August 10th and 11th

Yesterday we really had a hard time getting going in the morning.  We finally made it out of the apartment at 10:15 a.m.  We went straight to Weight Watchers.  Larry wanted some help in canceling his membership and I weighed in.  I lost 1.2 lbs this week so I was feeling good.  After that we went to the house to eat lunch and then went to the office.

Larry had lots of things to do with the cars.  He needs to take the tiwis out of the cars that have come in but it has been about 102 every afternoon for a week and he can't work outside for very long in that temperature.

I worked on several things again.  I am trying to find the bad address referrals that have a phone number or email but it is usually a miracle if someone of those call me back.  One did today and she happened to be a member.  The name on the referral was her Uncle's but she said that he is in Phoenix so I told her to have him turn it in to the mission is Phoenix Arizona if he still wanted to have the missionaries.  It was weird because whomever had entered the referral had put that the person was 0-7 so I was expecting a child and it was a 40 year old man.

Ken Jackson had told me that Nathan wanted him to take him to the airport to fly to Utah so I was not surprized when Marcy texted me and asked me if I knew what Nathan was coming to Utah for.  He told her he had a surprise for her and she told him not to come unannounced but of course he did not listen.  She wanted mine and Kirsten's opinion so I told her to do what she had to do and be straight with him.  He called her later and wanted her to come and pick him up but they do not have an airport in Vernal now for some reason so he was asking her to come to Salt Lake City and pick him up.  That is a 3+hour drive and Marcy did not get off of work until 7:00 p.m.  So she told him to get a hotel and ride the bus out the next day.  I was fine with that.  She called and we talked for about an hour about life.  She finally hung up at about 11:00 p.m. our time so despite the fact that we thought we were going to bed early that did not happen.  I enjoyed talking to her though so I am not complaining.

We went to sleep and then about 12:20 a.m. Maren called and was all upset because Nathan had called all of the brothers and sisters that were at her house for a get together trying to get someone to pick him up because he could not get a hotel and he was at the bus station where he had purchased a ticket.  She felt awful because no one could work out anything for him and she wanted to know if she was bad for not going to get him.  I told her that if he was in the bus station he would be okay and it might be good for him to learn the consequences of coming to Salt Lake for a surprise.  I guess that I am hard hearted but he should have planned on someone to pick him up as it is not just a matter of driving your car to pick him up and he is pretty resilient, I knew he would be okay

So this morning I was a little tired but not like yesterday.  I actually slept pretty good after Maren's call.  We made it to the Office by 9:15 a.m.  The Williamses were right behind us so we had devotional and then we left for the last zone training with Hill Country Zone at Bulverde.

They asked me to go first this time for some reason and so I thought I was doing well until I looked at the clock and I had taken 45 minutes.  But Elder Presser adjusted and so it worked out okay but I felt bad.  Again the IPad I was trying to use would not bring up the website that I needed to show them so I just had to verbally tell them what I was trying to help them find for information.

We picked up another car to bring back to the office and then we drove to the apartment to eat lunch.  When we arrived at the office Sister Williams was in a panic because she had 3 sets of missionaries waiting to see Elder Presser and he was not answering his phone because he left it at the apartment. So he spent the next hour getting them in the cars they needed to be in.  And he tried to get some more tiwis in the 103 heat today.

I worked on referrals, phone calls, IPad problems and putting away the Book of Mormon order that I got last week.  It has just been in the middle of the floor in the Supply Room.  We were hoping the cleaning lady will vacuum there if we moved it to the sides.

Driving to the temple I read Elder Presser an article by a Stephen Webb who is a teacher of philosophy and religion at Wabash College.  It talks about how after he read the Book of Mormon he realized that the Mormons are more Christian than many of the Christians. It is titled Mormonism Obsessed with Christ.  It is an interesting article.

We left about 4:45 p.m and went straight to the temple for the 6:30 p.m. session but I guess straight there is not so straight if you stop at McDonalds for dinner.  Then we went to the temple.  Sister Williams was there tonight too with some of her Seminary Students that she taught that are going on missions so it was good to see them and her.  We had a good session.

