Well today was a better day. I was so excited because I have been praying that the Book of Mormons that I needed in for the MLC conference would be in in time for the Conference. Luckily I thought it was today and it is tomorrow. I did the usual things in the morning and thought I would have plenty of time to fill the two orders that I finally got in today but not expecting to get in the Book of Mormons. Then out of the blue an order for Book of Mormons and another for supplies that I needed arrived. The one was shipped on the 25th of June but the Book of Mormons were shipped on the 27th. It is unheard of to get the orders in 3 days!!! I was able to fill all the orders for tomorrow and some of them for Thursday. I have two more orders coming in so I am hoping that they come tomorrow and then I will have everything that I need. The Elders say do your best and the Lord will provide and he certainly did today.
Larry is deep in thought most of the time lately and when I ask him what he is thinking about he is trying to figure out how to get the 13 cars into the office and processed like he needs to. That is really stressing him. Today he spent time calling about oil changes that need to be made and putting in the mileage reports to the computer.
The Assistants and the STL Leaders were in the office most of the day today planning for their presentations about the new planning program on the IPads. It is great to watch them stress about how to present something and work on it until they have it. They are all great people and the President lets them have a lot of freedom with the responsibility he gives them. But that is the way the church functions.
We went to a restaurant called Saltgrass Steakhouse tonight on 281. The Williamses like it and had recommended it. The steaks were like butter and so yummy, even the vegetable are good.
Unfortunately we probably did not have time to go there. We left the restaurant at about 6:12 p.m. and our GPS said that we should make it to the temple by 6:30 p.m. barring any traffice problems but then we turned the corner and the traffic was lined up for a mile or more and moving very slowly. And it was like that most of the way up the hill. It was close to 7:00 p.m. when we got there. So as we had missed the endowment session that we had signed up for we did initiatories for an hour and that was a welcome change of pace.
We came home and went for a walk. The sun was just going down and it was a peaceful beautiful night. What a difference a day can make.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
June 29th
Today has been a frustrating day. It seems that I have had to work hard mentally to not make a lot of mistakes and still I made a lot of mistakes.
We got up a little after 7:00 a.m. and completed everything that we usually do in the morning except exercise. I wanted to mend some pants for Nathan and we had gone to get some things yesterday so we could do that and then when I pulled the machine out it did not have the foot pedal or the cord packed inside and heaven only knows where it might be in the mess that Nathan has stacked in his apartment. I called Nathan and told him I would not be able to finish them.
I had sent Larry to buy some pins so I could do the pants and then he was going to go to the office and pick me up to go to Weight Watchers. I called him when I found out about the machine and told him that I would not be able to do the pants but for some reason he did not process what I said. He came in and I was in the bathroom. He yelled the pins are on the table and I thought he was still in the apartment. When I came out however he was not there and then I knew that he had not processed that I needed to go with him. I ran to the door and barely caught him as he was getting in the car. In my zeal to go with him I forgot my name tag.
We got to the office at about 10:00 a.m. and I tried to print off the orders for MLC that still needed to be filled. The Elders were using the computers so I looked quickly at my email but the orders were not there on my email. So I let them have the computer back and I went to call the Zones that I did not have. As I called each one they all said that they had sent their order. At first I thought that Round Rock East had labeled their order with Round Rock but as I investigated and was able to get back on the computer I realized that I did not print our Round Rock East's order and then printed an additional email from them that came later and added it to Round Rock's order. I was frustrated that I could get so confused. But that solved where that order was. But despite several emails and phone calls when I left the office tonight I was not able to ever get the orders for Hill Country and the Border.
We went to Weight Watchers at 11:00 a.m. and we were happy that we had lost weight!!! We were pretty good at following the food plan this week but we did not exercise all week long so I was worried that we would not lose.
As I left my name tag home we stopped to pick that up and had some lunch at the house. Then Larry dropped me off at the office while he went to Pep Boys to have a fuel filter put on our car.
At the office the Sister Trainer Leaders Leaders were in working on their email and even though there were two other computers in the office empty because the Willaimses were gone they were on our computers. I had orders to do so I did not bother them. But I couldn't find boxes to put them in because most of my Supply order has not come in and so I was trying to figure out what to do. The only boxes I had were small boxes that pass along cards come in and they are too small for anything 8x10. I tried to call Larry to asked him to check with Pep Boys to see if they had any boxes but when I did I realized that I had his phone and I had left my phone in the Jeep. It seemed like we were doing things like that all day. So I said a prayer and got the idea to put the small stuff in two of the little boxes and put the rest of it in 10x13 manilla envelopes. It worked perfectly and then when I got to the next order I had emptied a planner box and was able to put that in that.
Larry was upset because the Sisters have IPads now that they can do their emails on so, nicely he asked them if they couldn't do their emails on the IPads when he got back.
He was super stresses today because he has to bring in 13 cars during this next transfer period and get them processed to sell. He decided to call all the areas with the cars and have them take them in for the tune ups and oil changes he has to have done. So he needed the computer to tell him which cars it was going to be. He spent most of the day doing that.
I went in while Sister Schaefer was on my computer and worked on the orders for a while longer. Then she came in and said that she needed to have a picture with me because she is going home next Tuesday so we quickly got Elder Presser to come and we took a picture. The Sisters left shortly after that.
In the afternoon I worked on the mail. I had several letters from parents of missionaries who have already gone to the MTC but had not turned in the paperwork we needed so I was able to fill that in and all of them are in except for a few that we will have to get when they come here. I thought I was ready to go at 5:00 p.m and then I walk out into the outer office and there is still mail that needs to be boxed up for what I thought was MLC tomorrow. I did the best I could but it was a little hectic so I called the Assistants to see if they could take it the way it was and they informed me after a confusing conversation that I was wrong about when July 1st was. I was thinking it was tomorrow and it is Wednesday. So the good news is I have another day to get ready. The frustrating thing was it was about the 4th thing that I had through that confused thinking made the task harder. I was seriously wondering if I was okay today.
We promised Nathan that we would come and help him unpack some boxes tonight and bring him some dinner. We drove to Windcrest and ate at Larry's favorite Jack in the Box and got Nathan some food and then took off to go to his apartment. When we got to Gibbs Sprawl Road they had it blocked and so we had to turn there. Because we were not the only ones to have to do this the cars were lined up bumper to bumper and it took us about a half hour to get to Nathan's when it should have taken 10 minutes. I finally texted him to left him know the problem.
When we got there I got the food ready for him and he ate. Marcy called for a while but he was not finished eating so he asked if he could call her back. Then he finished eating. We went through some boxes to try to see if we could find the foot pedal for his machine. When we came to his older machine we thought it might be in there but when I opened it it not only did not have it but it did not have the pedal for that machine. So I was frustrated and thought Sara might know where she packed it but she didn't remember of course. I thought maybe we could buy one easier than we could look through the 20 boxes stacked on top of each other that Nathan thought it would be in but Nathan said that they lost a lot of their old parts inventory to a flood and it would probably cost $200.00.
When Nathan finished eating we asked if maybe we could help him go through the boxes he had there that he had not gone through. I was impressed that he had about 5 more boxes that he needed to go through and then he would have gone through all of them. Although he still has 3 big stacks of boxes and stuff that he does not have a place to put or he wants to give to people so he has a pretty cluttered living room and one bedroom. When I mentioned that he might need to talk to Marcy about a bookshelf they like so he could put the books he was saving in it he just got irritated and said they were not having any bookshelves.
Nathan had been rude all night long about anything I said but when I asked him if he wanted me to hand him some things from the box he yelled no he wanted me to hold them so he could see them. So I started to take them out and show them to him. Then he yelled that he couldn't see them so I asked him what I needed to do so he could see them and he said hold them up for me. I had a stack of papers and tried to show him one and he flipped out and said I was not helping him. At that point Larry said he was leaving and he would be in the car when I got out there. I decided that it was fruitless to try to understand what he wanted me to do because anything I had asked him during the evening was just irritating to him. Marcy says that he doesn't realize when he is talking rude but I think he must know sometimes. It is frustrating that I try to help him and everything is wrong. The last time we went down we were able to work productively. So I don't know if it upset him that I could not finish his pants or if he was mad that we had to call Sara about the foot pedals or if he was upset because I did not want to go through all the boxes he had just gone through. I think that life is hard for him by himself right now but he to move out and live by himself and I would like to help him but he gets mad at me alot of the time. But I try to do what a good person would do and stay out of his life the rest of the time. This is certainly not how I thought this part of the mission would turn out but it is what it is and I am learning a lot about my weaknesses that I need to work on. Also I am satisfied that I did what Heavenly Father needed me to do.
Sorry for griping so much but it has been a frustrating day.
We got up a little after 7:00 a.m. and completed everything that we usually do in the morning except exercise. I wanted to mend some pants for Nathan and we had gone to get some things yesterday so we could do that and then when I pulled the machine out it did not have the foot pedal or the cord packed inside and heaven only knows where it might be in the mess that Nathan has stacked in his apartment. I called Nathan and told him I would not be able to finish them.
