Week B28 Transfer 12 Week 4  May 22-28

                                That others might be lifted              

Preaching:  Looking for the path to safety in the counsel of prophets makes sence to those with strong faith…the choise not to take prophetic counsel changes the very ground upon which we stand.. It becomes more dangerous.  The failure to take prophetic counsel lessons our power to take inspired counsel in the future.  The best time to have decided to help Noah build the ark was the first time he asked.  Each time he asked after that, each failure to respond would have lessoned sensitivity to the Spirt.  And so each time his requst would have seemed more foolish, until the rain came.  And then it was too late.  Elder Eyring

Sunday:  We gave Karen and Diane a ride to church.  No JoAnna today.  We invited her but got no response.  Most of the Acostas were at church, no Richel, Sun Shine and Reymark.  But Joshua was there so that was good. Eleazar looked good in his new suit.  We have a lady in the ward that always wears purple and has a purple streak in her hair.  They call her grandma purple.  The primary kids practiced the song that some of them will sing at Bro. Acosta’s baptism this Saturday.  They had a combined YM/YW with the stake patriarch so that was good for the Acostas.  Just not sure how much they understood.  We needed to attend a 3:30 meeting on the SRS program for facilitators.  We are going to be doing the job search, but we only have three in our group and we think most will drop out so we may be done soon with this program.  In the evening most of the kids face timed us and that is always fun.

Monday:  We did our usual work of laundry and then went and picked up the Elder Sisters and drove to Snoqualmie Falls.  Sister Beck hadn’t been there yet.  We had planed to ride the ferry, but it is too cloudy and rainy. It was not as windy as last time we were there. On the way home we stopped at Desert Book for shopping and went to lunch. Just a little off the diet.  We also had to make a stop at Shari’s for two pies for tonight. We know it sounds like every time we go with the Sisters somewhere, eating is the main event, which it mostly is. We made our taxi run, for Diane and Debra, (Karen is sick) and then went to FHE and celebrated Sister Chamberlains possible last FHE (we don’t know if we will have it on Memorial Day).  Instead of a lesson we played Pictionary, lots of fun.  The pies were very good, but not on the diet as almost everything else that was there, though Joyce made turkey chili which was legal and very good.  

Tuesday:  District meeting was first thing in the morning.  We did have a bit of time to watch the videos for the meeting tonight, before we went to district meeting.  District meeting was good with just a little role playing.  The zone leaders had their car window broken into last night and two of the sister missionary packages were stolen.  Sister Wilkinson has only been out for three weeks and one was hers.  It had a new GPS and scriptures that her grandmother had given her, in it.  Sister Livingstone had the other, and hers was goodies from home.  We don’t get a lot of packages as missionaries so to have one stolen is depressing.  After lunch we took Karen into West Seattle for a job interview.  She got the job so that was good.  Two of the three who were going to attend our Job Search SRS class cancelled and the third was expecting something else so we didn’t have our class.  Since we had time, we rode the train north and took a bag of sun shine to Ethel, a less active we have met.  We were going to take one to our Muslim friend but we found out she was at her brothers. We think that was what she said, her English isn’t that good.  We did understand that she wouldn’t be home for a few days. She is going to call us when she gets home, we think. Since we had an extra bag now we decided to go visit a lady in the ward who had a knee replaced.  It was a long walk, mostly up hill.  We were almost there and then changed our mind and decided to visit a former investigator, Annie, who is Filipino and  she lived close by where we were at.  Annie was very friendly and has missed seeing Joyce, so it was a good visit.  She hugged and hugged us, then, hugged us some more.  Her husband is still very sick.  After another long walk up hill again, we caught a bus and went home just before it got dark.

Wednesday:  We did Northwest Harvest in the morning as usual on Wednesday.  This will be Sister Chamberlains last time there.  We worked with Key Bank employees, a group from a retirement home and the sister missionaries doing Baby Lima beans. Sister Wright was there on an exchange so it was fun to see her, another favorite. Then, to lunch with the Elder Sisters.  After taking them home we did some much needed shopping. We are feeding the missionaries on Sunday and all we have in the house is diet food.  In the evening we attended Karen’s and Diane’s graduation from fourth phase at Hope Place.  That is always interesting. They sing and clap as worshiping and have lots of high fives, but the band was very good. Karen’s job didn’t work out so she is looking again.  We stayed for the refreshments, even though we couldn’t eat any of them, also lots of picture taking which Daren wanted us to post on Facebook.  

Thursday:  We received a call from Elder John that he is being transferred this morning to Kent.  They have been a threesome here  and an Elder in Kent is going home today, so he will be an AP there.  He has been in Skyway since November so we will miss him. Now we have one set of Elders covering all of Skyway.  Most of the morning we spent getting ready for the lunch this afternoon. Also, we may be doing the Money Management SRS class on Saturdays so we are preparing for that.  The lunch went very well with everyone showing

up, 19 senior missionaries in all, from the employment office, housing, mission office and everyone in between.  It was nice for Sister Chamberlain to be able to say good-bye and also for all the senior missionaries to get together.  After we got home we picked up Ruth, Rubi, Michele and Princes Joy and took them shopping for dresses.  Joyce did the shopping and Art went out in the hall to have a phone meeting about SRS.  It never happened.  With the shopping done it was time for supper before going home.  They practiced the song, in the pick-up, that they are going to sing at the baptism on Saturday.  We know this doesn’t sound like a big deal but for us we are seeing two miracles, Ric being baptized and the girls singing.  They have come a long ways in the past year.  

