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

       Transfer 11 Week 5 B-33

                 April 18-24 

                                     “A heart is not judged by how much you love,

                              but by how much you are loved by others.”  The great OZ.

Preaching:  We had two really good talks in sacrament meeting on the apostasy and the restoration. Jared also gave us some good thoughts so we will try and pull this all together.  The talk on the apostasy and restoration got us thinking about where we are at in our own personal restoration of the gospel in our lives.  We are going to make a comparison to a bookshelf.  On the top shelf are those truths that we are 100% sure of (prophets, prayer, Sabbath Day, atonement, B.of M. , etc.)  On the next shelf are things we may have questions on, ( like why was that person called for that position). We’ll call this the 90% shelf. Below that is the 50% shelf. Things we just take on faith.  As we study and gain more knowledge we may move things from one shelf to the other, but the movement is always up, never down.  As our testimony become stronger we have our own restoration of the truths we knew in the pre-mortal world.  Also, one of the most important books on the shelf is the Book of Mormon.  Read it every day 100%.

 Monday p-day?:  We walked to MLK school to talk to a lady about housing for the Acostas.  Sister Acosta had asked us to go and we were not sure what it was for.  Sister Beck, from Canada, wanted help buying a phone so we shopped for phones most of our preparation  day.  Joyce helped her understand the different plans and she finally got one from T-Mobil, which is supposed to have great coverage for Canada.  In the evening we had the concert at Benaroya Hall.  It was the Ensign Symphony and Choir presenting the Testament of Paul.  26 ladies were invited and only 6 showed up.  They have a 10:00 pm curfew and the shelter wouldn’t extend it for the concert so we think that is why a lot of them didn’t come.  Those that did come enjoyed it but they had to leave early to make the curfew.  One of the instructors at the shelter doesn’t like Mormons and that may also have accounted for the low turnout.  We really enjoyed it and we were glad we got to go.  There is another one next month with all patriotic music that we hope we can go to. We already have a list of people to invite. It was a late night getting home at 10:45.  That’s why we needed the extended curfew.

Tuesday:  Most of the day was spent in meetings.  Our district meeting was first with lots of role playing.  We did come up with some more good ideas to try.  We had to hurry from our meeting, pick up the Elder Sisters and drive to Auburn for a Senior Missionary meeting with President and Sister Eaton.  It was another great meeting.  It was a chance to visit with all the Senior Missionaries and exchange ideas, plus get training from the Eatons.  After the meeting we had to hurry and get to the Bishops store house in Kent before they closed.  The Elder Sisters had a food order we picked up for a ward member.  We delivered it to Creston Point which is always a fun place to go.  The Elder Sisters took us to supper because of us driving them around and helping with the food order.  We came home and were able to face time Braeden, Caden, Macey and Allison.  Jake and Mariah had face timed us in the morning before we left for our meetings.   Thank you! 

Wednesday:  We served at Northwest Harvest in the morning with the sister missionaries.  We did elbow macaroni  first and then finished with spaghetti.  Spaghetti is a pain to do and very slow. They were trying to figure out the best way to measure and package it.  After the service we did lunch with the Elder Sisters and some shopping plus a stop at See’s for the free sample.  Karen wanted to walk around Seward Park so we did that with our usual routine. The weather has been great here so the park was crowded.  At 7:30 we met the Skyway B Elders at Sister Fabon’s and taught a lesson on the Book of Mormon.  We have been trying to get to see her for a long time, so it was good to re connect with her.  After that we had to hurry to the Bishops meeting.  Art took a wrong turn so we were late, but the Elders were doing exchanges so they were late, also.  Lots of investigator are scheduled for baptism so pray that they all keep their commitments.

Thursday:   We got a late start this morning so not much was done besides working on the ward roster.  The beautiful Rhodendrum Gardens are free today so we took the Elder Sisters there.  After a quick dinner we attended the stake self reliance meeting.  They consider us trained.  This is for the new program that the church is doing in ten stakes around the U.S.A. and we are a pilot stake.    The stake had the meeting in our building so we could attend.  After that meeting we stayed for the missionary meeting so it did end up being a long day.  We had the Elder Sisters with us so we needed to take them home.  Sister Chamberlain takes pain pills at night so she can’t drive and Sister Beck doesn’t like to drive at night so we try to help out when we can.  