I had sent Larry to buy some pins so I could do the pants and then he was going to go to the office and pick me up to go to Weight Watchers. I called him when I found out about the machine and told him that I would not be able to do the pants but for some reason he did not process what I said. He came in and I was in the bathroom. He yelled the pins are on the table and I thought he was still in the apartment. When I came out however he was not there and then I knew that he had not processed that I needed to go with him. I ran to the door and barely caught him as he was getting in the car. In my zeal to go with him I forgot my name tag.
We got to the office at about 10:00 a.m. and I tried to print off the orders for MLC that still needed to be filled. The Elders were using the computers so I looked quickly at my email but the orders were not there on my email. So I let them have the computer back and I went to call the Zones that I did not have. As I called each one they all said that they had sent their order. At first I thought that Round Rock East had labeled their order with Round Rock but as I investigated and was able to get back on the computer I realized that I did not print our Round Rock East's order and then printed an additional email from them that came later and added it to Round Rock's order. I was frustrated that I could get so confused. But that solved where that order was. But despite several emails and phone calls when I left the office tonight I was not able to ever get the orders for Hill Country and the Border.
We went to Weight Watchers at 11:00 a.m. and we were happy that we had lost weight!!! We were pretty good at following the food plan this week but we did not exercise all week long so I was worried that we would not lose.
As I left my name tag home we stopped to pick that up and had some lunch at the house. Then Larry dropped me off at the office while he went to Pep Boys to have a fuel filter put on our car.
At the office the Sister Trainer Leaders Leaders were in working on their email and even though there were two other computers in the office empty because the Willaimses were gone they were on our computers. I had orders to do so I did not bother them. But I couldn't find boxes to put them in because most of my Supply order has not come in and so I was trying to figure out what to do. The only boxes I had were small boxes that pass along cards come in and they are too small for anything 8x10. I tried to call Larry to asked him to check with Pep Boys to see if they had any boxes but when I did I realized that I had his phone and I had left my phone in the Jeep. It seemed like we were doing things like that all day. So I said a prayer and got the idea to put the small stuff in two of the little boxes and put the rest of it in 10x13 manilla envelopes. It worked perfectly and then when I got to the next order I had emptied a planner box and was able to put that in that.
Larry was upset because the Sisters have IPads now that they can do their emails on so, nicely he asked them if they couldn't do their emails on the IPads when he got back.
He was super stresses today because he has to bring in 13 cars during this next transfer period and get them processed to sell. He decided to call all the areas with the cars and have them take them in for the tune ups and oil changes he has to have done. So he needed the computer to tell him which cars it was going to be. He spent most of the day doing that.
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| Sister Schaefer, Sister Presser, Elder Presser |
In the afternoon I worked on the mail. I had several letters from parents of missionaries who have already gone to the MTC but had not turned in the paperwork we needed so I was able to fill that in and all of them are in except for a few that we will have to get when they come here. I thought I was ready to go at 5:00 p.m and then I walk out into the outer office and there is still mail that needs to be boxed up for what I thought was MLC tomorrow. I did the best I could but it was a little hectic so I called the Assistants to see if they could take it the way it was and they informed me after a confusing conversation that I was wrong about when July 1st was. I was thinking it was tomorrow and it is Wednesday. So the good news is I have another day to get ready. The frustrating thing was it was about the 4th thing that I had through that confused thinking made the task harder. I was seriously wondering if I was okay today.
We promised Nathan that we would come and help him unpack some boxes tonight and bring him some dinner. We drove to Windcrest and ate at Larry's favorite Jack in the Box and got Nathan some food and then took off to go to his apartment. When we got to Gibbs Sprawl Road they had it blocked and so we had to turn there. Because we were not the only ones to have to do this the cars were lined up bumper to bumper and it took us about a half hour to get to Nathan's when it should have taken 10 minutes. I finally texted him to left him know the problem.
When we got there I got the food ready for him and he ate. Marcy called for a while but he was not finished eating so he asked if he could call her back. Then he finished eating. We went through some boxes to try to see if we could find the foot pedal for his machine. When we came to his older machine we thought it might be in there but when I opened it it not only did not have it but it did not have the pedal for that machine. So I was frustrated and thought Sara might know where she packed it but she didn't remember of course. I thought maybe we could buy one easier than we could look through the 20 boxes stacked on top of each other that Nathan thought it would be in but Nathan said that they lost a lot of their old parts inventory to a flood and it would probably cost $200.00.
When Nathan finished eating we asked if maybe we could help him go through the boxes he had there that he had not gone through. I was impressed that he had about 5 more boxes that he needed to go through and then he would have gone through all of them. Although he still has 3 big stacks of boxes and stuff that he does not have a place to put or he wants to give to people so he has a pretty cluttered living room and one bedroom. When I mentioned that he might need to talk to Marcy about a bookshelf they like so he could put the books he was saving in it he just got irritated and said they were not having any bookshelves.
Nathan had been rude all night long about anything I said but when I asked him if he wanted me to hand him some things from the box he yelled no he wanted me to hold them so he could see them. So I started to take them out and show them to him. Then he yelled that he couldn't see them so I asked him what I needed to do so he could see them and he said hold them up for me. I had a stack of papers and tried to show him one and he flipped out and said I was not helping him. At that point Larry said he was leaving and he would be in the car when I got out there. I decided that it was fruitless to try to understand what he wanted me to do because anything I had asked him during the evening was just irritating to him. Marcy says that he doesn't realize when he is talking rude but I think he must know sometimes. It is frustrating that I try to help him and everything is wrong. The last time we went down we were able to work productively. So I don't know if it upset him that I could not finish his pants or if he was mad that we had to call Sara about the foot pedals or if he was upset because I did not want to go through all the boxes he had just gone through. I think that life is hard for him by himself right now but he to move out and live by himself and I would like to help him but he gets mad at me alot of the time. But I try to do what a good person would do and stay out of his life the rest of the time. This is certainly not how I thought this part of the mission would turn out but it is what it is and I am learning a lot about my weaknesses that I need to work on. Also I am satisfied that I did what Heavenly Father needed me to do.
Sorry for griping so much but it has been a frustrating day.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
June 28th
Today was a lazy Sunday kind of. I slept in until about 8:30 a.m. because I was up every hour last night. Larry got up before me. We read, ate breakfast, walked, showered and got ready for Church and we had about 1 hour before we had to leave for church.
I worked on the blog. Larry looked at things on his phone. We left for church about 1:00 p.m. and got there in plenty of time. Nathan was there so we sat by him. Today the theme was missionary work and so I gave the opening prayer and Elder Presser gave the closing prayer. The Sister Missionaries in the ward both talked.
Sister Gibson talk about how an understanding of the gathering of the 10 tribes helps you to understand the purpose for missionary work. We are children of Abraham if we join the church and have a responsibility to spread the gospel to all the world as prophesied. We have a responsibility to not just say something but to do it. The Lord is bringing people to you all around you and bringing them to you. She said that she knows without a doubt that this is God's true church and that we are symbols of our faith not only by our words but by our actions.
They had a combination of several patriotic hymns played in a piano duet.
Sister Angulo stated that we are a chosen generation. God has sent his son to die for us and we are the happiest people on earth. She quoted Elder Bednar who "said that we need missionaries that listen to the Spirit." Heavenly Father put someone in your way to bless you with the gospel. We have a responsiblity to spread the Gospel to others. How has the Gospel blessed your life. Tell others She said that she loves the Book of Mormon and that she loves to read the account of Jesus coming to America to preach to us. He tells us he came because we are of the House of Israel and the covenant of Israel. We are blessed to have the Book of Mormon to know more about the Savior. God will protect us from those that fight against Abraham. The work is moving forward because it is true. If you do not know how to help others you must inquire of the Lord like Nephi did and he will help you know how to help others to come unto Christ. God cares about you and he will answer your personal questions. He will help you to come to an answer of what is true. Time is short. We need to help others to come unto him and know what we know. The best way to know with surety is to ask, seek, listen. She said that she was here on this mission because, "I asked and know that this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ."
I too am on this mission because I have asked and know that this is the true church and I know that Larry feels the same.
Bishop Alonzo talked next and shared ideas about how to start Gospel discussions. He said that often on his boat he will have people that have the Gospel Glow and when he asks them if they are members of the church he is usually right. He gave some statistics of our ward and what we need to do to activate inactive members. Then he said, I know the church is true and it continues to roll forward."
I too know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true Church of Jesus Christ by the witness if the Holy Ghost and is fulfilling his prophecies of long ago, today because so many others have the same witness as I have from the Spirit that the Gospel is true and that the Plan of Happiness is God's plan for us on the earth. I know that you can know that the Gospel is true if you just ask in prayer by the same power.
After church we went to Nathan's apartment and I looked for some thread and a scrap of cloth to fix his pants because the tear in it is not on a seam. By the time we left there is was 5:23 p.m.
We had to wait for the train at the same train crossing.
Kirsten had called during church so I called her back while we were waiting. She just wanted to talk. I am very proud of her because the Michaelsen Reunion was dumped in our laps and she has taken the bull by the horns and is working on it and trying to get some other help. My neices Pam and Natalee are helping I think also.
When we got home tonight we met Rudy our neighbor who had the stroke a few weeks ago. He was out walking with his walker and looked good. He obviously did not have as devastating a stroke as Nathan but we are glad he is doing better.
