Week 25   June 21-27

                   Well Begun is Half Done

                                                                     (or ¼ of the way)

Sunday:  Another exciting day at the Skyway ward.  Mary hasn’t been coming to church lately because of the teeth giving her problems.  Ruth and Rubi stayed for all three hours, along with Tesloach and Lexy, (a new member) so Sister Knowles had a full class for Primary! Joyce Johnson and little Eric went with us, as well.  We do have a member who thinks he is more enlightened than everyone else and he tends to argue and bring up some pretty weird things in class.  Most ignore him, but not Art.  He worries what the investigators and less active may think if something isn’t said.  We’ll just say it makes for an interesting class.  All of the missionaries are making an effort to keep the classes on a simpler level, with not much success.  After church we had Joyce and Eric Johnson and the Elder Sisters over for supper.  All of the kids called for Father’s Day which helped after a trying day at church.  Thanks to all of you who phone, write, put posts on Face Book, send cards and send packages.  It really does make our day. Here is our preaching:  Our family and friends are our world and what matters most!  We pray for your safety and for you to stay close to our Savior.  We need the power of discernment in our lives now more than ever…

Monday:  Happy Birthday to Art!   The only thing he wanted for his birthday was not having to pick what we were going to do today.  Joyce and the Elder Sisters decided to go to Northwest Trek.  It is an animal park between Graham and Eatonville.  We spent most of the day there walking around and riding a bus through the park.  We had to hurry home so we could go to FHE.  It was an interesting night. One of the members warned us to be prepared for a major earthquake tomorrow. We won’t tell you his source of information, but it was out there on the fringe.  We had Renee with us, so now she is worried about what will happen tomorrow. This is the kind of thing Art has been worried about.  On the way home we had to stop and fix a few things at one of the member’s home that we give rides to.

Tuesday:  Our district meeting was first thing on the list.  It was on the Sabbath Day, again, and so spiritual.  We had lots of things planned but plans change.  A set of Elders needed a ride to LDS Social Services so we took care of that.  We like to help keep their spirts up so we took them to lunch before their meeting.  Their meeting went longer than we had planned so we were late to the Acostas to teach our first English class.  It was a “get to know where they were at” in terms of their English needs for the classes.  Sister Acosta’s husband even sat in until he had to leave for work.  In all the times we have been there, this is the first time we have met him, so we were pretty excited.  We had to hurry home to get ready for dinner and a lesson with Renee and Skyway B elders.  The lesson went well, except she has lots of questions so we were running late for the ARP class.  She wanted to know about authority, the blacks, and the priesthood.  Art did a great job and the lesson was so good that we hated to see it get over, though we needed to get to our ARP class.  We called the elder sister and they covered for us.  No one showed up so it didn’t matter that we were late and the sisters called and said not to come.  We needed some things for another dinner appointment tomorrow so we went to Wal-Mart instead of the ARP class.

Wednesday:  We considered skipping the service project at Northwest Harvest, so we could catch up a bit, but they needed us there.  After the service project, we picked up Ezeikel and took him to the employment office.  That took longer than planned so we had to cancel the English lesson with the Acostas.  Art missed the turn to take Ezekiel home so Joyce had to get out at the stop light and weave through traffic so she could start getting dinner ready.  We only had a half an hour to cook the rice.  We were late getting dinner ready but it didn’t matter since the Elders were late and Renee cancelled at the last minute.  After dinner we should have went and made some visits, but it was nice to have a little time to relax and rest before our meeting with the Bishop.  That meeting went well with a big push for the English class and the ARP class.  Even though the attendances has dropped off at ARP, there are still lots who express an interest, so we will keep having it.  If you have any thought on the class (Dr. Schmutz or anyone) let us know.   