We read scriptures on the way home and looked at some of the Bible Videos on lds.org on our phones.  They are so good.  We are learning so much about the New Testament right now and it is amazing all the good things that are there.  We have used David Ridges commentary on the New Testament and the Institute manual of the Church  It has been so helpful to understand the Cultural practices of that day that are tied to the comments in the Scriptures.

 So now I am trying to update some of the blog but this is as far as it goes.

August 8th and 9th

I had a hard time going to sleep last night so when the alarm went off Larry got up but I just rolled over and he let me sleep until almost 8:00 a.m.  We ate, read scriptures, said our prayers and then Larry went to the mission office to work with the Assistants.

Larry worked on recording the mileage, tiwi number, vin number, license plate number, amount of fuel for each car.  Then they decided which vehicle still needed to be pull from the fleet.  They have to pull 14 cars from the fleet by August 19th which is the next Transfer.  Then he put all the mileage log reports into the computer and then filed them.  He had milege reports for 90 cars so it took some time to do this.

I worked on cleaning our bathroom in the morning.  I was frustrated because I worked through it all and then realized that I did not have my active link on so even thought my body knows I worked I get no points for it.  HaHa the things we stress about.

I worked for a while on the blog and got things updated until the 7th and felt good about that.  But then Larry came home in the afternoon and I felt like I needed to quit for a while.  We needed to work on our finances and budget.

I spent the afternoon working out how many bills that we had and where we were in our check book.  It felt good to get it figured out but it was frustrating how tight we are.  But I cannot complain.  The Lord has blessed us abundantly with the finances we need on the mission.

After that Larry and I went grocery shopping and then read. prayed and went to bed.  I felt really good though because I had set three goals of what I wanted to accomplish and had accomplished them.  That does not happen often for me so it was very satisfying.  I felt like Heavenly Father had really blessed me.

Sunday we slept in.  We  went to church and Nathan and the kids were there.  I finally remembered to bring the the backpack I have with drawing paper and pencils and so the kids were really good.  Maggie started to go to sleep at the end of the Sacrament meeting.  So I woke her up and went to Primary with her until she woke up.  I was excited though because she finally told me that she would be okay and so I was able to go to my class for the first time in a long time.

On the way out of church the person who drives Nathan told us that he was flying to Utah the next day.  But Nathan never told us about that.

After church Nathan invited us over to the apartment to access the stuff he wants to send back to Utah.  He is going to pay for us to rent a UHaul to bring it back from our mission.  We looked at that and helped the kids change and then Larry took them back to Sara.  Unfortunately there is not room for all of our grandkids here and Larry and I in our new car so I stayed with Nathan for a few minutes until Larry took them home.

Nathan was a little irritated with me again so I was feeling frustrated so after we ate and read scriptures and had prayer we were about to go to bed and a person I called a few days ago returned my call.  Mark Lynn is a person that I know who's wife had the same type of stroke.  I asked him if he had any problems with his wife getting angry with her stroke fully expecting him to say no because I have had such a positive picture of him and his wife.  He asked me to describe what I meant and so I told him about the struggles we have had with Nathan and vice versa and he said that he was also a mental health worker  and that in his experience anyone who has a stroke goes through a period of anger and he said that both his wife and he went through it because there is anger about the changes that a stroke brings into their life and the things that are impossible to do after the stroke.  I felt such a relief.  The spirit has been telling me that tNathan's anger is not me but it was like a ton of bricks was lifted from me but I also had a lot of remorse for all the times I had got so angry at him.  He gave me some suggestions about how to get more help and then I was impressed because he told me call anytime.  I was so excited that I texted Nathan and Marcy about it and looked for the groups that he suggested on Facebook and joined them.  I suggest if you are concerned about helping Nathan in any way that you find out about some of the groups there.  I wish we had the time when we came down to do more to studying about the effects of stroke and how to help Nathan but we did the best we could.

