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!                                                                                                                                                               

                                          Week 46   Nov 15-21

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

                                                        (At least in our apartment)

Sunday:  We had a normal day for church.  Only Karen wanted a ride or was going to church.  Ruth and Rubi did stay and also the Acosta’s for all three meetings.  In the evening we took Karen, Princes Joy, Joshua, Michel, and Eleazar to the Mission Devotional in Renton.  A recent convert in our ward (Brother Valdez) spoke at it.  It was very good as usual and we were happy to have the Acosta’s come with us.

Monday p-day:  We seem to always have somebody needing a ride on Mondays.  Joyce Johnson needed to go to Kent to have her hair done.  We like helping her since she is always so thankful.  We planned on going to F.H.E. until Skyway B called and wanted us to go to Sister Fabon’s with them.  We love going there almost as much as going to the Acosta’s, so no F.H.E.  We had a good lesson on reading the Book of Mormon every day.  Our computer also crashed this morning so now our communication may be a little slow. 

Tuesday:  No meetings this morning because of Zone Conference on Friday this week.  It was a good day to stay in with the weather being very bad.  Lots of wind and rain.  The trees blow over all the time and cause power outages.  Art spent most of the day trying to restore the computer without losing all the files.  We did try to teach English at 2:00 at the Acosta’s, but they forgot and weren’t home.  You can only stay in the apartment so long, so we braved the weather and made a visit to the Buddhist Temple to take some fruit and also to visit one of our less active members, Ethel.  The Monk at the Temple that we wanted to visit (Sovet) has gone to Cambodia for two months, so we won’t be seeing him for a while.  We did have a good visit with Sister Ethel Skipps.  She is always so kind to us that we love to check on her.  We picked up two ladies for the A.R.P. class in the evening and a third lady was also there.  We have turned the sharing portion of the meeting into more of a discussion while reading the suggested scriptures.  It works out well with our small group.  Everyone makes such great comments!

Wednesday Northwest Harvest:  We had a good morning of service.  Toasted oats and elbow macaroni.  The regulars are a lot friendlier than when we first started going there.  We are still working on the computer so we did a little shopping and went to lunch with the Elder Sisters. The shopping was trying to find a Best Buy and when we finally found it, it turned out to be the warehouse.  We’ll try again tomorrow.  The weather is still cold, windy, and rainy.  In the evening we had our meeting with the Bishop.  He is a good man.

Thursday W.W. Art wouldn’t weigh because we have eaten out too much this week.  He handles the stress from the computer by eating.  Just so you know we joined W.W. to get us out in the community.  Even though we haven’t done so well with the weight loss, we have made several new friends, so it has been worth it. We should do better in the future because Art is getting worried. They asked him to be Santa at the Filipino Cultural Center and he is worried why they would pick him. We did more looking for computer, which just confuses us more, so we did what we know best and bought some food.  We wanted to visit Mary Hurley and she always wants food from us.  One of the things we said we would never do is go to her place in the dark.  We must be getting braver or dumber because that’s what we did.  The weather has finally gotten better so we wanted to go for a walk. It was worth it, because she was so happy to see us.  She thought we had forgotten her. We did make it back to the apartment okay.  The worse part of the walk was going around all the construction.  In between shopping and walking we got Karen a new bus pass so she can go to Federal Way for the needle club.  (She donates plasma).

Friday Zone Conference: The topic for Zone Conference was “Mighty Prayer”.  It was a good meeting even with the hour of role playing we had to do. What we learned will come in the preaching.  It was an all-day meeting and we had to stay after to get new temple recommends.  We had the Elder Sisters with us so we stopped for supper before going home. 

