August 24th and before

It has been a quiet weekend at our house.  It is Sara's weekend to have the kids.

This morning in Sacrament they talked about Humility.  I appreciated the fact that one of the speakers was Honey Bishop.  I did not know her name and she is the person that about three weeks ago told me privately what an inspiration Nathan had been to her.  She said that when she felt discouraged about something and thought she could not come to church she would think of him and say, "If he can do it I can do it."  I didn't know her name until today.  So that means that the lady, Jennifer Reynolds, that posted on Facebook when he moved his stuff from the house was a different lady and that is two people that his courage in overcoming his stroke has helped in the ward.  The Bishop has expressed the same to me, that the experience has been a unify thing for the ward.

I was grateful to see who got to speak today.  Honey said it was her first time ever speaking in the ward at sacrament meeting and a friend of Nathan's and now ours, Leonard Elizardo, spoke also.  Leonard is a very humble person who has joined the church and was a great choice for the speaker but the things they demonstrate in their lives are more of a sermon that what they said today.  They also had youth speaker that did a good job.

Sunday School we spent talking about Alma 5.  Relief Society was a lesson on Elder Quentin Cook's talk called Roots and Branches. Sister Beckstead the Temple Matron was visiting and she told of how she got her daughter interested in Family History by taking her to a private family cemetery in Breman, Texas.

We spent about an hour after the meeting waiting for Nathan to talk to people so he has inherited his mother's gift of gab.  But I got to talk to some people too so it was okay.

Nikki commented last week that she thought I should take a nap if I wanted to on Sunday so I suppose I gave the impression that I thought it was not good to nap on the Sabbath but that is not true.  I only have been trying to stay awake so I can work with the kids more and some of the times I have slept for about 3 hours and then I could not go to sleep at night.  I had been thinking that was not very productive time as a missionary  Perhaps I should be doing something like the other missionaries because they have to work on Sunday at proselyting and I felt uncomfortable sleeping that long.  So when Nathan made his comment at class about not sleeping excessively I took it personal even though he did not mean it that way.  I have felt better trying to do things like this blog and communicating with family and friends than I did about sleeping for so long.

That said after lunch I laid on the bed for a while.  Maybe an hour.  I do not think that I got to sleep, at least not very soundly and now I am working on the blog.  I think that I will do my visiting teaching this afternoon after dinner.

We have about a half hour drive to our church building because we live outside the ward.  As I was riding with no kids today I was looking at Facebook for a while.  Someone had posted a link to this article about picky eaters "Turning my picky eater around: an easy to follow plan".  As Nathan has several picky eaters I decided to read it.  It has some good tips on feeding your children and getting them to eat new things from an occupational therapists point of view, who is also a mother.  I liked the idea that kids need to eat about every 2.5-3 hours.  Sometimes I think that we think that they can go longer than that so I was impressed that someone confirmed how I felt.  The whole site has good information it is called mykidstable.com.

This week was a busy one.  It is zone trainings in the mission and so we could go to zone trainings everyday but we have not had time for that.

Monday I wrote about that hectic day last week.

Tuesday we went to Round Rock and Round Rock East Zone Trainings. Round Rock is North of Austin.  I wanted to go there because I have not seen that area yet.  The night before I was frustrated because what I had to say to the missionaries was boring.  I asked in a prayer how I could make it more interesting and felt prompted immediately to ask questions about the material.  On the way to the meeting I thought about having some reward for those that answered.  I didn't have time to stop and get some candy and I had several pennies in my things so I gave out pennies.  It was a hit and I was grateful to the Lord for reminding me about how to motivate people to listen.

We got back to the office about 3:00 p.m.  I had time to do the weekly zone report and then I was ready to go home for Nathan but Larry stayed for awhile and worked on what he tried to get done on Monday. Nathan and I had a good time together.

Wednesday we spent all day at the office.  I finally got all the Baptisms in and recorded and submitted.  There were about 27 that I had to do last week and this week.  And then I got all the referrals in Thursday.

Thursday was Larry's 67th birthday.  We were low on cash so we decided that we would celebrate with the kids at Bingo Night. After lunch Nathan came to the office so we could leave early.  But it was 4:30 before we were able to leave.  After a few texts Sara had agreed to bring the kids to the WWFamily Support Center rather than have us pick them up.  Then she sent a text saying she wasn't bringing them.  We were hurt so after many texts back and forth we learned that there was a lack of communication between us and Sara and that she had reasons for not bringing the kids but we were sad to only see the kids for a few minutes that night.

Friday was an interesting day.  Mom sent us some checks for our birthday in Birthday Cards.  Larry hurried and took pictures of them for USAA and then we shredded them.  We quickly went to El Pollo Locco for dinner, one of Larry's favorites.  We took some home to Nathan and then went back to the office after we had all eaten.  Later that afternoon Larry checked USAA and the checks were not showing after calling them and having the employee tell Larry four times that he needed to redeposit the check after Larry told him four times that he had shredded it.  Long story short we had to call Mom and tell her that we had shredded the checks and could she deposit the money in our account sometime this week.  She laughed at us and told us we had better wait to shred it next time until we knew it was in the account.