I worked on the blog. Larry looked at things on his phone. We left for church about 1:00 p.m. and got there in plenty of time. Nathan was there so we sat by him. Today the theme was missionary work and so I gave the opening prayer and Elder Presser gave the closing prayer. The Sister Missionaries in the ward both talked.
Sister Gibson talk about how an understanding of the gathering of the 10 tribes helps you to understand the purpose for missionary work. We are children of Abraham if we join the church and have a responsibility to spread the gospel to all the world as prophesied. We have a responsibility to not just say something but to do it. The Lord is bringing people to you all around you and bringing them to you. She said that she knows without a doubt that this is God's true church and that we are symbols of our faith not only by our words but by our actions.
They had a combination of several patriotic hymns played in a piano duet.
Sister Angulo stated that we are a chosen generation. God has sent his son to die for us and we are the happiest people on earth. She quoted Elder Bednar who "said that we need missionaries that listen to the Spirit." Heavenly Father put someone in your way to bless you with the gospel. We have a responsiblity to spread the Gospel to others. How has the Gospel blessed your life. Tell others She said that she loves the Book of Mormon and that she loves to read the account of Jesus coming to America to preach to us. He tells us he came because we are of the House of Israel and the covenant of Israel. We are blessed to have the Book of Mormon to know more about the Savior. God will protect us from those that fight against Abraham. The work is moving forward because it is true. If you do not know how to help others you must inquire of the Lord like Nephi did and he will help you know how to help others to come unto Christ. God cares about you and he will answer your personal questions. He will help you to come to an answer of what is true. Time is short. We need to help others to come unto him and know what we know. The best way to know with surety is to ask, seek, listen. She said that she was here on this mission because, "I asked and know that this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ."
I too am on this mission because I have asked and know that this is the true church and I know that Larry feels the same.
Bishop Alonzo talked next and shared ideas about how to start Gospel discussions. He said that often on his boat he will have people that have the Gospel Glow and when he asks them if they are members of the church he is usually right. He gave some statistics of our ward and what we need to do to activate inactive members. Then he said, I know the church is true and it continues to roll forward."
I too know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true Church of Jesus Christ by the witness if the Holy Ghost and is fulfilling his prophecies of long ago, today because so many others have the same witness as I have from the Spirit that the Gospel is true and that the Plan of Happiness is God's plan for us on the earth. I know that you can know that the Gospel is true if you just ask in prayer by the same power.
After church we went to Nathan's apartment and I looked for some thread and a scrap of cloth to fix his pants because the tear in it is not on a seam. By the time we left there is was 5:23 p.m.
We had to wait for the train at the same train crossing.
Kirsten had called during church so I called her back while we were waiting. She just wanted to talk. I am very proud of her because the Michaelsen Reunion was dumped in our laps and she has taken the bull by the horns and is working on it and trying to get some other help. My neices Pam and Natalee are helping I think also.
When we got home tonight we met Rudy our neighbor who had the stroke a few weeks ago. He was out walking with his walker and looked good. He obviously did not have as devastating a stroke as Nathan but we are glad he is doing better.
June 26th and 27th
Friday we got up about 7:00 a.m. We are showering first lately and eating and then reading. It makes it so that I don't fall asleep during scriptures. After getting ready we went to the office. The Williams's were already there and so were the President and the Assistant's. They were working on the transfers for July 8th. When Larry got there after devotional he got an email that told him he had to lower the cars to 73% of the the number of missionary companionships and as we have 217 missionaries he had to gradually reduce the number of cars by 13. So that meant that they also had to plan what additional areas would be bike areas.
I had sent out the wishlists on Wednesday and ask for supply lists by Friday so I had several orders to fill. I spent most of the day doing that along with a few phone calls and questions to answer. They are having MLC earlier and last month was later so ordering supplies crept up on me and I am worried that I will not have Book of Mormons Bibles and Finding by Faith pass along cards because I am completely out of those things from last MLC
Larry also had to participate in an online training for the new Cars system that they are going to implement in September. Apparently they are going to have all reports on line for the cars now that they have the IPads in the missionaries hands.
Just before he finished with the training he asked me if I would go with him to pick up a car and he would take me to lunch. Of course I couldn't pass up an opportunity for lunch out so I said, "Of Course". So he took me to Joe's Crab Shack. We had a good Steampot but it turned out to be not so economical on points.
I had asked Maren when I could Skype with the boys for their birthdays because it was Gauges birthday yesterday and she suggested that we do it about noon. I wasn't sure how to do this and then she reminded me that I could download it on my phone. So while I was waiting for Larry to finish eating I downloaded it and got it ready. When we were leaving the restaurant Maren texted me that she was ready so I went to Skype and she called and I was able to talk to all the kids while we were driving to the Toyota lot to pick up a new car. I sat there and talked to Brinlie for a while before I drove our car back and I still made it back before Larry so he must have had to wait or fill out lots of paper work.
We went home and each ate a salad that we had bought that stated it was 490 calories. When I figured the points it came out to 13 points!!!!!!!!! I was shocked. Luckily it didn't put me over too much but it was 6 points over with the lunch at Joe's.
Judy called Larry and they talked for a while. He decided to go visit them for a while on Saturday.
So this morning, Saturday we got up late me later than Larry because I got up at 3:00 a.m. because I couldn't sleep and ended up being up until 5;30 a.m. before I was sleepy enough to go to sleep. We got ready and did all the rituals and then Larry left for John and Judy's to visit them. I read Facebook and then started the blog and that is all I worked on today trying to get everything caught up. I have finished the first month that I got behind when my computer was broken so I just have one more week to write.
Larry had a good visit and then went to Billie Gene's with them for lunch before coming home. For some reason he went to bed at 8:00 p.m. tonight. Sometimes he worries me lately because he wants to sleep so much.
I had sent out the wishlists on Wednesday and ask for supply lists by Friday so I had several orders to fill. I spent most of the day doing that along with a few phone calls and questions to answer. They are having MLC earlier and last month was later so ordering supplies crept up on me and I am worried that I will not have Book of Mormons Bibles and Finding by Faith pass along cards because I am completely out of those things from last MLC
Larry also had to participate in an online training for the new Cars system that they are going to implement in September. Apparently they are going to have all reports on line for the cars now that they have the IPads in the missionaries hands.
Just before he finished with the training he asked me if I would go with him to pick up a car and he would take me to lunch. Of course I couldn't pass up an opportunity for lunch out so I said, "Of Course". So he took me to Joe's Crab Shack. We had a good Steampot but it turned out to be not so economical on points.
I had asked Maren when I could Skype with the boys for their birthdays because it was Gauges birthday yesterday and she suggested that we do it about noon. I wasn't sure how to do this and then she reminded me that I could download it on my phone. So while I was waiting for Larry to finish eating I downloaded it and got it ready. When we were leaving the restaurant Maren texted me that she was ready so I went to Skype and she called and I was able to talk to all the kids while we were driving to the Toyota lot to pick up a new car. I sat there and talked to Brinlie for a while before I drove our car back and I still made it back before Larry so he must have had to wait or fill out lots of paper work.
We went home and each ate a salad that we had bought that stated it was 490 calories. When I figured the points it came out to 13 points!!!!!!!!! I was shocked. Luckily it didn't put me over too much but it was 6 points over with the lunch at Joe's.
Judy called Larry and they talked for a while. He decided to go visit them for a while on Saturday.
So this morning, Saturday we got up late me later than Larry because I got up at 3:00 a.m. because I couldn't sleep and ended up being up until 5;30 a.m. before I was sleepy enough to go to sleep. We got ready and did all the rituals and then Larry left for John and Judy's to visit them. I read Facebook and then started the blog and that is all I worked on today trying to get everything caught up. I have finished the first month that I got behind when my computer was broken so I just have one more week to write.
Larry had a good visit and then went to Billie Gene's with them for lunch before coming home. For some reason he went to bed at 8:00 p.m. tonight. Sometimes he worries me lately because he wants to sleep so much.
June 25th
We got up early today and actually got to the office about 9:00 a.m. Elder Miedell and Elder Hilario where waiting for us when we got there and we were the first of the office couples to get there.
Larry was hoping to drop me off and go to USAA and do some paperwork on the car that he had not completed yet but when we got to the office the long awaited Car transport was there and ready to start getting the cars. It has been more than a week since he first called and said that he would be here tomorrow. So Larry jumped in and got working with him and I went inside with the Elders.
It wasn't long until the Williamses showed up. I remembered that it was the day to plan for Transfers in the Presidents office and I still had to make a sign for the new ward that was created in the stake that we attend for the transfer board. So I set about to start that.
Larry came in and we had devotional with the Elders that were there. Larry told Sister Williams what she needed to do to send the truck driver off and then he disappeared for USAA. I got my sign made and laminated and put it on the board. By now the Assistants were there and President and they all went into his office and started to plan.
The first thing that I did was to send in the order for name tags that I was about 4 days behind on. Then I started to type in the Weekly Zone Report. After that I was getting hungry so I ate a snack. Yesterday I had my phone ringing about every 5 minutes but today it was relatively slow and it was mostly referral texts.
The President and the Assistants usually order in lunch on the days that they are planning so we were able to have lunch with them right after my snack. The moving Elders had purchased some taco's at a place called Ruthie's taco's they were very big tacos. It was interesting because apparently the owner is a less active member and he gave the food to the Elders for free when they went to pick it up. Larry made it back in time for lunch and we all had a good discussion while we ate.