Thursday:  We attended W. W. first thing in the morning.  Art explained to the teacher some of the problems we have with eating at so many different places and feeding others, so she opened it up for the whole group.  It worked pretty well, since she introduced us and then explained what we do, and then there was a discussion.  Now the whole group knows who we are and what we do.  One lady came up and talked to us after the meeting to tell us about her experience with the missionaries and how much she loved them.  She is still in contact with them even though they have been home for a while.  We came back home and worked on the English class and then went and taught English with the Acostas for an hour.  At 5:00 we were on our way to the Salvation Army to feed the homeless with a stop at the Buddhist Temple on the way.  Soveth is still out of town.    After the Salvation Army  we went to our meeting with the Ward Mission Leader then back to the Acostas with Skyway B elders for a short lesson with Sunshine and Raymark.  By the way, if any one has any Monopoly money or old Primary picture we sure could use them.  We are looking for pictures that have lots of different things in them, so people can learn the names of those items.

Friday:  Since our institute class is finished we decided to spend Friday mornings doing companion study, which we are not very good at doing most days of the week.  We needed a few things that the mission office didn’t have and wanted a student manual to study with, and Art wanted some new ties, so we ran to Beehive Books and More in Federal way and to the D.I.  We found an old Monopoly game so forget about the Monopoly money.  On the way home we stopped at Joyce Johnsons and taught a lesson. Joyce had to go V.T. in the afternoon. It was another adventure finding the address and we finally had the sister stand in front of her house so we could find it. The Garmin would take us to the house next door.  We met Skyway A elders and taught an object lesson to Ruth and Rubi about the iron rod.  Jennifer (their mom) came home at the end of the lesson so we were able to visit with her a bit.    Joyce asked if we could pick up Ruth and Rubi and take them to Achievement Day on Wednesday and she said it would be okay.  She works nights and sleeps during the day so we offered to take Ruth and Rudi to the park so the house would be a little quieter for her.  She loved that idea.  The other Acostas showed up as we were leaving so we had some ice cream cake with them.  Masarap (yummy) in Tagolog, so you see why we eat all the time at our appointments and can’t lose weight…  We needed to run to Staples to print off some posters for the English class and that finished our day.  Skyway B elders wanted us to meet them at the Acostas but we declined since we knew the Acostas were at Ruth and Rubi’s house.

Saturday:  We spent the morning and most of the day walking the streets and it was hot, visiting people in one of our remaining 5 quadrants.  Seattle is having a dry, hot summer like most of the west coast.  We rode the Link Light Rail to Beacon Hill, which is as far as we can go and not leave the mission.  Beacon Hill was having a street party so that was interesting.  The communities that have been taken over by Seattle try to keep a small identity by having festivals in the summer.  It’s pretty fun to walk around and see all the activities (like the belly dancers on the corner) plus they all have farmers markets going on.  They rolled a big dice and it landed on a rabbit, so everyone crossing the street was to jump across the intersection like a bunny, which is hard for us that are over 60, but we tried!  We made lots of visits and ended up at the top of the mission by down town Seattle. We stopped by the museum to drop off some papers about the Freedman records needing to be indexed.  It was such a relief to have a little air conditioning for a few minutes.  We stopped at our favorite Italian place for a late lunch (4:30), then home to regroup.  We haven’t seen Mary Hurly for a while so we bought some chicken for her and rode the Link down to her place and taught her a lesson.  It was cooling off a bit by now (only in the 80s) so we walked home and then walked to a lesson with Skyway B elders and Ezekiel and Tesloach. We found out that Ezekiel had gotten a job and had even worked a shift today.  Another tender mercy.  Several kids were out playing in the courtyard and they came and talked to us and played football with Art.  They recognized us from a tour at the museum their school had done.  We were tired at the end of the day but we had finished all the things we wanted to get done this week.  Love ya, Art and Joyce

                                               June 14-20   Week 24

             Happy Wife…….Happy Life

Sunday:  It’s been a good Sunday.  Ruth, Rubi, and Princess Joy stayed for Primary and we are waiting for Jared, Emily, Jace and Jaxon to arrive.  Oh, my goodness.  It’s hard to be patient and not hold our breath!    Jared, Emily, Jace and Jaxson arrived around 11:00 p.m.  It is nice to get them here.

Monday:  We were glad that Monday is our Preparation Day.  We got up later than normal because of the late night and all the excitement of having grandkids here.  We decided to ride the Short Rail (Link) into Seattle and go to the Seattle Aquarium.  We had tickets for it, which was good since it costs a lot.  We were real tourist, spending time walking around Pikes Place and the Farmers Market.  The large Ferris wheel is close by so we rode it. Art even rode it after a little coaxing.  After the ride we went into the Miners Landing in the Gold Rush food court and ate at Shucky Muckers.  Jace and Joyce rode the Merry-go-round. After we got home we had to make our usual trip to Wal-Mart.