Saturday:  We started the day with a bus ride to Fred Meyer.  Joyce gave out several pass along cards for the Nativity display in Maple Valley, Bellvue and Federal Way.  We were doing service at Fred Meyer for the Salvation Army.  We made up bags of groceries for people to buy, and then they donate the bag to the Salvation Army so they can give them out.  There were too many Elders for the small room we had to work in, so Joyce and I went out and rang the bell by one of the kettles.  This wasn’t a planned project, but the Salvation Army folks know they can always get help from the missionaries, so they call us a lot. Several Elders had to miss lunch to be there, so Art went to the Deli and got them something to eat.  We had a dinner appointment at 5:00 so we stayed downtown and walked around before walking to our appointment. Since we hadn’t eaten lunch, Art was getting hungry.  We knew that the dinner at night was all you could eat and he didn’t want to go there and over eat if he was too hungry. To solve this problem we walked to Sam’s and hit all the sample booths, some more than once or twice.  Brother Marler lives in an assisted living complex and he invites all the missionaries to come to a special dinner they have the week before Thanksgiving.  They have a big buffet.  The Elders got their money’s worth, especially with the desserts. It’s interesting to watch the Elders from China, Tonga, and the Philippines and see what they think is good and what isn’t.  We tried to get Elder Jiao from China to try the mashed potatoes, but he wouldn’t do it.  He did love the dessert table, so did Art.  After dinner the Elder Sister drove us home so we could get to an appointment with the Acosta’s.  Ric, the dad, said he would take the lessons, but leaves whenever the Elders come over.  We’ll just keep trying.  We did have a good lesson with the rest of the family on prayer.   

Preaching:  Gratitude is the catalyst for all other characteristics.  We should see people as God sees them, and plead with our Father in Heaven for them.  If we continue to care and think of others, we will receive personal revelation.  We, the weak and the simple, are His hands.  Our faith in Jesus Christ provides the way that we can accomplish mighty miracles through mighty prayer.  Pray for: persistence, things to come, prepared hearts, specific people, specific needs, what to discuss, inspiration, energy, the ability to withstand temptation, the gift of discernment, to not be scared, opportunities to grow, understanding, forgiveness, opportunities to be more charitable, the pure love of Christ, sensitivity to see people through God’s lens when people are difficult to love.  From the song, “Come Thou Fount,” remember to Pray to Heavenly Father to shape your heart, to change your heart and to take your heart.  Love Joyce and Art

                           Week 45 Nov. 8-14

One person cannot change the world, but one person can change the world of one person!

Sunday:  We had a couple of miracles today.  Ruth, Rubi, Princes Joy, Joanna and Mhina all did their parts in the primary program and even sang the songs.  Karen was the only one who rode to church with us, until Skyway A asked us to pick up John Chumm at the last minute.  He is scheduled to be baptized on Saturday.  From that point things went a bit downhill.  We talked Eleazar and Reymark into staying for Sunday School only to find out that their teacher didn’t show up, so no class.  John also wouldn’t stay so Art had to take him home.  When Reymark and Eleazar found out there was no teacher, they walked home.  In the evening we had a FHE with the Acosta’s.  They still haven’t found Rachel, but she did call one of her sisters so they know she is okay. 

Monday:  Today is a work day because of transfers.  Karen needed to take her T.V. back to Tacoma so we took care of that.  This is the T.V. we went and got last week.  The shelter wouldn’t let her have it in her room.  We think they have different rules for her because she is L.D.S. The weather has turned cold and wet so we didn’t walk around much, just for a minute along the water front when we were looking for a place to eat.  We ended up driving back to Renton to eat since we kept getting lost in Tacoma.  Skyway B came over in the evening for an ace bandage for Elder Jiao.  He had wrecked on his bike.  They usually have a car, but they were on exchanges and neither Elder (Hisita and Jiao) has driving privileges because they are both from another country.

Tuesday p-day:  We picked up the Elder Sisters and drove to Enumclaw to visit a sister from our ward that had to move into her son’s home because of health problems.  She is not happy about the move.  We took her to lunch so we could visit a bit.   She liked that.   In the evening was our A.R.P. class with one new member showing up.  It’s a good thing we didn’t quit having the class. 