In the afternoon I typed in Baptism and Confirmation Records. There were a lot of mistakes on some of them today so I had to have a few teaching experiences. Larry spent the afternoon getting the other 4 cars that he has to get ready for sale ready. He was outside but I was inside and he said that it was really hot outside. I had 12 baptism records to put into the Data Entry System and I was able to get them all in today and submitted.
We left the office at 5:00 p.m. We went home and I cooked dinner tonight. After we ate we read scriptures and then Larry went to do some shopping that we needed and to pick up some pants that Nathan wanted sewn from him at day camp. I have his sewing machine so I get to mend his pants that ripped. I am trying to get more caught up on the blog.
Larry was hoping to drop me off and go to USAA and do some paperwork on the car that he had not completed yet but when we got to the office the long awaited Car transport was there and ready to start getting the cars. It has been more than a week since he first called and said that he would be here tomorrow. So Larry jumped in and got working with him and I went inside with the Elders.
It wasn't long until the Williamses showed up. I remembered that it was the day to plan for Transfers in the Presidents office and I still had to make a sign for the new ward that was created in the stake that we attend for the transfer board. So I set about to start that.
Larry came in and we had devotional with the Elders that were there. Larry told Sister Williams what she needed to do to send the truck driver off and then he disappeared for USAA. I got my sign made and laminated and put it on the board. By now the Assistants were there and President and they all went into his office and started to plan.
The first thing that I did was to send in the order for name tags that I was about 4 days behind on. Then I started to type in the Weekly Zone Report. After that I was getting hungry so I ate a snack. Yesterday I had my phone ringing about every 5 minutes but today it was relatively slow and it was mostly referral texts.
The President and the Assistants usually order in lunch on the days that they are planning so we were able to have lunch with them right after my snack. The moving Elders had purchased some taco's at a place called Ruthie's taco's they were very big tacos. It was interesting because apparently the owner is a less active member and he gave the food to the Elders for free when they went to pick it up. Larry made it back in time for lunch and we all had a good discussion while we ate.
In the afternoon I typed in Baptism and Confirmation Records. There were a lot of mistakes on some of them today so I had to have a few teaching experiences. Larry spent the afternoon getting the other 4 cars that he has to get ready for sale ready. He was outside but I was inside and he said that it was really hot outside. I had 12 baptism records to put into the Data Entry System and I was able to get them all in today and submitted.
We left the office at 5:00 p.m. We went home and I cooked dinner tonight. After we ate we read scriptures and then Larry went to do some shopping that we needed and to pick up some pants that Nathan wanted sewn from him at day camp. I have his sewing machine so I get to mend his pants that ripped. I am trying to get more caught up on the blog.
June 24
We arose at 7:00 this morning and showered and ate and we were finishing up our dressing when we realized that we had not read scriptures or said prayers. We took time to do that but then we did not get to the office until about 10:00 a.m.
Elder Williams was at the doctor so we had devotional without him. I had several phone calls to make to parents of incoming missionaries to settle bike information. I also had several phone calls for supplies. Last night I realized that Mission Leaders Conference is next week and I do not have supplies ordered for it. We had a late MLC last month and it is a few days early this month on the 1st and 2nd of July. They are going to have to train the missionaries in how to do their planning with the Ipads. Anyway so my work was cut out for me already when I got there.
Larry had to get cars out of the CAR System on the computer this morning and then he left to take a car to Pep Boys about 11:00 a.m. When he still wasn't back at 2:00 p.m. Sister Williams got worried that he might not be okay so she had me call him and he was just getting ready to leave Pep Boys. Of course he did not mention that he went to Jack in the Box for lunch while he was there until later.
Elder Williams came in about 12:00 p.m. He has been frustrated because he needs surgery and they told him that they would not do the surgery until they did a Colonoscopy. When he went to the Dr. for that they scheduled him for August 10th and he is in pain. So he was not a happy camper. But he is such a self-sacrificing person he never complains but Sister Williams was pretty upset. Today one of them called to see if they could get it sooner and they finally bumped it up to July 14 but that is still a ways off. He is dealing with the Army medical at Fort Sam because he is retired military so they say that is typical.
The Assistants have been in the office a lot lately needing to use the computers. Today was no exception. They are having to plan things for the IPad training plus their other work. When Larry got back today they had already confiscated his computer. But they did help him find 10 vehicles that had been misplaced in the system with moving so many cars around. So Larry wrote his paragraph about the Tiwi's for the mission history that he had been asked to write about.
I was able to keep my computer for long enough to get the order placed for supplies and to send emails to several people including the Zone leaders for their Supply wishlists. I also had lots of orders for Large print Book of Mormons today and one area came in and wanted Book of Mormons in Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, and Marathic. They do not have the Kurdish and Marathic but I had the others and as Marathic is a language spoken in India I sent them with a Hindi Book of Mormon to see if that would work. I am learning so much about Languages and Geography in this job. It is amazing to me that the Lord is sending so many people to Texas to learn about the Gospel that we could not contact if they stayed in their country.
We decided to leave the mission office about 4:00 p.m. because the Assistants still needed the computers and we had nothing else we could do without a computer. We went to Applebee's to eat because tonight is the night we go to the Family History Center in East Stake to work for the Evening. We had a good plate of Nachos that we shared at Applebee's but then we decided that as we were too early to get in the church we would go to McDonald's and get a Hot Fudge Sundae for dessert. We ordered it and they they told us that their ice cream machine was broken but they could give us a shake. So we shared a shake but were somewhat disappointed.
We got to the Stake Center about 6:00 p.m. but we had to call for a key to the library because just recently they changed the locks. Fortunately Brother Keeth who we had to call to get in had a key for us so that was great. No more problems getting in again hopefully.After working on things for ourselves until 8:30 we went home.
When we got home we got ready for bed. We read our Scriptures and Said our Prayers. Then Larry went to bed but I ended up talking to Nathan' s wife Marcy for about an hour on the phone. We have a lot of fun talking to each other. So I got to bed about 11:30 p.m. which is really too late.
Elder Williams was at the doctor so we had devotional without him. I had several phone calls to make to parents of incoming missionaries to settle bike information. I also had several phone calls for supplies. Last night I realized that Mission Leaders Conference is next week and I do not have supplies ordered for it. We had a late MLC last month and it is a few days early this month on the 1st and 2nd of July. They are going to have to train the missionaries in how to do their planning with the Ipads. Anyway so my work was cut out for me already when I got there.
Larry had to get cars out of the CAR System on the computer this morning and then he left to take a car to Pep Boys about 11:00 a.m. When he still wasn't back at 2:00 p.m. Sister Williams got worried that he might not be okay so she had me call him and he was just getting ready to leave Pep Boys. Of course he did not mention that he went to Jack in the Box for lunch while he was there until later.
Elder Williams came in about 12:00 p.m. He has been frustrated because he needs surgery and they told him that they would not do the surgery until they did a Colonoscopy. When he went to the Dr. for that they scheduled him for August 10th and he is in pain. So he was not a happy camper. But he is such a self-sacrificing person he never complains but Sister Williams was pretty upset. Today one of them called to see if they could get it sooner and they finally bumped it up to July 14 but that is still a ways off. He is dealing with the Army medical at Fort Sam because he is retired military so they say that is typical.
The Assistants have been in the office a lot lately needing to use the computers. Today was no exception. They are having to plan things for the IPad training plus their other work. When Larry got back today they had already confiscated his computer. But they did help him find 10 vehicles that had been misplaced in the system with moving so many cars around. So Larry wrote his paragraph about the Tiwi's for the mission history that he had been asked to write about.
I was able to keep my computer for long enough to get the order placed for supplies and to send emails to several people including the Zone leaders for their Supply wishlists. I also had lots of orders for Large print Book of Mormons today and one area came in and wanted Book of Mormons in Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, and Marathic. They do not have the Kurdish and Marathic but I had the others and as Marathic is a language spoken in India I sent them with a Hindi Book of Mormon to see if that would work. I am learning so much about Languages and Geography in this job. It is amazing to me that the Lord is sending so many people to Texas to learn about the Gospel that we could not contact if they stayed in their country.
We decided to leave the mission office about 4:00 p.m. because the Assistants still needed the computers and we had nothing else we could do without a computer. We went to Applebee's to eat because tonight is the night we go to the Family History Center in East Stake to work for the Evening. We had a good plate of Nachos that we shared at Applebee's but then we decided that as we were too early to get in the church we would go to McDonald's and get a Hot Fudge Sundae for dessert. We ordered it and they they told us that their ice cream machine was broken but they could give us a shake. So we shared a shake but were somewhat disappointed.
We got to the Stake Center about 6:00 p.m. but we had to call for a key to the library because just recently they changed the locks. Fortunately Brother Keeth who we had to call to get in had a key for us so that was great. No more problems getting in again hopefully.After working on things for ourselves until 8:30 we went home.
When we got home we got ready for bed. We read our Scriptures and Said our Prayers. Then Larry went to bed but I ended up talking to Nathan' s wife Marcy for about an hour on the phone. We have a lot of fun talking to each other. So I got to bed about 11:30 p.m. which is really too late.
