Elder & Sister Knowles

                   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!