Wednesday District Meeting:  We had our meeting in the morning and got to meet all the new elders to our Zone and our new District Leader, Elder Green.  More role playing, but it was a good meeting.  For a reward, (for being in the Primary Program) we took Ruth, Rubi, Princes Joy, Mhina, and Joanna to the Family Fun Center and then out to dinner. Reymark wanted to come, too.   It was crowded and loud because was Veterans Day and the kids were all out of school, but we survived.  There was a service project in the evening at the Salvation Army that we went to that late.  They were decorating for a craft show this weekend, so Joyce helped and Art tried to stay out of the way.  From there we went to our meeting with the Bishop. 

Thursday:  The weather has really gotten bad, with lots of rain and now wind, so we stayed in most of the day and worked on the ward list. The computer also crashed and we lost a bunch of records so we worked a bit on trying to fix that, with no luck. We did brave the storm and taught English to Estrella and read the Book of Mormon with her.  In the evening we had our meeting with the Ward Mission Leader. 

Friday institute:  We attended our class with the Elder Sisters and went out for breakfast with the Bensons.  The weather is still bad so not much else happened until evening, except Joyce got a lot of practicing done on the piano (keyboard) so that she can accompany at the baptism on Saturday.  At 6:00, the wind and rain had stopped so we walked to the Acosta’s for a lesson.  Elder Hisita was teaching because Ric (Estella’s husband) was going to be there and Elder Hisita is from the Philippines.  Ric was at work so it didn’t happen.  We did have a good lesson with those who were there.  Skyway B showed up at the end of the lesson.  Sometimes the communication among the missionaries isn’t very good.  They didn’t get the message that the lesson time had changed, plus we had been told they weren’t coming to the lesson.  By now the rain had started again, but we were prepared with umbrellas.  We had been invited to a thank you party at the Filipino Cultural Center for volunteers, and it was a nice evening, except for the rain, so we walked there after the lesson.  We made new friends, played Jacks, played a marble game and ate pizza.  They wanted us to do Karaoke, but we got out of it.  We met a bunch of very nice people and got to visit with the Vice President, Neffi, about the church.  We had a great time and it was a good picker upper.

Saturday:

  We help clean the building on Saturday and John Chumm was being baptized.  We were cleaning when Skyway A called to see if we could pick up Eleazar.  Again the communication lacks some.  Art got one of the three Elders that were there filling the font to go with him so Joyce could keep cleaning.  Half way there, Skyway A called and said not to pick up Eleazar that he wasn’t coming. We got back to the church to find out that the baptism was cancelled.   That’s why Eleazar wasn’t coming.  They didn’t interview John until right before the baptism and guess what, he had some concerns and wanted to wait.  With no baptism to attend, we decided to drive to Beehive Books and More to order some things we need for Christmas.   We spent so much that they gave us all a free chocolate bar. The Elder Sisters went with us, so we had to go to lunch on the way home.  We hadn’t done our grocery shopping for the week so we took care of that.  We just love Wal-Mart on a Saturday, plus all the rain.  In the evening, we went to the Acosta’s to teach Mary Ann, with Skyway B.  We walked there in the rain and Mary Ann was sleeping and only Eleazar and Reymark were there, so we had a lesson with them about the temple, the family, and being kind.

Preaching:   3 Nephi 12: 9: And blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.  We challenged everyone to be peacemakers; it seems like rainy weather makes for a good reminder. Love ya; Joyce and Art

         Week 44 November 1-7

                   You can’t take it with you

Sunday:   We have been dreading this day.  It will now get dark by 4:30-5:00.  It makes it hard to get things done and be in before dark.  Pretty scary to be on the bus in some parts of our area after dark and walking up to a door can be an adventure. Church went very well.  Ruth and Rubi stayed and even went to the Primary program practice.  Pray that they will come next week and maybe say a few lines.  Tesloach came to church with us, but he is getting to be a behavioral problem.  He hides from us after church and can’t tell the truth when you ask he something.  Now we are understanding why the Tiffany Park Ward isn’t too excited about having him come to scouts.   We’ll have to work on getting his dad back to church so he can take care of him.   We spent most of the evening talking with the kids.  We love facetime.