August 7th

Larry and I stayed up a little late looking at things on Facebook last night after the debate so when the alarm went off we rolled over and waited for the 7:00 a.m. alarm

Today we had to go to Austin for Zone trainings.  When I put the address in the Google Maps I was surprised to find out it is less time to the Austin Building than to the Oak Hills building even though Austin is further North.  Elder Williams says that it because we do not know how to get there without GPS. HaHa

We were distracted for a few minutes with Facebook but we finally got going and were glad it was not so far because we left about 15 minutes after 9:00 a.m.  Larry drove and I told him about comments on Facebook about last night’s debate.  I just started that for a few minutes and the next thing I knew we were in Austin.  We were excited to find out that Ben Carson had increased his following by 230,000 on Facebook last night and He had 400,000 tweets about him on Twitter during the debate.

We went in and listened to the Zone leader training again and were amazed at the wonderful job they do.

Larry went first and showed his videos and then I went.  The website on the IPads I wanted to talk about was up and functioning until just before I went up but then of course it decides that it is not accessible.  So after trying two times to get it up I just described it like yesterday.  The Sisters today thought I was a hoot so it makes it easier to present if they get your jokes although most of my jokes are just things I say that I learned from Dad.

We went to “Jack in the box” to get lunch because it is Larry’s favorite.  I like it now too because they have some good salads but until this year I really did not understand why Larry liked it so much.

We went back to the office after that.  We got there in good time and had time to do a number of things.  I had several referrals waiting for me to put in.  Sister Williams is such an angel to take over that part of my job when I am gone.  I got more things accomplished but still left with several things waiting.

Larry spent time going over the vehicles that he is going to sell.  He has a lot to do with cleaning them out and getting them fixed before they sell.  He also needs to take out the Tiwis and send them back to the Church’s vehicle department.

Elder Williams wanted me to go by the Salado Springs Apartments that are close to ours and drop off a lease agreement and a check to hold it for the Spencers so we left about 5:30 p.m. and came home.  We made dinner read scriptures and other things and finally went to bed

August 6th

Well we spent time tonight watching the Republican Debate with our Neighbors, Susan and Rudy.  They live next door to us and we have had enough discussions that we knew that they are conservative so we asked if we could come over and watch with them because we gave all the TV’s back to Nathan so we would not have to pay for TV service because we do not watch TV that much.  It was fun to spend time with them.  Susan is as Conservative as Larry so we had some of the same opinions.  Larry was impressed with Dr. Ben Carson whom I have always liked so I was glad about that.  I thought Donald Trump turned some of it into a circus with his answers.  I was surprised by Mike Huckabee and Jeb Bush who did better than I expected.  It was a good look at everyone but I also still like Scott Walker.  Larry was leaning toward Cruz but he wasn’t very impressed with his performance.

Nathan called at 2:00 a.m. in the morning.  He and the kids had flown in about midnight after having problems with his chair all day as it did not want to hold a charge.  Apparently they had a problem getting him home from the airport but thought that it would be okay once it got plugged in.  I guess that he was still up or got up for something and he moved away from his regular IPhone and could not move the chair back to his phone.  He has a Phone watch type thing but it only had my number and Kirsten’s and Marcy’s in it so as I was the only one in Texas he called me.  I told him that I would come and help him but he said to call someone that was closer so I called Ken Jackson.  Brother Jackson has been a Saint to help him and he lives in the same apartment complex that Nathan lives in.  I don’t know how he felt about getting up at 2:00 a.m. but he has always said that he does not mind helping Nathan as he often thinks about how he would feel if the situation was reversed.  We owe him so much for his help.

Later in the morning Nathan again asked for some help getting to his manual wheelchair from the electronic one as it was not working by texting on our group text.  Sara was not awake I don’t think, after the late night with the kids, but I texted him and said I would come on the way to Austin if he did not find anyone.  I suggested he call Ken again so I guess that he did as he said he was okay when I called before we left for Austin.  I hope he can get the chair fixed soon.