June 22 and 23
Monday was a hectic day. Larry went to the office early because a truck was supposed to come and pick up several cars that have been sold to a dealer. He didn't go to Weight Watchers with me because he thought he might come but he did not come all day. These trucks have really been flaky this time. They call and say they are coming and then do not show up.
I went to Weight Watchers, I have not been in three weeks because Mondays have been so busy with buying the new car and last week I don't remember. I had only gained a half pound but that was still more than I needed. I know we need to exercise more but it is hard finding the time.
I spent the afternoon calling all of the missionaries or emailing them that have not sent anything about bikes and driving information to the mission. I was able to get hold of many of them and get things moving before they go into the MTC tomorrow. I still have three that I have not been able to contact. I get frustrated because it says on the papers we send them that it needs to be in before they come and consistently we have Elders or Sisters that decide that they will buy their bike when they get here or do something else. They do not understand that the mission starts the day they come and they need their equipment on day one.
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We came home from the mission office about 6:00 p.m. and Larry fixed a yummy dinner of barbecue chicken and harracho beans with fruit and soda. We even had ice cream for dessert. It was one of the best dinners we have had at home for a while.
After dinner we read scriptures and said our prayers and it was only 9:00 p.m. so I stayed up for a while to work on the blog and get it caught up. Larry went to sleep and seemed really tired more so than usual. I had been working for about 45 minutes when all of a sudden I hear a shout from our bedroom. At first I was going to ignore it but then I decided I better go and see if Larry was okay. He was having horrible pains in the right side of his right foot. He thinks that they are a new area for neuropathy. They did not quit so I asked him if he wanted to go to the emergency room because they were on a scale of 10 he said. At first he said no and wanted some ibprofen but we did no have any so I gave him one of my taramadol. He finally decided about 10 minutes later that he wanted to go to the emergency room at the VA Hospital. So we both got dressed and I drove him to the VA. He checked in and did not feel good when we got there but eventually the tramadol took effect and his foot felt fine so after an hour and a half of waiting at the ER with no help he told them we were going home and we went home and he slept like a baby all night.
Today, Tuesday, we were a little late for the office because he stopped at CVS to get some ibuprofen just in case he needed it because it started to hurt again just before we left although he felt like driving this morning. I gave him another tramadol before we left and that helped but he ended up needing to take the ibuprofen about 11:00 p.m. He had the Assistants that were at the office give him a blessing and that helped to comfort him but the pain did not completely go away until tonight at the temple.
We had a meeting with President Slaughter today about the Ipad implementation when we first got to the office. We are going to start planning with Ipads on July 13th after we teach all the missionaries how to do the planning at various meetings. It is kind of fun to be on the implementation of these.
The Antuars the Senior Couple from Austratlia went home today. It has been so good to know them and I will truly miss them. they came into the office about 12:00 p.m to turn in their car and be taken to the airport.
Larry had to take out a tiwi and then put in the same tiwi into a new car today. He was pretty hot when he got in from doing that. It has been raining a lot in San Antonio as mother nature makes up for the drought they have been in the last several years. It is almost like living in Seattle would be. Cloudy a lot of days and humid. One good thing about it is my hair is really curling.
I promised Maggie I would take her to McDonald's today to get some French Fries because we couldn't go get any on Sunday because we don't purchase things on the Sabbath. I made arrangements with Sara and went and got her at noon. We had a good time. She ordered a Happy Meal and a fudge sundae. When the sundae came she ate two bites and said she was full. So I ate her sundae. After a few minutes she said, I really want some more French Fries so I bought her some French Fries and she ate them all. We had a good time but it was a 19 point lunch for me with the sundae. I also laughed because she said she likes our new car because it smells good.
Kirsten called a couple of times to talk to me today so I had a good talk with her.
Nathan and his boys are at Cub Scout Day camp this week. Teresa Johnson is driving his van for him she is the Webelos leader in the den. They are both in the Cub Scouts leadership. Sara is also going three days to help. They have actually been very cooperative with each other so far about rides to and from and lunches.
Tonight we went to the temple for the 6:30 p.m. session. It was a full session. I saw Nikki Vincent Reid, Carol Vincent's daughter there in the session. She and her husband were the witness couple. It was the first time I have seen her since they live in Vernal 30 years ago. She looked good.
After I called Carol and made arrangements with her to go to dinner with her and Bob next Thursday.
Well it is 11:10 so I better so to bed.
I went to Weight Watchers, I have not been in three weeks because Mondays have been so busy with buying the new car and last week I don't remember. I had only gained a half pound but that was still more than I needed. I know we need to exercise more but it is hard finding the time.
I spent the afternoon calling all of the missionaries or emailing them that have not sent anything about bikes and driving information to the mission. I was able to get hold of many of them and get things moving before they go into the MTC tomorrow. I still have three that I have not been able to contact. I get frustrated because it says on the papers we send them that it needs to be in before they come and consistently we have Elders or Sisters that decide that they will buy their bike when they get here or do something else. They do not understand that the mission starts the day they come and they need their equipment on day one.
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We came home from the mission office about 6:00 p.m. and Larry fixed a yummy dinner of barbecue chicken and harracho beans with fruit and soda. We even had ice cream for dessert. It was one of the best dinners we have had at home for a while.
After dinner we read scriptures and said our prayers and it was only 9:00 p.m. so I stayed up for a while to work on the blog and get it caught up. Larry went to sleep and seemed really tired more so than usual. I had been working for about 45 minutes when all of a sudden I hear a shout from our bedroom. At first I was going to ignore it but then I decided I better go and see if Larry was okay. He was having horrible pains in the right side of his right foot. He thinks that they are a new area for neuropathy. They did not quit so I asked him if he wanted to go to the emergency room because they were on a scale of 10 he said. At first he said no and wanted some ibprofen but we did no have any so I gave him one of my taramadol. He finally decided about 10 minutes later that he wanted to go to the emergency room at the VA Hospital. So we both got dressed and I drove him to the VA. He checked in and did not feel good when we got there but eventually the tramadol took effect and his foot felt fine so after an hour and a half of waiting at the ER with no help he told them we were going home and we went home and he slept like a baby all night.
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| The Assistants; Elder Hatch, Elder Calley, with Elder Antuar, Sister Antuar |
We had a meeting with President Slaughter today about the Ipad implementation when we first got to the office. We are going to start planning with Ipads on July 13th after we teach all the missionaries how to do the planning at various meetings. It is kind of fun to be on the implementation of these.
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| Elder Presser, Sister Presser, Elder Antuar, Sister Antuar, Sister Slaughter, President Slaughter |
The Antuars the Senior Couple from Austratlia went home today. It has been so good to know them and I will truly miss them. they came into the office about 12:00 p.m to turn in their car and be taken to the airport.
Larry had to take out a tiwi and then put in the same tiwi into a new car today. He was pretty hot when he got in from doing that. It has been raining a lot in San Antonio as mother nature makes up for the drought they have been in the last several years. It is almost like living in Seattle would be. Cloudy a lot of days and humid. One good thing about it is my hair is really curling.
I promised Maggie I would take her to McDonald's today to get some French Fries because we couldn't go get any on Sunday because we don't purchase things on the Sabbath. I made arrangements with Sara and went and got her at noon. We had a good time. She ordered a Happy Meal and a fudge sundae. When the sundae came she ate two bites and said she was full. So I ate her sundae. After a few minutes she said, I really want some more French Fries so I bought her some French Fries and she ate them all. We had a good time but it was a 19 point lunch for me with the sundae. I also laughed because she said she likes our new car because it smells good.
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| My cute Maggie and me |
Nathan and his boys are at Cub Scout Day camp this week. Teresa Johnson is driving his van for him she is the Webelos leader in the den. They are both in the Cub Scouts leadership. Sara is also going three days to help. They have actually been very cooperative with each other so far about rides to and from and lunches.
Tonight we went to the temple for the 6:30 p.m. session. It was a full session. I saw Nikki Vincent Reid, Carol Vincent's daughter there in the session. She and her husband were the witness couple. It was the first time I have seen her since they live in Vernal 30 years ago. She looked good.
After I called Carol and made arrangements with her to go to dinner with her and Bob next Thursday.
Well it is 11:10 so I better so to bed.
June 21st and before
The 15th was a big day for me of getting supplies ready for the Zone Trainings this week. Because we had new Zone Leaders at the MLC that had never done a supply list we decided to get supplies out to the Trainings where the missionaries were receiving their IPads. Though a lot of them were last week we still had four this week on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Larry had someone that was supposed to pick up cars this day so he did not go to Weight Watchers but the truck driver did not come all day. He did take time off to register our car so we were driving it legally.
Monday evening we just rested from our labors. We read scriptures for Family Home Evening and went to bed.
Tuesday morning I woke up at about 3:00 a.m. and could not go to sleep because I was worried about what Marcy was going to do. Nathan is doing well for himself and is working things our but he needs her. She was having some second thoughts after living with him and seeing how grouchy he can be and her family is opposing her moving and marrying him. So I wrote her a email with my thoughts and by the time I finished it was time to get up.
Larry was hoping that the car transport would show up this day but again it did not show up and no word on where it was. I spent the day catching up on emails, referrals and Baptisms and just about had the desk cleaned off when we left.