Friday:  We attended the institute class with the Elder Sisters and had lunch after.  It was another good class.  There is one person that comments on everything and he does get a bit irritating for some.  We rode the bus to Joyce Johnson’s and Joyce read the Book of Mormon with her.  She is doing good, but no word from Thomas.  She says that is good for her.  She still works a lot so she can go to Africa and bring her other boy home.  We rode the Link into Seattle and walked up pill hill (it’s where several hospitals are, “pill hill”).  Diane Nardi was admitted last night to Swedish Hospital, so we went to see her.  Joyce had made her a bag of sunshine.  We had to bring most of it home with us since Diane can’t eat anything. We will save it for her and it really cheered her up. Here are some reasons why it is so important to have the Gift of the Holy Ghost. On the way to the link we had to walk by a homeless shelter. Very interesting place, with lots of profanity and drugs. Wherever we walk is the smell of marijuana.  Then, by this crazy man sitting on the sidewalk.  He was yelling all kinds of stuff at no one in particular, with more profanity.  We finally got on the Link and sat across from a man dressed like a woman.  He was interesting: bright pink lipstick, long fingernails, a short skirt, and a ton of make up, even talking in a high voice. That’s just a bit of what we see of the world and it will get worse as summer gets closer.  It’s interesting that we are counciled not to be around this kind of stuff, then they put missionaries right in the middle of it, because that is where the gospel is needed.  We are so thankful for safety and protection, and for the still small voice of the Holy Ghost that guides us.  We got home and Joyce made more phone calls trying to get the SRS class worked out.  

Saturday: We spent most of the day getting ready for the baptism, cutting up fruit, preparing a talk, getting a lessons ready for Sunday and cleaning so we can have all the missionaries over  tomorrow for dinner.  Joyce did make several calls trying to get the SRS program worked out. Being Memorial weekend, she is finding it hard to make contact with several of them. The baptism for Ric Acosta was great.  22 missionaries have worked with this family praying that this would happen.  14 of them were able to attend.  5 have already gone home.  Plus all the ward members that have helped.  Sister Sablan, a ward missionary, gave the baptism talk in Tagolog and part in English.  She is a returned missionary from the Phillipines and has been a member for only 4 years.  She is incredible, as is her sweet husband, who also served his mission in the Phillipines.  Then, three of the Elders: John,

Rex and Sumison sang the baptism song in Tagolog, “I Like to Look for Rainbows”  for Bro. Acostas in his language. Eleazar, Ric’s son who is a new member of eleven months (and who is the one that baptized Princes Joy in March,) baptized Ric, his father.  After the baptism, Joyce gave a wonderful talk on the Holy Ghost and then, Joyce, Sister Kemp, Ruth, Rubi, Princes Joy and Michelle sang, “The Holy Ghost.”  Sister Chamberlain led and Bro. David played the piano for them.  Several miracles again happened today.  Thank you for all your prayers.  Please keep praying for this family and for missionary work.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the true gospel and it is the way to happiness and peace.  Another busy week but well worth it. Love Joyce and Art

Week B29 Transfer 12 Week 3 May 15-21

                                        Let it rain repentance

Preaching: Story related by President Schmutz, President of the Cebu, Philippines temple. “A woman who was visiting in Cebu, stood in her high rise hotel window shooting pictures of the city view. She saw the temple not far off and took several photos. After looking at the pictures in the camera it puzzled her greatly. The camera was seeing something that she couldn’t see. She went back to the balcony that evening and took some more, and they reflected the same phenomenon.

She was so intrigued she set out to find the building. She showed up at the mission office on the temple grounds and asked about what the building is and what it is used for. She then produced her camera and showed Sister E, the office manager, the photos she had taken.

There were a couple dozen photos of the temple, some close ups, some at night, some day, and in every photo there was a visible bubble over the temple, like a rainbow without the colors. In some, the bubble was large, others just barely covering Moroni. In a few there was a double layer. It was certainly astonishing, and though it may be explicable through some sort of law of physics or light refraction process, it was nonetheless provocative. Sister Ernstrom copied the pictures onto her computer.

Sunday:  We had another good day at church.  Karen, Diane and JoAnna all wanted rides.  Joyce Johnson had to work so we missed her.  Elder Sumsion sang in sacrament meeting.  He is very talented.  Still no new bishop.  Ric Acosta didn’t come to church but most of the others did and they stayed for all three meetings.  Art taught Sunday School and Joyce taught her primary class.  After taking everyone home we walked down to the Acostas to deliver a sack of baby cloths to Mary Ann.  Ladies in the ward had given them to her.  We found out that Ric was sick, that’s why he wasn’t at church.  We don’t know why Mary Ann and her boyfriend weren’t there.  Also, Sunshine hasn’t been coming to church since the conflict she had with a ward member.  There is always something to work on.  We were invited to go to dinner at the Dangs.  This is a family that has left the church so we were pretty excited to have them call.  Not much was said about the church but we did have a good visit, mostly about hiking and places to go.  We missed the devotional and a chance to tell Elder Jones good-bye.  He goes home the end of this transfer, but it was worth it to reconnect with the Dangs.  

