Elder & Sister Knowles

                                      Week 36 Sept. 6-12

                    Leaving on a jet plane

Sunday:  Another interesting day at church.  We gave Joyce J. and Karen a ride there and then home plus Clarine a ride home. It was also a frustrating day.  They announced that the Gospel Doctrine and Principles class would be combined because of no teacher for Gospel Principles.  Members never get subs, they just don’t show up.  Art had had enough so he told them to announce there would be a Gospel Principles class and he went in and taught it.  He should have prepared a Young Men’s lesson also because the two young men that we have worked so hard to get them stay for Priesthood Meeting, had to go in with the Elders and High Priest. The High Priest and Elders were combined because the elders had no teacher even though members of the Presidency were there and the Young Mens President just didn’t want to teach and cancelled Young Men’s class.  This is the second week in a row that we have gotten Reymark, and Eleazar to stay and no lesson for them.  On a positive note, Ruth, Rubi, and Princess Joy were in their new dresses that Joyce had bought them.  All the

Acostas (and Bacus) stayed and went to Joyce’s primary class.  She also had Kenzie stay for her class even though her grandpa wanted to leave. She begged to stay and he let her.  We did find out that Estrela’s older girls, (Sunshine, Michel, Richel,) go by Bacus which is Estrela’s maiden name.  It is a Pilipino tradition of some sort to take the mother’s name.  And Eleazar, Reymark, Princess Joy and Eldrix, have the Acosta last name for their father, Ric Acosta.  It is very interesting.  Joshua, Ruth and Rubi’s family go by Acosta.  We have always told them apart by the green house and the Holly St. house.  This should make it easier.  After church, we had Skyway A, Skyway B, Elder Sisters, Karen, Joyce J. and little Eric over for dinner and a short message from the elders.  Joyce Johnson wanted Joyce to hem some pants for little Eric, but she will have to take them to Idaho because with packing, “Sister Knowles” ran out of time. 

Monday Labor Day:  We are having Zone Meeting on Wednesday so we work today and have p-day on Tuesday.  Plus with the holiday the elders catch more people at home.  Joyce flew home so the airport was our first stop.  After she got on the plane and it took off, (the ticket counter said that she wouldn’t make the boarding time, so I waited to make sure she got on the plane okay) I rode the train back to Rainier Beach.  Joyce though she may have left her I-pad at the church so I rode the bus as close as I could then walked to the church.  Her I-pad was in the primary room, thank goodness.  I walked back to the bus stop, rode the bus to Rainier Station for the train, but decided to walk home since I had lots of time on my hands.  I worked on what we use for an area book until time for FHE.  I would have stayed home except I had to teach the lesson.  We have been thinking that the lessons need to be spiced up a bit so we played a church version of pass word for the lesson.  Josh picked up “Sister Knowles” from the SLC airport and took her to dinner and to ride the Ferris wheel.  It’s a good thing that the grand kids needed their grandma to ride with them!

Roland Valdez baptism

Tuesday p-day:  The pick-up needed an oil change and the cover needed to be treated so I took care of that in the morning.  I stopped at the church to see the Elders and they wanted me to run to the mission office for them.  Not much going on so I was glad for something to do that was worthwhile (verses taking a nap).  The English class had no one show up and we have though we may drop it, then one of the ladies called to say she had to work and would come next week.  We will see.  Two showed up for ARP and we had a good lesson there.  The elder sisters helped me so I wouldn’t be alone.  “Sister Knowles” spent Monday night with Joshua, Rachel, Maddox, and Haley in Heber City. Josh and Rachel are building a new home, so after a quick walk through of their new home Tuesday morning before school, Rachel mapped me out a route to the Draper Temple.  I thought I needed a little calming and peace before driving to Idaho.  On the way to Idaho Falls, I got to watch Lexi play volleyball and cheer for her with Beau, AnJ, and Braeden.  I got to I.F. and I offered to help Dad with Mom. Mom is pretty much in a wheel chair, though she can walk with her walker a little.  She also has tremors in both of her hands, and other problems.  I invited them to come and live at our home and have the top floor and Art and I would settle in the basement so that I could help, but Dad said they felt really good about moving into Fair Winds Retirement Center.  At Fair Winds, they serve 3 meals a day, and everything is wheel chair accessible, which is perfect for them right now.  Plus, they have activities and church right there. 

    

Wednesday:  Zone meeting all morning.  We talked about having lessons in member’s homes, contacting as always, and developing greater faith.  We had an activity the last hour, which is just another name for role playing.  Two sets of biking elders needed a ride home so I took them home after a stop at Jack-in-the-Box.  At 5:00 the missionaries met at Salvation Army to serve dinner.  This is always an interesting experience.  I had to hurry form there to teach English at the church, but I did take time to talk to two men and a lady and give each one a Book of Mormon.  I only had two so I gave the third one a Bible.  This made me late, but the lady was also late so it worked out.  The elder sisters helped again.  After the class we had our meeting with the Bishop.   Allison packed the kitchen cupboards for Mom and Dad.  Dad packed and cleaned, and “Sister Knowles” had an organ lesson with Mom.  It was delightful!  Then, Joyce, Allison, and Mom put labels on the bottoms of all of Mom and Dad’s china sets and antiques, so that all kids, grandkids, and great grandkids will have a memento from Grandma and Grandpa Allen.  It was fun to put all the treasures in boxes and we hope everyone will cherish their keepsakes. 

