Week 50 Dec. 14-20

   Half way there

Preaching:  Courage not compromise, brings the smile of Gods approval. Gordon B. Hinckley  Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Monday: Because of transfers it was a work day.  Karen wanted us to bring our old computer over for her.  We gave her our old one when we bought our new one.  At 3:00 we had an appointment to teach English at the Acostas, but Estrella forgot.  Before Family Home Evening, we took some soup that Joyce made to Sister Kemp.  She has been very sick from a bee  sting for the past few months.Karen went with us to FHE.  This was the first time in awhile for her.  We had told her there were a few new people coming so it was a little more exciting.  Art made stuffed mushrooms that were a big hit.!  

Tuesday:  Today was our p-day but we still had lots to do. The missionaries are being transferred today so we took Sister Heiner and Skouson out to lunch.  Sister Heiner, who is our most favorite, is going to Puyallup.  It was a quick lunch since Joyce had a dentist appointment at 2:30 she needed to go to.  From there we went to the Salvation Army to serve dinner. That’s always an interesting experience. Only one person, who had to much to drink was a problem.  Usually they won’t let anybody in who has been drinking, but it really cold outside now.  We had a good turnout from the ward which was good since we had to leave early for the ARP meeting.  It went well even though it was a small group.  We could’t pick up several that usually come because of being at the Salvation Army, but we had a wonderful meeting, none the less.

Wednesday:  Our district meeting was first.  Elder Samuelson is our new District Leader.  Art knows him pretty well because he is the one Art had to do all the role playing with in our last district.   President and Sister Eaton came to drop off some material for the English class.  We are trying to put material together for the mission and Sister Eaton  also asked if we would make sure that the two foreign missionaries in our zone have arrangements to call home on Christmas, thus, we are buying calling cards. After the meeting we ran to Sam’s Club for some gas and picture hangers.  We needed to hang some pictures that we gave Joyce Johnson.  Joyce read the Book of Mormon with her while Art hung the pictures. Joyce also read the Book of Mormon today with Estrella after her English lesson and Art put a puzzle together with Princes Joy and Eldrex.  He plays with them so Joyce and their mom can read the Book of Mormon.  Princes Joy can speak English now that she has started going to school.  Karens graduation at the Seattle Union Gospel Mission was tonight so we skipped the Bishops meeting and went there. The last one was 3 hours long, but this one was only an hour and they had good refreshments.  She graduated from the 1st phase and now has three more to go.  

Thursday:  The weather has turned rainy and cold again.  In the morning we packed up the computer we just bought and took it back to Sam’s Club.  It has been locking up on us.  You always can find something else you need while there, so we shopped a bit. Our next stop was to Staples so we can get the material printed for the English classes.  We looked there for a computer but no luck.  We ended up going to Best Buy and getting a new computer there.  The Elder Sisters had us over for dinner and Sister Chamberlain cut Joyce’s hair.  We all went to our missionary meeting and then home.  

Friday:  We went to W. W. today since we didn’t have the institute class.  After the lecture we walked over to Staples and ordered some more copies for the English class.  We are presenting the material and giving the instructions on the 31st. to a group of missionaries that President Eaton is going to pick.  Say lots of prayers for us, we are going to needed them.  The first order isn’t read yet so we will go back on Monday and pick it all up.  That will give us a week to get our presentation figured out. We thought that not much would be going on next week with Christmas so we thought we could have some time to prepare, but the days next week are getting booked right up!  We had rain and a cold wind all day so we decided to do some much needed shopping for our dinner tomorrow and clean the apartment.  We also have a few more projects that needed to be finished.  There is a lot going on tomorrow so the cleaning needed to be done today.  We have already had to tell Skyway A we couldn’t teach with them tomorrow because of our dinner plans.  We hate not teaching with them, but we already had the dinner scheduled.   Two people we met at the Filipino Cultural Center and several of the Acostas and another lady we’re work with are coming over.  All are Filipino, so wish us luck.  They all speak pretty good English so we should be alright. Art is still working on getting the new computer to work so his B.P. may be a little high now.  Joyce is getting Christmas put together.  