Tuesday:  We had our district meeting first thing in the morning.  Training was mostly about Sabbath day commitment and no role playing, so it was a good meeting.  We took two of the elders to Family Social Services for an appointment they had and then took them home.  They are on bikes so they needed a ride.  We would have taken them to lunch, but we had plans to meet Jared and Emily and drive to Mount Rainier.  The appointment went longer and later than the elders had planned, so we decided to skip Rainier and go to Seward Park and have a picnic. 

Wednesday:  We had Northwest Harvest in the morning with the sister missionaries.  We sacked and boxed rolled oats.  Jared and Emily worked on getting new tires for the car, but no one had the right size.  After much debate, it was decided that Mount Rainier was too far for the kids to ride and then have a long ride home, so we choses to go to Flaming Geyser instead.  We stopped and bought a lighter so we would be prepared to light the methane gas that escapes.  Jace loved lighting the geyser and playing in the river.  Jaxon loved throwing rocks, and Joyce loved being with all the kids and grandkids.  That’s why the title for the letter.  The mall was our next planned stop, but we passed the Family Fun Center on the way, so another change of plans.  We all did a round of miniature golf and Jace rode some rides and jumped on a trampoline.  Jared and Art tried the batting cage.  We went home for supper and rest after a fun day.

Thursday: We got new tires for Jared’s car and went to the Northwest African Am. Museum while that was being done. We needed to run a few errands and Jace and Jaxon love the parks so we spent most of the day there.  We had to stay close to our apartment, because Renee was supposed to come over for a lesson, but she never would return our calls.  We did have to leave and give Ezekiel Yieth and his son, Tesloach Tut, a ride to the church for their baptism interview.  While that was going on we met Skyway A elders at the Acostas (Ruth, Rubi and Joshua) and had a lesson.  We threw a ball around and talked about practice and related it practices of building a strong testimony.  Then, back to the church to pick Ezekiel and Tesloach up and take them home.  We then had to split up and Joyce went visiting teaching and Art went to the missionary meeting.  It was a Lucky Charms Cereal supper for Jared’s family…of well! 

Friday:  Jared, Emily, Jace and Jaxon left in the morning.  It was hard to see them go.  It has been so fun having them here, now we just have to hold out until Anj and Beau get here with Braeden and Lexxi!  After they left we walked to the Filipino Community Center and Pspent most of the day there.  We took passport photos and copied documents.  They gave us lunch for helping.  Not sure what is was but it looked like chicken, rice and noodles.  Not sure about the chicken, but we did recognize a drumstick.  Found out it was Adobo Chicken. We have had it before. We had our first English class Friday night at 7 and nobody showed up.  It was a rush job so we weren’t surprised.  It was never announced and we know most of those who want to learn don’t have cars and we have already made plans to teach them in their homes.  It worked out okay since we were tired, so we went home and settled in for the night.

Saturday:  It was another day at the Filipino center taking pictures.  During lunch we walked to the Buddhist Temple, but Soveth was back east so we couldn’t see him.  After we got back to the center they wanted us to eat lunch before we stated to work.  This time it was beef, rice and a salad.  The Center closed early so we had plenty of time to get to the baptism for Ezekiel and Tesloach.  It was very good with lots of members and investigators there.  After the baptism we walked to the Acostas (the other Acosta family) for a short lesson with Skyway B elders.  It was a long day, but it was a beautiful evening for a walk.  We planned on going to Ramadan Celebration that Veronica had invited us to, but the baptism and lesson took priority.  Some days we just have too many things going on, to get everything done.

Preaching for the week:  At district meeting we talked again about Sabbath Day observance and listed reasons for people not keeping the Sabbath Day holy.  It all came down to priorities and testimony.  We have seen so many blessings from keeping our commitment to “delight in the spirit of the Sabbath” and encourage you to keep a “thankful journal” of tender mercies that come into your lives because of your commitment to live the gospel.  We feel your love.  Thanks to everyone for checking on Mom and Dad and keeping them in your prayers.

