August 30 and 31

Sunday August 30^th was our last day to be in Woodlake ward.  They asked us to bear our testimonies in Sacrament Meeting so we did.  It was a sad time as we said good bye to so many friends in the ward that we had grown to love.  Fortunately the ward has a closed Facebook group so we can keep up with a few of the things that are happening there still.

In the evening I went and invited our neighbors, Susan and Rudy and Jane to come for ice cream on Monday so that they could meet the new couple that will be moving into our apartment.  They both said yes and then Jane talked with me for some time about how excited she was about the new treatment that they were giving her for her cancer.  She was so optimistic that they would be able to get the cancer and that she would have many more years of life.  She looked good too.

Monday, the 31^st of August I did not go to the office except to drop off Larry.  I stayed home to start cleaning and working on some final paperwork for my health insurance that I had to change because of the move back to Utah.  I thought that I would get a lot of cleaning done but I ended up talking to Kirsten for an hour in the morning after Larry went into the office to help Elder Spencer with something he needed.  She was trying to help us with making sure the house was clean before she moved in before we got there but then we just got talking about something that was bugging her.

Then I started working on the insurance and the check book.  I had to switch insurance companies because I did not answer a letter that they sent me.  So I was finally getting back to the agent that sold me the policy.  It took most of the day for me to get that straightened out.  There is so much red tape they have to go through to sell you a policy over the phone and we basically had to go through the whole process again but I felt so much better now that I had that taken care of and I was not worrying about it because I knew that I would be wanting to go to the doctor as soon as I went home because I had a rash on my face that I didn’t know how to get rid of and I needed to talk to Dr. Lee when I got home about prescriptions and all the things that were bothering me.   I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from me as I finished that but I also felt guilty because I had not accomplished much in the way of cleaning.

I worked hard to make the front of the apartment clean as we had invited our neighbors, Susan and Rudy and Jane over to have ice cream and to meet the Fergusons who were going to move into our apartment when we left.  I also talked to the apartment about when they could clean the carpets and about getting the bathtub refinished because Nathan’s transfer bench had rubbed the enamel off the edge of the tub.  I went to get some ice cream and toppings that I didn’t have and then I went to pick up Larry at the office about 5:30 p.m.  We ate our dinner and then got ready for everyone to come.

Susan and Rudy came and then the Fergusons and we talked for about 20 minutes then I went to see if Jane remembered.  When she came to the door she looked like she did not feel well.  She said that she had called Susan and told her that she didn’t feel well but Susan had not told me.  She said it was part of the chemotherapy the doctor had told her.  I apologized and asked her if I could help her back to bed but she said she would be okay.  When I went back Susan said that she had called her but she felt like she would call me also.

We had our ice cream and talked for a long time about various things.  I had given Susan and Rudy a Book of Mormon and asked them to read it so I asked when there was a lull if they had had a chance to read it.  I felt like I knew the answer because they had not gotten back with me but I felt like I needed to ask.  They both said graciously that they did not want to read it because they were happy with their church.  I felt like I should bear my testimony so I told them some stories from the Book of Mormon that fit with their conservative life style and bore my testimony to its truthfulness.  Susan seemed to be interested but Rudy then said that they didn’t want to hear anymore.  So I stopped.  We talked for a while and then everyone went home.  Sister Ferguson thanked me for speaking to Susan and Rudy about the Book of Mormon so that she was aware of where they stood on those things.

August 29th

August 29^th  Larry spent the morning working on cleaning the apartment which I always appreciate that he will do those things. 

Isaac and Grandma June

 I took Isaac to lunch one on one with me.  We went to McDonald’s because they like to get the prizes in the Happy Meals.  We downloaded a game called Geometry Dash Lite and Isaac tried to teach me how to play it after we finished our lunch.  We also took some selfies of ourselves to post on Facebook.  We got laughing so hard because we could not get a good picture of me.

After I took Isaac home I picked up Sammy and took him to lunch one on one with me.  Sammy also wanted to go to McDonalds so we returned there to get him some lunch.  I am sure the McDonald’s people wondered what was happening but we went there so many times that they knew me so we just laughed about the fact that I took one home and then brought another.  Sammy wanted me to download the McPlay app that McDonald’s has so we did.  He played it for a while but it did not hold his interest like some other games have.  We ate and played and had such a good time that I forgot to take pictures with him which I was sad about after.

The picture of the rose is the one that Sister Slaughter gave to me when she was giving roses to all the Senior Sisters in the Sisters conference yesterday.

August 28th- Women's Conference

The TSAM Women's conference August 28, 2015

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August 28^th they had a Sisters Conference in the mission which all of us were invited to, it was a spiritual feast.  I took a few notes on the conference and they gave us a CD of pictures so I would like to tell you a few of the things that they said.

President Slaughter began by telling us that we are all beautiful.  Sometimes we don’t define beauty as the Lord but follow the world’s definition. There are three ways that God defines beauty. 

Sister Cannon, , , Sister Leiter

 

1.       Romans 10:15 How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

2.       Have you received his image in your countenance?

3.       There is beauty of holiness in women of strength.  
a.       1 Chronicles 16:29 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

b.      Psalms 29:2 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Sister Studevant, Sister Leslie Williams, and Sister Garff

c.       Psalms 96:9 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

Sister Burrows and Sister Rowley foreground

President Slaughter told us to tell ourselves every day, “President Slaughter says I am beautiful.  I declare you today beautiful.  Don’t let the world or your inner self tell you otherwise.”