We had to go to Oak Hills Zone Training today in Austin.  I worked on the blog while Larry drove there as it is about a 2 hour drive and I was behind on Monday and Tuesday.  I didn’t finish it but it is mostly complete.  

It is so fun to be with the missionaries and to present to them.  They are always interested and they work so hard to see that what you teach is implemented.  Some of them also think that I am funny just by what I say.  I enjoy talking to them because they are so positive and so willing to learn.

We had to pick up a truck to take to the mission office as part of the cars that we are eliminating from the TSAM fleet.  I let Elder Presser drive the truck as I did not feel like driving a truck even if it was automatic.

Elder Presser, Sister Presser, Sister Marble

We went to Torchy’s Tacos to eat for one last time probably.  The Assistants said that they have a secret menu and that one of the items is called “The Missionary”  So I tried it.  It was really good,lots of pulled pork with a fried corn tortilla inside a flour tortilla and some special sauces and avocado and onion.  They said it was sweet pork so Elder Presser did not get it but it turned out to be mellow seasoned pulled pork.  As I do not really like sweet pork I was pleasantly grateful.

I drove back to the office in silence and prayed and planned what I needed to do when I got back to the office.  Larry listened to a mix of songs from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  We got there about the same time.

Larry inspected each of the cars to get all the junk out and did a body work inspection when we got back.  He has to worry about whether they need oil changes or body work done before they are sold.

I had an order of Book of Mormons that were arriving just as I got there.  I made some phone calls and worked on some referrals and baptism but I decided that the first thing I had to do before I did anything else was print out the referral records for each area for the zone training that we are going to tomorrow in Austin.  I was glad I did.

Elder Tews and his family with Elder and Sister Presser

Elder Austin Tews came with his family about 3:30 p.m. so we spent a lot of time talking to them and taking pictures with them.  Elder Tews really looked good in his civilian clothes and his family seemed really fun to be with.

My phone died so I did not get Susan and Rudy’s reply so we checked with them when we got home.  They were excited to get together so we went in and fixed dinner and read our scriptures then because we knew the debate would get over late.

We spent the two hours during the debate at Susans and Rudy’s and then came home and went to bed.

August 5th

Maggie in front of the Salt Lake Temple east doors

We were tired when we got up today so we slept until 7:00 a.m but then we just ate and showered and said prayers at home.  We read scriptures in the car as we traveled to Kyle.

Larry looked at our Bank Account and for some reason we were overdraft so that hit us for a loop.

Maggie, Isaac and Sammy in alcove of the Temple

But first we went to the office so we could pick up the car that we had to take to Kyle and exchange and I had to print out the referrals.  We left about 9:45 a.m for a meeting that we presented at 11:00 a.m.  Traffic was light and it only takes 51 minutes to go to the chapel there so we made it by 10:30 a.m.

Nathan on the Temple Grounds

Because we got there early we could hear the Zone Leaders presentations and once again they were outstanding.  I was impressed with Elder White who taught about how to do a Flex talk he called it.  Apparently it is something that President Slaughter taught them but I have not heard of before.  He said that it is good when you are supposed to talk but it is past your time to talk and you need to leave more time for the visiting authority.  It is composed of three parts.

1. Scripture- quote a scripture or General Authority
2. Insight-Provide insight into what the scripture means or provide interpretations of General Authorities.
3. Testimony-Bear your testimony to the truthfulness of the principle in the scripture and how it has affected your life for good.

Then you take the first letters of each of the words and S-I-T!!! This really excited me.

Maggie on the South side of the Salt Lake Temple

We presented out teachings that are the same every time with some variations according to personality of the day.  Then we had to work out which cars we had to take back.  We had some confusion because Larry did not write down which cars went where but the Assistants straightened us out and then we had to wait a while for the Sisters to come back with the one car from lunch.  So we ate the food we had brought.  When they returned we cleaned out their car and I drove that and Larry drove a Jeep down to the office.