Nathan had two therapy sessions with Physical and Occupational Therapy on Friday after having none the rest of the week.  He was so tired on Friday night and Saturday when we got home from the temple he did not want to do anything except watch TV and rest.  I wondered if he overdid after not exercising all week but he says I am trying to diagnose him and I should stop it.

Larry had bought us some Lobster a week or so ago and so we cooked that with some salad and rice and had a great meal on Friday night.  Then we watched "Bones"  that evening Kirsten Skyped with us and showed us her apartment and and we showed her ours we were able to talk to Kyle and Taylor.

Me, Nathan, and Larry at the San Antonio Temple

Saturday we rose early like the weekday and went to the temple for the 9:30 session.  Some friends of ours through Nathan in the ward, Eric and Andrea Alonzo, were getting their endowments and being sealed to each other.  It was fun to see them be so happy.  It was the first time that Nathan had been back to the temple for an endowment session.  I was hoping that they would show one of the new movies but they showed one of the old ones so I guess the new movies are not to all the temples.  I had a good experience and got some answers to things I had been contemplating.  We took a few pictures as we left the temple.  There at the temple grounds on a hill it was a little windy.

They have a distribution center next to the temple on the grounds.  We went in there and looked around after the temple session before we went home.  Nathan wanted a clip on tie because it is easier than tying a tie and we thought he would do better now with some more solid shoes and he found some there so he bought those.  Now he has temple clothes that are more accessible and help him dress easier.  Although we just had him wear his whites to the temple to make it easier for him.

We went home and ate lunch about 2:00 p.m. we watched some "Bones" and a show Nathan likes about skateboarding and while I was looking through Facebook we noticed that a friend of Nathan's from the ward, was helping her Mother sell BBQ dinners to raise money to pay for her dad's funeral expenses.  So we decided to help.  They place they were selling them was about a half hour away so we had to drive for an hour but it made a good birthday dinner for me.

I also worked on balancing the checkbook while I was watching TV.  Larry and I went to the grocery store and got some ice cream for us and Nathan.  While we were out David called on his phone and he and Isaac and Sammy and Maggie wished me a Happy Birthday, that was nice.

In the evening I noticed that about 40 people had wished me happy birthday on Facebook.  BJ texted and wanted to Skype a little later and we were able to talk to him for more than and hour about 8:30 p.m.  Annette texted me a happy Birthday and Erick and Heather sent us an Applebee's gift certificate for our birthdays so maybe next week we can go out to dinner.  Applebee's is good because they have Weight Watchers meals that are better for us than the others.  Maren texted me just before bed.  It was a good birthday!! But very low key.

August 18th and before

Yes, to those of you who read my blog I am sorry I am so slow this week in posting.  Unfortunately my commitment to keep the Sabbath by not taking a nap has made it impossible for me to stay awake for very long at night.  But I am spending more time with the family.

Maggie had picked out a new dress when we went shopping on Saturday and so she wore that to church today.  She looked so cute.  We also put some fake pink locks in her hair that she thought was fun.  When we got to church she thought that it was pretty cool that I let her wear one of my missionary badges to primary.  Someone asked her if she was Sister Presser and she said no.  I said no she is Maggie missionary but she was not to happy with that.

Maggie in her new dress

Sunday at church they talked about missionary work again.  The ward goal must be to get more people to bring people to Christ.  I am constantly amazed at the people in the ward that I think are long time members that are actually converts of one or two years.  They had a girl speak that was that way yesterday.  She was converted two years ago and has now been called as a ward missionary.  She talked of the joy that the Gospel has brought into her life and her desire to share the message of the restoration with others.  I think sometimes if you have been raised in the church, particularly in Utah you fail to recognized the truly amazing things that the church teaches to make people happy.

The ward mission leader is a young person maybe about 24, Reed Johnson, that I have mentioned earlier in my posts because of his willingness to help Nathan go places several times.  He also came to my aid when he first got here and came and stayed with Nathan before we had bars and things to help him get to the bathroom by himself.  He talked about The 7 types of Salvation from the book "True to the Faith" which is a concept that I had not considered, that there were more than one type of salvation.

The High counselor talked also about missionary work but I was settling a dispute between the kids and did not get a true concept of what his talk was about.  He started out good and seemed to be interesting but then I got distracted.

Nathan decided that the kids were spending too much time just playing games on electronics and so he set the rule that what they did online on Sunday had to do with the church and the gospel.  While we were driving to church Maggie wanted to do something so I went to the church website and found the things for the children that are there.  The Bible Videos were tied to this spot and she recognized them and wanted to watch one.  Then when we got home she wanted to watch some on the computer so I sat down with her and we watched several video for about an hour.  Luckily Larry made this possible by fixing dinner for us all while I was doing it.  She and Sammy asked several questions again as we watched videos about Paul and Stephen that was stoned and the birth of Jesus.  She is getting a better understanding of who Jesus is from all of this and is is fun for me to spend the time with her.