Monday:  We went to the Elder Sisters first thing in the morning so Sister Chamberlain could trim Joyce’s hair.  All of Skyway A/B Elders were there getting their hair cut.  Art walked over to the dry cleaners, to drop off a couple of suits, while he waited, hopefully for the last time. they need to be cleaned before coming home.  After all the hair cutting we drove to Salt Water State Park.  Sister Chamberlain is having foot problems so she sat on a bench while the rest of us walked around.  It’s a cloudy/rainy day so not the best for walking.  Our plan was to ride the ferry but it was too cloudy, plus it would have been lots of walking.  We tried out a new place for lunch on the way home and we did stick to the diet.  Joyce and Art rode the Link into Seattle to pick up the rest of Joyce’s birthday present.  We waited a week because it went on sale last Friday.  We did have to hurry back and pick up for FHE. It was Bro. McQueens birthday party.  There was not a big attendance, just most of the regulars.

Tuesday:  District meeting was about weaving in repentance when teaching about the Book of Mormon.  We did lots of role playing.   After the meeting we ran to Sam’s Club to pick up a bunch of pictures we had ordered for achievement days on Wednesday.  When Reymark and Eleazar got home from school we took them shopping for a new suit for each of them.  Michele and Princes Joy went with us.  We thought we had all afternoon and evening until

we found out we had been asked to be facilitators for the new self reliance pilot program that the stake is doing. So, we are now facilitators plus on the committee, with lots of meetings, just what Art loves. The meeting was at 7:00 so we had to cut the shopping short.  We did get the suits for the boys, but will have to take the girls another time to shop for them.  We were late for the meeting but in time to talk about the importance of being on time.  We aren’t sure how we are going to work this in with what else we have going.  They did get approval from Pres. Eaton to call us so we will make it work.  It is a pretty cool program so it will be fun to be in on the start of it.

Wednesday:  We did Northwest Harvest in the morning as usual on Wednesday.  We picked up the Elder Sisters and went to work.  We did rolled oats with the sister missionaries.  After our lunch with the Elder Sisters, (more salad), we washed the truck and then went to the church lot and waxed it.  We were told at Zone Conference to keep a clean car.  Sister Kemp picked up the twins for achievement days so they can become aquatinted with her better.  We picked up Princes Joy and Eleazar.  Michele and Reymark didn’t come because Richel was at the hospital from a car accident, not serious.  Reymark did come later.  Joyce and Sister Kemp did achievement days while Art played basketball and soccer with the boys until he got tired.  After achievement days were over, everyone had to play a little ball  and do the stick dance before we could go home, even Bro. Green and David from the Bishopric.   We took every one home then came back for our meeting with the Bishop.

Thursday.  First thing in the morning Art had to go put more money on Karens Orca card.  That made us a little late in picking up Estrella so we could go to the Children’s Hospital and pick up a perscription for Eldrix.  We took a wrong turn on the way there so no big deal on being late.  After lunch we rode the Link and went and taught Diane Nardi the first lesson.  She is letting us practice on her.  Our lessen went pretty well.  She has lots of questions and the gay thing causes her lots of problems so we did have a hard time staying on tract and only finished part of the lesson.  She did enjoy it and we get to come back.  We rode the Link into Seattle so Art could get a reduced fare Orca card.  We could have done this several months ago, but just found out he would qualify.  It will save us lots of money.  We made it just as they were closing , but we got it done.  In the evening we had a meeting with the SRS (Social Reliance Services) group over the phone line.  Its a good way to have a meeting.  It was to make sure we are ready for the devotional this Saturday.  We still have a few invitations we need to deliver.  After that meeting we went to the church for our missionary meeting.  We didn’t have a very  good attendance from the ward council, only Bro. Munson from the Y.M. was there, besides the missionaries.  Thats one of the problems we have.

Friday: We attended the institute class with the Elder Sisters in the morning.  Another good class about the temple.  We went to lunch at Sharis and Art had to give his free pie to Sister Chamberlain because of his diet.  After lunch and a stop at Sam’s Club we went to the Acostas to fill out some forms so Eldrex and his mom can ride Access.  This will allow them to get to church and the doctor without us as far as a ride goes.  They would still need someone to interpret  for some things.  We were going to set up a family search account for Ric, but he was asleep on the couch and we didn’t want to bother him.  At 3:30 we rode the Link to an appointment with Skyway A/B.  We had to walk father than we thought so we were a bit late, but so were the Elders.  The Elders teach her out in front of her house for some reason so we sat on the steps in the sun.  There’s no clouds when you need them.  After a quick supper we delivered invitations to the devotional tomorrow and a few bags of sunshine around.