We went to the Temple on Tuesday night. We went early thinking that we had some cards that Larry had found the week before that were going to be doing Baptisms, Confirmations, Initiatory, and Endowment but they were Sealings. So we went and did the Sealings and then did an endowment for someone else in the drawer for our ward. I was a little frustrated with myself that I did not look at the FOR more closely and identify what it was. I just went on what Larry was thinking and he was probably just as frustrated. It was a good night though. We got to see a film that we have not seen for a while.
That night Marcy texted me that she had responded to my email so before I went to bed I read it. The message of the email and the text message were completely different so she had changed her mind when she texted and was planning on coming to San Antonio. She said that writing the email had helped her to organize her thoughts and to realize that she is really blessed to be married to Nathan. She has been having some problems with her boss not wanting to give her an exit date so it is frustrating for her too.
Wednesday was more of Tuesday at the office. That night we went down to the East Stake Center to work in the Family History Center but we went early and were able to feed the missionaries in the Woodlake ward. We have to take them out to eat as we do not live within the ward boundaries and where we live is too far away so we took them to McDonald's. We had a fun time with them despite the fact that it began to pour outside when we were eating. I was glad that they were missionaries with a car because they would have been drenched if they had to ride a bike in that storm. It rained about everyday this week.
I was able to find some sources for people on my line and Larry's line but we did not have anyone come that needed help at the Family History Center.
One our way home we stopped at Sara's and got some pictures that she had of all the grandkids for us. The next day at work I worked on rearranging a collage of my grandkids on the top cabinet by my desk at work. I still need about 5 pictures but we are getting there and have a lot considering we have 28 grandchildren now.
Thursday Larry was still expecting the Car Transport but he also needed to go to Pflugerville, Texas up by Round Rock and get a Tiwi into a car and give them their license. So we went together after devotional in the office and he giving Sister Williams instructions on what to do if the Transport came. It was a quick ride up even though it is about 1 1/2 hours from San Antonio. We were able to meet the Sisters after waiting were they said to meet them for an hour. Sister Winn was a doer. She took the license from Elder Presser and put that on while he was working on the Tiwi. We had a good visit with her and Sister Hatch. They are not only over Pflugerville but Round Rock ward as well and they work with Bishop Garrett Oleen that grew up with my kids in Vernal during the orchestra days of Nathan and Jacob. But we did not have time to contact him.
We went to eat at a barbecue place there called Salt Lick Barbecue. The had a fairly good atmosphere but we were not fond of the food. We decided that would not be one we would be attending again. Then we started home. We ended up taking a toll road home that was very peaceful and had little commercial business along the road instead of IH 35. It was fun but Larry said that the bill when we get it will determine if we use it again.
We got to Converse about 6:00 p.m. and went to Nathan's apartment. He shared his Hamburger Helper that he got from the Relief Society and we spent about two hours helping him unpack and decide what he wanted to keep in several boxes. We found the long lost remotes that he has been looking for and some other things that got packed here from the house. He packed up about three boxes of books to give away as he says he can read them on his IPad now. He finally said that he was too tired to do much more and so we went home.
After reading and saying prayer I ended up talking to Marcy for a while on the phone and we had a good discussion of things she needed to know and I needed to know and we just like to talk.
Friday night Nathan had the person who was supposed to help him cancel out at the last minute so he texted and wanted to know if we could help him. I said yes but he also posted it on Facebook and had a family with kids about the age of his respond so he chose to have them help him. They also went with him on Saturday to a trampoline park and helped him take Maggie to a birthday party she wanted to go to.
On Saturday after getting the morning rituals completed Larry went to the office to work and I worked on the blog most of the day trying to get caught up on the month and a half that I was behind.
Sunday we got ready and left at 12:00 p.m. so that we could get to Nathan's in time to help Maggie get ready. When we got there the kids were all ready and there were two men from the ward there helping. Maggie needed her hair combed and we did that, then Nathan was ready to go to church even though we were about an hour early. Luckily we got stopped at the train crossing so it took a little longer. Maggie and the two youngest boys rode with us in our new car. We got to church at about 1:00 p.m. for 1:30 p.m. church.
When we got there I realized that the back pack that I take with papers in it to color on had been forgotten. I said a silent prayer that the Lord would help them be able to be quiet without it. The boys have never been quieter. Sammy actually laid on the floor most of the time. Maggie fell asleep.
They had some good talks on the importance of Fatherhood but I did not take notes because Maggie was asleep on me.
I had to take Maggie to primary asleep and hold her for about half of it. She finally woke up just before Activity time. They were making Father's Day cards so she was really into that. She said hers had to say, "I love my Daddy, Daddy is so nice to me" so I helped her write it even though that was not the intended verse the Primary had for them to copy. She and the Boys loved giving the cards to Nathan. They had also made picture frames and given to him earlier.
We decided that the car would have to be Larry's Father's Day present. He also got a book, Sherry Dew's Amazing Grace from Erick and Heather, a shared book with me about our trip to Hawaii from BJ and Holly, Michelle and Daniel are making him a Hymn CD with 5 of his favorite hymns of the Church, Jeff wished him Happy Father's day on Facebook and Kirsten and the kids sent him a card.
As of Sunday evening the Car transport had still not showed up and no one has called.
Larry had someone that was supposed to pick up cars this day so he did not go to Weight Watchers but the truck driver did not come all day. He did take time off to register our car so we were driving it legally.
Monday evening we just rested from our labors. We read scriptures for Family Home Evening and went to bed.
Tuesday morning I woke up at about 3:00 a.m. and could not go to sleep because I was worried about what Marcy was going to do. Nathan is doing well for himself and is working things our but he needs her. She was having some second thoughts after living with him and seeing how grouchy he can be and her family is opposing her moving and marrying him. So I wrote her a email with my thoughts and by the time I finished it was time to get up.
Larry was hoping that the car transport would show up this day but again it did not show up and no word on where it was. I spent the day catching up on emails, referrals and Baptisms and just about had the desk cleaned off when we left.
We went to the Temple on Tuesday night. We went early thinking that we had some cards that Larry had found the week before that were going to be doing Baptisms, Confirmations, Initiatory, and Endowment but they were Sealings. So we went and did the Sealings and then did an endowment for someone else in the drawer for our ward. I was a little frustrated with myself that I did not look at the FOR more closely and identify what it was. I just went on what Larry was thinking and he was probably just as frustrated. It was a good night though. We got to see a film that we have not seen for a while.
That night Marcy texted me that she had responded to my email so before I went to bed I read it. The message of the email and the text message were completely different so she had changed her mind when she texted and was planning on coming to San Antonio. She said that writing the email had helped her to organize her thoughts and to realize that she is really blessed to be married to Nathan. She has been having some problems with her boss not wanting to give her an exit date so it is frustrating for her too.
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| Elder Presser, Sister Presser, Sister Angulo, and Sister Gibson |
I was able to find some sources for people on my line and Larry's line but we did not have anyone come that needed help at the Family History Center.
One our way home we stopped at Sara's and got some pictures that she had of all the grandkids for us. The next day at work I worked on rearranging a collage of my grandkids on the top cabinet by my desk at work. I still need about 5 pictures but we are getting there and have a lot considering we have 28 grandchildren now.
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| My Collage |
Thursday Larry was still expecting the Car Transport but he also needed to go to Pflugerville, Texas up by Round Rock and get a Tiwi into a car and give them their license. So we went together after devotional in the office and he giving Sister Williams instructions on what to do if the Transport came. It was a quick ride up even though it is about 1 1/2 hours from San Antonio. We were able to meet the Sisters after waiting were they said to meet them for an hour. Sister Winn was a doer. She took the license from Elder Presser and put that on while he was working on the Tiwi. We had a good visit with her and Sister Hatch. They are not only over Pflugerville but Round Rock ward as well and they work with Bishop Garrett Oleen that grew up with my kids in Vernal during the orchestra days of Nathan and Jacob. But we did not have time to contact him.
We went to eat at a barbecue place there called Salt Lick Barbecue. The had a fairly good atmosphere but we were not fond of the food. We decided that would not be one we would be attending again. Then we started home. We ended up taking a toll road home that was very peaceful and had little commercial business along the road instead of IH 35. It was fun but Larry said that the bill when we get it will determine if we use it again.
We got to Converse about 6:00 p.m. and went to Nathan's apartment. He shared his Hamburger Helper that he got from the Relief Society and we spent about two hours helping him unpack and decide what he wanted to keep in several boxes. We found the long lost remotes that he has been looking for and some other things that got packed here from the house. He packed up about three boxes of books to give away as he says he can read them on his IPad now. He finally said that he was too tired to do much more and so we went home.
After reading and saying prayer I ended up talking to Marcy for a while on the phone and we had a good discussion of things she needed to know and I needed to know and we just like to talk.
Friday night Nathan had the person who was supposed to help him cancel out at the last minute so he texted and wanted to know if we could help him. I said yes but he also posted it on Facebook and had a family with kids about the age of his respond so he chose to have them help him. They also went with him on Saturday to a trampoline park and helped him take Maggie to a birthday party she wanted to go to.
On Saturday after getting the morning rituals completed Larry went to the office to work and I worked on the blog most of the day trying to get caught up on the month and a half that I was behind.