After dinner Nathan helped David and Isaac work on some things for Scouts that they needed to pass off.  We need to find something more positive for Sammy because he wanted to go to the games several times and because he is autistic and that is his favorite thing to do he was not a happy camper.  Any ideas would be appreciated.   He did get out the legos and had a good time with those for quit a while.  His siblings joined in and it gave us all a needed break to do somethings ourselves.

Kirsten called and talked to me for a while during this time.  She has moved into an apartment by herself and she was telling me about some of the challenges that she was facing.

We fed the kids and took them home at about 5:50 p.m. so they were late as they are supposed to be home at 6:00 p.m. but Sara is very accommodating about that.

About the time that we got back to the apartment Erick called and we talked for about an hour or more about what was going on in our various lives.  Ryker would actually talk to me this time and told me about some of the things that he had been doing.  They have signed him up for an online preschool that he does a few days a week for a while and he is learning his letters and numbers and seems to enjoy it.  He would not sing the alphabet song for me though.

During the week we had some busy days.  On Monday Larry had an appointment with the VA but I guess that meant nothing because he waited 4 hours for treatment.  He went in about his foot that has been bothering him for about a month and found out that it has a bone infection in it on the left foot by the bunion area at the base of the big toe.  The podiatrist gave him a boot to wear to relieve the pressure and an antibiotic and put some different things on it and told him not to get it wet. Luckily he had bought some bigger band aids on the weekend and so he had those.  He amazes me because he has walked around on it and never complained about it so I was unaware how painful it was until he told me that the doctors said, "That must be pretty painful"  and he answered, "Only when I breath"  Meaning all the time.

Monday we also went to Weight Watchers and listened to get some motivation because it was a bad week the week before with all the food we were serving.  I was surprised that I actually lost 1.2 lbs though and Larry stayed the same.

Tuesday we spent our time in the office and I think I actually got caught up on the referrals and baptisms that I needed to work on. but nothing stands out right now.  I actually wanted to post about Larry's toe on Tuesday night but then something came up and it was not achieved.

Thursday was Stoke Support group at Warm Springs and Nathan and I like to go to that.  He decided that he wanted to try riding there on Via Trans and so I consented even though I knew it would take longer than going in his van.  They said that to get there at 11:00 a.m. we would have to be ready for 9:15 a.m.  They dropped us off at 9:30 a.m. at Warm Springs and we hung out for an hour and a half. Then they said that they would pick us up at between 5 minutes and two hours from when we called.  We waited about an hour.  My phone did not work there for some reason and so it was frustrating but Nathan and I had a good visit and I got some exercise in that I needed by walking around the buildings.  I know that they have to accommodate a lot of people here and I am spoiled but it is so frustrating to me that it takes 3 times longer than it would if we had taken the van.  But when Nathan is on his own he may need to use it at times. And it is a god send to people without transportation.

The Stroke Support Meeting was worth every inconvenience that I may have had that day. A Dr. Harris talked.  He works with the patients at Warm Springs often and he is one of the three neurosurgeons that specialize in stroke here in San Antonio.  He talked about the two types of strokes.  The bleeding stroke where the brain is suffocated by a rupture in a blood vessel from a sudden rise of blood pressure and the clot type that is caused by blood clots forming.  I thought that perhaps Nathan's might have been a bleeding stroke when I talked to him but he said that with a bleeding stroke they cannot give aspirin and other blood thinners because the person would bleed to death and Nathan is taking aspirin. 

I know that when Nathan had his stroke that they said that they could not give him the TPA that is so popular but he said that some strokes cannot have the TPA because they would bleed to death especially the bleeding strokes and that there is a very strict criteria of what must occur to be able to use it for a stroke.  He said that many people have the mistaken notion because of some of the advertizing that if you get that medicine that you can walk out of the hospital the same as before but that is not true.  He said that it can promote healing faster but you will still have to recover from the effects of the stroke.

He also talked about how a person can revert to  former stroke problems if they get too tired and they need to rest when they are having a hard time doing things.  He talked about how a person will maybe have to hear something several times before he remembers it after a stroke even though the things he knew before the stroke may be solidly in their memory.  I know Nathan has times when he feels foggy but not often.

He talked for an hour and I have barely touched on what he said but it was a very informative afternoon and they serve lunch so that makes it even better.

While we were eating lunch we a young black man in uniform came and sat by Nathan and he was telling him that he was were he is two years ago.  He said that he could not talk as plain as he was talking there and that he was in an electric wheelchair.  He looked normal except for the boot on his foot from a surgery he was recovering from in Warm Springs.  I couldn't believe what he was saying but he swore that he was as handicapped as Nathan but that over the last two years he has gradually improved.  It gave me great hope combined with the fact that Nathan is doing more and more for himself everyday and learning to control his body more and more.

When we got back we went to the office and I worked for about an hour and then Kirsten texted me and reminded me that I needed to email or fax some documents so that she could get in her apartment.  I panicked because it was almost time to go to Bingo night and pick up the kids.  I figured out how to print the document and we went to one of Nathan's banks to get it notorized and then they offered to fax it to them for us.  I was shocked that I was able to accomplish it in such a short time and definitely felt that I had divine help to get it done.