Saturday:  It’s amazing how fast our day can get out of our control.  We delivered some Christmas trees and presents to both the Acosta families and to Mhina first thing in the morning.  We had a few minutes before a service project so we stopped at a store and got some treats for the Elders.  Our service was at a ware house, to organize toys and food for the Salvation Army’.  They have 800 families coming on the 22nd to shop for Christmas.  It’s not really shopping since everything is donated and free to them.  There was all kinds of toys and clothes to chose from.  It’s also part of the Toys for Tots program from the Marine Corp.  When we got there, we had boxes and  boxes of toys and clothes to go through and put out nicely so that the people can find what they want quickly, in a 15 minute period.  When we started, we thought we would be there all day, but more and more people kept coming to do service.  It was so fun to see the boxes emptied and nicely displayed by gender and age group.  Then, we did an assembly line to get all the food ready.  We were going to be there four hours, but we finished in three so Skyway A wanted us to go teach Christina with them.  They were going to teach her later in the day but we could’t be there so they moved up the time.  We have to pick her and her friend up, and take her and her friend home after each lesson.  It went well, such a good spirit there as we discussed the gospel, but it did make us late for our dinner appointment we had. She did commit to be baptized on her birthday in two weeks.  Even though it made us run late it was worth it. Before the lesson, we made a quick trip to Joyce Johnson to drop off another Christmas tree.   Our dinner appointment  was at our house.  We had four of the Acosta’s, Estrella, Michel, Richel and Sunshine, plus Sister Milagros Fabon, whom we love.  We also had four people that we work with from the Filipino Cultural Center, Jane, Apollo, Germalyn and her son, Mark.  They were all late so it all works out in the end.  It was so nice for all of them to get acquainted and for us all to visit. After dinner we played a new dice game we found.  We had a great time, we just hope the neighbors don’t complain.  

Sunday:  We started out with  three then had one cancel on us so we only took two to church.  Coming home was a bit different.  We had five to take home.  It was a little tight, so Ruth had to sit on Rubi’s lap.  Then, Art forgot where he was going so we had to do some backtracking but we got it done.  Church went well with our Christmas program except Ruth and Rubi wouldn’t sing with the primary.   Some things never change.  At least they came and stayed for primary and all the Acosta ended up in Joyce’s class, even Estrella, Sunshine, Richel, Michell, Eleazar and Raymark.  After taking everybody home we stopped at the Filipino Cultural Center for a program they had invited us to.  We think they just wanted our money.  It was $15.00 dollars a ticket for a fund raiser for their new proposed community center.  It was definitely designed for Filipinos so we didn’t stay too long.  While there we faced time Jake and Lara and they were having a party at our house so we saw lots of the kids and got to visit lots with Allison and AnJanell.  Jacob and Lara do know how to throw a party!  It made us homesick to see them all in our home.  Mom and Dad had even been there, but had just left before they called us. Skyway A texted to see if they can come over on Christmas for dinner and use our phone or computer to call home.  The member support here is not too good.  Those who are active are great, there just isn’t very many of them.  It looks like we will be spending Christmas with the Elder Sisters and Skyway A Elders.  The R.S. President is having Skyway B over on Christmas because no one else would sign up for them, but they are coming over Christmas Eve to Skype because Elder Jaio is from China and on Christmas Eve it is Christmas in China, so that will be fun.  We love the Elders and the Sisters that we get to serve with!  

Love Joyce and Art 

                      Week 50B Dec. 21-27

We’ll be home for Christmas,        but only in our dreams!

Preaching:    We've been thinking about Karen’s graduation.  She has one every other month for the program she is in.  The ladies all get to pick new clothes, and get their hair and nails done.  Karen always looks so beautiful.  She always wears a long skirt and a modest blouse.  The other women seem to think that beauty is having low, skin tight, dresses on that are two or three sizes too small.  There is such a contrast.  We know that modesty is what Christ and our Heavenly Father approve of.  It reminds us of John Bytheway’s tape when he quoted a Young Woman, “I want to be good, but not  that good.”  We have had lessons on “keeping a summer home in worldly Babylon,” but the scriptures tell that Lot’s wife was turned to salt, because she looked back at her previous life longingly.  Christ wants us back, but He wants us back clean and pure.  Our sacrament meeting was on setting spiritual goals, and it takes effort to stand for truth and righteousness!  

 Monday P-day?  We have been looking forward to today.  It is HUMP DAY plus the winter stolsice.  We had several errands we had to run for some assignments we had.  Joyce had a dentist appointment first thing in the morning so that got us going early,which was good.  Staples had finished our copies for the English classes.  Turned out they were more expensive than we thought.  Hope it's okay with Sister Eaton.  We then had to find calling cards for the two foreign missionaries in our zone.  The place we were told to go was out of them so we went on a few wild goose catches that we were told had some.  Finally, on our fourth stop we found some.  We weren’t sure how much to buy, but we think we have it covered now.  We did all this in pouring rain and all the Christmas shopper.  We’ll just say Elder Knowles was really in the Christmas Spirt by the time we finished.  We did make a stop at the mall for a little shopping for each other.  Someone told us they may have calling cards there but not so, there were lots of people.  In the evening we went to FHE and had a Christmas party there.  It was lots of fun and helped calm us down a little after our fun day in the traffic and rain.