Sunday we got ready and left at 12:00 p.m. so that we could get to Nathan's in time to help Maggie get ready. When we got there the kids were all ready and there were two men from the ward there helping. Maggie needed her hair combed and we did that, then Nathan was ready to go to church even though we were about an hour early. Luckily we got stopped at the train crossing so it took a little longer. Maggie and the two youngest boys rode with us in our new car. We got to church at about 1:00 p.m. for 1:30 p.m. church.
When we got there I realized that the back pack that I take with papers in it to color on had been forgotten. I said a silent prayer that the Lord would help them be able to be quiet without it. The boys have never been quieter. Sammy actually laid on the floor most of the time. Maggie fell asleep.
They had some good talks on the importance of Fatherhood but I did not take notes because Maggie was asleep on me.
I had to take Maggie to primary asleep and hold her for about half of it. She finally woke up just before Activity time. They were making Father's Day cards so she was really into that. She said hers had to say, "I love my Daddy, Daddy is so nice to me" so I helped her write it even though that was not the intended verse the Primary had for them to copy. She and the Boys loved giving the cards to Nathan. They had also made picture frames and given to him earlier.
We decided that the car would have to be Larry's Father's Day present. He also got a book, Sherry Dew's Amazing Grace from Erick and Heather, a shared book with me about our trip to Hawaii from BJ and Holly, Michelle and Daniel are making him a Hymn CD with 5 of his favorite hymns of the Church, Jeff wished him Happy Father's day on Facebook and Kirsten and the kids sent him a card.
As of Sunday evening the Car transport had still not showed up and no one has called.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
June 14th and before
Larry and I were going to sleep in today but we didn't need much because we went to bed so early. We got up at 7:25 a.m. and read scriptures for a while and had prayer and then we ate breakfast. It was so good to be home where there was plenty of fruit to fill me up. I never thought I would be frustrated with a Free Continental Breakfast but they only had apples and oranges for fruit and I have found that they are not something that appeals to me and I just could not fill up on what was offered even though it was all good because we have a different way of eating now and most of it was points I did not need.
We showered and dressed and then I worked on the blog and Larry was looking at some Bible Videos that went along with the stuff we read in the New Testament. The power went out last night and so Larry had to reset it before we went to bed. When he did he accidentally reset it to an hour behind the time. I figured that out when I went out in the night and my phone had said one time and the stove had said an hour before. So I reset the stove but forgot about the microwave. Larry was going on the one on the microwave and all of a sudden I looked down and it was 1:13 p.m. and we had church at 1:30 p.m. and it is a 20 minute drive. So we rushed and only missed part of the opening song.
You might notice that our time has changed. They divided the two wards in the building with us and made a new ward and so we have a new time because we have 4 wards in the same building now. So instead of meeting at 11:00 a.m. we now meet at 1:30 p.m. It is kind of exciting that the church is growing so fast in San Antonio.
In Sacrament meeting Scriptures was the theme. They had a youth speaker who talked about Elder Jose Teixieira's talk in General Conference entitled Seeking the Lord.
Then they had a Single Adult Stake leader name Sister Craner that talked on Matthew 5:48 and the meaning of Perfection in this scripture as being complete not without sin.
The last speaker was a High Councilor speaking on Ezra 7:10 "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments." The speaker Brother Shane asked why would Ezra prepare his heart? The Lord has ask us to prepare our hearts by reading the scriptures. He also asks us to seek , why? D&C 29:8 "Wherefore the decree hath gone forth from the Father that they shall be gathered in unto one place upon the face of this land, to prepare their hearts and be prepared in all things against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked." Are we seeking to know what Heavenly Father would have us do?
He also mentioned the parable of the 10 virgins. Five were wise and Five were foolish. The five wise could not share with the foolish because the oil in their lamps was the preparations we have made for his coming. President Kimball talked about this and his motto was Do It! Do it now!
He also read from D&C 78 and that we prepare by doing the things he asks us to do. Then he read from D&C 58 and said that we are sent to be obedient that you might bear the testimony of the things to come.
It was a good sacrament meeting.
Sunday School was about the Priesthood and why it is so important to the Church. Larry got upset when I corrected him on something here but did not say anything until we were driving home.
Relief Society was a lesson on Ezra Taft Benson's teachings. It was on the doctrine that the prophet that is alive is the most important prophet to follow for our day. It has some good insights and I appreciated reading and contributing to it with thoughts. I truly believe that this principle is true.
I also learned in Relief Society that Nathan had ask the Relief Society to help him with food seems how he is not very good at cooking and Marcy has not arrived yet.
Nathan had got a gentleman who lives in his apartment complex to help him drive his van to church. we had some things that we had at the apartment that we needed to give to him. I had told Nathan after Sacrament that we would stop by. Then Larry came in after Relief Society all excited because we had to catch Nathan and give him the stuff while he was still here. So we did. I was feeling a little frustrated because I wanted to go and see Nathan for a few minutes but I knew that Larry did not and he didn't give me time to explain.
Then in the drive home Larry started talking to me about how I had embarrassed him by taping his shoulder in Sunday School to remind him not to go off on the tangent the Sunday School Class was going on. Apparently he was planning to tie the comment he made back into the Priesthood. Anyway, when he told me I had no right to comment on that I flipped out for a moment and told him that he was wrong. Then I remembered that we had learned earlier in the week when reading the Institute manual commentary on the New Testament that we are reading for Scripture that it mentioned that even when Christ was being spit on and mocked and accused unrighteously that Satan was working on him trying to get him to strike back and do something unrighteous so that he would no longer qualify as our Savior. I say all the time that I am trying to be like Jesus but when I get crossed I can get very angry and vindictive and scream and yell. I did it a lot with Nathan when he would be rude because I thought that he was doing it on purpose. ( But the Spirit has told me in the last month that I was wrong. That there are things that are connected to the stroke that are causing him to react that way so I have forgiven him.) I realized that I was blowing up because Satan was working on me to destroy our marriage and I needed to really be like Jesus and Stop! I quit talking for the rest of the ride home and I went into the spare bedroom when we got home. I prayed for long time to help me forgive and move on. It was not easy but I was finally able to get rid of my anger after about 2 hours and get to the point that we could discuss it without anger and apologize to each other.
Later in the evening I was talking to Marcy and we were both a little bummed and not feeling great and she informed me that her boss wanted her to work until July 31 before she comes down. I was so upset that I could not write the blog and just went to bed after that because I know how much Nathan needs Marcy when the kids come and that he has the kids for part of his two weeks for the last week of July.
On Monday of this week we sent our grandson Kyle back to Utah early in the morning. His plane left at 7:00 a.m. we were sad to see him go but glad we were able to spend some time with him and get to know him better. I mentioned some of what we did in the last blog post.
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| Civil War and the war after that uniforms |
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| Uniforms from before WWI |
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| All the horsemen running across in attack style while the helicopters are flying overhead |
The next morning we got a phone call from John and Judy asking us to reconsider going if they picked us up and paid our way to the reunion. We were hesitant at first because we do not like to be a burden to others but they were so persistent that they talked us into it. And we are glad that they did. Larry enjoyed it enough that he asked me if I wanted to go to his Brigades reunion of the 173rd Airborne in Georgia in October. I enjoyed it because I learned so much about John and his early life and what it is like to be in the military.
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| John, Judy, and Larry |
Elder and Sister Williams had taken off Tuesday and Wednesday for carpet installation in their home. (They live in San Antonio area) and we really needed to be in the office because it was empty but Larry insisted that we go to USAA to see if we could get a car loan from them. Granted he had me with him this time but they looked at our finances and approved the loan in less than twenty minutes and we had it all approved and signed in an hour and a half. We were able to send the papers to the Church and hopefully we will get the title before Monday.
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| The Blackhawk Helicopter like Nathan flew |
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| John, Larry and Judy looking at the equipment |
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| The typical wagon that traveled with the calvary |
We then went to our hotel and after about an hour of complications we were able to check in, but luckily we were one of the first ones there and so we didn't have to wait in the line behind us. We relaxed for a few minutes and then we went to get John and Judy.
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| Riding by two's |
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| Demonstration of fighting with swords |
We went back to the Hotel and then went to Logan's Road House to eat and John still had stories to tell us about the Base and his military life. Judy chimed in and it was a fun evening of food and fun. We laughed though because they only ordered cheesecake and we ordered an entree to share and it took them longer to eat the cheesecake than it did us to eat our entree and salads, of course it was a big piece of cheesecake!!
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| Larry beside the uniform he wore in Vietnam |
At 11:00 a.m. we went to another part of the base and they had a reenactment of the rules of combat for the Calvary in the Civil War and the Early days of 1900 before the motorized vehicles took over. It was interesting to know that people could spend part or all of their enlistment doing this reenactment nowdays and taking care of the horses and grounds. I filmed the entire program and will try to upload it but it may be too much for the video capacity of the blog. It was really fun to see. I wondered how much of that my Grandfather Thacker had learned in basic training he attended in WW I before the war ended.
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| Display of a typical bunker situation in Vietnam |
Then we went back to the area for the machine displays. John and Larry spent more time looking at the machines and learning what they do. Judy and I headed for the museum. One time John and Larry came in and that is when I was able to get Larry to talk about his experiences in Vietnam. While we were looking they came in to see if someone with a silver car could move their car as they were trying to send the vehicles to the area for the evening program and it was blocking the way for them to be removed. We thought it was John and Judy's car but when they got outside John was very relieved it was not because they had parked in a ridiculous place right by the vehicles on display.