By the time we got done we were running late.  So Sara offered to bring the kids to the base to save us about a half hour.  I really appreciated that.  We got there and they had a yummy chicken dinner but a water main had broken in the ceiling so after they ate they did not play Bingo.  We went out to the playground and let the kids play for a while and then took them home.  Larry did not want to come with us so I left him at the office but I was so frustrated trying to coordinate everything with the kids that when I got home I told him we were not doing that again.  It is so hard to deal with 4 kids by yourself when you are a grandma.  On the positive side, Larry was pleased with all the work he got done.

I drank too much caffeine at Warm Springs while we were waiting and then I drank another drink at the Bingo dinner and by the time I got home I could not go to sleep and I was up until after midnight.  So I was tired when I got up and never really got over being tired.  I have done this before so I think that eventually I would learn that I cannot do that but I haven't seemed to get it into my head yet and I do it about once a month.

Friday we worked in the office and Larry had to go and pick up a new car for the mission and take one to be fixed to Benson Chevrolet.  I came home to feed Nathan and remember going back to the mission and being frustrated because I had so many phone calls that I could not get all the Baptism and Confirmation Records typed into the Convert Data Entry System to submit them so today on Monday I had several missionaries calling me to see if I had got their records because the Ward Clerks did not have record of the membership yet.

I left the mission about 4:20 p.m. because Sara was bringing the kids early because she had a mandatory  meeting for her teaching position.  When the kids got there I tried to find clothes for them to wear for the evening because we were going to a Wedding Shower.  Sara had a friend tell her that it was a Bridal Shower so I wondered if we were even supposed to go but the girl, Ana Johnson, had invited us the Sunday before and said that we were all invited even the men when we were talking with Alonzo's. We had decided to go when Ana's mother called and said that all of us were to come.  I thought that we needed to dress up and I was very tired and when we went to look for clothes
Isaac was missing dress pants and Maggie did not have any shoes to wear with her dress that matched.  Nathan said he was going casual so we took the kids casual but not without me having a mini-meltdown over the clothes because for the last three weeks someone was always missing something for church.  It is important to me that the kids look good because I think it reflects on how we are taking care of them and I just did not want to take the kids to church again looking eclectic again.

We had a good time at the Shower.  It was very casual but they had good food and it was fun to talk to the members of the ward.  As I talked to everyone my tension melted and I began to feel better. But with Maggie along I ended up eating too many sweets that she took and didn't want to eat and I did not have the will power to throw away.

Saturday I got up early with Nathan and ate breakfast but we decided to let Larry and the kids sleep in.  After I ate I went in and laid down again and fell asleep until almost 10:00 a.m. so I think that I got mad so many times this week because I was tired.  We finally got up and ate and then Larry went shopping for food while Nathan and I took the kids shopping at Burlington Coat Factory.  The kids had fun but they were not so happy when Nathan told them that they had to leave the new clothes and the clothes they bought there when they went home so we would have some clothes and then Sara would not have to worry about packing them up each weekend.

We came home and ate lunch but it was almost 3:30 p.m. before we ate.  It took Larry as long to shop as it did for us to shop for clothes.  But the kids did not complain until they wanted a drink at McDonald's and I told them we would go home and get a drink.  But then we had to stop for gas and so they thought that we were trying to torture them.

After lunch we showed Larry the clothes that we had bought and had the kids hang them in Nathan's closet and then went swimming in the pool.  We had asked some people from the ward to come over for a pool party but they could not come at the last minute so we had our own pool party.  Larry had bought a Pizza we could cook and soda for the kids and then we had popcorn to pop.  Maggie said, "Grandpa sure is fun!"  After I complained so much on Thursday night Grandpa came to the pool with us even though he could not get his foot wet and I was glad when he had to take Sammy to the bathroom and did not come back and I had to take Maggie before he got back.  Apparently he let Sammy go to the hot tub for a while because Sammy loves that.

When we got home from the pool we actually ate again because the pizza was small and we were all still hungry.  I made spaghetti Christiansen kids style for them and Larry and I and Nathan had sauce on our.  Maggie ate a whole plate of noodles though and was really proud of herself for finishing her dinner.  After that we all went to bed early for Church the next day.

Elder Rogers and me

I already told you about Sunday but today was a hectic day.  Larry went to the mission office at 7:00 a.m. hoping to get some work done before the assistants arrived.  But he was there for three hours and could not get the internet going.  Most of the work we do is online so he was very frustrated and the Assistants had to go somewhere else to get their reports done. He had left me home to work on the blog and to get the referrals done here at home and then he was going to pick me up for Weight Watchers and we would go there and eat lunch with Nathan.  But with the Williams not there and with the Assistants gone he had to answer the phones three at a time while trying to get some help form AT&T.  So we didn't got to WW.

Elder Williams, Sister Williams, Elder Rogers, me and Elder Presser

Nathan decided that he needed to go to the bank about 9:00 a.m. so I took him down there in his van.  We took about a half an hour to get that done and I came home and Larry said that he didn't want to come and get me but then his mission phone rang and I texted him what they wanted and the next thing I knew he was here to get me because he needed his phone.  I didn't really want to go because I could work better here but I went with him.  I was glad I did because we hadn't been to the office 5 minutes and Elder Landon Rogers the last Assistant that just went home came in to see me with his family.  If you remember I missed him last time there when he first came.  It was so good to see him.  He is such a fun person and so helpful and funny.  We talked for quite a while with his Mom and brother and him.  We took pictures of him with us and the Williams's.  I was glad I went back after that.

