Week 30 July 26-Aug. 1
The field is
white, already to harvest
Sunday: We had a little rain most of the day which is needed
badly. We had our usual group for church
that we give rides to. We had checked on
Mary earlier so we knew she wasn’t going.
Joyce Johnson’s husband (Thomas) called her on our way to church. We knew things were not good between
them. We knew by her tone that she was
talking to Thomas. Some languages seem
to express emotions very well and whatever they speak in Ghana (Tsi) was
getting the job done. We were feeling
sorry for Thomas by the time we got to church.
She told Sister Knowles she would tell her all about it later. Sister Knowles and Karen were in the front
seat and really didn’t know what to do or say, and Tesloach was sure quiet in
the backseat! Church went well with a
few investigators there and several less active members. We did question why they combined the Gospel Principles
class with Gospel Doctrine when there were six missionaries sitting there, and
that was with Sister Knowles and Chamberlin in Primary. The Bishop needed to visit with three of the
people we give rides to, (everyone but us) so it was late getting home. We did
get to talk to four of the kids. Karen
came over to use our computer to get bus direction and by then it had stopped
raining so we walked her home The Blue Angels will be putting on a show this
weekend and they practice right over our building. We could hear them but couldn’t see them for
the clouds.
Monday
P-day: Our day started with a chiropractor appointment for
Joyce. It was Sister Harrisons one year
mark so we all went to Crystal Mountain, a ski resort near Mount Rainier. Our plan was to ride the gondola to the top,
but it was so cloudy when we got there, so we decided to wait for a better day.
It is a little expensive. Instead, we drove to the Grove of the Patriarchs in
Rainier National Park and hiked that trail.
The elder sisters had never been there. On the way home we stopped in
Enumclaw and they bought us dinner at Mazatlán.
It was good.
Tuesday: We had district meeting in the morning. We worked on evaluating how well the previous
lesson was understood and what to do when an investigator didn’t follow through
with a reading assignment. More role
playing. We also had a good discussion
on what key concepts that need to be understood for investigators to
progress. We needed to make a stop at
Wal-Mart and then pick up the Skyway B elders and go to Joyce Johnson. Elder Palo is checking a few things on her
car. The check engine light is on and
she thinks it has an oil leak. Elder
Palo was a mechanic for six years before he came on his mission. He checked it out and couldn’t find a leak
and the engine is ok. Art took the
Elders to lunch or dinner and the two Joyce’s took Eric for a walk in the
stroller and got something to eat. After
their walk, they read and discussed the first three chapters in the Book of
Mormon. Joyce told Joyce that Thomas wants her and
Eric to go to Africa and live with her parents.
He wants to keep working in North Dakota and build a house. Joyce Johnson is not going to do that. She wants Eric to be raised and educated in
the United States. She already has
Gideon, her first son over there. After
we got back together, we walked over to the Acostas to invite them on a picnic
this Friday. We had our English class at
6:30 and ARP at 7:00. Three people
showed up for English, but they were late so the Elder Sisters started the ARP
class for us. We did have one person for
it. After all the classes, we stopped at
the other Acostas with another invitation.
We are hoping to fellowship Ruth and Rubi’s parents (Jennifer and Ruben)
and their uncle, Ric, from the other family, plus Reymarc and Eleazar and the
rest of the Acostas.
Wednesday: Today
was a test of Elder Knowles patience, which he failed. We couldn’t do Northwest Harvest in the
morning because of a scheduling problem and they moved our time slot to the
afternoon when we already had an appointment so we didn’t go. The apartment
needed to be cleaned before our dinner tomorrow, so Joyce worked on that and
Art worked on the computer all morning.
At 2:00 we picked up Joyce Johnson and took her to the mall in Auburn to
shop. 1st test: Got the wrong
directions and ended up in Federal Way during rush hour. 2nd test: Shopping took forever.
3rd test: On the way
home we stopped and got a sandwich and Elder Knowles ended up with the wrong
one. When we took Joyce home we had to
stay and put together the toys she had bought. At least a little charity came
through even if the patience didn’t. 4th
test: Joyce had a Visiting Teaching
appointment for 6:30 so we stopped there, but the sister wasn’t home and the
parking at her apartment is terrible, an accident waiting to happen. What a
waste of time. Skyway B wanted us to
help teach Eleazar at 7:15, but as we were walking out the door they called to
say he had cancelled. It could have been
an early night home until we decided to walk to the Buddhist Temple and see
Soveth. He became a citizen on the 4th
of July and was pretty excited to tell us all about it. We thought he was talking about becoming a
Christian, then figured out he was saying citizen not Christian. 404 became citizen from 82 different
countries. The temple is having some kind of a celebration on Saturday and
Soveth invited us to come, but we are booked pretty tight. Another strange
thing happened while we were talking. A
man come in and knelt down in front of Soveth and stated bowing to him, like
putting his forehead on the floor.