We love you and pray for you,

Elder and Sister Knowles  

                                               Week 23 June 7-13                                 

It is in the giving that we receive.

Sunday:  All of the members and investigators that we give a ride to church, didn’t want to go to church today.  The nice weather is taking a toll.  Ned and Nina were here and went to church with us and Sister Baluca was also at church, so that helped.  Ruth and Rubi were there for part of church, but no Raymark. After church we visited with Ned and Nina and the kids that called us.

Monday:  We spent the day with Ned and Nina at Mount Rainier.  It was a perfect day with no clouds in the sky, in fact Joyce got very sun burned.

White River

Enumclaw, Wa.

  We drove to Sunrise, which is the highest point in the park you can drive to.  None of the visitor centers or stores are open yet.  After a lunch on the end-gate of the pick-up, we all went for a short hike and then Ned and Nina left for Idaho and we went hiking to the Frozen Lake.  We had to cross a bunch of snow drifts that haven’t melted yet.  We did see a herd of mountain goats on one of the hill sides.  This hike takes you pretty close to Mount Rainier, which is still coved with snow.  It was so nice to get to visit with Ned and Nina and we are so thankful they drove all the way to come and see us.  It is a long ways from Florida!  They are back to Idaho, Utah, and then back to Florida and we surely did enjoy having family here to visit with.

Tuesday:  We had Zone Training for two and a half hours the first thing in the morning with lots of role playing.  President Eaton is stressing the importance of keeping the Sabbath Day holy and we understand that the general authorities are stressing Sabbath Day observance, as well.  We surely have a testimony of the Sabbath Day and the promised blessings that come from living it.  It’s getting to be almost fun role playing with the “Elder Sisters” each week… In the afternoon we needed to go to the Buddhist Temple to meet someone there.  On the way we saw one of the Monks we know (Prinze), so we stopped and gave him a ride.  He is getting his GED this week.  The person we were meeting forgot, but we were able to visit with Soveth and Prinze for a while.  Soveth is becoming a citizen on the 4^th of July.  We had to hurry from there and go to the Salvation Army to help serve dinner.  It is hard to hurry in rush hour traffic. They have had trouble with fighting the past few nights outside the Salvation Army, and again tonight.  It must be the hot weather or some are drinking too much, (not water).   They won’t let anyone in that has been drinking alcohol, so there is little trouble inside where we serve.  We had to leave from there to go to our ARP meeting.  Attendance there has also dropped off some since nicer weather has arrived, just like church.

2nd grades at the museum

Wednesday:  It should have been our day at Northwest Harvest with the Elders, but they needed us to help with a tour of 51 second grades at the museum.  They have the glass flower exhibit there now instead of the cartoons, and needed a few extra people to keep an eye on things.  The students were divided into 2 groups and then we divided each group again for the tours.  Art took one group and Sharon took the other for the tours and Joyce and the art teacher (Nate) took the groups through the flower exhibit. We made if through with nothing being broken.  The number one question asked was “when do we eat lunch”.  We talked to a lady during their lunch who is Muslim (Veronica) and she invited us to come to their Cultural Center when they celebrate Ramadan on the 20^th of June.

Doing a little yard work

Sister Driggs

Lunch time at NAAM

  It should be interesting to see a couple of Mormons at a Muslim Cultural Center as they begin their fast for the month of Ramadan.  She assured us we would be welcome.  We hope we can go, but the Elders also have a baptism at the same time if things work out as planned.  One of the sisters in our ward is in the hospital in Tacoma and wanted us to visit so we got permission.  We took the elder sisters with us and had a great visit with Diane.  She was ecstatic to see us.   Everyone went to visit except Art, he stayed in the pick-up.  On the way home we stopped at the mall to eat, to buy another pair of shoes and inserts (they really help with all the walking we do,) and to check on a girl we had given a Book of Mormon to, (Marissa).  She started getting tearful when we left and said she loved it when we come in and she feels peace and calmness.  She asked us for a card and asked if she could text us. That’s a first, when someone has asked us for a card! In the evening we had our meeting with all the missionaries and the Bishop.

