Elder & Sister Knowles

Week B19  Transfer 14 Week 1  July 24-30

There are hundreds of languages around the world, but a smile speaks them all! 

Preaching:  Perseverance is demonstrated by those who….don’t give up, even when others say It can’t be done.  James E. Faust

1: keep a positive attitude  count your blessings

2: remember to work together…ask for help- - - friends and family

3. replace fear with faith - avoid doubt, remember the Lord has all power….call upon Him

4. Move forward with patience and courage….never, never, never give up

“Don’t fall victim to the temptation that ensnared Laman and Lemuel. When they received the awesome assignment to obtain the plates of Laban, the record indicates that they murmured, saying that it was a hard thing which they had been commanded to do. And they lost their opportunity and their reward. Rather, let your attitude be that of their brother, Nephi: ‘I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded’ Pres. Monson

Karen, Sister and Elder Knowles and Bro. David

Sunday:  Elder Call was at church today and taught SS so Art didn’t have to teach.  Joyce had 100% of her primary class at church so she did teach.  Ric didn’t come to church but Richel did so that was a blessing.  Several less active and investigators were there. The Bishop had sent us a text asking us to make sure that the Acosta boys came dressed proper because of Elder Call being there.  They were fine, then one of the members, one of our ward missionary members,  showed up in a shirt and tie with shorts on.  We thought it was pretty funny.  Plus, this same member was arguing with Elder Call over the meaning of a scripture in SS, so he really stuck out.  That’s why we love this ward, never a dull moment. We had to make a few different trips to get all the Acostas home.  After lunch with Karen we loaded some of her things and took them over to Sister Jones.  There is still lots to do there before she can move in.  While Karen and Joyce were unpacking, Art went out and picked some blackberries for breakfast tomorrow.   Sister Jones taught Art another magic trick. He can’t wait to impress the grandkids.  He does need lots more practice so it a good thing we have

Primary class

a few more months before coming home.   It was a beautiful day so we went to Seward Park and walked around.  It was very crowded with swimmers, picnickers, walkers, bikers and lots of boats on the lake.  We ran into the Davids, Brother David is in our bishopric and Sister David leads the music and is YW.   They walked partway with us.  We made it home in time for the kids to call.  Their calls are the highlight of our Sunday.  Art did get another call from Brother Powers but he told him to call the Skyway A Elders.  He will repent for that

Karen, Sister Knowles and Sister David

one.  

Monday:  Several of the missionaries in our zone were transferred but none from our ward.  Brother Powers didn’t get his stuff to the Elders so we will have to deal with him again.  We did some laundry, studied for our talks and normal morning things until time to go to the airport and pick up Joyce Johnson.  SeaTac is a zoo.  We waited/drove around for an hour before we could pick Joyce up.  She did have Gideon with her.  She was able to have someone help her extend his passport, so she could get him here.  His passport expires in August, and apparently, you have to get them here 6 months before their passport expires, so she was very thankful to get him here!  We drove to her place in Seattle, unloaded some luggage and then drove them all to Puyallup by way of Wal-Mart.  We thought we were picking up Eric but they were all going to stay in Puyallup for a few days with Joyce’s friend, the one who tended Eirc, while Joyce was in Ghana. It was time now for a late lunch and some shopping for Joyce. She is making baby blankets for the many new babies we have in the ward.  Since the Johnson’s stayed in Puyallup, the back of the pick-up was empty so we decided to stop on the way home and pickup a bed at the DI in Federal Way.  That was also another mess.  We didn’t know what color or size to get. We finally go it sorted out after a few calls. We stopped on the way home at Sister Jones and dropped off the bed then called it a day and stayed in the rest of the night.  

Gideon and his mother, back from Africa

Tuesday p-day:  It was supposed to be a p-day, since transfers were on Monday, but it was a working day with all the Acostas and the SRS class in the evening.  We started as early as we could get Ruth and Rubi to get up, which was 09:00. Then, we went to Holly House Acosta’s to get Reymarkl, Princes Joy, and we thought Eleazar.  Eleazar didn’t come, but Reymark invited Ivar, who we are trying to get to come back to church, and he came with us.  By the time we got all the Acostas rounded up and Ivar, it was close to 10:00.  Karen was going to go with us until we had a little miscommunication and she got left.  We wanted her to meet us at the locks but she decided to stay home.  We rode the link, then the bus to the locks.  The salmon run this year is low so not many fish to see jumping, but there were a few.  We did watch them catching a few fish that they will run tests on to see where they spent their time while in the ocean.  The kids had a great time watching the boats go through the locks.  We ate lunch at our favorite place, The Red Totem.  It had been cloudy and cool most of the morning.  After lunch the sun came out and it got hot so the kids were done.  We went home by bus then the link and got ready for the SRS class.  As we

The Family that took care of Eric while Sister Johnson was in Africa

were leaving to go to class, we checked our e-mails and found out the we were facilitating the class again.  Luckily, Sister Kakuda had all the videos on her computer since we didn’t have time to get them ready.  The class went well.  Brother Powers had called Art on the way to the locks and he told him that we would meet him at the SRS class. He got the mission office and the employment center involved so he took all his things to the employment center where we have the class, so we didn’t have to deal with him.  (Art may have suggested that he call them). The only bad thing now is that Bishop Clair and the employment office missionaries have to deal with all the stuff.   We did volunteer to help if they needed to take anything to the DI.    We should have taken a picture of the room.  Words cannot describe what was in there.  We did take home a few nice flashlights, gloves for the Day of Service, and a small cooler.  After the class we rode the bus to Henderson and then walked home from there.