 Thursday:  I wasn’t going to go to WW until Joyce sent me a text telling me to go.  She has her flight booked to come back so that was good news. It has been a long three days since she left.  Glad I went to WW since I had lost weight.  The missionaries need leather gloves for the service project this Saturday so I went to Lowes and picked those up.  I have been wanting to build a frame so the groceries won’t slide to the front of the pickup bed so while I was at Lowes I picked up some 2x4s and built it out in there parking lot.  They cut the 2x4s to the size I needed.  Most of the afternoon was spent working on the area book (may have been a short nap somewhere in that time frame).  I can’t do much else because I was told to keep a low profile.  In the evening I went out with the Skyway B elders to three different places but nobody let us in.  We did go to the wrong house once and the man there was very friendly and we talked to him a lot.  They were from Vietnam and both husband and wife were Buddhist.  After the visits we went to our missionary meeting and I rode home with the Elder Sisters.  AnJ and Beau both came up to help today.  So, while Gary Adams (my cousin,) and Dad took a big load to the Deseret Industries, Beau and AnJ moved the three China Cupboards to my front room, so that the three girls will each get one.  They also moved a ton of stuff to our shop to store.  Lexi had another Volleyball game, so we went to that and had fun.

Friday: The pick-up needed new tires and some brake work so I took it back to Firestone and then rode the bus as far as Henderson and walked the rest of the way home, then did the same route to go back and pick it up.  In between times I worked on the area book some more. The Dangs had invited us to dinner in the evening so I went by myself.  Sister Dang’s Aunt and Uncle were there for a visit and wanted to talk about a mission.  They have put papers in and are waiting for their call to come. She is a retired school teacher so we talked a lot about the teachers strike in Seattle.  I was going with the Elders at 7:30 but dinner was longer than planned and their appointment didn’t work out so it all worked out for me.  I had rode the train and walked to the Dangs, planning on having the Elders pick me up there.  I forgot they were on exchanges and were riding bikes.  It all worked out since their appointment fell through.  I had to walk to the train station in the dark.  I keep forgetting the days are getting shorter.  It wasn’t a problem since the firetrucks were out all over the neighborhood so lots of flashing light plus they live in one of the nicer neighborhoods here.  On Friday, we had Ryan, Allison, Beau and AnJ to help us.  First, more loads went out to our shop.  Then, we packed up all that we could and put it all in the garage to store for the night, so we could just load it on Saturday, moving day!  I got to visit with Phyllis, Rod, John, and SanDee, and they fixed the best stew ever! 

Day of Service Skyway Ward

Saturday:  Today was the Renton service day.  The ward had a few people that needed some help and then lots of community projects going on.  I went with the Skyway A elders and several other members to a part member family and did some yard work.  Mostly we cut down blackberry bushes.  They are a mess to deal with.  They should have been sprayed and then burned but you can’t do that in the city.  We worked for three hours and made a small dent in them.  We did get a T-shirt for working.   After dropping my car load off, I went home, showered, ate lunch and took a nap.  My back was so stiff I thought maybe walking would help so I walked to Henderson and caught a bus to the church for Brother Valdes baptism at 6:00.  I thought that Skyway B elders would be there and they could give me a ride to our 7:30 appointment, but they never showed up and the appointment cancelled anyway.  The church needed to be cleaned so I stayed and helped and the Elder Sisters clean and they gave me a ride home.  I was glad to stay and help because it is scary riding the bus

Sister Heiner, Bro. Valdez, Sister Lucky

after dark.  The walked helped some but it will still be Advil for a few days. Josh’s family was planning on coming to help on moving day, but Rachel, Maddox, and Haley all got very sick on Friday, so Joyce made a call to Ann Rockwood Friday night and explained that she desperately needed a “Joshua” to help with the moving. Well, to her wonderful surprise, she got three Rockwood brothers that were sent from heaven to move Mom and Dad.  We had Allison, Ryan, AnJ, Reed, Rod and Scottie, plus they brought over the snow mobile trailer to load! Needless to say, by the time we loaded the trailer, my pickup, Allison and Ryan’s van, and AnJ’s car, we only had to make one trip!  It was amazing how strong they were, how quick to help out, and willing to do service for loved ones!  Rod even brought Mia, and Macey and Tyson had so much fun with her riding on all the carts!  We unloaded and put things away. Thanks Ryan for changing your schedule.  AnJ and I even helped hang some pictures and picked up a few things that Mom and Dad needed from the store.  AnJ and I then, made it to part of Macey’s softball game and got to visit with Darla and the Petersons.  Ann got some friends together for dinner in the evening and it was nice to see the Rockwoods, the Belnaps and the Wheelers!  Thanks, Jeff, for the delicious food!  Love Joyce and Art