Thursday:  We went to W.W. the first thing in the morning and then to the bank.  We had a little time before our lesson in the afternoon, so after we had cleaned the apartment and got dinner ready, we did a little service for a member that needed some weeding done.  We had Renee, Fely and the Skyway B elders over for dinner and a lesson in the evening.  It went pretty well.  Renee has lots of questions about baptism, so we told her we would have another lesson.  Afterwards we went with the Elders to our meeting with the ward mission leader, Brother Kigin.  Pray for us when we ride with Elder Lappaleinen…

Friday:  Our last Institute class for the summer was today.  After class we went to Denny’s again with the Bensons.  This time we had a plan.  Joyce had folded some money for a tip, which we put between two pass along cards.  She took it with not too much excitement.  The tip alone should have been enough, at least, for a smile, but no reaction. Oh well we tried.  We always get the same waitress at Denny’s each Friday when we go with the Benson’s and she is really shy, but at least she knows who we are.  The rest of the day we spent on the streets with fair success.  One couple from Laos let us in and we had a good visit.  The hot pads really warm people up, (thanks Phyllis).  They haven’t attended church for two years, but still consider themselves as members, which is not the usual response we get from most less active members.  The husband speaks fair English which excited the Elders when we told them.  They need a member who speaks that language (Lao) to help teach an investigator.  He indicated that he would like to go on a mission someday with his wife, but for now he must work. 

Fely and Sister Knowles

Waiting to catch bus 48 home

Green Lake

Saturday:  We rode the bus to our ESL training in Seattle. The Bus had to make several detours because they were having the Rocken Roll Marathon today and several of the streets were closed off. It’s an hour ride, then six hours in class, then a 2 hour ride home, so a lot of sitting!  It was a good class and now we can start our English class.  When we scheduled the class in April, June 13^th seemed so far away.  Now it’s come and gone and a lot of the plans we had before stating our English class still aren’t done.  Like the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Walking to the bus stop we passed a store that would be a handy man’s dream.  Ann would have loved it, Doug would has thought, great, one more project. On the way home we got off the bus, for a little break, and walked around a park on Green Lake.  The park was packed with people.  The Skyway B elders needed us for appointments, so we cut the walk short and got back on the bus.  Graduation for the University of Washington was going on so lots of traffic and the bus was crowed and had lots of stops.  That’s why the extra hour going home.  We were almost home when the Elders sent a text to let us know the appointments had cancelled.  We should have been disappointed, but it was nice to go home and eat and relax.  The Elders did come over later looking for something to eat, so we got to visit with Elder Lapalinin and Elder Palo.  They are such cute young men and are trying so hard to work diligently and be obedient.  We hope the baptism this Saturday comes about, because they are such humble elders.

Skyway A, Ezekiel, and Skyway B

Preaching for the week comes from our Institute Class on Isaiah, which went right along with all that we are being taught about the Sabbath Day.  Isaiah 1:18 states: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:  though your sins be as scarlet (the color of fresh blood, so if your sins are new), they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson (darker, reddish brown blood stains – old sins that need to be resolved) they shall be as wool.”  This is where the sacrament comes in, using the atonement and the repentance process each week at sacrament meeting.  We are having such a hard time getting our new converts to stay for all three meetings at church.  So, we loved it when Brother Holiday, our institute teacher, talked about the Sabbath.  He talked about the sacrament prayers being a pleading prayer for nourishment of the atonement and to hunger after obedience and righteousness.  His last name, the word, Holiday, comes from the name “Holy Day.”  In the Jewish Culture, there were festivals associated with their Sabbaths, and now days our Sabbath, has become Sunday, which has become the Week End, which is just a worldly festival in a lot of places.  We need to plead for what we need on our Holy Day for the nourishment of the atonement so that we can feast after spiritual things and gain an appetite for things that are good for us. One more scripture:  Mosiah 2:31 says: “And now, my brethren, I would that ye should do as ye have hither to done.  As ye have kept my commandments, and also the commandments of my Father, and have prospered, and have been kept from falling into the hands of your enemies, even so if ye shall keep the commandments of my son, or the commandments of God which shall be delivered unto you by him, ye shall prosper in the land, and your enemies shall have no power over you.”  It’s a pretty good blessing that we get by being obedient and attending all three hours of our meetings on Sunday.  Enough of that.  Have a great week.  We pray for you always,