Saturday:  When Art took his suits to the dry cleaners he told them he would pick them up next week, thinking that he wouldn’t need a suit this week.  Turns out that he has needed a suit more than he thought, so he has had to wear the old ones that are too small.  It’s good motivation for the diet.  We took several of the Acostas to the Discovery Center in Bellevue.  Mostly it was for Ric.  Ric, Estrella, Reymark and Princes Joy went with us and the Elder Sisters drove the missionaries.  We had a fun time and we think Ric enjoyed it.  He even recorded some history.  After the Discovery Center we walked around the temple and took a few more pix.  On the way home we took the Acostas to lunch at Applebees.  In the evening we had the SRS devotional at the Skyway building.  There was a very good turn out. We took Michelle and Diane with us. We (the commitee) were hoping for 150 and there were probaly at least that many, maybe more.  All the tables that were set up were filled and several just sat against the wall.  We are going to work with those looking for a job.  Pray for us, we will need it.  It was another busy week and we think for the most part it turned out good.  The trip to the Discorery Center, shopping,teaching Diane Nardi, acheiviment days, and the devotional were big things and they all went well for us.  Connie had Gordon’s viewing on Friday night and on Saturday was the funeral.  Are prayers are certainly with her and the family!  Thanks to all the family that attended and for all your love and support.

Love ya Joyce and Art

   Week B30 Transfer 12 Week 2  May 8-14

             There is sunshine in my soul today

Preaching:  Very simple this week.  Look up Hymn #123, read it and let up know your thoughts on it.  Maybe, even sing it for your opening hymn for FHE.

Sunday Mother's Day:  It was an interesting start for church.  Karen, Linda and JoAnna all cancelled.  Joyce Johnson didn’t cancel, but was running late.  Art missed the turn for the church so we were very late.  Skyway A called to see where we were at, since Joyce was to sit in the foyer with Tasha’s handicapped daughter so Tasha could attend the meeting.  As soon as the twins, Princes Joy, Donny and Reymark found out that Joyce was in the foyer with the handicapped young lady, they were all out there, too.  Art had to round them all up and make them go back in the chapel and sit down. (The twins thought it would be okay to play a little basketball during the meeting.)  Ric, MaryAnn and her boyfriend/husband and Sister Fabon were all at church so that was a plus.  Art taught the Gospel Principles class/plus youth class and Joyce taught her primary class.  After taking Joyce, Eric, Reymark and Eleazar home we stopped at our place to pickup a few presents and then walked them down to the Acosta’s.  We had a present for Richel and Sun Shine.  We had already given Estrella and MaryAnn a present when we dropped off Reymark and Eleazar.  We came home and Joyce opened her gifts.  Thank you for all the wonderful Mother’s Day/birthday presents.  At 4:00 Skyway A came over and used our computer to Skype home while we finished preparing dinner for everyone.  At 5:00 the Elder Sisters, Karen and Skyway B came to eat.  After dinner, Skyway B skyped.  We had to juggle the computer, I pad, and phone so we could take the calls when our own kids called, as the Elders phoned home.  It all worked out.  We hope everyone had a good Mother's Day, we did.

Monday birthday for Joyce: 

We got up and waited for the Sisters to call. We went to Seattle and celebrated Joyce’s birthday.  Art made a waffle with the new waffle maker!  After stopping at Wal-Mart for a few things we picked up the Sisters and drove back to our place so we could catch the link (light rail train) into Seattle.  Sister Chamberlain had been cutting Elders hair so that is why we didn’t leave earlier.  She is the zone barber.  We had a great time in Seattle and it was legal this time with the new policy.  First, we went to the Columbia Tower, the highest building in Seattle, and took lots of pictures.  They have a bunch of eating places in the bottom level so we ate there.  We were not sure if we had the time to go to the waterfront and ride the Ferris wheel.  Sister Chamberlain had to get home to do another elder’s haircut, so after a debate we decided to ride the link close to the Great Wheel and then walk there and go for a ride.  Sister Chamberlain was not sure if she could make it back up the stairs so we hired a bike cab and they took us to the Stadium Station where we could catch the link home.  (Sister Beck doesn’t like her picture taken so that why she not in some of them).  At 5:30 we started our rounds to pick up for FHE and celebrated Sister’s Knowles birthday.  The kids and several called to sing to Joyce, even the Eaton's.  Thank you very much!

Tuesday: 

Our plans were to go to the temple early with the Elder Sisters but plans can change.  We taught a lesson with Skyway A/B, (they are a three-some now, Elder Murphy had to go home) at Tasha in the morning.  It went pretty well. She has lots of questions, but most have come from her reading the Book of Mormon so that is good.  After lunch we taught Ric Acosta again with Skyway A/B.  It should be Skyway B/A since Rick is in the B area.  It went okay considering the language problem.  Richel translated when needed.  The best part was when Ric said the closing prayer.  One of those tender mercies again.  He is scheduled for baptism on the 28th if all goes well.  Please keep him in all of your prayers!  We would certainly appreciate it.  After the lesson we picked up the Sisters and finally made it to the temple.  It was so nice to be at the temple and remember all the things we have been studying in our institute class that we go to on Friday mornings.  On the way home we stopped at the McDonalds where Richel works so we could show her some support.  We had the correct McDonalds, but she didn’t work today, so we went to Wendy’s instead.  They have better salads.