Monday p-day:  We had a really fun day today. Not much preparation done. Karen needed us to take her to Tacoma to get a few things from her storage unit.  It’s a bit out of the mission, but it helps her.  After the stop at the storage unit and loaded up what she needed, we drove to the Chandler Bay golf course and walking trail.  The course is on Puget Sound and the U.S. Open was played there this year.  It is a beautiful course with a walking path all around it.  We only did the part that went down to the Sound, (it gets dark early now).  Karen wanted to go out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant on the way home.  She lived in Tacoma once and has always dreamed of walking on the trails and eating at this restaurant, so she was pretty happy.  It had rained all day and then cleared up while we were walking.  We took her home and unloaded her things on the sidewalk, we can’t go in where she lives, so we couldn’t help.  She was so thankful for a fun day, so we felt like we had done a little good in the world today, plus we had fun too.

Tuesday Zone training:  We had great training today and fun role playing.  President and Sister Eaton were there and it is always good to hear what they have to say.  After the meeting we went to Sam’s Club to fill up because we had lots of errands to do.  The Bishop needed us to go to the D.I. in Federal Way and pick up a bed and drawers for someone and deliver them to the home.  We also had a Bishops Storehouse order we needed to pick up in Kent. 

The D.I. order filled the back of the pick-up and luckily it didn’t rain on us because we couldn’t use the cover. It ended up being more furniture than we were told.  The bed went to a home who takes care of handicapped people and a member is moving in.  One of the care givers is a member, but not active so we invited her to church and invited her cousin to listen to the missionaries but only got a maybe from her and a no from him.  We decided to keep the ARP class going so that went well tonight with six in attendance.  We are going to keep it going even if only one person shows up.  With all the meetings and running around it made for a long day.  We have been working, for the past several months, on a photo book for a sister in the ward to give to her on her birthday.  We sent if off this morning and found out tonight had we have been spelling her last name wrong.  O well, it’s the thought that counts, right.

Wednesday service:  We had a good day at Northwest Harvest with the sister missionaries sacking up rice.  The regular volunteers are getting much friendlier towards us. Everyone likes the sister missionaries.  After the service we went to lunch with the Elder Sisters and a stop at See’s Candy for the free sample.  We did spend some money there.  In the afternoon we made some visits, but only found one at home out of four stops.  The other three are all elderly so they should have been home, but nobody would answer.  Our Bishops meeting was cancelled, so Skyway B came over during that time and we finished going over the ward list.

Thursday: 

We didn’t go to W.W. because we went with the Acostas into Seattle to check on getting some help for Eldrix (B-Boy).  The Acostas weren’t ready when we arrived at there place so we had to wait, but that allowed us to visit with Ric some.  After riding the train to Seattle we stopped at a Subway and ate. We were a bit early for the appointment.  The Social Security building was the same routine, take a number and wait.  Estrella communicated through a translator so that part went well.  Eldrix can’t get any help until he becomes a citizen. They did send us to the State.  We made a few phone calls and figured out they did have insurance, but have never taken him to see a doctor.  We rode the train back to Othello and took them all to lunch, then went to the clinic and made an appointment to see a doctor on the 3^rd of December.  The clinic is just up the street from us, so it’s easy to get to.  All of the running around took up most of the day, at least the daylight hours, but it needed to be done.   We went to our meeting in the evening with all the missionaries and found out the Elder Bohne is being transferred next week.  We really like him, so not good news, but there is a good reason why. 