Tuesday Doctors Appointment:  We should have gone to District meeting, but instead we spent most of the day with the Acosta’s at the Seattle Children’s Hospital. There was Estrella, Richelle, Reymark, Eldrex, and the two of us, so we had a car load.   We had the route all worked out, then ran into construction with a detour.  We drove around a bit but we made it and were only a little late.  Going to the wrong building didn’t help. We are trying to get Eldrex some help so he can walk.  We spent time in Physical Therapy, Radiology, Lab, Pharmacy and with a Neuro Nurse Practitioner for a neuro evaluation.  We are going back in a month for a MRI and follow-up with the NP.  They do have some ideas to help him like braces, a walker, a wheel chair and getting him into school.  On the way home we stopped for some lunch.  Reymark thinks he is dying when he hasn’t eaten.  At 4:30 we had an appointment to teach with Skyway B but she was not feeling well and had to reschedule for next week.  The ARP class only had  person ( plus the Elder Sister who always support us)  and the one person hadn’t seen all the videos, on the 12 step program that the church has, so we watched those instead of reading a step.  The rain is back tonight.

 Wednesday Mission Devotional:  We should have gone to Northwest Harvest, but we needed to take Joyce Johnson to Auburn so she could shop for Eric.  Things are not going well in their marriage so we are trying to help her a little.  The morning was the only time we could help her today, so we missed the service project. After shopping for a few hours she couldn’t find anything for Eric, but found some work clothes (scrubs because she works at the nursing home we went caroling to) for herself, so the trip was kind of a bust.  At 1:00 the Renton Zone met at the Renton Nursing Home and we sang Christmas Carols.  Sister Chamberlain had her chimes.  She taught the missionaries how to use them for the song, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”   It turned out to be beautiful, plus we sang lots of other carols to get us all in the Christmas Spirit We have one member there that we wanted to sing to, but her roommate wouldn’t let us.  After the nursing home we all met at the Kent Stake Center for treats and a mission devotional with three other zones.  We got to see Elder Bohne, Synder and Sister Lucky.  They are some of our favorites, but were not supposed to have favorites.  The Renton Zone did get to play the chimes and sing again; and Pres. Eaton sang a solo.  We are pretty positive there isn’t anything he can’t do.  Several of the missionaries preformed.  There is lots of good musical talent in the mission, including violins, flutes, yukelale, piano and singing.  President Eaton talked about the hard work that is being done and praised all the Elders on bikes.  This December has been the wettest on record and it's raining still. And it’s still cold. Sister Eaton showed a clip from a BYU devotional. It was about the debt paid for those in debtors prison by Handel, after a presentation of the Messiah.   She likened it to our debt the Savior has paid for each of us.  It was food for thought, an excellent presentation for this Christmas Season!  We had the Elder Sisters with us so after taking them home we ran to Wal-Mart for a few things for dinner tomorrow and on Christmas.  Several of the missionaries  are coming over to eat and use the computer to call home.  We also had a good mail day, four packages, and lots of cards, thank you everyone very much.

Thursday Christmas Eve:  We finally had a good enough day with the weather to take Sister Fabon the bed we have had in our dining room for a month.  She wanted it last week but is has been raining when we had time to move it.  It’s done now!  We forgot to give Elder Palo a phone card, yesterday, so he could call home tonight, so we made a trip to his area and took him and Elder Samuels to lunch.  We had Karen, Skyway B and the Elder Sisters over for dinner at 5:00 for taco salads, so the rest of the afternoon was spent getting ready.  Elder Jaio called his dad on our phone (we couldn’t get the calling card to work), then, he skyped his mother.  Elder Jaio and Palo called home Christmas Eve because of the time difference.  Sister Eaton had asked us to make sure the foreign missionaries had a way to call home.  Elder Hiseta made his own arrangements, so they were all taken care of.  While Elder Jaio talked, the rest of us played uno and tenzie. It was a fun night and a few of the kids even called.  The rain is back also. 

 Friday Christmas:  We got up fairly early even though there were no kids around.  We needed to get the turkey in the oven, with the dressing, and it is Christmas, so why stay in bed?  All the kids faced timed and we were able to see them open a few presents and play with their new toys. You’ve got to love face time. We opened up what was left of our presents. Joyce had already opened most of them, she has a hard time waiting.  The Elder Sisters came over early and helped get things ready for dinner.  Art wanted to stay in his PJs all day but Joyce wouldn’t let him.  Karen came early also and we played a few games, (Uno, Bananagram, Rummy Cube and Five Crowns), while waiting for the elders.  Skyway A (the Zone Leaders, that’s why Art needed to get dressed) came around 4:00 and made their calls home on the computer and the i pad, and we ate and played more games until everyone went home.  We played the present game, which we forgot to play before the elders left. We’ll catch them at church on Sunday.   We had a very fun day for being away from home.  It’s nice to have friends wherever you are.  The Elder Sisters gave us a couple of books we have wanted to buy.  One ( President  Eyrings biography) is by President Eaton and they had him sign it, so that was very special for us.  We did get a little bad news.  One of our favorite missionaries is going home early on Monday.  