Wednesday:  Northwest Harvest was first thing in the morning with the sister missionaries.  We did dried beans.  After, we did lunch as always, (but this week it is lots of salads,) and some shopping at Trader Joes for the diet.  We made a quick stop at the Acosta’s to help Ric set up a family history account but he had left for work.  Estrella needed Joyce to help refill a couple of prescriptions so it worked out okay.  We also got to hold the baby for a bit. Jane and Apollo, from the Filipino Cultural Center, came over for supper at 5:00.  We have been trying to have Jane over for some time now so we could give her a Book of Mormon.  We had a good visit and they invited us to some up coming Filipino cultural events that we plan to check out. We may even volunteer at them.  Jane is going to take some pictures of the Manilla Temple when she goes there in two weeks.  We tried Jack Fruit for the first time.  It was not too bad, and Jane committed to read the Book of Mormon when she is in the Philippines.  It was a wonderful evening.    

Thursday:  Our 10:00 appointment cancelled so we were able to catch up on a few errands and some paper work.  We needed to print off some names for the Acostas to take to the temple, but after we were all done we only had one we could print, a grandfather.  We still needed more info on the others.   Then, right before we left, we got permission for the other grandfather!  Our afternoon appointment cancelled so we made a trip to the bank, post office, and Sam’s club.  Then the afternoon appointment was on again.  She cancelled because she wasn’t allowed to leave Hope Place, then they kicked her out, so she was free to come to the lesson.  We wondered if they kicked her out because she was listening to the missionaries.  She had been warned several times to be careful around us. But, we found out later she failed one of her breathalyzer  tests for alcohol.   After the lesson, we picked up Michele, Eleazar and Reymark and drove to the temple for baptisms.  It was the first time there for all three of them and they had a good experience.  Especially since Eleazar got to be baptized for his grandfather on the Acosta side, and Reymark got to be baptized for his grandfather on the Baccus side - tender mercies!   Afterwards, we took a few pictures with all those from the ward who were there.  We had more adults than youth, but for Skyway it was good to have the five youth that we did have there.  Since we had the Acostas with us, we stayed and took a few more pictures with them and the gorgeous rhododendrons that are out this time of year.  Then, we stopped at McDonalds on the way home to see if Richel was working, but no luck again.  We are hoping that the Acostas that went to the temple will talk to the others and maybe they will want to go next time.  They need to at least come to church more often so they can get recommend.

Friday:  Just a quick note, this diet is killing us, at least Art.  We had Zone conference most of the day, from 09:30 until 4:00.  We got home around 5:30.  It was the Eaton’s last Zone Conference before they go home.  They have been having them all week and we got to be the last.  We picked up the Elder Sisters and drove to the Kent Stake Center.  It was a great zone conference.  We were combined with the Kent zone so we got to see a few of the missionaries that we never see since they were transferred.  Most of the conference was on repentance, which is always a timely message.  In the evening we prepared lessons for Sunday, Art for Sunday school and Joyce for primary.

Saturday: The primary was having an activity day so we stated off by picking up the Acostas: Michell and Princes Joy; and we thought the twins, until Josh called and said he would bring them.  Only Rubi came, Ruth thought she had to wear a dress so she wouldn’t come.  Joyce and Michell helped with the activities and Arts big contribution was fixing the copier for Sister Chamberlain.  The activity was fun, on memorizing the Articles of Faith for an ice cream sundae, (which we resisted:)  The rain is back for a few days which is needed.  Sister Knowles is making  sacks of sun shine to take to different people we are working with. (Thank you Sarah for the idea). We made a trip to the store for more yellow things after we had spent some time reading, with Joyce Johnson.  She is doing very good reading the Book of Mormon on her own.  We had rearranged our plans, and cancelled some, so we could go to a 6:00 appointment with the elders only to have it cancel.  That’s missionary work.  It did give Joyce some time to work on the sun shine sacks.  All the elders came over in the evening and we gave Karen a blessing.  She wanted to walk, but it was getting late so we just walked around the Othello Park instead of driving to Seward Park.  Othello Park is not the safest after dark, but there was still some light so we were okay.  As you can see it was a busy week and next week is looking like more of the same.  Hope you all have a good coming week and we love you all.  Joyce and Art                                                     

     Week B31  Transfer 12 Week 1  May 1-7

                 From here to there, fun things are everywhere

Preaching:  We are having lots of training about repentance this month:   We must always bear in mind that it is not repentance itself that brings a remission of sins and cleansing of the soul from the effects of sin. That is achieved by the grace of the Redeemer. It is Christ’s Atonement that justifies and sanctifies the repentant sinner. Repentance is the condition for access to the Atonement. In other words, we may draw upon the power of atoning grace on condition of our repentance.

Sunday:  We had a good church meeting.  Karen went to another ward so we didn’t pick her up, but we did pick up Linda from Hope Place, also, Debra and JoAnna.  When we got to church Art found out the he would be blessing MaryAnn’s baby. Just a little surprise, but very happy that she would ask him.  Ric, MaryAnn, her boyfriend Fransisco, and most of the Acostas where at church today, but no Richel.  Ruth and Rubi and Princes Joy stayed and were in Joyce’s primary class so that was nice.  Several other investigators were there so it was a good Sunday.  The testimonies were wonderful and heartfelt, such a spiritual meeting about our Savior and His great love for us.  After dropping every one home, plus Princes Joy needed a ride home, Grandma and Grandpa called to say there were here.  Joyce fixed lunch, we wheeled Grandma down to the Acostas so she and Grandpa could see MaryAnn’s new baby.  Geraldine, one of the Acosta sisters, was the one who brought the baby out so we could all see sweet little Nathala.  Geraldine  is very shy, so this was good to get to have her show us the baby and we were able to visit with her a little bit.  Several of the kids called and we were able to face time with Grandma and Grandpa Allen.  It meant a lot to them and to us!  It was a very fun day.