Friday institute:  We had a very good class with the Elder Sisters and the Bensons.  After, we did our usual thing and went to lunch.  On the way home we made a stop at Sam’s for gas and to pick up some pictures for the wall.  Gas is going up again.  We had several visits we needed to make so we rode the bus up by the church and then walked to the places we needed to go.  The first was to Mhina’s to make sure she was coming to the Primary Program on Sunday for her part and to drop off the suckers we had gotten for her family.  They are hard to get.  They look through the drapes to see who it is and they may or may not answer the door.  We were persistent and they finally answered.  We then walked the trail through the power lines to the Acosta’s to give suckers to their family.  Skyway is on a hill so we get a nice view of the sunset, but the puts us in the dark and this is another ruff part of the ward, but we made it.  We rode the bus home, which is an experience at night and now we were feeling brave, so we decided to walk to our next appointment with Skyway B.  It was on Rainier, so by the time we got there we were thinking maybe we had made a bad choice.  We did run into a member we have been trying to contact and we would have missed her if we wouldn’t have been walking.  The appointment cancelled just as we got there, so we talked with the Elders for a bit then walked home.  It was a very pleasant evening so the walk was good and once we get away from Rainier it’s not too bad.  Karen came over and picked up her P. blessing that Art had printed off for her. She had a rough couple of days and wanted to visit some.  Joyce took care of that.

Saturday temple:

  There was a lot going on today, (clean the church and a R.S) activity but we had committed to go to the temple with Sister Sanchez.  She likes to ride the bus there because a car makes her sick.   We met her at the transit center in Renton and rode the bus to the temple, only to find out that our recommends expired the end of October.  Deseret Book is close to the temple so we went there instead.  Margareta has to rent cloths, so Sister Knowles bought her temple cloths. We were going to try to get back for the R.S social, but it was too late so we decided to go eat before riding the bus back.   Between the bus ride, shopping and eating most of the day was gone.  It rained hard most of the day so that was a good way to spend the day.  In the evening, we walked (in the rain) to the Filipino Cultural Center for a $100.00 a plate dinner.  It was just a little out of our comfort zone and budget.  Now we think about it, we don’t have a budget, so I guess that’s why we went.  They are trying to raise money for a bigger building so they can expand their programs and they asked us to come.  We volunteer here a lot. 

 

                                 Week 43   Oct 25-31

                            Boo!

Sunday:  Karen was the only one who wanted a ride to church.  None of the Holly house Acosta’s came.  Joyce prepared a lesson for primary, even though they were planning on practicing for the program.  It’s a good thing she did since Ruth and Rubi wouldn’t go to the practice.  Rubi even started to cry and panicked, but it all turned out all right and we had a good lesson.  After church we had Karen and the Elder Sisters over for dinner.  We invited several others but everyone was busy.  Joyce and Karen did take dinner to a lady that Joyce VT.  Then, we went to a trip to our favorite family, the Acosta’s for a FHE with Skyway B.  We found out why they didn’t come to church.  Sun Shine is the only one who drives and she and Michelle were playing around boxing and things got out of hand.  Sun Shine thought Michelle hit her too hard so she, hit back and ended up knocking Michelle out.  Then, when Michelle came to, the fight really started.  So, on Sunday morning they couldn’t get out of bed and they are both the ones who get everyone else to church.  We did have a good lesson, but Michelle was still sleeping so we didn’t see her.

Monday p-day?  We did some laundry and shopped then made three visits that the Bishop had assigned us.  One not home, one not interested, (she wasn’t interested in the church but it was an interesting visit) and the last place had never heard of the sister we were looking for. The streets in Seattle are narrow and the last place was on the narrowest one we have found so far.  It was some kind of shelter and this nice young lady checked the records and the sister had never been living there.  We had given her some cookies and when the lady wasn’t there she wanted to know if we wanted the cookies back. At least we have our assignment done.  In the evening we attended FHE which was a going away part for an elderly sister in the ward (Margret Foster) who is moving to live with one of her kids.  Lots of people there to tell her good-by.  It was really nice for her and she enjoyed it, even thou she is not happy about moving. We also sang happy birthday to Sister Chamberlain, since she was sick on her birthday last Monday.