Saturday:  It was kind of a catch up day.  Joyce wrote thank-you notes, hemmed a skirt for Estrella Acosta (thanks to AnJ) plus worked on her Primary lesson and Art worked on his two lessons for tomorrow; and he is still trying to learn the new computer.  He has lost some things on it and doesn’t know how to find them.  We did take Karen to Seward Park and walked around it. There wasn’t any rain, just very cloudy, so a nice walk to work off all the calories from yesterday.  The weather is judged by how well you can see Mount Rainier. Walking gives Karen a chance to visit with Joyce.  Art walks behind them so they can visit.  

Sunday:  We started the day as usual, with Joyce making all the phone calls to see if anyone wants a ride to church.  Mary Hurley wanted a ride.  She hasn’t been to church for a long time so that was nice.  The rain is back today so with Mary it means standing out in the rain a lot loading and unloading her wheel chair.  Everyone else said no about needing a ride, a lot of sickness going around.  Church went well. In Skyway there had been a drive by shooting so the road was blocked and they detoured the traffic.  It was about three blocks from the church.  Kind of a normal occurrence around here but it has been a quiet winter so far. Art taught Sunday School and the High Priest and Joyce taught her Primary class, with two of the older Acosta’s joining.  After church we took Ruth and Rubi home along with Mary.  Casey Smith came over and went over the ward list with us.  He has just been called as a counselor in the Elders Quorum.  It has been nice to have a slow day since next week is very busy.  And we have enjoyed all the cards and phone calls.  Thanks to you all for remembering us.  

Love Art and Joyce

                   Week 49 Dec. 7-13

            Get my coat and bumbershoot

Preaching: We have been talking about going to a buffet and over eating there, thinking we need to get our money’s worth.   Then, we compared it to going to church and asked ourselves if we are getting our money’s worth there.  Brigham Young stated that we live below our privilege when it come to the spirt.  We have set a goal to be better prepared when we attend church and partake of the Sacrament, when we attend or teach a class, and when we sing the hymns.  We need to make more of an effort to feel the spirt and get our money’s worth. We are trying to find a way to show those we work with that they can be spiritually fed on Sunday just like they were physically fed on Saturday at the ward party. Feeling the spirt certainly won’t make you sick like over eating does.  It also won’t hurt to be over fed with the spirt when we do missionary work and try to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord.  One of the best ways to feel the spirt is to do missionary work and share the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ during this Christmas season, which is about giving to others. Try it at home.  You may like it and it doesn’t cost any money.

Companion study

Monday p-day:  It rained and was windy all day.  2.2 inches of rain.  Not too much going on today.  Our first real p-day in a while.  Because of the rain, we decided to shop for a few things we needed.  Sister Eaton called in the evening to see if we could put together some material so the missionaries can start teaching English.  That will be nice so we can stay inside during this rainy period.  Rain is forecasted for all week.  In the evening we picked up Ravyn and went to FHE.  There was a good group there tonight and we had a good lesson on missionary work.

Tuesday Zone Training: Joyce was asked by Joyce Johnson to exercise each morning, Monday – Thursday, at 6 a.m. in our gym.  It is early, but worth it, so we can discuss scriptures that will help her in her troubles with Thomas.  Renee has also started walking on the tread mills with us, so we are having some good discussions, even though it makes for an early morning and a long day.  We had zone training all morning.  Transfers are next week, so it is the last time we will see some of the Elders.  Two of them are going home on Monday.  Elder Johnson is in our ward and we have worked with him a lot so we will miss him.  After the meeting we ran to Staples to start on the material for Sister Eaton and then to a Dr. appointment.  Nothing serious.   In the afternoon we taught Kianna and her friend with Skyway B.  In the even we went to ARP.  It’s good for Art. John and SanDee sent us some Glenwood Mini Sausage and Art thinks he is addicted to them.   We were going to pick up Keona, for ARP but she wasn’t home, so we only picked up Karen.  Keeping appointment with missionaries is not a high priority with a lot of people.  We had a new person there tonight.  We don’t think he is a member, but he has a strong testimony of the atonement.  One of the regulars had invited him and we hope he will keep coming.  Another 1.8 inches of rain.  We even got a call from our leaders to check on us since the area is having flooding and power outages. 

Sister Knowles, Skousen and Heiner

Wednesday service:  We started with Northwest Harvest as always after picking up the Elder Sisters. We did corn on the cob, which is not very fun.  Today is the last day we will see some of the sister missionaries because of the transfers and going home missionaries.  Sister Sonasee and Hill are going home, they are another of our favorites and we know Sister Heiner, another really favorite, is being transferred.   We also found out that another one of our favorites, another Sister Hill, is going home tomorrow because of illness.  After the service project we went to lunch with the sisters, then drove to the mission office.  There were several of the roads that were closed and traffic lights not working.  The mission office staff said Maple Valley was hit pretty hard with the storms. The sister missionaries were told they could do more service if they can find a place to help with the storm damage.  Most days they are only allowed to do two hours a service each day.  All the rivers were sure running high.  After dropping off the material at the office we drove back to Renton, again with detours, so Joyce and the Sisters could visit a recent convert, Nancy Hales, who just had a new baby and take her a present.  Art stayed in the pick-up. Nobody had any plans so we went to the Desert Book store in Bellevue and spent lots of money.  Joyce is still buying Christmas for the Acosta’s.  We did get to drive home in the rush hour traffic so it was worth the trip to experience that…  The storm may be over as it barely rained today. In the evening we had our meeting with the Bishop which was uneventful.