Monday:  Transfer calls went out last night so lots of changes are happening.  Skyway B came over early and we found out that Elder Jones is being transferred and then later we found out that Elder Sumsion is taking his place, so Elder John will get a new companion in Skyway A.  Lots of other sisters and elders we like are also being transferred.  We will miss them but get to meet new ones and some we already know are coming back to the Renton Zone.  We drove to Salt Water State Park and walked around a bit.  There is a nice paved walking path along the Sound, so it was fun to have Grandpa Rex push Grandma Louise all over in the wheel chair.   Then,  we decided to go to Rhododendron Gardens.  We forgot it was closed on Mondays.  It was time for lunch anyway.  We went to a good Mexican Restaurant.  Art and Rex rode the Light Rail into Seattle, and walked around some and Joyce took Louise down the street from our place and she got a perm.  After supper we called it a day, and relaxed until bed time. We also heard that JoAnna was offered a full time job where she is doing her internship, which we have been praying for.  Happy day!!!!!!!

Tuesday:  We went to the Museum of Flight first thing in the morning.  After about an hour, Louise got tired so Art took her and Joyce home then came back and walked around with Rex.  They found a new display that isn’t opened yet, but they were able to walk around it outside the fence and see most of it.  Lots of really big planes.  A Boeing 747 and their new plane, a 787 plus lots of Bombers, B17, B29, B52 and a Concord plus a bunch of smaller planes.  We will have to go back when that part is open.  Joyce and Louise stayed at home the rest of the day.  Art took Rex and ran to Staples so he could make a Daily Dose book for the Draneys so that they can start to teach English.  After that was done they drove around a bit, Renton Highlands, (because Art took a wrong turn,) along Lake Washington, around Coulon Park and home through downtown Renton.  Before going home they went to the Buddhist Temple and walked around.  There are many statues there and it is an interesting place.  In the evening we watched 17 Miracles on the computer.

Wednesday:  Rex and Louise left first thing in the morning.  We got ready and went early to Zone training. (We get to meet all the new missionaries in our zone.)  Joyce was asked to play the piano and needed to play prelude music per the Zone Leaders.  Zone training was on getting people to church and helping them repent.  There was lots of role playing, which we adapt and role play what we need to work on to help us with our member support.  We had to leave early, so Joyce made arrangements for one of the sisters to play the closing hymn.  We drove to Kent for our meeting with Pres. McKinney.  Mostly we talked about the new policy on going outside mission boundaries, (we can now leave the mission on p-day) and the new sisters that are coming, one to replace Sister Chamberlain and two for the employment office.  There was only the Elder Sisters, the Draneys and us there.  For some reason the Hunts never attend this meeting.  Afterwards, we went to lunch/supper with the Elder Sisters.  In the evening we attended the meeting with the Bishop.  We just did a lot of reporting, not much else going on.  Bishop White seems anxious to get his apartment sold here and get on to Idaho.  Sunday will be his wife’s last week.  She starts her new job in Coeur D'alene, so Bishop will stay until he is replaced, and then he will join her.  

Thursday:  We taught a lesson first thing in the morning with Skyway A.  Tasha has a handicapped daughter so the elders wanted to teach while she was at school.  Kalaia  can be disruptive.  So, now all we had to contend with was the dog.  Art tried to entertain the dog while the elders taught.  She hadn’t kept any commitments to read so they changed lesson plans and talked mostly about the Book of Mormon and how important it was to read it.  The lesson went well.  They wanted Joyce to talk about women and priesthood since that is one of her concerns, but the question never came up. It was a great lesson and she committed to read and pray.  In the afternoon we knocked on doors, after a quick stop at the Acostas to set up rides for tonight, with moderate success. We confirmed that one member lives at the address and three have moved.  We talked to a couple of really nice ladies had have moved into one of the homes and gave them some cookies.  In the evening we picked up the Acostas: Michelle, Princes Joy, Reymark, Eleazar and Eldrex and went to the Museum of Flight for Achievement Days.  It was Free Thursday.  The Elder Sisters had picked up Ruth and Rubi. We all met at the Museum plus Sister Doughtery and her kids and had a great time.  It did make for another late night by the time we took everyone home.  The kids were having such a good time that they didn’t want to leave.  Ruth and Rubi loved pushing Eldrex in his wheel chair.  Joyce lifted Eldrex so he could sit in the ejection seat of one of the planes, then Michelle had to help get him out.  He loved it, but is getting taller and harder to carry and lift.  Joyce did have to take them in the flight simulator before we could leave.  Art stayed out with Eldrex since he couldn’t go because of the wheelchair.  What a great night for Achievement Days!  