Tuesday district meeting:  We had another good meeting with more role playing.  It is the last week we will meet together so we took our picture.  Every time we get put in a new district after transfers, we think, “This is the best district, ever!”  And then, the next district is always great, so we need to look forward and not be sad that we are leaving Elder Zamora’s district, with the sweet sisters that we work with.  Next week will be zone training and then transfers the following week.  After our district meeting we had to split up.  We both took Elder Lappalainen and Raps to LDS SS, then took Joyce home so she could walk to the Acosta’s for an English lesson and Art went back and took the Elders home after their appointment.  Joyce had a good lesson and read the Book of Mormon with Estrella and Ric stayed in the room most of the time so we were pretty excited.  In the afternoon we stopped and bought some pumpkins for Ruth Rubi and Mhina and delivered them.  Joyce talked to Ruth and Rubi about the primary program and they will now sit in the chapel during the program.  Doesn’t sound like much, but this is a big step for them and we are pretty excited.  It took a lot of prayers and a lot of coaxing (along with some bribery…)  In the evening we went to the church in case anyone showed up for ARP, which no one did.  We did get one phone call from a lady that said she would attend if someone else was there because she didn’t want us just doing it for her.  We are still trying to work out a good solution for this.

 

Wednesday Service:  It was a different day at Northwest Harvest.  They are doing a new program where they send a backpack filled with food home with school kids over the Christmas break.  (They call it winter break so they will be politically correct.)  So, we filled backpacks all morning.  There is enough food in one backpack for 12 meals.  It was fun helping with this new project as we went round and around filling each backpack.  After the service project we went to lunch with the Elder Sisters.  We were close to See’s Candies so Art went and picked up a few more suckers.  We had an appointment to teach English, but Sister Acosta wasn’t home.  This made it possible for us to go to a 4:00 appointment that was changed to after Young Woman. Luckily we got the change before we drove to the appointment. With the afternoon free we invited the Skyway B Elders to come over so we could coordinate some visits.  They are out of miles so we took them to our meeting with the Bishop.  Somehow we had not gotten the message that Skyway A still wanted us to the lesson after Young Woman’s class.  We thought that because Christine didn’t need a ride that they didn’t expect us there.  We had committed to help Skyway B so we didn’t make it to the lesson.  Sometimes Skyway A only invites us if the investigator needs a ride so we get confused on when we are invited to teach with them.

Thursday W.W.  We weighed in and then needed to do some shopping for the dinner tonight, picked up Arts prescription and picked up pictures for our wall. We put pictures on our wall of all the people we have met, so those who have been over before always check to see in their picture is on the wall yet, especially the missionaries.  They all know that the longer they are in our area, the more times they will be on the wall.  Elder Palo and Lappalainen and the Elder Sisters are the winners.  Joyce Johnson let us (Joyce) come over and read the Book of Mormon with her, so we took her some fruit and a playpen a ward member was giving her. Art watched cartoons with Eric, while they read.  Most of the afternoon was spent cooking and cleaning.  Milagros Fabon come over at 6:00 for dinner, also the Elder Sisters.  We are trying to get more members to fellowship Sister Fadon, so we had invited several others, but nobody else could come.  It was a fun night to get to know her better.  She is trying to become more active, but has to work a lot on Sunday.  She sends money to the Philippines to support her mother and brother.  The brother takes care of the aged mother.  We have decided we really like Filipino people.  Milagros was so sweet and humble.  We hope we can help her get some genealogy done and take some names to the temple. 

Friday institute:  Our class was very good as usual.  The class is called, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ,” and we always leave with a renewed love and awe of our Savior.  We skipped breakfast with the Bensons because of other plans we had.  We took the Elder Sisters home, picked up Diane Nardi, picked up the Elder Sisters again and drove to the D.I. in Federal Way.  Diane had a few things she wanted dropped off and wanted to go to dinner afterward, so that’s why we skipped breakfast with the Benson’s. There is a Hawaiian place that she wanted us to try, and also a Asian bakery for dessert.   Beehive Books and More is not far from Federal Way so we drove there and did our part to help the economy.  After taking everyone home, we made a few stops to deliver the suckers we had bought on Wednesday.  We were again reminded that rush hour is not the time to be making deliveries.  Then, for most of the evening Joyce worked on the birthday present for Sister Harrison and practiced the piano.  Art made chili for the ward party tomorrow.  Karen did come over to visit.