Looking out from the Conference Center

On the Conference Center roof looking South

While Larry was driving Judy called him and told him that they had gone to the oncologist today to talk about John's treatment of his melanoma and that they have several new treatments for melanoma that they want to try on him.  So she was feeling optimistic that maybe they could shrink the tumor.  So I hope it works for them to give them a little more time together.  We were both pleased to hear the news.

We also saw via text that Nathan and the kids had missed their plane in Salt Lake City so they wouldn't be in until midnight.  Later Marcy posted pictures of their day at the Temple and Capital grounds that they decided to visit while waiting for the new flight.

Looking East from the Conference Center

Inside the conference center

Looking out from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

At the office I felt like I have been in a fog all week as I work.  Probably because I am so far behind on my work.  I start one thing and then start another and then realize that I haven't finished what I started so I get frustrated.  I read emails, typed some papers for the Referral Secretary instructions that needed to be revised for Sister Spencer and printed them and put them in the book.  I even updated the description of what I do for the Mission handbook and gave that to Sister Williams as she was making them today.  I ordered some Stationary for the office and then I worked on Referrals and Typed in some Baptisms and Confirmations.  At the end of the day I had to move some of the boxes of Book of Mormons to make room for an order that is coming tomorrow.  So I got some exercise today.  Larry helped me to do that. Plus I made several phone calls and received as many more.  When I was ready to go home Larry wasn't so I typed in some more Baptisms.

Nathan, Isaac, David, Maggie, and Sammy in front of the Salt Lake Temple

When we got home it was 7:00 p.m. and after eating and sending a few texts and reading we are ready to go to bed.  Then I remembered saying my prayers that I had to print out the referral reports for tomorrows presentation.  When I finished that I thought maybe I could write at least about today. for the blog.

We also got some texts that Nathan and the kids are on the plane coming home.  Life is good especially when you have something to do!!!

The entire family reflected in the door

Maggie in front of the reflection pool

Sammy in front of the Church Office Building

Maggie in front of the church office building

 

 

Sammy, Isaac, Maggie, David, and Nathan

 

Top to Bottom: David, Isaac, Korbin, Drayk, and Maggie

At the airport waiting to get on the plane

Their plane

August 3rd and 4th

Time flies it seems.  We feel like we just arrived sometimes and it is almost time for us to leave our mission.

Isaac taken by David

Monday was a busy day and hectic.  I went to Weight Watchers after we got to the office.  Elder Presser has decided to try a low carbohydrate diet for now because he has read some things that say it will reverse his diabetes.  So I am on my own at Weight Watchers.  For the three weeks since I was able to go last time I lost .4 lbs.  Which is a little discouraging but at least it is in the right direction.  I have been trying to exercise more and track what I am eating more.  We have also been trying to eat at home more as that makes it easier to follow both diets, although it makes for some interesting meals.

Maggie taken by David

While I was at Weight Watchers Larry worked on mileage logs and input maintenance receipts into the programs on the computer for that.  He also worked on some registrations for some cars later in the day and took calls while Williamses were gone.

Sammy by David

Nathan, Kirsten, Maren, Erick, Jacob

We found out today that the couple that are coming on August 16, the Spencers will be the ones to replace us.  We should have plenty of time to train them plus they will get to go through a transfer with us so they will know what to do.  The Williamses still do not know when their replacements are coming so they are up in the air.

When I got back I did the paperwork I usually do.  Plus we got two orders of Book of Mormons in to the office.  It always amazes me how out of shape most of the FedEx drivers are.  I worry that some of them are going to have a heart attack right in the office.  They come in dripping with sweat with the boxes even on the dolly.  Of course the fact that it has been 100 degrees every day this week would never have anything to do with that,  Ha Ha!

Lexie, Myles, Isaac, Brinlie, Taylor, Sammy, Max, Ellie, Ryker, Abbie,

 Maggie, Gauge, and David

Marcy continued to upload pictures of them with the kids so that was nice to see what they were doing on their vacation.  They spent some time at the Treehouse Children’s Museum and had a reunion  with all of Nathan’s brothers and sisters that are in Utah at the time except Michelle, with their families.  It looked like so much fun.