Friday:  We attended the institute class in the morning and went to lunch afterwards with the Harrisons and the Elder Sisters.  The class was really good, one of our favorites.  It was about the temple, sacrifice, and covenants.  We had to do some shopping in the afternoon for our preparedness bag we are supposed to have.  We took dinner to the Neuss’  and it had to be fried chicken from Ezells because we ran out of time.  Sister Neuss fell down her steps and broke her ankle.  They are remodeling their basement, so she is discouraged.  We got to see the progress on the basement remodel and Art is exited to get some wood and his saw when he gets home, so he can smell some saw dust again!  Our appointment with Skyway B didn’t go well.  The young girl they were teaching wasn’t there and the boyfriend of the older sister told us the mother has said for the missionaries not to come back.  It is a strange situation.  One of the sisters is a member and the mother has never been seen.  A bunch of people are always there and we aren’t sure who actually lives there.  Skyway B can work it out.  Since the missionaries had some time now we visited another investigator (Bro. Kemp) and Teschloch Tut. The Elders were with us because they were in an accident earlier and can’t drive their car.  Techloach was pretty cool towards us at first, but warmed up when Elder Jones told him to smile.  Something is going on there.  The next appointment was to teach Mary Ann Acosta and they didn’t need us because Bishop White was meeting them there.  We stopped in so Joyce could talk to Estrella about filling out some forms and then left.  To all our kids:  You are supposed to keep us informed on what the grandkids are doing!!!!!!!!   

Saturday: We were going to go knock on doors but were saved by Skyway B.  They needed to come over and use our computer to fill out the accident report because they got rear ended and it totaled their car.  It took longer than they thought so they will come back later.  We rode the train into Seattle with Karen and spent most of the day with her.  She had tickets to the glass museum.  We walked around there and went to dinner at the Crab Pot.  The B Elders came back over to finish the accident report and still didn’t get it finished.  Joyce is very concerned about the elders being hurt in the accident.  One has neck pain and the other has back pain so she called the mission nurse.  Art got a call to see if he could teach Sunday School tomorrow if Bro. Lopez isn’t there. So, Joyce stayed up late getting her lesson ready and Art read his. 

Sunday:  We got a text from the mission nurse and they are going to have Skyway B checked out so Joyce is happy.  Only two wanted a ride to church, Karen and Joanna.  We did have three police cars in the church parking lot arresting somebody when we pulled in.   None of the Acostas stayed after Sacrament meeting so Joyce didn’t have a primary class to teach.  Art did teach the Gospel Principles class.  The Elders are getting discouraged with the Filipinos in our ward and their church attendance or lack of it.  We took The Skyway B elders home with us so they could finish the accident report, so we had them and Karen for lunch.  We planned on knocking on some doors this week but it filled up and the weather changed (rain today).  Next week is filling up already with  district meeting, a baptism, a ward party, service and some visits that we have to make.  We want to invite several to the ward party (it will be a good missionary tool) so we have to make the visits early. Then, we will knock on doors.  Wish us luck and say a prayer for us.  We really need some extra help this week.  Love ya Joyce and Art  

          Transfer 11 Week 5   April 11-17

                                                    Today we sailed on

Preaching:  Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray, for power equal to your task, then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.  T.S.Monson

Monday:  Our plans were to go to the Rhododendron garden in Federal Way until we found out it was closed on Monday.  Instead we picked up the Elder Sisters and went for a drive along Lake Washington Blvd and had a picnic.   The cherry blossom trees were out in force and gorgeous!  Spring is such a great remember of the time of renewal and beauty.  Margaret Foster in is a rehab facility in Issaquah because she fell, so we drove there to visit her.  She used to be in our ward.  In the evening we attended FFE with a fair turnout.  

Tuesday:  Our District meeting was first on the schedule.  More role playing and we did come up with a few ideas to challenge a few of those we are working with.  After the meeting we made a stop at Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart for the supplies we need for Achievement Day tomorrow.  (Joyce is in charge of the pictures.)  In the afternoon we took Eldrex and Estrella, plus Raymark and Richel to the Children's Hospital in Seattle.  We thought it was for a quick stop to get the results of the MRI and it ended up being three and a half hours.  They did more blood-work and physical therapy.  They are doing lots to help Eldrex so it is worth the time spent, plus we had a good visit with Richel.  She doesn’t come to church very often.  Joyce and Estrella signed some papers so the hospital will set things up with Joyce now instead of Estrella.  This is what Estrella wants because of the language problem and we can work around our schedule.  We drove home along Lake Washington so the Acostas could see all the trees and bushes that are in blossom. Seattle is beautiful this time of year, when it’s not raining. It was a long afternoon but a good time and productive.