Larry continued to work on the internet and the Williams's did also.  They could not work without it, but I discovered that I could enter the Baptisms and Confirmations being offline so I worked on that and I opened an order that we received today and put that away.  It took them until almost 5:20 before the internet was fixed.  Elder Williams went and bought another router and Larry called AT&T again and they finally sent out someone to work on it.  At first they thought it was on their side that it was not working but then the old router did not work.  They put in the new router and it started working but most of them were so tired from trying to fix it and not getting their work done that we finally went home about 6:30 p.m.

August 9th and the week before

I should do this blog early in the morning because I am not so tired then. I am sure that I sound tired when I write and I do not always feel that way but I am usually tired at night.  But on the weekends that we have the kids I have no time in the morning.

Luckily Sacrament started late today or we would have been late.  Larry ended up going up to help the priests to set up the sacrament because that is what they were waiting for.  But at least David got there in time to pass the sacrament.

They had some really good talks on forgiveness with some really good ideas in Sacrament meeting today.  A new family named the Smiths moved in and they spoke.  They seemed like a really solid family.  Unfortunately I could not retell you what they said today. But I swear that I was listening.

Sunday School was about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  Nathan mentioned that it is not appropriated to just lie around as President Kimball also taught so I determined that I needed to repent of my naps.  That doesn't mean I didn't rest but I tried to do something that would not put me to sleep.

After lunch we helped Nathan unpack some of his stuff that he brought from the house yesterday.  He did not bring everything, just things he thought that we could use here at the apartment.  He has a sewing machine with three boxes of sewing supplies that I may make use of .  He also brought some kitchen things that we could use.  He has a whole pasta cutter with several attachments for spaghetti, and ravioli and other things but I don't feel that ambitious.  He also got the big TV in the family room and so we were trying to figure out how to put that up but lacked some batteries for a stud finder that they got last night.  They kids were not very fond of helping him unpack yesterday and today but they helped.  I laughed inside when David said, This is just getting to be too much, I can't take it anymore," when he had to leave the games on his phone the third or fourth time to help his dad.

I get frustrated because the kids are much quieter and easier to be with when we let them be on their electronic games but it is not good for them to be so detached and not wanting to communicate with us.  I think that they would play them 24/7 if allowed to do so.

We did have a good moment though when we looked at Bible videos on the computer again and Maggie is really interested in Jesus and why he had to die and Sammy was really interested in the fact that the angels in the video did not have wings and halos like we believe in our church.  He said that is not how they are in the video games so we had some good teaching moments.

We took the kids home at about 5:30 p.m. after we fed them dinner.  We had to stop at the office and get some Bibles to take to some missionaries so it was about 6:15 p.m. before we got the kids home.  Then we went to Schertz, Texas to drop off the Bibles.  When we got home Nathan said the kids had told Sara we did not feed them after lunch so I was frustrated about that but kids will be kids.  I don't know how you can be eating all afternoon and not realize it.

Yesterday Nathan went to get all of his stuff out of the house as mentioned.  He got a storage pod and asked several of the members of the ward to come and help.  He had a  lot of tools and stuff that needed to be moved as well as furniture and dishes and books.  It was an emotional day for all of us as we contemplated what he has lost for his family but all we can do now is to trust in the Lord and move forward.  He gave several of his tools to members of the ward on loan while he cannot use them.  I was surprised at the number and kinds of tools that he had accumulated

We finished that about 11:30 or 12:00 noon and then we took the stuff back to the house that was in the van.  Sara and her boyfriend followed us and brought the kids up to the house and helped us unpack there.

We bought doughnuts for the workers and they had some but we ended up eating way too many!!! We had about 1 and 1/2 doz. left of 4 doz. that we bought and some milk and Sunny D.  David was good help when I went to buy the doughnuts but he took the job to get out of moving things I think.

We spent a lot of the afternoon helping Nathan find places for what he had brought to the house.  Actually I should say the kids did.  I was trying to make a pasta dish that we had bought the stuff for a week ago and it needed to be used before we had to throw it out and in between I would help with some things.  Larry fell on Thursday and broke his phone and so he kept talking to me and then calling me from the mission office and wanting information on how to apply for a new phone.  I should have known what to tell him but I could not remember anything.  I was so frustrated by the evening because I felt like I had been pulled three or four different ways all afternoon and I was emotionally exhausted trying to help load the things at the house.

Last week was a very busy week.  We had transfers on Thursday and the entire week is planned out for the culmination in the Transfers.