Presents from Ruth and Rubi Acosta

Thursday:  The good weather only lasted a day.  The rain is back.  After W.W. we had to do a little shopping.  We need to explain a little about W.W. and why we joined so you don’t thing we are being slackers.  In the MTC they told us about getting involved in the community and a couple that had been on a mission told how they had joined W.W. and made lots of friends there.  Since we needed to lose weight (mostly Art) we thought we would give it a try.  It has worked out well, except for losing weight, but we have made lots of friends.  We made visits to both Acosta home and one visit to Mhina’s.  Joyce cleaned out her closets. They were very thankful for the clothes.  There are four teenage girls living there, so we hope Mhina will get some of the clothes. Our missionary meeting went very well.

Friday institute:  Our class was very good, but we found out that the church is dropping the adult classes.  If the Auburn Stake President approves, Bro Holiday will teach is as a volunteer.  We will find out in a couple of weeks.  After class we did our usual lunch run. The Holidays came with us.  The afternoon was spent working on some projects we are doing and we made a trip to the Filipino Cultural Center, the Acosta’s to invite them to the Ward party and shopping for the Ward party.  And Joyce read the Book of Mormon with Joyce Johnson.  Still lots of wind and rain. 

Saturday Ward party: 

Ward Party

We got an early start since we were being the taxi service for the Ward party. We had four people to pick up and one invited her non-member friend, which was a good thing, but that gave us seven and we only have six seats.  The extra person made it a little tight plus two of them are on the XLLL size.   One of the sisters kept talking about the extra person, until Joyce got the point, nicely across, for her to be quiet since the nonmember was the extra person.  There was a very good turnout for the party.  Food brings out a lot of out ward members.  It makes us more aware that many people in the ward don’t know where their next meal is coming from.  We thought we were going to have a quiet evening, but we ended up going out with Skyway B to two different places.  One lives in our building and we sat up an appointment for next week and the other was to Sister Fabon.  We walked to her place, in the dark, and were just getting home when it started to rain, sideways. With the wind blowing we think we are in Idaho.  Missionaries are watched over.

Sunday:  Church was good.  We are always happy when the Acosta’s come and help bless and pass the sacrament.  We had the best speakers, so humble and teachable, that it makes sacrament meeting a delight.  We made arrangements so we would have room for everyone, then had three cancel for our taxi service.  We came home and ran some soup to the lady that lives in our building.  She told us yesterday that they were out of food until Tuesday. We also found out that all of our Skyway A missionaries are leaving tomorrow.  Elder Johnson is going home and Elder Tavo and Odell are being transferred a day early.  Elder Jones is coming back for one transfer, since he knows the area already.  “Have we done any good in the world today?”  That has become our new motto and we say it each night.  If we have done service to inspire, uplift, and edify as we visit, then, we can say “yes” for the day.  Today we did our part, and were also blessed to be able to take Karen and the Elder Sister’s, to attend the Kent Stake’s sing along concert of Handel’s Messiah, complete with a wonderful orchestra.  There were solo singers doing some songs and then many songs were where the whole congregation was singing.  We checked out the music on entry, and the music just washed over us!   It was so beautiful to sing about the Savior’s birth, life, death, and resurrection and be accompanied by a whole orchestra!  It was truly a tender mercy to be able to attend and feel the words of Isaiah as we all sang our different parts.  The harmony and the orchestra made us feel His love, especially, as we stood and sang the Hallelujah Chorus!  The musicians that shared their talents were certainly the ones that did the “good in the world” on Sunday evening as they encouraged us, uplifted us, and edified us!  We love you and wish you all a Merry Christmas. 

Elder and Sister Knowles   

                        Week 48 Nov. 29-Dec. 6

                              Joy to the world    

Sunday: 

We had a new member to pick up for church today.  He just moved in and lives up by the N.A.A.M.  Karen didn’t go so we only had two to pick up.  We did take Clarine home.  The meetings were very good with a few investigators there.  There was a pretty small crowd because of Thanksgiving, we think.  Joyce’s lesson went well.  The Acosta’s all went to her class. It was very cold today with lots of fog. We were late leaving the church because Art had to stay and try to figure out tomorrow. The missionaries need us to go to the D.I. in Federal Way tomorrow and we already have a few things we need to do.  Hopefully we can work it all out. By the time we got everyone home it was almost dark, so it was another early night in.  Josh and Jared called and we found out that Josh cut the end of his finger off with the table saw.

