.  Then I left early from Branch Council to pick up Otis.  He was there for meetings and a young mother and baby the sisters have started teaching were there as well, so it was a good day. After church Clarisa (Smiths 11 year old) asked Sister Owens why her hair was green.  Sister Owens didn't know why it looked green but she said, "Green is fashionable these days and maybe green is better than grey."  Sister Smith looked at Sister Owens and said, "I still need to work with her a little bit."   Timothy was interviewed for his patriarchal blessing recommend and will be getting his blessing next Sunday and Elias Smith was ordained an elder today.  He will be getting ready to go to the temple and on his mission soon.  It was a very good day.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens

Week 72: A great zone conference and Cole Slaw ad infinitum

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday we went to the church and did clerk work and Relief Society work.  The taste of the south we got from Sister Morgan the night before proved to be more than Sister Owens could handle.  She learned for herself that she can't eat more than four fresh figs in one sitting.  We didn't wander too far from the restroom Monday.  The sisters came and told us the schedule for Zone Conferences this transfer.  They and we had arranged our schedule for District Council on Tuesday (we didn't have one last week because it was transfers).  The schedule for conferences had ours first and it was this Wednesday (two days notice).  We always seem to be first, I think because we are the Bessemer zone and that is at the front of the alphabet.  Anyway, suddenly we had nothing planned for Tuesday because we don't have district council on the week we have zone conference and we all had to free up Wednesday for our all day trip to Birmingham for zone conference.

Sister Borden called us and said the Book of Mormon class was going to have fish (catfish) for everybody this Thursday and so we needed to make "whatever that is that [we] make and bring it."  So Tuesday we made cole slaw to have with the fish and tried a recipe for double lemon cheesecake bars (attachment #1) to take for a treat.  We had offered last week to chip in to buy the fish and they insisted that the missionaries not help this time.  It was their treat to us.  Sister Owens had RS presidency meeting in the afternoon.  She still gets tired pretty easily because of the persistent coughing that she still is experiencing.

Wednesday started pretty early.  We were up at 5:30 so we could get ready and pick up the sisters and get to Birmingham by 8:45 for Zone conference.  It was a great conference (attachment #2).  The Sister Training Leaders provided training on developing Christlike attributes.  The Zone Leaders gave excellent training on the language of the spirit and the pattern of prayer and how to receive and recognize personal revelation. I am amazed at the maturity and ability of the young missionaries we have today.  A few weeks ago our zone leader told us how he really didn't do anything in the church before his mission.  His family is not active.  He started thinking about whether or not he should go on a mission and felt he should go so he got his life in order and came out.  It was am.azing to hear him teach in conference.  President Allred shared a few experiences he had in his youth when he received answers to prayers and was guided by the Lord.  Sister Owens was really excited when they stayed on schedule and were only thirty minutes late ending the meeting at 2:30.  It was nice leaving earlier than 4:30 or 5:00 like we used to.  We got to Costco by 3:00 and the tire rotation was finished by 4:30.  Sister Owens had to get some frozen yogurt for her and one of the sisters and her card didn't work again because she forgot her PIN.  She came to get my card and when she got back to the register it was a different cashier.  She filled a yogurt cup and Sister Owens noticed that the sisters were holding two already.  The cashier said they should just take that one because they would have to throw it away anyway.  Sister Owens tried to give it to the nice little man behind her but he declined and was grinning and chuckling about the whole ordeal.  She was a bit upset with him for laughing at her.  We seem to have a pretty good thing going.  That was the third time we have gotten free food because Sister Owens couldn't make her card work.

Thursday we filled the cooler with cole slaw, tortillas, onions, cilantro, and salsa for anyone that wanted to make tacos with the fish, and cheesecake bars for desert, and when we got to Borden's Sister Borden came out and said we are going to have fish next week (I love Alabama).  She called to tell us they were having it so we need to bring our stuff but then when they decided they weren't having it they didn't bother to let us know that.  So we just left everything in the car and now we have been eating cole slaw and refried beans everyday since (the cole slaw bowl still seems full every day we open it☹).

We spent the afternoon Friday working with Ollie on her budget and paying bills.  We checked with the home nursing providers this week and got some bad news.  She applied several months ago and they came to the home to evaluate her needs and felt it would be unsafe in the home for their workers so they did not accept her as a client.  One of the employees knows Ollie personally and knows how much she needs help and hoped they could do something for her.  They considered her application and said they still feel the home is unsafe for their workers and they feel she needs so much assistance that she needs to be in a nursing home.  Ollie wants to stay in her home as long as possible but that is only going to be until March of next year if not sooner.  She will have no money left to pay all the people that are helping her now.

Saturday we helped one of the sisters in the branch clean the church and decorated the bulletin board.  Then we took some of the lemon cheesecake bars out to Greensboro to Deborah (the non-member that attends our Book of Mormon class)  It was her birthday.  She didn't answer her door.  We don't know if she was home or not.  We left the bars with her next door neighbor.  She said she would get them to her if she sees her.  Otherwise she will probably just eat them, like the dinner we took for her a few weeks ago.  We saw Brother White while we were there.  We thought he would be asleep since he had his dialysis treatment that day.  He is now having to pay fifteen to twenty dollars each way to get someone to take him to dialysis three times each week.  The manager at the apartment complex we are trying to get him into in Demopolis has stopped communicating with us.  It is getting quite frustrating, like so many things here.  Sister Borden called us on Saturday asking if we could pick her up for church.  Her husband (the only driver in Greensboro since Brother White wrecked his truck)  had a swollen foot and couldn't put his shoe on.  We had to tell her we couldn't because I had an appointment with the Stake Auditor for the quarterly financial audit an hour before church.  So the four members that usually come from Greensboro (including Brother White) couldn't come to church this week.

In Fast and Testimony meeting today Sister Owens was compelled by the spirit to stand and testify to the four non-member primary children that always sit on the front row how important an opportunity they have at this time to learn about the Savior as they attend primary and that it is important that they listen as Sister Smith teaches them each week.  Because it will make such a difference for all of them when they get older and they can remember the things they learned while they were here.  When she sat down she wondered if she should have done that or not and she said she couldn't remember anything she said.  I told her that is how it works.

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

We love y'all,

Elder and Sister Owens