Sister Cassie Hill and Sister Marissa Egbert with me before they left

Monday we spent a lot of time working in the office.  Larry has been working on getting the cars that we do not need sold and spends a lot of time working on taking them to be repaired and getting people to detail them so that they can be sold.  Monday he also had to pick up two 15 passenger vans from Capps Rental and two trailers from Uhaul.  Sometimes he takes the missionaries or others in the office but this time it was my turn to go with him.  We had to go to the East 410 to get the vans and then go about 20 minutes to the west off of I-10 to get the trailers.  The traffic is not wonderful in the afternoon on 410 so it took us about 2 hours to do this.  The Uhaul place we had to go this time does not have much room to turn around in with those big vans so I was frustrated about that. Then the vans and the trailers are ready to go pick up the missionaries that are going home and their suitcases.  The Assistants to the President leave early on Tuesday to get everyone. Elder Rogers said that Larry had done a marvelous job of getting everything ready

Me with Sister Kandis King

Tuesday Williams' feed the missionaries that are leaving in the Stone Oak Stake center.  They have a complete day together with reminiscing and making scrapbooks and training for going home.  This was the first time that we had many of the people that we have been working with going home and so it was hard to say goodbye to some of them.  I got a few pictures but not as many as I would have liked to get at the luncheon as I went up after feeding Nathan to see some of them.  One  Sister, Kandis King is going home to Centerfield where Kathy Frandsen one of my
 niece's from John's family live.  She was so much fun to be around. I really grew to love her and she was one of the leaders in the mission.  The top assistant to the President was Elder Landon Rogers from Colorado and I am really going to miss him.  He is a great example of a servant leader and has such a fun sense of humor.  They had 28 missionaries leave on this transfer.

They have a big dinner for the missionaries going home at the mission home in the evening on Tuesday and they stay in San Antonio overnight and then they leave in the morning.  Larry and I opted to not go to the dinner and see them off but worked at the mission office until about 6:00 p.m.and then we went home and had a quiet dinner with Nathan and watched some TV to relax.

Sister Emily Christensen and Me

Wednesday we had to get things ready for the new missionaries.  We had some things to pack up for the Transfer meeting on Thursday and then we did what work we could get done.  The President and the Assistants take the missionaries going home to the airport early about 6:00 a.m. and then they pick up the new missionaries at various times until about 1:30 p.m.  We had to pick up the big sandwiches from WalMart and buy the cookies and fruit to go with it.  Then we headed for the mission home and helped prepare it.  There were 33 missionaries coming in this time which is about double what we have had before so it appears that many missionaries are going out right after school gets out.  The mission home was very crowded. 

In addition to getting everyone fed we also had to get paperwork from missionaries that did not send they things in before hand that they were supposed to.  Telling them that they could not drive in the mission unless things were completed motivated many of them to get it done.  It is always fun to see what they really look like compared to their pictures.  Some of them do not look like their pictures on the paperwork that we get

We went back to the office about 3:00 and worked until about 5:30 p.m. and then we went and fixed some dinner for Nathan and went back to the Mission Home to serve the evening meal to the new missionaries and get things ready for that.  We had 17 lbs of barbecued lean brisket and with all of us and the assistants and the Sister Trainer Leaders that eat plus the President and his family we had about 50 people to feed and there was not a morsel left. There were three sisters that were not able to leave until Thursday morning so they were there to help and that made the work go faster but ee were very tired before we got to bed that night.

Orientation meeting starts at 8:00 a.m.  We have to do an orientation for the new missionaries telling them what our jobs are and how we can help them.  It is really hard for us to get there on time because we are used to being at the office at 9:00 a.m.  We give an orientation to the new missionaries about what we do and how we can help the missionaries and pass out training materials and the mission handbooks and get them to sign some more papers.  I am sure they feel like we are hitting them with a firehose of information but we try not to make it so bad. 

During orientation they are told who their companions are and where they are going but they do not meet them until they go into the transfer meeting.  It is cool because the other missionaries are singing hymns while they wait for us to finish and then when they are ready they stand up while the President and all the new missionaries march in to the other missionaries singing "Called to Serve".  Then they have a prayer and two testimonies from missionaries and the Senior office couples (us and Williams) talk  and then Sister Slaughter talks and then the President.  This time we had 20 mini missionaries that were youth from the San Antonio South Stake that came for a week of work with the missionaries and so we also had those here this time and their Stake President spoke.  Then they begin to announce the transfers each companionship at a time by zones.  The Sisters hug and the Elders give each other the Abrazo which is a handshake and then a hug with a pat on the back and then another handshake.  It is really fun and spiritual and I learn so much each time we have a meeting.

After the meeting everyone is getting ready to back up for where they need to go.  Some of them are headed for the Border at Eagle Pass and Some of them will go to Austin and the area around there and so it is a beehive of work and trying to make sure that everything is done.  I pass out the mail and the new missionaries have to pick up their bikes in the cultural hall and get everything packed for their new area.  Then most of us head to Austin for a transfer meeting there.  It is mostly the same but with the zones in the Austin Area attending there.

Larry and I went to Austin this time but we were late starting because of something we had to pick up at the office.  We would have been really late but just before we got to an exit around New Braunfels I told Larry I needed to use the restroom.  He turned off immediately but there were no restrooms but we were on the frontage road and noticed that the cars on the Freeway were all backed up because of an accident.  If we had not turned off there we would not have made the meeting so we felt like it was a tender mercy from the Lord.  And I did find a restroom too after a while.