Soveth never acknowledged him just kept talking to us, and then the man
got up and left, never saying a word. We’re still trying to learn their ways.
We do know that Soveth is the chief monk and is very important. Prinze was also there and he helps us to
fills in the gaps, since we don’t understand all that is said. The black
berries grow wild here and they are just starting to get ripe, so when we walk,
we always stop and eat a few. You eat
the ones that are high to make sure the rats haven’t been into them or the dogs
haven’t peed on them. There are a lot of
rats and dogs here. It was a very nice evening so the day did end on a positive
note.
Thursday: Our day started interesting.
On the way out of the parking garage we ran into the missionary housing coordinators. They had been inspecting the Spanish elder’s
apartment. Instead of giving us the
supplies we asked for, Sister Massey gave us all the extra stuff they had
collected from their apartment inspections so she wouldn’t have to deal with
it. (The Masseys inspect the missionary’s apartments every month.) Some of it
was good, but we did throw a lot away.
Next stop was W.W. then to the museum for indexing. While we were there two ladies came in. One had been on a tour we had done with the
Jewish group, and when she saw us she asked if we could give a tour for her
friend. Stacie asked Joyce if she would
do it, so she gave a tour and Art indexed.
He found some cool records from the Freedman Bureau to show Stacie what
they were about. We are still trying to
get some interest with the black community.
The Black Genealogy Society is meeting at the museum on Saturday and she
is going to show the records to them. We
hope it will spark some interest in indexing. It would be nice if we could
attend, but not this Saturday. This
weekend it an airshow down by the lake, so they have been practicing the past
few day. We get a good show from our
roof. The Blue Angles are pretty impressive.
Because of the airshow, we rescheduled our picnic with the Acostas for
next Friday. We didn’t think the crowds would allow us to fill the purpose of
why we are having it and they close the lake and the kids want to swim. Most of
the afternoon was spent getting ready for dinner and two lesson in our
apartment. Skyway B taught Renee at 7:00.
Renee and Karen came to dinner at 6:00.
After dinner and our lesson we walked to the Acostas and had a lesson
with Eleazar. Jeramiah was coming at
8:00 but he cancelled. Both lessons went
well, but still no solid baptism date from either one. We’re beginning to wonder if Renee just comes
for the dinner and Eleazar answers what the missionaries want to hear. Time will tell.
Friday: Today is our Book of Mormon study time from the institute manual
in the morning. The Seattle Seafair is
going on this weekend so we rode the train, then the shuttle bus to Genesee
Park. Our plan was to just walk around,
but when we got there we found out it was free Friday. We were able to walk by the lake and watch
the Blue Angels perform (airplanes Anj). Seattle is having another heat wave so it is
hot. The whole thing reminded us of the Blackfoot Fair. Lots of expensive food and drinks, live
bands, booths, and hot and dry, but no Tiger Ears. We planned on getting back by 4:00 to walk
with Karen, but the shuttle was slow because of the traffic so we ran a little
late. Since we didn’t walk with Karen, it gave Joyce some time to practice so
she can play the piano tomorrow for the baptism. At 6:00 we taught with Skyway B elders at
Eleazar’s house. They were on exchanges
so we had Elder Snyder and Elzey. At
7:30 we taught with Skyway A at the church.
Karen went with us. We taught
Sister Jasmine Wiley and afterward she had her interview for baptism
tomorrow. We thought we would have time
to walk with Karen after the lesson, but it was too long and she has to be in
by 10:00.
Saturday: Today was clean the church for the
R.S., so that’s where our day started.
After the church was cleaned we set up for the R.S. social. They had a light lunch and a fancy hat
parade. We had been invited to watch the
Blue Angels with Pres. and Sister Eaton at the Skyway building. We thought maybe there would be a better view
from our apartment roof so we invited them to come there. We all went up on our roof (Sister Harrison
and Chamberlin, Pres. and Sister Eaton and us) and watched the show. It seemed like we were closer to them today
than we were yesterday. After everyone
left, Joyce practiced the piano for the baptism, which we went to at 6:00. There was a good turnout. Bro. McQueen baptized Sister Wiley and she
bore her testimony afterwards. It was
all pretty special. After the baptism we
made our usual Saturday trip to Wal-Mart so we would be ready for Sunday.
Here
is our preaching
Joyce and
Art
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