 Love Sister and Elder Knowles

                                    Week 22   May 31-June 6

When two dogs fight over a bone, a third dog ends up with it

Dear Loved Ones,

Elder Knowles usually writes the letter so that I can practice the piano (keyboard), but he said to write this week, so anyway, when we are out walking or driving with our windows down, many drivers think that we like to hear their music (rap) that they play very loudly, so here goes my rap.J

Come one come all and join the fun,

The stakes are very steep,

Doing service so all can come unto Christ

Teaching of covenants to keep 

  

Rides for Sunday church – what a bust,

Joyce, Renee, Mary, all stayed home.

Elders called:  “Sure, we’ll pick up Luze and Annie,” we said,

But when we got there, they were gone!

But, Nola Fakialoatonga came to church,

Along with all her family.

And Ruth, Rubi and Tesloach were in Primary…

So, a good Sunday it turned out to be!

Monday, rain, but washed the car,

The Elders scrubbed to get rid of our smell.

So, we took them to dinner at Applebees,

Thanks, Ron and Karla!  That turned out well!

Monday, Family Home Evening, same old thing,

Dinner, lesson, talking to everyone, and to Dale.

Played the piano with Ravyn, and asked if to Primary she’d come,

Ravyn surprised me, she said “Swell!”

Yoga every morning, breathe and blow,

Looking at the chart.

Stretch to “down dog” and ready position,

The race is about to start!

Tuesday morning – up early for Zone Conference,

Maple Valley here we come.

The Eaton’s presented Family History as a contacting tool,

It’s a great approach for some.

Then, Art’s favorite thing – being a chauffeur to Seattle,

The streets are very steep,

But he’d made a promise to Thomas Johnson, to help his wife Joyce,

And that promise he had to keep.

So, to Seattle we went for doctor’s appointment for their baby, Eric,

And the comedy began,

With Joyce and Joyce doing the navigating,

Art about hit the fanJ

Wednesday to Kent, dropped off Joyce Johnson to get hair done,

Then, to Northwest Harvest with the missionary sisters we did work,

Then, onto our meeting with President McKinney,

That’s a good meeting we cannot shirk.

We read about the trials for the Smith’s,

 On their Palmyra Path.

Even when tested, the family got stronger,

Much to Satan’s wrath.

  

After dropping Joyce off at her home, the bus we did ride, Meeting the Elders at Ruth and Rubi’s we went to teach.  Using Alesia’s great idea, our lesson on the Word of Wisdom,  Was so much fun to preach!  (Thanks Sister Schwieder for the idea using pepper and soap!)

Then, to Bishop’s meeting at 8:30 p.m.

He is an awesome man.

Always candy for missionaries,

Hard to stay on our diet plan!

Thursday, dentist appointment for Joyce,

Then, to Seattle we went back.

For a doctor’s appointment for our Joyce Johnson,

Seattle at rush hour is a heart attack!

But, back in time to walk to our Missionary meeting, Then, ride with the Elders to teach Raymark. We love the Acosta’s and they feed us well, But we always get home way after dark!

So much for my rappingJ

Friday morning in our Institute Class, while discussing Isaiah, the imagery really came through about the restoration of the gospel:  “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tiding, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”  Isaiah 52:7 

Feet have an interesting connotation in the text of apostles, prophets, missionaries, teachers, and everyone that shares the gospel that “saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.” It was the Savior’s feet that the woman did wash and she dried His feet with her hair, for she loved the Savior much.  It is the feet that often get dirty, tired and sore.  It was the feet of the sandal clad apostles, which the Savior did wash as he served them because of His love for them.  It is in the feet where much of the work gets done, when we serve because we love.  We “hit the pavement and go to work” as missionaries, and aren’t we