BJ and Holly's present

The same craziness takes place after the Austin meeting as well.  We finally left and we were trying to get back for Bingo night but by the time we got to the apartment it was 4:30 P.M.  We thought that we could make it after picking up Nathan's kids but by the time we got through the traffic on 410 and I-35 we did not make it to Sara's until 6:15 p.m.or later and Bingo night starts at 6:00 p.m..  So Nathan decided to take the kids out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner with a gift card he had.  So we went there and had a good time eating and talking but the kids were on their electronics for a while. Again it was late when we got home.  Larry was really exhausted after driving over 300 miles that day.

Friday we had a chance to work in the office again and get caught up some but we still had some work to do when BJ called and asked if we had received a package that he sent.  We left our work and went to get it as it was 5:15 p.m. and the office at our Apartment closes at 6:00 p.m.  The package did not get delivered to the office however and we had a Fed Ex tag on our door.  LuckilyFED Ex did not close until 9:00 p.m. and the pick up place was nearby.  So I rushed to get it.  Then BJ wanted to Skype right then so they could watch us open the package.  Most of the family was at a restaurant in Ogden and they watched us open the package.  It was a picture of an ultrasound of the baby that BJ and Holly are expecting.  Then they wanted to pass the Ipad that BJ and the others had around so that we could talk to everyone and show them the picture. 

Nathan's kids come on Friday about 6:00 p.m.  They came as we were Skyping so they got to talk to some of the cousins. It was pretty hectic for a while.  Nathan had signed us up to go do a 5K race in a park on Nacadoches at 7:00 p.m. it was close to that when we left.  We thought we could get there but we got lost on the way and by the time we got there we were 10 minutes late for the race.  Luckily they let the kids have the pizza and drinks that the participants could have after the race but it was a bummer not to be in the race.  After wandering around to the exhibits for a while we went home and got to bed because we were getting up early to go move Nathan's stuff.

August 2nd and the week before

Today has been a quiet Sunday.  I miss the kids.  Apparently we only get them every other weekend now, so that is a bummer.  I do not think it is fair but I was not consulted in the decisions.

Today was Fast Sunday and I had several things to fast for.  The first was answered as we went to church so again I can thank the Lord for the power of prayer and fasting.

It was Fast and Testimony meeting today.  Nathan usually bears his testimony and he did today, saying that he had so many blessings.  So many people mention how much his testimony means to them.  One lady today said that when he bears testimony of all his blessings with all he has gone through it makes her realized that she can go on with the little challenges that she faces everyday.  She mentioned that he could have been mad at the Lord and turned away with all he has faced but that he keeps believing is a testimony in and of itself.  I agree.

We talked about the importance of the sacrament in keeping our covenants with baptism in Sunday School.  They emphasized that it is a commandment to go to church and partake of the Sacrament and that it offers a new way to repent of our sins each Sunday and start again new and clean.

In Relief Society they talked about two talks by Dallin Oaks and Dieter F. Uchdorf on testimony.  The first was "Testimony" by Dallin H. Oaks and "The Power of Personal Testimony" by Dieter F. Uchdorf.  It is interesting to me that the lessons often correspond with what is talked about in Sacrament Meeting each week with out any correlation, except by the spirit.  She mentioned that there are 5 steps to gaining a testimony.

1. Desire
2. Study
3. Act or commit to what you learned
4. Ponder, pray, fast
5. Bear

I know that this is true for I have followed these steps and have been given a testimony by the Holy Ghost that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth today and is they only one with authority to act for him in bringing souls unto Christ and administering the other ordinances.  I know that if you follow the teachings of this church which are the teachings of the Savior that you will have peace and happiness despite your trials in this life and that you will have the same in the world to come.

The office has been full of Assistants and Sister Trainer Leaders and the President this week.  It is transfer week next week and they have been working on the transfer board.

Monday Larry went to the Doctor in the morning because he has a sore on his bunion area that will not heal that was rubbed by his new diabetic shoes.  They had him put some circular pads on it to hold it away from the shoe and give it some air and it is looking much better but he has an appointment with a podiatrist in a week or so.

Nathan wanted to go to the bank and close one of his accounts on Monday morning so I took him to the bank.  By the time we finished it was too late to go to Weight Watchers so we did not make it this week. Larry got back from the doctor's about the same time so I fixed lunch early for us before we went back to work.

We got into the office at about 12:00 p.m. but that was okay because we could not use the computers in the morning anyway because the Assistants are always on them and needing them for their reports.
In the afternoon we worked on our jobs and we got home about 7:00 p.m. that night for dinner. But we accomplished a lot in our work.  I had most of the supply orders in and so I started filling the orders which is good exercise because I am moving supplies in boxes back and forth

Tuesday I worked on filling orders again.  I did that most of the day and then Larry stayed at the office and took a car to the detailer that he was told would be sold the next day and then when he got in the office on Wednesday they called and said that they had changed their mind.  He was frustrated because he had stayed working on that car until about 10:00 p.m.