 

Monday p-day? We are trying to straighten out the mail so we walked to the Post office for our zip code.  They didn’t know why, we had a problem, but it shouldn’t happen again.  In the meantime, all the mail for two days should have been returned to sender because we didn’t get it.  We hope that is the case, since we were expecting a package on Saturday.  If you did happen to send us anything hopefully it will be returned to you.  We do want to give a big THANK YOU to those who do send us mail or e-mails.  So after the post office we made a trip to Federal Way to pick up a bed for a part-member family the elders are teaching.  While unloading the bed we saw a young lady (Ravyn) that we have been trying to contact so we were able to talk to her and invite her to FHE. Heavenly Father does bless us and put us in the right place at the right time if we ask and then act.   We picked up Ravyn for FHE and she had invited a friend (Summi) to come with her.  FHE was a celebration for Sister Harrisons birthday, which is on Wednesday.  The girls had a good time and when we took them home we invited then to church on Sunday and they said we could pick them up.  Another small miracle. 

Tuesday District meeting:  We had our meeting in the morning.  It is the last meeting for our District Leader, Elder Green, since he goes home in two weeks.  So does Sister Sonosi, who is also in our District. Joyce and her are very close.  Next week is zone training so we won’t meet in districts.  After the meeting we had to take a few pictures and we needed to visit with some of the other missionaries about our plans tonight.  Joyce is play the piano at a baptism tonight and she needed to know the hymns so she can practice and we need to get ARP covered.  After getting all that taken care of we took Elder Green and Samuelson to lunch and home.  It is Karen’s 50^th birthday today and her daughter and granddaughter came to surprise her.  They are staying with us tonight.  They all came to our apartment after lunch so we could give them a key and they could drop their stuff off.  Karen didn’t know they were coming, but we did so we had to keep it a secret.  After lunch and Joyce practicing we ran a few errands and went out for our anniversary (Taco Time).  Our plan was to go to the baptism early so Joyce could practice, but Skyway A called and asked if we could pick up Christine and take her to the baptism.  We ended up with Bethany, Christine and Helena, Christine’s younger sister.  The baptism was all in Spanish but one of the Hermana’s translated for the girls.  It was a family of three that was baptized.  One of the sons had been baptized the week before.  The Spanish branch is very supportive so there was a large crowd.  Sister Eaton was even there.  She talked to us about the Dailey Dose Program.  They are thinking about getting it started around the mission.

Wednesday:  The morning was spent at Northwest Harvest packaging pasta with the Elders.  5,280 pounds of it.  No cheese, just pasta. We did have a very nice surprise there. One of our favorite Elders was sent home seven months ago.  The rumors were that he would come back in six months, but when that time came he never showed up.  Well he was at Northwest Harvest with his companion, back in the same area he left from.  There had been a mix up with his papers so he was delayed a month.  It was so fun to see him again.   We took the Elder Sisters home then hurried to the Acosta’s so we could take Eldrix to the clinic.  All clinics are the same so most of the afternoon was spent there waiting.  This is the first time Eldrix has been seen by a doctor since coming to the U.S.  The Doctor thinks he may have had a stroke when he was in the coma in the Philippines.  His left side is what doesn’t work and his speech is slow.  She referred them to a child’s clinic in Seattle to see if they can do some physical therapy for him.  She thinks they can get him walking, but never back to normal.  At least we are now getting him some kind of help.  It was Sister Harrisons birthday so we went to a Chinese Buffet before our Bishops meeting.  We rode the bus there, which is a little scary at night but we made it okay. Buffets are not our favorite because we always over eat.  You have to get your monies worth and then some.  We did have one interesting think happen as we were walking to the bus stop.  Art has been praying to have chances to show a little charity.  As we were walking across the lot of a gas station, a man came up and said he would give us $5.00 if we would run our credit card through the machine so he could put air in his bike tire.  We said no and he said he would give us any amount we asked for if we would do it.  The machine would only take a credit card.  Not what Art had in mind to show charity.  Any way we didn’t help.  The whole thing looked a little fishy, but this is Rainier Valley.  Karen’s family has gone so we are home alone again. We did have some guy pounding on the door and yelling at the apartment, next to us, in the middle of the night.  Joyce got up but Art slept through it.

Thursday W.W.  We went to the lecture at W. W. but didn’t weigh because of last nights feast.  The rain is back after the few nice days we have had. Since we never had a chance to get anything for our anniversary we decided to shop a little.  Art got a couple of sweaters, he is always cold, and Joyce got a hat and ear rings.  Our plan was to go home and rest before we had to go out again but no luck there.  Skyway B Elders called because the battery was dead in their car and they were stranded.  We took care of them and then drove Karen to Sam’s Club so she could shop for Christmas.  Her family is coming this weekend and she wants to send their present home with them.  She did her shopping and when we went to check out she had forgotten her money.  Art is learning patience along with the charity.  One of the clerks is in our ward and he let us leave the cart and come back later to pay.  We made a trip home, ate supper and took Karen back to Sam’s to pay for her stuff.  We told her she would have to go to the missionary meeting with us because we weren’t going to make two trips to that end of the ward.  The meeting was very good.  We needed to work out a few details about giving investigators rides to church and them staying for all the meetings when they get a ride.  Also a discussion about a couple of investigators who have baptismal dates, but we not too sure if they are ready.