all missionaries, serving because of our love of the Savior?  Our feet are sore today!  We ate with the Benson’s after our institute class this morning, came home for about an hour and then about 2:30 we rode the bus to the top of the areas that we wanted to work this afternoon. We walked and worked our way back home, getting three of our quadrants done. We are supposed to check on the members in our area, most of which never attend church, so we are trying to see if people even live at the addresses that we have.   We didn’t have much success:  a lot of people are not home or will not answer their door, so we tape a note onto the door.  Some say they are not interested, and some say that they “are not members anymore.”  Some are rude and won’t even talk to us, although, one young woman spoke to us and was very kind.  She even admitted that she was a member…  Hooray!  Any way, we got to walk for a while along beautiful Lake Washington with Mt. Rainier in the background, and see the moms and the baby geese out taking a swim.  We saw a beautiful Blue heron, as well as lots of fishing boats.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we got home about 8:30, in time for a late supper and time to put our tired feet up.

Saturday:  We should finish up this letter.  We spent most of the morning on the bus going to West Seattle to help at a book sale for the Literary Council and to make sure we were signed up, for our English training class next week.  Ned and Nina Jarvis came in the afternoon and we went to the mall and shopped.  In the evening we spent five hours at a fund raising dinner serving and helping clean up with the elder sisters.  Our Ward Mission Leader asked us to help.  It was held at the headquarters for the socialist party, so there were lots of interesting posters on the wall. Love Art and Joyce

P.S.  Kumusta ang pamilya mo 

Ingat kena sing casing

Week 21

                        

           Week 21 May 24-30

  When you come to a fork in the road, take it!

Sunday:  Renee, Debra and Joyce J. all wanted rides to church so we had a car full.  Deanne N. didn’t go so we had room for everyone.  The Skyway A elders talked in church.  The Acostas didn’t stay for primary.  It was a pretty small crowd all around, we guess because of the long weekend.  After church we had Renee over for dinner and she and Joyce read the first part of the Book of Mormon.  The Skyway B elders then came over and taught a short lesson.  Renee has lots of questions so it is hard to stay on a lesson plan, but the Elders handle it well.  Josh and Jared both called so we were able to face time with them.  Thank heaven for smart phones. Transfer calls are to night so we waited to here from the Elders how that went.  Skyway B called to tell us that they are both staying so that is good.

Monday: 

We found out this morning that Elder Olsen is being transferred.  He goes home next transfer so we will just deal with his leaving a little earlier than planned.  Most of the morning and day we worked on cleaning the pick-up to see if we can make it smell better.  We washed everything that was in it and sprayed the seats with air freshener so maybe it will be better.  In the evening we went to FHE for a little while, then to a lesson with Skyway B and the Acosta’s.  They are such a fun family to teach.  Sister Cabiao was there to help invite them to stay to all the meetings.  She is teaching S.S. in Talalog.  The Elders are going to start teaching Ray Mart and Princes Joy the lessons (with Joyce’s help) now that all the new member lessons are finished.

Tuesday:  Today was p-day because of transfers.  We had to go to the elder sister’s place first thing so Elder Lappalainen could get a haircut.  Since the weather looked good we decided to go to the Rodadenrum Gardens in Federal Way.  There were still a few blossoms out, but we were about two weeks late to catch it at the best time.  The Bonsai Garden was pretty cool any time of the year.  We still had a good time even with most of the blossoms were gone.  It is a pretty cool place.  Federal Way has a Wal-Mart Super store so we had to stop there on the way home.  The elder sisters wanted to stop at Sam’s Club also on the way home.
Skyway A wanted us to teach Rubi with them at 7:00, but we had our ARP meeting then.  The meeting went well.  We don’t have a large group, so it is a very personal meeting.  Even if only one person shows up we think it is worth doing.  We usually have 5 or 6 there, counting the elder sisters.  They have a person they try to bring each week plus there is a regular lady that tries to always come.

Wednesday:  Our district meeting was today because of transfers yesterday.  Elder Jones is our new ZL and Elder Goodell is our new DL. We really like Elder Jones.  He will be one of the Skyway A Elders so we will see him a lot. We are not with the elder sisters now so we have to do role playing again.  After lunch we went out knocking on doors.