Friday:  We went to the Institute class with the Elder Sisters and then to lunch afterwards.  We needed to check on a few things at the institute at the U. of W. so we rode the link there.  We needed to find out what time and where they have classes, and what time and where theYSAA wards meet on Sunday.  On the way home we did stop at Macys to shop for Mother's Day and Joyce’s birthday.  The 6:15 appointment cancelled with the elders and Linda and the Elders tried to reschedule for 7:15.  Karen had come over to use the computer and when the 7:15 appointment didn’t happen we decided to ride back into Seattle and see how far the Columbia Tower is from the Light Rail.  (We can now go into Seattle on our p-day and Sister Chamberlain wants to go before she leaves.)  We needed to check out the walking distance since the Elder Sisters are older than us, plus Karen needed a pick me up, (plus we had bought all day passes for the light rail).  The Columbia Tower was pretty cool.  They say it is the tallest building west of the Mississippi.  It does give you a good view of the Puget Sound area and it got dark while we were there, so lots of lights!  We didn’t get to stay too long because Karen has to be home by 10:00.

Saturday:  We shopped for groceries most of the morning.  We are feeding both sets of Elders, the Elder Sisters, and Karen tomorrow.   Then, the Elders will make their calls to home from our computer.  They have the times worked out, some before dinner and some after.  We also needed a cake mix so we could take some cupcakes  to a couple of families.  Our afternoon and evening appointments with Skyway B both cancelled so after delivering the cupcakes to the Cabios, we hit the street.  It was a beautiful day for walking.  We rode the Light Rail as for north as it goes in our ward, then worked our way south.  We had a good ratio of people home and nobody yelled at us.  We now have 14 names to enter into the Ward Spread Sheet, as to if they live there or if they have moved.  Unfortunately, none of the ones that live there were interested in coming back to church.  We were pretty tired so we caught a bus home, plus we were further away that we had planned to be.  Both of us had lessons to prepare for Sunday, so it’s a good thing we quit when we did. We still didn’t get home until 7:30 even with the bus ride.  It has been a pretty fun week with Rex and Louise and we also got lots done.  Love,  Art and Joyce

Transfer 11 Week Six Week B32      April 25-30

The perfect date;  Not to cold, not to hot, you just need a light sweater

Preaching:                  “Don’t Give In”  

                                     by Sister Knowles

The Savior said, “My sheep hear my voice.”

That gives us comfort and we rejoice.

But, Satan, a body, he has not,

So, to bring us misery is his plot.  

We have our Savior and the gospel’s light,

To be sad and miserable is Satan’s plight.

Read scriptures daily, stay strong, don’t give in,

The second coming is close by, and Christ will win.

Bind the Adversary tightly, in your heart and home,

Into your thoughts, do not let Satan roam.  

Pray for the Holy Ghost to guide you in word and deed,

Heavenly Father sends blessings, you will succeed.

At the sacrament table think, “What lack I yet?”

A perfect example, Jesus Christ did set.

Don’t give into Satan’s lies and worldly care,

Choose the right and serve others, you must dare! 

Remember the feeling of being new and clean,

And of serving and happiness the gospel does bring.

Don’t you dare give up and don’t you quit!

Show the Devil you’ll live the gospel and he’ll throw a fit.

Selfishness versus service, A leader’s on higher ground,

Lift others up, so charity and love will abound.

Stand in holy places, home can be that place,

Keep towards the temple, the direction to always face!

Today and forever, do not let Satan win,  

Let the spirit of love of our Heavenly Father and our Savior enter in. 

Have hearts knit together in unity and in love,

We will get blessings of eternal life from above. 

We love you so very much! 

Elder and Sister Knowles

Monday  April 25th:  Most of the morning was spent doing the normal p-day things, laundry, and letter writing. It was raining but forecasted to clear by noon, which it did.  At noon we picked up the Elder Sisters and went for a drive.  Sister Chamberlain only has five p-days left so we are taking advantage of them. Sister Beck loves flowers and seeing the country.  She had never been to Flaming Geyser so we took her there and Sister Chamberlain wanted to know the way to Crystal Mountain in case she goes home that way.  Sister Beck didn’t think it was worth the money we paid to get in the park.  Everyone else enjoyed it.  The flame was higher and lasted longer than we have ever saw it.  The two ponds were also full of fish so they were fun to watch them jumping.  Plus, the park really was pretty.  Sometimes Sister Beck is just hard to please.  On the way home we stopped to eat as we always do with the Sisters.  We picked up three for FHE, Karen, Debra D. and Margarita S.  We had invited a few more but they said no.  There was a good turn out and we had a good lesson by Bro. Johansen.  

Tuesday:  We had our last district meeting before transfers.  Next week we could have different missionaries in the zone.  It is sad to see some transferred but we do get to meet new ones.  The meeting was more discussion and not much role playing.  We took a district picture afterwards since it is our last meeting before transfers.  Most of the afternoon we spent at the Acostas.  We went there to teach English for an hour and  Joyce ended up filling out school forms and open door forms for Estrella.  Art tried to help them apply for housing but he found out that it can’t be done online.  We had to hurry home to get ready for the lesson and dinner at our place.  We should have done more cleaning yesterday.  And then after all the preparation, the investigator didn’t show.   It was kind of weird because she is the one who requested the missionaries contact her.  We did have a good dinner with Skyway B and Karen.  We invited two friends to our upcoming ward party and they both called us back so we will see where it goes. One was Sara, who we used to teach English to.  She has been sick so we are going to try and take her some soup if we can figure out the diet restriction for her family.   The other one was Jane, from the Filipino Cultural Center.   