Wednesday:  We packaged pasta at Northwest Harvest all morning with the sister missionaries and a group of school kids.  After lunch with the Elder sisters and some grocery shopping we started picking up girls for Achievement Day.  They did scrap booking and the boys played basketball with the Bishopric and the YM’s leader.  Maybe we will get a Young Mens program finally going.  Even BishopWhite came to play with the boys and we had a good visit with Brother Munson, their YM leader, so maybe things will start.  We had to miss the Self Reliance meeting because of Achievement Days. That meeting had somehow got put on the stake committee calendar. The Elder Sisters covered for us.  We ran everybody home and then came back to the church for the meeting with the Bishop.  This is the first one we have been able to attend in six weeks so we had a lot to cover.

Thursday:  We used most of the morning in catching up a few things.  We had several things we needed to get into the mail. In preparation for next Monday evening (taking 27 women to the Ensign Symphony), we rode the train to Benaroya Hall in Seattle. Benaroya Hall is famous in Seattle in the music field.  As usual, we got lost.  After going up and down the street we found that the Hall is in the building that we come out of at the train station.  Since we were down town we walked over to where you board the ferry to check it out.  Someday we are going to make a trip across the sound on the ferry.  After lunch we taught Estrella an English lesson.  Mostly we played “Go Fish”.  The kids loved it. Joyce did have a short lesson with Estrella while Art entertained Princes Joy and Eldrex. We are making slow progress with Estrella’s English, but it is progress. Our plan was to go knock on doors until Karen called and wanted to go walking.  Thank you Karen.  Joyce and Karen walk together and visit while Art walks behind and listens to a book on his phone.  We walked around Seward Park, getting back just in time to run to the missionary meeting at 7:45.  Again, this was the first missionary meeting we have been to for a while because we’ve been taking our Young Single Adults to Institute.  We are trying to get them interested in attending.  It was good to be at missionary meeting.   

Friday taxes due:  We had a good institute class in the morning with Elder Holiday, our instructor.  We had lunch afterwards, plus a stop at Beehive Books and More for more supplies and a quad for Princes Joy.  We would like to get to know the Harrisons a little better.  They replaced the Bensons and they attend the class but we never get a chance  to visit with them.  Joyce was teaching the Word of Wisdom at our 4:00pm lesson so we came home and she prepared for that.  (Art took a nap.)  Just as we were leaving to go, the Skyway B Elders sent a text.  Appointment cancelled.    The weather is not the best today so we decided to stay in and get things ready for knocking on doors tomorrow and feeding the missionaries.  The Harrisons called to see if we could attend the temple with them, but since we can only go a limited amount we save those times for Margarita Sanchez.  We did invite them to go to lunch  after the institute classes each Friday morning, so maybe we will get to know them a little better if they will come with us.  Joyce also needed to set up our list of those attending the concert on Monday and she sent it to President Eaton. There are over twenty ladies going from Hope Place.  We will talk more about this next week after it happens.  Pray for this to workout.  

Saturday:  For some unknown reason, we both had a bad night.  Too many things to worry about we guess.  Anyway we got a late start.  After shopping for the dinner tonight we hit the streets.  We found someone home at all three houses we stopped at.  One was a lady, Fely, we have been trying to make contact with since last summer.  Joyce and her are good friends.  We last contacted with her when she went to the Philippines last summer.  After our three visits, we come up with the bright idea to try out our bikes and ride to the Dangs.  Seattle has lots of hills.  It looked level on the map.  Good thing the Dangs were home so it wasn’t a waisted trip.  We took a different route home but  some hills just can’t be avoided.  We had a nice visit with them.  They have quit attending church and we invited them over for a dinner sometime.  They were very nice.  All the Missionaries are coming for dinner so we had pedal fast to get it ready.  We had a good time at dinner.  Skyway B had a rough day with all of their appointments cancelling so we were glad we could lift their spirits a bit.  It is so much fun to get all of us together, plus Karen (10 of us) and enjoy each others company.  In the evening we went to the Renton Stake meeting for Ward Conference with the Elder Sisters.  We were a bit late so we sat on the front row.  It was a good meeting on family counsels!  We were glad we were in the front so we could see the panel as discussion took place.  