  Every door that we knocked on where somebody answered said that the person we were looking for didn’t live there.  We get that answer once in a while, but not every door.  We thought it was a little fishy.  One lady told us that the person we were looking for lived there, until she found out we were from the church.  Suddenly he no longer lived there and she didn’t want to talk to us anymore.  We did have one less active member let us in for a visit.  We had a good visit with her. It made the long hot day and all the walking worth it.  One of the goals we set for this transfer (the next 6 weeks) is to have all of our sections done.  We were able to complete three today.  That leaves about 12 left, which is really pretty good since we started with about 50.

Thursday:  Today we went to W.W the first thing with not so good an outcome.  Art shouldn’t have eaten the chocolate chip cookies last night.  Afterwards we walked over and looked at bikes to get some prices to compare.  We are thinking about getting a couple, but not sure if they will work in this area.  There are lots of hills and a high crime rate.  None of the Elders use them here. We needed to stop at Wal-Mart for a few things for dinner tomorrow.  We are having a family over.  It was “ma tin it” today. We went out knocking on doors.  The homes were far apart and we didn’t have enough time to get to all of them so we decided to go and see a less active lady we know who lived close by.  She had just gotten home from work so it worked out.  She and Joyce get along very well.  She wants us to start teaching her because she has lots of question about coming back to church.  She also taught us a few words in Tagalog.  On the way home we stopped and watered the little garden we planted in sister Swatack’s front yard.  Renee was going to come over and read with Joyce but she forgot and we had a meeting we needed to go to when she remembered and called.  She is going to come over tomorrow.  After our meeting with all the missionaries we went with Skyway B and taught Raymart Acosta the first lesson.  He has been sitting in with his family when they were taught the new member lessons so he already knows a lot.  They are a fun family to visit. His mom and sister came home just as we were leaving, so we got to try out are new words we had learned.  They even understood us, and we understood their response and we were able to respond back, with a little help.  We always get home late when we teach the Acostas so it was a short night. 

Friday:  We had to get up early and put dinner, for tonight in the crock pot before we went to institute class.  We went out for lunch with the Bensons after our class and then made a trip to Bee Hive Books to pick up a few children Book of Mormon readers.  We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in Tacoma.  After we did our shopping we came home and got ready for dinner tonight.  Renee came over and read a few chapters in the Book of Mormon with Joyce.  The Skyway B elders dropped by to show us all the money they had found.  We have a contest every day, with the elders, to see who can find the ost money on the streets. 

The Dangs came over for dinner and then we walked across the street to the park and let the girls swing.

Saturday:   We had a meeting at the NAAM in the morning for a new display.  The artist (Debra Moore) that did the pieces was there and she gave a tour.  She works with glass.  It was pretty cool.  The Puyallup Stake was having an open house for their new Family History Discovery Center that we were invited to.  The Stake President gave us our own personal tour when he saw our name tags.  They had a fan chart on the wall that the High Counselor over family history had made.  Art was looking at it and found that they have the same great grandfather (Joseph Croft Knowles).  The center is built to get people excited about family history and to us as a missionary tool.  We are excited to tell the people at the museum that are interested in family history.  The Stake President gave us the number to call if we have people interested and they will give us a private tour.  They were closing the center when we left so they sent all the leftover cookies home with us so we could give them to the Elders.  We met the Bensons there and went out to dinner with them.  When we got home Skyway B elders were in the park contacting so we had them come over and divided up the cookies.  The Spanish Elders came by and took some and we saved the rest for the Skyway A Elders.

Here is a little preaching:  We have been working one on one with a lot of differ people the past few weeks.  Some are making slow progress and some don’t progress at all.  It would be easy to give up on them and move on to something else.  In fact sometimes we feel, since they won’t try very hard they deserve what happens to them.   When we went to the Rodadenrum Gardens this week and saw the Bonsai Trees and learned that it takes 6 or more years to create a tree, and found out about the wires that are used for support and training, we came away with a little better understanding of what patience is about.  Then, we went to a meeting and one of the members we thought we should quit working with showed up.  She prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for not letting the missionaries give up on her.  It was rather humbling and gave us a shot in the arm to try a little harder.  We have to keep remembering that we can’t always see the results of our efforts on our time schedule.  Anyway, you know what we are trying to say.  We love this work and are thankful for each of you.

Love, “Elder and Sister” Knowles