Saturday Boo:  We attended the ward harvest festival party most of the afternoon.  Princes Joy, Ruth and Rubi went with us, so Joyce had some kids to take around to all the booths they had set up.  Karen also went with us.  Reymark, Sunshine and Michell came later.  They are so shy they wouldn’t stay very long.  Too many people.  Reymark did stay with the twins and Princess Joy.  Karen tried to get several women from the shelter to come with us but no takers.  Too bad because we had lots of fun, plus lots of good food. We were combined with the Tiffany Park ward.  We did have a few less actives there and a couple of investigators.  The booths were all so fun.  The favorite ones were the Mad Scientist Lab, volley ball under the black lights, the dress up booth, and playing in the balloons to pop them for prize.  There were also the normal booths, like the fishpond, Let’s Dance, bowling, bean bag toss and cookie decorating.  It was so much fun for Sister Knowles to have kids to take around!  The rain, wind and cold have come to stay so not a good night for trick or treating.  All the missionaries had to be in by 5:00 so we worked inside the rest of the day.  Tesloach and some of his friends were the only trick or treaters we had all night.  We do live in a rough part of town.

 

Preaching:  A little background history from the Old World:  Hymn 108:  The Lord is My Shepherd, no want shall I know.  I feed in green pastures, safe folded I rest.  The Palestine area is a barren area, so the shepherd take his flock to places where they can graze and get nutritious food.    He leadeth my soul where, the still water’s flow.  There are many streams and fast running water falls in the hills that are dangerous to the sheep.  If a sheep was to fall into the fast moving water, with its thick abundance of wool, the sheep would drown.  So, the shepherd often builds a dam so that the flock can drink of still water.  Restores me when wandering.  The shepherd will go after the one sheep who has wandered away to perilous, forbidden paths to bring it safely back to the flock.  Redeems when oppressed. Sometimes a wolf may get in among the sheep and if alone, they will panic and run all directions.  But, if the shepherd is there, at his call, the sheep will rush together into a tight mass and overcome the wolf, sometimes even crushing it.  The sheep become conquerors through the shepherd that loves them.  Verse 2:  Thru the valley and shadow of death though I stray.  Since thou art my guardian, no evil I fear.  There are many valleys in the Mid East where things of death and destruction are hidden.  The shepherd has to have knowledge of what is in those deadly valleys because there are many hiding places for poisonous plants to grow and where poisonous snakes can reside.  The shepherd goes in before He lets the flock in to prepare the area to get rid of any poisonous thing. Thy rod shall defend me. Thy staff be my stay.  No harm can befall with my Comforter near.  The shepherd will fight for the life of his flock, defending the sheep from predators with His rod.  If a sheep falls into a whole or a crevice, the shepherd will pull the sheep out by putting the crook of his staff around the sheep and lifting it to safety.  Also, if it is a foggy day and there is no visibility, the shepherd will thump his staff every other step and it echoes in the ground.  Thus, the sheep know where he is and where to follow their shepherd as he leads them.  Verse 3.  In the midst of affliction, my table is spread.  In Hebrew, table means spread out, so before taking the flock into a meadow to graze, the shepherd, again, does the work, of making certain that there are no enemies.  It requires great skill and dedication to do this effectively. 

With blessings unmeasured, my cup runneth o’er.  With perfume and oil, thou annointest my head.  When the shepherd brings his sheep into the sheepfold at the end of the day, he stands at the entrance to block them with his body from getting in.  He examines each one as they try to enter.  He anoints with oil and herbs, any scrap, bruise, or cut that a sheep has on their body.  He washes their faces with olive oil to refresh them.  Last, the shepherd has a large two handled cup, which he fills to the brim with water, and the weary sheep drink deeply.  The shepherd is literally the door to the sheepfold, where he tends the wounded and weary before letting them in to rest.  Oh, what shall I say of thy providence more? When the hazardous and wearisome travel of the day come to an end, the sheep find rest under the watchful eye of the shepherd within the security of the sheepfold.

May we rely on our Good Shepherd, as He tries to lead us safely back to our home above. 

We love you very much!

Elder and Sister Knowles