Sister Slaughter said that Missionaries are called to be missionaries to their president.  She quoted the following scriptures:

1.       Moses 1:29 And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof.

2.       2 Nephi 2  The major theme of the chapter is to have joy.  Joseph Smith was known to have joy in the midst of everything, the atonement brings joy, the plan of redemption brings joy, the plan helps us make better decisions and to accept differences and circumstances.

Sister Powell

Siblings come from the same family but come away with different perspectives.  The Lord knows our hearts and he will bless you with the joy you need.

Sister Slaughter’s mother loved roses because she said that a rose is true, it has integrity all the way through.  Even though some part dies it still looks like a rose.  She listed some of the accomplishments that the Senior Sisters had done in the eyes of their husbands and gave us each a rose. 

Sister McCombs, Sister Spencer, Sister Clark

I was surprised at all the things that Larry had said about me that were so good.  He has been upset with me more than once on this mission.  He told them that with taking care of Nathan and taking care of our grandchildren and working at the Family History Center on Wednesdays that I had fulfilled 4 missions.  I had a hard time trying to keep from crying.  They took a picture of us but it must not have turned out because it was not on the CD.

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Sister Slaughter told the story of the woman who was asked to push the boulder and she did for many years but she could not move it.  She felt that she had failed until God told her I did not ask you to move it.  By pushing on the boulder you have become stronger.  Let no trial ever dissuade you.

Sister Clawson presented on Self Doubt vs. Christ

Sister Ormsby

She talked about the way to lower the wall of Self Doubt between us and Christ.  She said that if you serve others you can forget your self-doubts.  Forget yourself and change your perspective by moving towards Christ.  Don’t tell yourself that you can’t do something.  If you tear yourself down you cannot lift yourself.  Promise God to be positive and then report at night. 

Sister McBride, , Sister Sunkees

You need to apply the doctrine to your heart.  Think of Joseph Smith’s feelings at reading James.  Love God, and Love yourself.  We are fallen mortals therefore we need to turn to Christ.  When you come to know yourself as God sees you will be able to overcome the self-doubts that you have.

Sister Garner

Sister Smith, Sister Vorwaller

Sister Rankin presented on the Actuals of Agency.  She showed in a chart that there is Agency as God intended it to be and there is it’s opposite Satan’s distortion.  She read from 2 Nephi 2: 28 where it talks about the differences between God’s plan of agency which leads to Eternal Life and the companionship of the Holy Ghost or the Light of Christ.  Satan’s plan leads to Eternal Death of the Flesh.  There is also a difference in where their power comes from.  God’s plan gets it’s power from Christ.  Satan uses his own power for his plan.  With Christ’s plan we learn to rely on him and with our knowledge of good we are free to act for ourselves.  With Satan’s plan we have only knowledge of evil and are in a fallen state where we are acted upon.  Satan tried to distort our agency.  You have the power to choose.  Because we have a loving Savior who uses his agency we can use our own agency to choose good.

Sister Greenwood spoke on Becoming.  She asked, “Who are we?”, Carnal, sensual, devilish, lost, enemies to God.  She quoted from Lesson Three of Preach my Gospel.  Repentance is forming a fresh view of ourselves.  Some of the Scriptures that can describe us after we have repented are as follows:

·         Mosiah 27:24, Righteousness, daughter of God, born again, redeemed.

·         Alma 11:45, Raised from death, spiritual, immortal.

·         3 Nephi 27, Sanctified, spotless.

·         Moroni 10:32-33, Perfected in Christ, holy, without spot.

·         Mosiah 3:19, Saints, full of Love.

Sister Pyper,,Sister Stidham

In the information in Preach my Gospel on the Plan of Salvation it tells us that as we are becoming in Moroni 7:48, We will see him(Christ) as he is.

Sister E. Smith

After this they had fourteen Sisters bear their testimonies.

Then they had a talk on improving our communication.  These are some quotes that I wrote down.

1.       Ephesians 4:29  Let no corrupt communication out of your mouth!

2.       Communication is so important but we have a fallen method of communication.

3.       Read the For Strength of Youth about Language.

4.       A few don’ts to consider:

a.       Don’t fuel the fire, all it takes is one person to not fight back to end an argument.

b.      Don’t sweat the small stuff

c.       Don’t play guess what’s in my head

d.      Don’t use the words always and never

e.      Don’t be offended and think before you speak

5.       Proverbs 15

6.       Apologize if you offend

7.       You are not ingrained to be a certain way, You can change because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

8.       We are agents unto ourselves

9.       If you cannot say something nice, read the Book of Mormon!!!

Sister Budke, Sister Winn,

10.   Uplift and Edify, D&C 50:23, That which does not edify is not of God.

Sister Clark,

There was a question and answer session with President Slaughter and Sister Slaughter at the end which lasted about a half hour to an hour after which we had a wonderful luncheon provided by the Relief Society of the San Antonio North Stake.  Later they had a clothing exchange and took a group picture.

Sister Rowley

Sister Jenkins, Sister Graff

One tender mercy, Sister Sturdevant has been the unofficial photographer for the mission for as long as we were there.  When she broke her arm she could not lift it.  They asked Elder Spencer if he would do it just to have someone to fill in.  It turns out that Elder Spencer has been a photography buff for a long time and had all kinds of fancy camera equipment.  The Lord knows who to ask!!!

Sister Leslie Williams, ,Sister Pito,

Sister Adair, Sister Presser

Sister Slaughter, President Slaughter

Sister Holbrook, Sister Zirkle

Sister Slaughter, President Slaughter

Sister Karen Williams

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Sister Ferguson

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