Visit to Ballard Locks 

Wednesday: Another busy day.  We had our district meeting first thing in the morning.  We are in the same district with Elder Nelson, but he has a new companion, Elder Bodily from I.F.  He is a new elder.  Sister Bailey also has a new missionary and they are now in our district along with the Spanish speaking Elders.  One of them is new to Renton and has been out awhile. Lots of changes so we get to meet a few more missionaries.  After the meeting we made a trip to Kent to pick up Eldrex’s glasses and missed their lunch closing time by 5 min so we will try again tomorrow. We made a stop at the employment office and Joyce got several (50 or more) flashlight to use in primary.  She has a fun idea for them. Bro. Powers had brought more things over but they told him they won’t take any more of his things.  After lunch we loaded Karens things from Hope Place, (she is now officially moved out) and went to Sister Jones.  The Hermana's met us there to help Karen move in.  Mostly we spent time putting the bed together.  We finished just in time to start picking up for Achievement Days.  First the twins, then the Holly house Acostas, plus Ivar.  We met everyone else at Seward Park.  The girls walked around the loop and the boys played with the soccer ball and frisbee. Bro. Sablon was there so I guess it counts as YM’s. It was a long activity so we missed the Bishops meeting, again.  

Seward Park

Thursday:  We got a slow start for the day.  The last few weeks must be catching up with us.  Our first order of business was a trip to Kent for the glasses for Eldrex and to pick up a food order at the Bishops storehouse.  They are only open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and at limited hours.  That part went smooth even with the storehouse being busy.  We delivered the food order and then ran over to Joyce Johnson’s to jump her car.  We guess the battery went dead while she was gone.  We had stopped at Wal-Mart and bought some new jumper cables so we could leave them with her incase it happens again.  A quick trip home then back to the church to pick up the Skyway A elders.  There was lots of miscommunication for this outing.  We thought we were leaving at 6:10 for the Family History Discovery Center appointment at 07:00 at Bellevue.  The elders were doing the baptismal interview for Jasmine at 6:30. They thought we could drive there in ten minutes.  Silly Elders!  We ended up not going to the Discovery Center.  We have to keep reminding ourselves that the Elders are young.  The Elder Sisters were also there, ready to go at 6:10.  Since we didn’t go, Art stayed and helped them teach a lesson to Justine, Jasmine’s twin sister while Jasmine planned her baptism program.  Before going home we made a trip to Wal-Mart again for some groceries.  We are feeding the Elders this weekend. Our slow start in the morning caused us to have to hurry everywhere we went in the afternoon and evening but we got it all done, except for the Discovery Center.  

Putting the bed together with the Hermanas

Friday:  There was no sleeping in today.  We had to be at the Filipino Cultural Center at 09:00. We walked there and went to work.  Joyce works hard in the copy room and Art mostly sits in the photo room.  There were two others with him and they aren’t as busy.  We had to leave at 11:30 so we could pick up Estrella and Eldrex for his 1:00 appointment at Children’s Hospital.  Reymark came with us.  It is his birthday today so we tried a new place called Geraldine’s in Columbia City.  Not bad food but kind of expensive and weird.  Reymark wanted to go there for his birthday so it was okay.  He has a sister named Geraldine.  After dropping them off we hurried to the employment center before it closed.  Bro. Powers had dropped off a ton of batteries for the flashlights.  It will save us from having to buy them for primary.  Most of the evening was spent getting our talks ready for Sunday.

Reymark unloading Eldrex's wheelchair

Saturday:  We were at the Filipino Cultural Center again in the morning at 9 a.m., same duties.  We planned to stay until 4:00 but they could do without us as there was more help, so we left at 2:00 and came home to get ready to feed the Elders.  We did eat lunch there but not sure what it was, some kind of bean soup, rice and a fish.  The fish still had its head on with the eyes looking at us.  We did recognize the rice. The fish was pretty good but the soup had no flavor.  Joyce did eat some sweet white stuff with corn in it that she liked.  This is a good time of the year to be out walking because the blackberries are coming  on and they grow everywhere.  We stopped and ate a few on the way home.  The missionaries, Skyway A&B, came at 5:00 and we fed them waffles with fruit and whipped cream plus a few link sausages.  We are running out of meals we haven’t already fixed.  They shared a message with us and were on their way.  Their challenge to us was to tell our children and grand children how important missionary work is and that you all need to be missionary minded and invite others to listen to our gospel.  The plan of salvation is such and miraculous thing, that we need to share it with our friends and

Lunch at the Filipino Cultural Center

associates.  Our plan was to visit Karen and help her out.  We rode the train to Henderson and while waiting for the bus, we called and Karen said we could help her with her bus pass tomorrow so change of plans.  We walked home and stopped at Sister Driggs to fix a radio she has been asking Art to look at.  She also had a fit bit that she wanted set up, but the directions were that she needed a smart phone and a computer.  She has neither, so needs to take it back.  With that done we went home and to bed.  That’s another week for the book.  Hope it was a good week for all of you.  Love Joyce and Art

Seward Park and Mt. Rainier