Sunday:  It was Stake Conference and all who wanted rides earlier cancelled on us.  We invited several others and they didn’t want to go.  You would think the two hour meeting instead of three hours would be inviting.  The conference was very good.  They had a Stake Primary Choir sing that we wished we would have known about.  Maybe we could have gotten some of the Acostas to sing and got their parents to go listen to them.   We were a little disapointed because of everyone cancelling for conference and then when we arrived a Filipino lady, Mila, we have been trying hard to contact showed up and sat with us.  Another tender mercy!  We sat behind the Cabiaos.  We invited Mila and the  Cabiaos to come over for lunch afterwards.  Mila was going to work, but the Cabiaos came.  They are a cute Filipino family and we learned about Bro. Cabiao’s conversion and his kidney transplant.  Lots of trials, but we enjoyed their company and laughed a lot as he talked about how Filipinos always say the are “sick” or “tired” when the missionaries come by for an appointment.  They have two darling children who we adore!  Jared and Emily face-timed us, then Jacob and Lara, and we had to leave to go pick up the Holly House Acostas, Eleazar, Michelle, Reymark and Princess Joy, then Ruth and Rubi from Green House and went to the devotional in Renton. Joshua and his family face-timed us as we were pulling into the parking lot, so they got to see all the kids as we entered the church.  Eleazar was saying the closing prayer, which was huge for him!  He was pretty nervous about it.  Elder Jones had helped him write it on a paper so he read most of it.  This a great learning experience for him since they are all so shy.  He did so good!  The devotional was excellent with all the music, videos, and sweet testimonies of new converts.    We tried to get his parents to go and also his aunts from the Green House, but no luck there.  Again, baby steps.  It was fun to see the missionaries after the devotional and reconnect with the ones that have transferred from our Renton Stake.  It surely has been a rewarding week as we look back on it!  Love ya Sister and Elder Knowles

              Week B35  April 4-10

                             Thanks for the visit!

Preaching:   The sobering thought about the 10 virgins is that 50% of the members of the church that are betrothed to the Lord do not have enough oil in their lamps to meet the Savior.  We learned that you can tell a lot about what a person worships by what they do or do not do on Sunday. Elder Bednar said that the oil is the stuff you do to fill your lamps with.  “Go ye out to meet Him” shows  the action to do it and go out of Babylon.  We need to let our light shine, that others may see our good works as we read the scriptures daily, attend our Sabbath Day Meetings, say our heartfelt prayers and give service to those we come in contact with.  Don’t give up.  If life were fair, none of us would be good enough to be saved.  It is only by the enabling power of the atonement that we can get back to our Father in Heaven and gain exaltation.  How thankful we are for this Easter Season!  Let us all have humble hearts! 

Monday:   It was our p-day so went spent it with Josh and Rachel and the kids in Seattle.  We drove to the Space Needle and we bought a city pass so we could go with them and see the sites.  The Space needle was pretty cool.  The view was incredible and we got some fun pictures.  We had been by it many times but never to the top so it was worth the trip.  Next stop was the Chihuly Glass Museum next door.  This was also nice.  The glass displays are very colorful and in each room we picked out our favorite pieces.  We were also to listen to two talks about glass making.  The museum is inside and outside, so when we went outside, we got to watch a demonstration of glass making, how they got glass out of the fire, shaped it, blew it, shaped it some more, blew it some more, cut it, and then cooled it.  Incredible!  By now it is time for lunch so we made our way to Pikes Market and found a place to eat.  It is a long walk so the kids got to experience downtown Seattle with all of the buildings and  different people.  On the way home we had some of the going home traffic but missed most of it by taking the longer back roads.  This put us going by Seward Park so we stopped there for a while and let the kids play and see all the cherry trees in blossom.  We stayed home for our FHE and watched “ Once I was a Beehive”. Pretty good show if you haven’t seen it.  It was a busy day so we tried to get to bed early, before 10:00 anyway.