Friday institute:  Are class was very good.  We had a good discussion on following the gospel and the way the world is going.  We did our usual lunch afterward with the Bensons.  Thomas and Joyce we coming over for dinner so most of the afternoon was taken up cooking and making salads, broccoli and snickers plus cleaning and setting the table.  The plan was for all of us to go to the Nativity Program in Maple Valley, but Thomas needed to go somewhere else so only Joyce went with us.  The Program was okay.  There were tons of people there because of all the children’s choirs.

Saturday:  We rode the bus to the temple with Sister Sanchez.  This time we had recommends that worked.  After the temple we walked to Desert Book and also ate lunch.   It poured rain all day and was cold.  Joyce and Art only had one umbrella between them.  You would think they have been here long enough to know better. After shopping and lunch we walked to the Bellevue Stake Center (it’s by the temple) and looked at the nativity display.  It’s like the one we had went to the night before only fancier.  They also have a Discovery Center there like the one in S.L.C.  It was slow so we were able to dock on there and see what it does.  If you ever get a chance to go, do it.  The Missionaries can take investigators there even though it is out of the mission.  That permission came from Salt Lake, that’s how good it is.

Sunday:  We had a very busy Sunday.  We picked up two members and took three home.  One of them was the new member that live by the N.A.A.M.  so it takes a lot of time.  We also made a stop to pick up Ravyn and her friend, but her mom made her stay home and clean her room.  Most of the Acostas were there so Joyce had a good Primary class.  Richel has moved back with her family and was at church so that was an answer to our prayers.  Just to give you an idea of what our ward is like, we had a sister for El Salvador, then a brother from the Philipines and then a sister from Africa bear their testimonies.  All of them are converts.  After getting everyone home, we picked up the Elder Sisters and went to the Christmas Devotional at the Stake Center. 

Preaching:  In this church it is virtually impossible to find anyone who is not a guide of one kind

 or another to his or her fellow members of the flock.  This is part of a quote by Elder Holland that we really like.  As we studied in the Book of Mormon about Alma the Younger remembering the words of his father we have wondered if we are maybe a little lacks in our attitude of how we are teaching.  We want to have the attitude that what we are teaching may be what somebody remembers then they are struggling or teaching others.  Everyone is an investigator at some point in their life and you need to teach by the spirt so they will feel it.  Also, teaching with love doesn’t hurt.

  Love ya Joyce and Art 

                   Week 47 Nov. 22-28

Why are fire engines red, what is 0 divided by 0 and what does a fish say when he hits a concrete wall?

                                                                             Ask Siri

Sunday:  The weather was great today, cold and clear.  The usual people rode to church with us (Karen and Joyce Johnson) even though Joyce made lots of phone calls.  The meetings were very good with two of our Elders speaking in Sacrament meeting. We had Joyce and Karen over for dinner after church.  Karen stayed and worked on our computer (we do have it working a little) while we took Joyce home, then we walked Karen home.   We did have a little excitement later.  Art had just come to bed (around 11:30) when we heard a big bang.  Art got up the check but couldn’t see anything unusual.  The street in front is very narrow and we thought maybe someone had hit a parked car or it could have been a gunshot. You can never tell around here. He came back to bed but in a few minutes we could see flashing lights coming from the living room.  Art got up to check because this is what the computer did when it crashed.  Instead he found a police car in front of our apartment and police walking around with flashlights looking in the bushes along the sidewalk.  I guess we are getting used to this because we just went back to bed. 

Monday p-day:  Karen didn’t have any classes today and wanted to take us to Dash Point State Park and do some hiking.  The good day we had yesterday turned to a colder and cloudier day.  It was a nice hike through the trees to the beach at Puget Sound.  Dash Point is on the edge of our mission between Federal Way and Tacoma and one of the few places in the mission where you can get to Puget Sound.  There are still fall colors left and lots of moss on the trees.  We wanted to have a picnic so we drove to Redondo, which is the other place you can see the Sound from in our mission, and ate lunch.  In the past you could walk along the shore, but a storm a few years ago destroyed the board walk and they haven’t fixed it yet.  The tide was also in, so there was no beach to walk on.  There is a pier that goes out a bit so we walked out on it and watched all the fisherman.  They fish for squid.  It’s hard to think people would eat them after seeing how slimy they look. One man was checking his crab traps so we watched him.  We are real tourist sometimes. By now it had started to rain so we headed home.   Joyce had a VT appointment which ended up being canceled so we made it late to FHE.