Wednesday we worked diligently for the time we were at the office.  I was able to sell a bike for a sister going home and finish up all my work in filling orders and baptisms and referrals.  Larry worked diligently on his fleet.  We went home relatively early at 6:00 p.m.  I was exhausted.  Larry went grocery shopping and I stayed home and attempted to do paperwork while I watched Bones with Nathan.  We went to bed early. I realized that I needed a prescription that I had not taken for a week and determined that is why I was so tired.

Thursday we went to work early because we had got up early because I could not sleep and woke everyone up at 4:30 a.m.  I came home and fed Nathan and then he came back to the office with us so that we could go to Bingo Night from there.  It was hectic in the office for a while but we finally were able to go to the Bingo Night.  We didn't get to take the kids again but we had a good time and no one won a game.  We were so tired that we all fell asleep immediately when we arrived home.

Friday we served in our mission.  I had to help Sister Williams with serving the lunch at Mission Leadership Conference and then we took a lunch to Nathan at the apartment that was left over.  On the way I was stopped for speeding and got a ticket.  Sister Williams and I were both shocked because we didn't feel we were going faster than traffic but I could not prove it because I was talking and did not notice the speedometer.

In the evening we went home expecting the kids to be there but apparently we read the wrong divorce decree and we only get the kids every other weekend now.  I found myself with nothing to do.  Larry went grocery shopping and I tried to work on paperwork and we watched bones for a while.

Saturday we slept in for the 2nd time in our mission we did not get up until 7:30 a.m.  Nathan was up and dressed after his shower and feeling pretty smug that is one of a few times he has dressed himself.  We ate and then Larry went to see about getting our car fixed because the brakes were making noise.  He dropped the car off and then went to the office to work.

Nathan went with a friend, Jason Christensen, and they bought supplies to make a temporary ramp so that Nathan can get in to places where there is no handicap accessibility.  Jason brought him back and then is going to build the ramp for him.  There are so many people in our ward that are willing to help him that it is wonderfu.

While he was gone I was able to get dressed and clean off my desk so that I could work on my computer there.  Then Nathan came home

Nathan had been working Friday night trying to get Sprint to not turn off his phone because they charged him for Sara's phone and wanted the payment immediately.  They told him to go to the store where they had separated the liability on the accounts. So he asked me to take him to Converse and Sara met us there.  There they told him that there was nothing that could be done that Sara would have to pay the $395.80 that was on the bill before they could assure that he would not have his phone turned off and Sara did not have the money right then.  It was frustrating to me that they do not let the phone follow the person that it belongs to even if the other person was the one that purchased it.  Anyway Nathan kept telling them that is not what they told me last night.  Finally they got the manager and they called customer support.  Sara needed to go and she and I just told him to pay what he owed and make arrangements to pay the $395.  But he would not listen and so he started talking to his guy on the phone and he left for a while and then he came back and he started to talk to Nathan and tell him this is what we are going to do when he got cut off.  So Nathan called back but of course we did not have the name and he got a new person who had a heavy Spanish accent.  At this point Sara left and Nathan continued to work with the manager and customer service.  Except the numbers had changed.  I guess the guy he was talking to got them to take $300.00 off the bill but now they were saying that the bill was for $497 and something.  They said that Nathan had a past due and that there was some that was due on the 11th of August that was about the same amount.  Nathan said I have not been past due.  So the manager went in and was working with them and they had put the remaining amount that was due on the phone on his account and said that he was behind $243 something.  As the manager continued talk to the person in customer service it became apparent that the $243 was the amount due on the phone and the rest was the bill that needed to be paid on the 11th.  By now my stomach was in knots but they finally said that if he paid the amount due on the 16th of August on the two amounts that he would not get his phone turned off and he had until then to pay.  He was happy with that thankfully and I definately learned that it pays to be stubborn and stand your ground.

After that we got him lunch at 4:00 p.m. (we had left at 1:30 p.m.) and then drove to the office to pick up Larry to take him to get the car.  When we got there I tried to pull in to a parking place that was a little narrow and accidentally ran into the assistants van.  Nathan was so mad at me for damaging his car.  It has a scrape above the right rear tire.  The assistants also got scraped but their rear left tail light is cracked so they will probably have to replace that.  I felt bad because they were all there working so diligently and then they had to fill out an accident report on top of everything.  Elder Rogers the head Assistant thought I was joshing him at first and refused to believe that I hit there car!

Larry told us to go home and he would bring one of the church cars home and then he told me that they think they cannot find a part to fix the master something on the brakes so he cannot get the car back.  I hope we can find a new part.  I am getting tire of having a classic car!!!

So after that I went home and fixed dinner and the only thing I got done of my agenda was to clean off my desk so I could start working on paying bills.  But we had a good dinner and then I realized that it was fast Sunday and I was going t have to fast until evening today.  But I did that and all I have to say is,  life is fun!!!

Just wanted to add.  Nathan has started getting in bed himself. But last night he called and said that he needed help and he had completely got in bed and taken off his clothes and pulled up the covers which he has not done before.  He was laughing he was so proud of himself.  The only thing I had to do was plug in his wheelchair.  He is progressing so much that one day I think he will walk out of that wheelchair!!!!