Tuesday:  We had zone training from 10:00 to 1:00. Josh and family went to the American Girl Doll store.  When we all got together we went to the Museum of Flight.  It was very good but Elayna got sick so Rachel and her went home.  They closed at 5:00 so we didn’t get to see everything we wanted.  There is our reason to go back.  After getting home we made supper and had a visit from,Tesloach and his friend, Groberg.  Groberg is from is from the islands so we wondered where is name came from because the family are all members of the church and they go to the Tongan Branch.  We think that President Groberg’s mission was to Tonga.  The two boys stayed and ate supper with us.  Casey Smith stopped in and was dressed in his camouflage gear, getting home from work, so the boys wanted pictures taken with him.  We tried to tell everyone that Elayna was sick, but no one seemed to care and every one just had a good visit.    

Wednesday: We went to Northwest Harvest and Josh’s family went to the Aquarium.  We boxed pasta with the Sister Missionaries.  After the service we rode the light rail to Seattle to meet the kids.  Our next stop was the Harbor Tour.  It was pretty fun, with a lot of good history of Seattle.  This was the same one AnJ and Beau did when they were here last year.    By now it is traffic time so we slowly made our way to the Ballard Locks for a visit there.  Elayna was feeling sick again, so Rachel stayed with Elayna in the van while we went to the locks and the fish ladder.  Josh left the lights on so the battery was dead when we were ready to go home.  He did find someone with cables and they got us going again.  We were tired so we got take out from a Vietnamese Restaurant that we like and ate at home.  The Bishops meeting was cancelled, happy day, so we called it a day and went to bed. 

Thursday:  We got a late start for the morning.  Everyone is a bit tired.  The Zoo was our planned stop for the day, it was a gorgeous day, so half of Seattle was there.  Parking was a mess and the zoo was crowded.  It is a really nice zoo and we had a good time.  The kids really enjoyed all the animals, especially the bears and the otters.  We stopped for lunch by the zoo, at a little sandwich shop.  It was kind of a yuppy place and the food was good.  Josh was going to head home tonight until it got too late so we went back to the Flight Museum (free Thursday) with the other half of Seattle.  This time we were able to see the planes that are outside and walk through an old Air Force One plane.  We got to see the World War 1 planes and some other things  that we had missed the first time; and Rachel and Elayna were able to see the museum this time.  After a late supper it was time for bed.  We did skip our Thursday missionary meeting.

Friday:  Everyone was up early so Josh’s family could get an early start (sorry to see them leave) and we had institute to go to.  It has been a fun week with them here so now we can maybe survive the next few months.  Institute was good as usual. After we made a run to get Joyce some make-up and to lunch.   We all had interviews with President and Sister Eaton in the afternoon.  We visit with both of them and the sisters visit each one separately. We had a good visit about some coming events they have for us and Pres. Eaton is going to ask running the ARP class outside of a church building from someone a little higher up.  It was our last interview with them before they go home.  We dropped off the sisters and went to Joyce Johnson’s home to read with her.  She is doing great with reading the Book of Mormon on her own.  We  read about Gideon because that is her first son’s name and wanted to read the story in the Old Testament. Eric is walking now so that was fun to see.  There’s not much improvement with the marriage situation.  We were going to do something with Ruth and Rubi but it was to late so we stopped in and made plans for Saturday with them.

Saturday:  Pres. Anderson invited us to a meeting where the Renton Stake is being used to pilot a new program in the states.  It is on self reliance and has been used in other countries and is now being tried in the USA.   A leader from Salt Lake was here to train us and get is going in our stake.  We think we were invited because Pres. Eaton wanted us to go and maybe we can use the program mission wide.  It was a good meeting and we are excited to try and get it going in the Skyway Ward, as well as help where the stake may use us.  After the meeting we picked up Ruth, Rubi and Princes Joy and rode the train to the aquarium and the Big Wheel plus lunch.  This is what came from the planning on Friday.  We all had a great time.  They loved the touching area of anemomes, starfish, cucumbers, and etc. They loved all the fish, the seals, and otters!  It was fun to take them.  We had to hurry and ride the Great Wheel.  There was a huge line, but we did get home in time to make our snickers salad and be to Joshua Acosta’s birthday party by almost 5:00.  (The girls insisted that we stop and make a Snicker Salad to take with us so  we were a few minutes late.)  No problem.  We had all kinds of Filipino food.  First time for goat and probably the last, we hope.  We were pretty happy about going because Jenifer is the one who invited us.  Baby steps.