Tuesday District meetings:  We try to go early to our meetings so Joyce can have a little time to practice on a real piano.  There was more role playing, but it was a good meeting.  The elders in our district (Green and Samuelson) are on bikes and needed a ride home.  Having the missionaries with us is always a good excuse to eat out.  Elder Knowles talked to the man behind us in line that has Diabetes.  He was real nice.  We bought his lunch and gave him some cards.  On the way home we had to make our usual stop at Sam’s since it was close by to check on computer prices and sales.  At 3:00 we walked to the Acostas to teach English.  After the English lesson, Joyce and Estrella read two chapters in the Book of Mormon.  Art spent time entertaining Reymark, Eleazar, Eldrix, and Princes Joy.  Richel was even there.  It’s the first time we have saw her since she ran away.   She still won’t move back home.  In the evening we ran the ARP class.   We only had Karen and the Elder Sisters there so we went through part of one step and then watched a couple of the 12 step videos.

Wednesday Northwest Harvest: 

 We started off with picking up the sisters to go do service as we always do on Wednesday.  We were with the sister missionaries and they took all of us and we made up bags for kids to take home with them so they would have something to eat on the weekends.  We ran some errands with the Elder Sisters and made some calls so we could find a place that is open tomorrow for dinner.  There were no meetings tonight with the Bishop going out of town for Thanksgiving so we stayed in all evening.  It sure gets dark early here, but we get lots of studying done.

Thursday Thanksgiving: The four north Zones went to Federal Way Stake Center for the activity.  We got to play from 9:00 until noon.  The elders and sisters played basketball, volley ball, ping pong, board games, card games (no face cards) and Jacks.  We stuck to the easy stuff. Some even when outside and played soccer and threw the Frisbee, but it was very cold.  They also had a few refreshments.  The Eaton’s were there for a bit, so Sister Eaton led a Yoga class, which Joyce enjoyed, and then they left to visit the south Zones.  We picked Sizzler for dinner, mostly because it was the only place we could find open that wasn’t fast food.  We did take a side trip to Dash Point and Redondo so Sister Harrison could see them before she goes home.  It was very cold and windy by the water so we didn’t stay very long.  We thought about eating at Saltys in Redondo, but it was $57.00 per plate.   That was okay with Art since the Sisters were buying, but Joyce said no.  By the time we finished dinner (at Sizzler) it was getting dark so it was another early evening in the apartment.  Joyce studied and practiced, and Art work on a puzzle the kids had given him. 

Friday It’s black: We needed to make a decision on the computer today because the sale was ending.  We had to run some errands but they only had one computer left so we bought it.  The only problem was now we couldn’t run the errands because you can’t leave anything in the truck.  We did make one visit on the way home, but Art stayed in the truck while Joyce did a visiting teaching visit. That worked well so we decided to do the same thing at Walmart.  Then, we drove home and unloaded everything and went back to do more visits.  Joyce read the Book of Mormon with Joyce J. while Art visited with Thomas.  He is home from North Dakota for a month.  We are trying to get him to look for a job here so he can be with his family.  We made one more visit on the way home and then called it a day.  Renee came over and visited for a while and is going to start reading the Book of Mormon with Joyce again.  The rest of the evening we spent trying to set up the new computer.  Wish us luck. 

Saturday:  Our plans were to go to Federal Way and get a printer that was on sale, but Art got the printer working last night with this new computer.  We did need to go to Beehive Books and More to pick up the scriptures that we had ordered.  Karen wanted to ride with us so she could shop at Costco.  What she wanted was sold out in the size she needed.  After a quick lunch we came home and picked up Joyce Johnson and her and Joyce met Renee in our gym to work out a bit.  It’s an outside of the box way to do missionary work, but it works.  Any contact with Joyce J. or Renee is good.  In the evening we walked to the Acosta’s for a lesson with the Skyway B elders and Maryann.  We arrived only to find out that it was cancelled and Skyway B forgot to tell us.  There was a few home so the elders did come over and we had a short lesson with who was home.  Eleazar said Maryann promised to be home next time.  Most of the older homes here have no central heating and are very cold, so when we have a lesson, everyone is wrapped up in a blanket.  It has made us realize all the comforts we take for granted. 

Preaching:   Joyce started a star chart with her primary class, so if you attended church, prayed, study your scriptures and listened in Sacrament meeting you get a star for each one.  You can add your own things you also want to be better at. If you bear your testimony next week that is a double star. 

Love ya Joyce and Art

P.S.  We are having trouble with our mail right now.  If you are considering sending a package (which we love) or something important you may want to send it to the Mission Office until we get this worked out.  They say we don’t live here and our apartment is vacant.

Washington Federal Way Mission                                                                                                                  23175 224^th PL. SE Ste E                                                                                                                         Maple Valley, WA 98038  

P.S.S.  For Allison and Anj.   Art has been working on the puzzles now that it gets dark so early.  He is wondering if you searched a long time for ones that are so hard, but he does love the roll- up mat.  Thanks!