King Drayk and Queen Maggie

BJ and Holly are in their final day of moving to Utah.  They will fly out tomorrow for the Mainland.

The Grandkids at the Sibling Reunion

Monday evening we looked at Church History Sites on the computer  for Family Home  Evening so that we could decide if we wanted to visit those on the way home from the mission.  We mapped out a great route to go and see several things plus swing up and see Jake and Nikki but then we realized that we will be hauling a trailer and for now we have decided that we will just come straight home after visiting with John and Judy

.

Sammy the Astronaut

Ryker by David I think

Today Tuesday has been a very eventful day in a few ways.  We woke up early but decided to sleep an hour longer which is not a good idea as we do not get to exercise.  Larry was having a hard time getting going.  He is always ready long before I am but he was still not dressed when I had finished so I knew something was wrong even though he did not complain.  We went to the office and started to do the things we needed to do before the Zone training.  All of a sudden I noticed it was 10:30 a.m. the time we had to leave for the UTSA Chapel for the West Zone training and Elder Presser was nowhere to be found.  I took all the things I needed to the car and he wasn’t there so I called his phone and he was in the bathroom sick.  He said he would be out soon.  But finally he called me on my phone and said I would have to go by myself and that the video that he was showing was in the White binder he carries in the car.  So I took off and just barely made it to the training at 11:00 a.m.

Maggie doing a puppet show for Nathan and Drayk

When I got to the training I told them that maybe I would start and they could get the video set up while I presented my part.  But then I went all through the binder and there was no DVD in it.  So then we had to punt.  Having already seen the DVD on Speeding and Backing I tried the best I could to describe the points it was trying to make and the way they made them.  Then I started on the things that I was presenting.  I thought that maybe I would be through a little early and I was.  This time I did not go 10 minutes over but I finished three minutes shy of noon.  So as always I had plenty to say.

After finishing at the zone training I went back to the office and Sister Williams did not know where Elder Presser was.  So I called him and he had gone home for a while still sick.  I gave him some motherly advice about what he needed to do to feel better and then let him rest.

Doctor Maggie

 Elder Williams was gone also because he had a doctor’s appointment so Sister Williams and I had a fun time holding down the office together. 

When Elder Williams came back we were all relieved to find out that they had finally scheduled his surgery.  The bad thing however was that it was about two weeks out on the 14^th of August so he is still waiting but hopefully he will finally get it.

Korbin, Isaac, David

Elder Presser came back to the office about 3:30 p.m.  He says he didn’t do anything but he was busy doing paper work and such like before.  Every day when the mail comes in he has more mileage reports this time of the month and he had some work to do on estimates on accidents that have occurred recently. 

Heather, Ryker, Erick, Nathan, Jake, and Lexie

  I felt like I was in a fog in the afternoon or that feeling you have when you have too much to do and not enough time to do it in.  But I tried to work and finish things although I often found myself realizing that I had started something in the middle of something else so I would go back to that.  I worked on referrals and baptisms and phone calls and tried to accomplish something for the afternoon but I felt very much confused.

Larry decided that he felt good enough to go the the Temple so we went home and ate quickly and then we went to the temple.  It was full session but not like last Friday.  I really enjoyed this session because I felt like I was learning by the spirit which has been my goal for several months but on this night it seemed to be evidenced in the answers that I received.

Queen Marcy and Princess Maggie

We went grocery shopping after the session.  It seems to be the time that we find to go lately, after the Temple.  As the Temple session does not get out until 8:30 p.m. and we have to dress after that it is a late night usually.  Larry went right to sleep after we got back and put things away but I was up for a while looking at Facebook and the photos that our kids posted.

Korbin playing chess

Jeff with his two boys.  They drove a car across the U.S. for a friend

Matthew, Jaron, Owen, Kallise when Jeff visited Michelle