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| Larry and I at the luncheon |
The Barbecue for the reunion was a typical Texas Barbecue but some things were served in a different form than I have seen. They had the Brisket and Chicken and Shredded Pork. The creamed corn was baked in a casserole. They had the charro beans and potato salad and other salads. I thought they had cheesecake for dessert but is was a lemon meringue in a graham cracker crust. But all in all it was a great dinner and more than we could eat just taking a large spoonful of each thing.
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| Judy and John drinking their iced tea |
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| Others at our table |
After that we went back to the hotel and went to bed. John and Larry were planning to take the car into Jiffy lube or somewhere in the morning early because the oil change light was on so we wanted to get a good sleep before morning. Of course Judy got up with them but I slept in for a while and then went to breakfast about an hour before it ended.
When the guys got back we checked out and started our journey home. We did not stop along the way but when we got to San Antonio we took John and Judy out for Mexican food before they went home. We had fun sitting and eating and talking before they had to go home.
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| Our new car |
We spent the evening relaxing after going grocery shopping to get some fruit because we were both craving our precious 0 point fruit.
Mother's Day until June 7th
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| View of the temple from the lower parking lot |
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| Maggie is growing |
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| Kyle and Nathan at Senior Dinner |
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| Larry with Elder and Sister Antuar from Australia |
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| Sister Clark with Elder and Sister Williams |
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| All of our Presser/Christiansen family at the blessing |
We went to Applebee's for our anniversary with a gift card Michelle and Daniel had given us and enjoyed that. Then we ended up going to the meeting. I think the Saturday Adult session of Stake Conference is always a spiritual treat that you do not get as much of for the Sunday session. It is like getting meat of the Gospel rather than milk.
BJ and Holly had Ciely Rose blessed this weekend in Utah and we were sorry that we could not be there. We would have loved to see her in person and be there and participate in the blessing but we did not feel like it was what we should be doing and despite the fact they offered to pay for part of the tickets to get there we decided to stay home and celebrate our anniversary together. I was so happy that they posted pictures of the day on Facebook so that we could see who was there and participate that way. It was hard for me to stay home.
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| Nathan with Cieli Rose |
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| Nathan, Kirsten, BJ with Cieli, Maren, and Erick |
Thursday night we picked the kids up and took them out to dinner from 6:00-8:00 p.m. That worked out for Sara as she had a play that she was starring in at the Harliquin Theatre. Later that night Sara asked us to look for David's phone. It was in the car to the side of the seat where it had fallen out of his pocket when we looked the next day. We didn't have time to take it to him as we were planning to go to Kerrville.
The weekend of the 22nd and 23rd we went to Kerrville. We had a good time there. John and Judy talked us into going to the 1st Cav Reunion in a few weeks and we made a motel reservation. We were surprised that they took out the money for the reservation when we made the appointment. On our way home we took the phone to David so he would have it.
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| Kyle dropping off his supplies for his Senior Project |
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| one of Kyle's Senior Pictures |
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| Sister Presser, Sister Sadler, Sister Jenkins, and Sister Williams |
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| Sister Presser, Elder Pope, Elder Goodman |
It rained a lot this week. We went to the Transfer meeting in San Antonio and also in Austin. It was frustrating though because we ended up having to go to the Office and then back to the Stone Oak Chapel(about 20 minutes one way) to get some things done because Elder Presser had one of the cars in trouble and he had to go to the office for that and then some Elders that were switching cars ended up not having any keys to go home and we had to take some back to Stone Oak before going to Austin. We tried to hurry but apparently they started the meeting about 10 minutes early and so by the time we got there Elder Williams had to give our talks. So except for the mail it felt like we went to Austin for nothing.
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| Sister Presser, and Elder Hunter Frampton just found out his brother lives in Kaysville 22nd now |
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| Sister Presser and Elder Nebeker |
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| Maggie with her preschool teachers |
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| Maggie with one of her pre-school friends |
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| Maggie looking before graduation |
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| Elder Graham from Vernal, Elder Hutchings from Lehi, Sister Presser, Elder Larsen from Logan |
After that I took the baby back to the office and we had him all afternoon. Susan finally called about 4:30 p.m. as we were going back to the apartment and said that they had confirmed that Rudy had a stroke and that she could take the baby now. He was a good baby. Only cried when you stopped the car until he could see that you were going to get him out.
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| Sister Turpin a personal favorite that has not gone home yet. |
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| Isaac getting his Bear and Faith in God Award |
After Pack meeting we took the kids home for the weekend. We had a fairly lazy weekend with Ipads and the pool being the main entertainment. I took Maggie to dance in the morning on Saturday but other than that we stayed close to home and just played with the kids.
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| Kyle eating the huge deseret at Hard Rock Cafe |
Nathan flew in about 11:00 p.m. so it was really late but he had someone from the ward to pick him up so it was no problem for us.
Kyle flew in that day also. We picked him up and I think we took him to the office to introduce him and then took him home to rest from his trip.
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| Looking to the sidewalk cafe from the boat |
Nathan wanted to buy something for Kyle for his graduation so he talked him into staying at his apartment and they went shopping the next day for Kyle's present and he ended up getting Kyle to take him several places to run errands he wanted to do. I am sure Nathan had a good time and I hope that Kyle did too.
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| Bishop Alonzo guiding the boat |
On the Third day Wednesday we made arrangements for Kyle to go out with Elder Giles and Elder Hendricks for the day. So he dressed up in his Sunday best and met them at the office and went with them. They went to a district meeting and then the went out trying to contact some people in the area book. Kyle said that the weirdest thing was when a man came to the door in his underwear and the Elders just talked to him like nothing was wrong. He also learned that there are some poorer areas in San Antonio as well as the nice areas.
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| Maggie enjoying the boat ride |
I checked out of the office for a day so that I could go and do something with Kyle while he was here. I asked him where he would like to go and he chose the Tower of the Americas downtown. I was excited to see it also as it is something that we have not seen. It is a lot like the Space Needle in Seattle but it was fun to be in the tower with Kyle and pointing out different land marks that I have become familiar with and he was excited to see the Alamo Dome nearby. We stayed there and then I asked Kyle where he would like to eat. He was curious about Whataburger as Elder Giles and Hendricks had suggested they had the best hamburgers in Texas, so we went there for lunch. I tried to find the one downtown but I did not know where to park when we found it so we decided to go to Converse and eat there at the Whataburger as we were picking up Nathan and the kids to go to the Riverwalk with us in the evening.
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| Kyle from the Tower of America |
We picked up Nathan and his van and then we went to get the kids. We ended up parking by a restaurant that Nathan wanted to eat at. We ended up going to Maria Mia's for Mexican food. It was good and Nathan was thrilled that his kids actually tried chips and salsa and liked it and ate some. It ended up taking quite a long time. We got out of there about 7:15 p.m. We had to walk about 4 blocks to get to where the Bishop was working out of for his boat. When Maren and Landon where here we had to wait for about an hour for his boat. This night we went down to the boat area and traveled to where we were supposed to meet the boat and Bishop Alonzo was just unloading the group from his previous tour. We were able to get Nathan on the boat with his wheelchair which surprised me and Kyle and the boys were able to sit in the front where they wanted to be. We didn't finish until about 8:30 or 9:00 and I was worried that Sara would be upset but I forgot that she was performing in her play so she didn't even care because someone was with the kids longer.
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| Selfie of me and Kyle on the tower |
In the evening we went out to Converse to Nathan's apartment and had Pizza with him and the kids. Because he has to have someone there at all times when the kids are there according to the divorce decree Kyle stayed the night with them to help him because the person from the ward backed out.
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| Looking down from the Tower of America |
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| On the water fall in front of the Tower |
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| Maggie in her costume |
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| Maggie's class, Maggie is in the middle. They danced to Candy Man. They are holding lollipops |
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| Kyle at the Alamo |
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| Battle reenactment |
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| Add caption |
Larry and Kyle had gone to the Alamo and Ripley's believe it or not, the Wax museum and other things on Alamo Square. They were able to see a gun fight at the Alamo which is not an everyday thing and Kyle said that they had a good time. They had actually just got home when I called Larry about 5:00 p.m. and told him about the car.
Sunday we had a good church. It was fast and testimony meeting and so I bore my testimony that I knew that Heavenly Father had protected us and wanted Maggie to have the experience of a dance recital. I feel like if the air bag had not deployed that I would have had broken ribs or something like that as my ribs were in the air bag. I also felt like I might as well tell Nathan because he will eventually figure things out anyway. Although I don't think he was listening at the time.
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| Kyle again |
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| Kyle at the Wax museum |
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| Kyle the Astronaut |
Sara took the kids home immediately after the recital was over and I forgot I had not told her about the accident. One the way home Maggie told her about it so we had drama texting going on for about the next hour. So that was a mistake that I made but it is frustrating that everything becomes a drama about how we are taking care of the kids. But that may be Nathan and Marcy's life for the next 13 years. We took Nathan home and helped with a few things and then took Kyle with us back to the apartment so we could all get to bed as he was leaving early the next day.
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