Wednesday: We did service in the morning with the sister missionaries packaging beans.  One man there has been giving the sister a bad time, so Art tried to keep an eye on him.  He did come and get in our picture at the end.  We aren’t sure if he was trying to be nice or wanted to mess up the picture.  He was rude to a couple of the sisters again, but nice to several others, so not sure what is going on.  We did have one young man that asked the sisters a lot of questions so we will see where that goes.  After the service we ate lunch with the Elder Sisters as always and then we had to pick up Joyce Johnson and take her to a lawyer in Seattle. She is trying to get her oldest child ,Gideon, back from Africa. It’s too long of a story to write about. It seems like our GPS doesn’t work well when we are downtown around all the tall buildings.  We did get there finally and had the same thing happen on the way home.  The plus side was it took us to a place where we knew we were at and we ended up avoiding most of the going home traffic.  Achievement days was cancelled which worked out good for us since we were running behind, but the kids were very disappointed. We did make one stop at Ruth and Rubi’s house and Joyce talked to their Aunt Rose about family history, plus, we gave them some cake. We hadn’t seen them for a few days since they didn’t come to church.  In the evening we had our Bishops meeting.  

Thursday:  Karen needed to go to the Bishops store house so that was our first stop. We needed to run to Beehive Books and More for two Book of Mormons in Ilocano and Taglog for Ric and MaryAnn.  It’s Ric’s birthday on Saturday, and he is finally interested in the church.  Pray for him, please, and also MaryAnn and Fransisco.  They wrapped the Book of Mormon’s so nicely at Beehive Books.  Since we were now in Federal Way, Karen wanted to go walk around Salt Water State Park.  It had been raining but cleared off while we were there and it was a beautiful day to be on the Sound.  When we got home we walked to the Acostas to fill out the forms for the meeting tomorrow we are taking Estrella to in Kent.  In the evening we had our missionary meeting which is always interesting.

Friday:  We did the institute class with the Elder Sisters, but no lunch afterwards.  We needed to get back and pick up Estrella and Michele.  We were late getting to the Acostas because they had all the missionaries wait after class so we could pick up CO2 detectors for our apartments.  All the missionary apartments have to have one.  We drove the Acostas back to Kent for a meeting about housing and more help for Eldrex.  That took awhile since we were late and it was a long meeting.  After the meeting we did find a good Chinese place to eat. Just a question we have, with orange peel chicken do you eat the orange peel?  It's not bad, just chewy. Skyway B came over to use the computer, but the sight was down so they will try tomorrow.  Elder Jones has to fill out his life after a mission plan for Salt Lake.  Joyce played the piano for a baptism in the Spanish Branch.  That is always fun.  We have gotten to know some of the members there pretty well because Joyce plays at most of the baptisms that they have.  The young lady being baptized was the one we took to watch General Conference at the Stake center, so we had already met her.  Nancy and her cute family were there.  Nancy and her husband were baptized not long ago at our Skyway Building and we were all there.  They are the ones that we taught English to and helped when they moved.  Now Nancy is in the Relief Society Presidency in the Spanish Branch.  We are so happy they are loving the gospel!  We received a text from President Eaton saying that the rules have been relaxed and senior missionaries may go out of the mission (within reason) on p-days and we could now go to the Tulip Festival with the Senior Sisters.  Too bad it is over.  We will definitely take advantage of this news.

Saturday:  We are going to go back to starting our weekly letter on Sunday since we seem to have more time in the afternoon to write, plus Sunday is the 1st.  Rex and Louise are coming tomorrow so we spent some of the morning getting ready for them while we waited for Joyce Johnson to call.  We went to the passport office with her to renew some passports for her.  That took up the morning and we took her to lunch after getting the passports ordered.  Our plan was to go to a birthday party with the Acostas, Ric is turning 54 but we ran out of time.  The ward had a cultural night and we needed to make a Snickers salad.  The ward activity was good even with the low attendance.  Lots of investigators were there and a few less actives.  Karen invited Linda, from Hope Place, to go with us and

we picked up everyone early so Art could help set up and Joyce could take Karen to check on a place to stay.  Plus, Joyce and Karen needed to give Darlene Jones a ride to the party.  Karen might move in with Darlene.   After the activity we took everyone home and then walked to the Acostas to deliver some presents and a Snickers salad we had made them.  The presents were the Book of Mormons that we had bought on Thursday, plus we had one in Spanish for MaryAnn’s boyfriend. It’s always fun to go visit with the Acosta’s.  We also found out tonight that two of our favorite missionaries (they seem to all become favorites) may go home for medical reasons.  One has a pretty serious condition.  We also found out that the Bishop is moving.  He is just waiting for the Stake to call a new bishop and then he will be gone.  That has been our week. Love Joyce and Art