Sunday:  We picked up Karen, JoAnna, Ruth and Rubi for church.  Tesloach was supposed to come, but he was a no show.  Joyce taught primary and Art taught Gospel Principles.  There was a bit of a mix up so most of his class went into Gospel Doctrine.  (Art ran JoAnnna to the bus stop and they thought he had left).  Joyce’s class keeps growing, as Sunshine invites her Filipino friends to attend.  So we had Ruth, Rubi, Princes Joy, Donni, Jaida, Estrella, Reymark, Sunshine and her friend.  Also, Brother Jackson came in with Reymark, since he is his Priesthood leader, and Evelyn Kemp came in because she is our new achievement day leader and wants to get better acquainted with the girls.  After church we had Karen over for lunch and then Karen and Joyce went to Seward Park and walked.  Art stayed home.  He is still fighting the sore throat and earaches.  The rest of the evening was kind of lazy.  Thanks for calling us, Jared and Emily; and Jacob and Lara!  We also got to talk to Dad.  That has been our week.  It was a big boost having Josh, Rachel, Maddox, Elayna and Haley here.  Love you all, Joyce and Art 

                                                                             Week B36  March 28-April 3

                 Good-by to Elder and Sister Benson

Preaching:  A connection is a relationship or link between ideas, people, things, or events, and the scriptures are full of connections. Consider the relationship between the Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ (see Mosiah 15:1–9); between mercy and grace (see 2 Nephi 9:8); between clean hands and a pure heart (see Psalm 24:4); between a broken heart and a contrite spirit (see 3 Nephi 9:20); between the wheat and the tares (see D&C 101:65); between knowledge and intelligence (see D&C 130:18–19); between justification and sanctification (see D&C 20:30–31); between sheep and goats (see Matthew 25:32–33); between immortality and eternal life (see Moses 1:39); and countless others. Prayerfully identifying, learning about, and pondering such connections—the similarities and differences, for example—is a primary source of living water and yields inspired insights and treasures of hidden knowledge

Renton Zone Transfer 11 Week 3

Monday p-day:  Our plan was to drive to Mt. Vernon and see the tulips until Sister Chamberlain called to get permission and we were told “no.”  Also, today we received word that we can’t do an ARP class at the Women’s Clinic.  At least we tried.  Our next plan was to go shopping at the mall.This time we didn’t ask for permission, we just went.  Sister Chamberlain wanted to see if she could get a massage on her neck so it was mostly for medical reasons that we went there.

We did do some shopping and ate lunch there.  In the evening we took Diane, Debra and Margarita to FHE.  Karen didn’t want to go and Art spent most of the time in the pick-up.  He is still having earaches and a sore throat, but he won’t go to the urgent care again.  The weather has turned very nice after a few days of rain and this week is supposed to be sunny and warm.   Opening day at Safeco Field is in ten day.  Maybe spring is here finally.  

Tuesday:  The Bensons turned their apartment over to the new couple today.  They plan on visiting family in Vancouver, and Elder Benson is attending a  piano conference next week in Seattle, then they will go back to Utah.  It’s encouraging to know that couples do eventually go home.  We had District meeting at 10:30. President and Sister Eaton were there for part of it.  We talked a lot about using members when teaching.  This is a big problem in Skyway since there are not many options of available members.  Most of the time it ends up being us. The Elders try other members but we are their backup so we get to teach with them most of the time.  We really enjoy this.   Art did consent to try the urgent care one more time and see a different doctor.  After waiting most of the afternoon it was just a waste of time.  At least we know it’s not strep throat. Skyway A needed us to teach with them so we met them at the church then drove to Crescent Point (Murder Central) for the lesson.  Nobody answered even though we could hear them inside.  This is the second time this lady has not shown for the lesson with us.   Maybe time to drop her we think. The apartment does have a cool view of Mt.Rainier and valley where most of the mission is. It was a very clear sunny day so the view was worth the visit.  We did get to visit Rayven and set up a ride with her for achievement day tomorrow.  After a quick stop at Sam’s for some meds for Art, we headed to the Acostas.  They had called earlier and we couldn’t quite understand what they needed so we stopped in, plus Joyce wanted to see the baby.  The school had set up an appointment for Friday, with them and Estrella wanted Joyce to go with her.  We are busy on Friday so we will try to reschedule tomorrow.  

Wednesday:  We are finally back to Northwest Harvest after being away for two weeks.  They had us work with a group of school kids boxing pasta.  We had to hurry and leave there and drive to Puyallup so we could get some bikes from the mission.  They are trying to clean up all the apartments before the new mission president comes.  All the extra bikes are going to the D.I. so we took two of them.  They are also going to close some areas so they want the apartments clean for when they close them.  The mission is down from a high of 212 missionaries to around 160 and more going home than coming out the next few months.  We went to lunch with the Elder Sisters then came home.  While all this was happening we were trying to sort out rides for achievement  day tonight, Skyway A wanted us to teach  Friday with them, Skyway B wanted to stop by our place and JoAnna wanted a ride to institute tonight.  We think we got it all worked out, Skyway A cancelled, Joanna is trying to see if she can ride the bus and we took care of Skyway B when we got home, and everybody is covered for achievement day.  JoAnna is taking her friend with her who is interested in the church so we feel bad we couldn’t help her, but we were already committed with achievement day rides.  Achievement days went great.  7 girls showed up plus Reymark and Eleazar.  The boys played basketball while the girls baked cookies and planned.  Bro. David was there so he took Reymark and Eleazar to young men’s for a bit then came back and played basketball with them so maybe they will start coming on Wednesday night.  After we got home we got a call from Julie Heier and a nice letter from Sarah Funk.  It was a nice ending of a busy day.  

Thursday:  Most of the morning we ran errands and did some shopping for Sunday.  Karen wanted to walk at Seward Park so we did that after lunch.  We were all set to take Michele, Richel, Sun Shine, JoAnna and her friend to the institute by the U.of W.   JoAnna  and Sun Shine had to work late, Richel and Michele cancelled.  We didn’t know that Michele had cancelled so we were able to talk her into going with us when we went to pick her up.  We rode the light rail to the U. of W. then walked to the institute.  It was a beautiful evening.  The lesson was on church history, so not the best for Michele.  We were almost glad the others didn’t come.  They are all recent converts so church history is not the most exciting thing for them. Michele and Joyce had a good visit so it worked out okay.  Hopefully we can try again.

Friday:    We had to drive through all the ash and lava from Mount Rainier erupting on our way to institute class in the morning, (April Fools). The new couple that took the Bensons place was there so we got to meet them.  We invited all the usual group to lunch but nobody else could come.  Not much happened after we got home.  We had gotten some parts for the bikes and Joyce has a project she is working so that was most of the rest of our day.  Art is still having trouble with his throat and ears so staying in was a good option.  

Saturday:  We spent the morning at the Stake Center watching conference.  Between sessions we went to lunch with the Elder Sisters and the Sisters from the employment office.  Sister Stucki is going home on Thursday.  At lunch the employment sisters were telling us that they were going to the tulip festival after conference.  Sister Beck was not to happy about that.  They are not under the same rules as we are.  They cover the whole Puget Sound area so they have a lot more freedom, plus the person over them has told them to see the sights.  After conference we waited for Joshua’s family to arrive.  They got here just as Art needed to go meet with Skyway A for a lesson.  Another no show.  The third time with this person.

Sunday:  Conference most of the day.  We did pick up Karen and an investigator (Margo Sanchez), for the Spanish Sisters.  Between sessions we and the Elder Sisters fed the missionaries and everyone else who stayed at the church, plus we took a zone picture since everyone was there.  The Elders and Sisters sang to us to tell us thank you for lunch!  It was awesome!  After conference we planned what to do the next few days with Josh’s family, we colored eggs, and we celebrated Josh’s birthday. 

Sunday: We all went to the Stake Center in Renton for General Conference.  In between sessions we fed the missionaries and several families that were there.  After we just came  home and relaxed.   We had an investigator for the Spanish Sisters that we gave a ride to, plus Karen.   It is so nice having Josh and Rachel’s family with us.  Love you all Art and Joyce