July 20th and before

Today is Sunday.  We did not have the kids this weekend so it has been a quiet Sunday.  We talked about the Holy Ghost and the requirement to be baptized to obtain it in your life as a constant companion in the classes this week.  We also talked about the fact that we need to accept the Holy Ghost into our life in order to obtain the blessings and that we need to read, pray and keep the commandments to draw near to the spirit.  Both Relief Society and Sunday School were good lessons.  Our Mission President's letter for this week also dealt with the Spirit and the ability to feel it.  It was very enlightening to me and so I share it here for all to read.

Picture of Christ I downloaded for my phone

"During the sacrament prayer, we hear the promise "that they may always have his Spirit to be with them" (D&C 77). Consequently I am often asked, "If I am keeping the commandments with exactness, then why don’t I feel the Spirit with me always?" The question itself is evidence that the promise of the sacrament is very misunderstood.
Notice that the promise is that "they may always HAVE his Spirit to be with them;" it is not that "they may always FEEL his Spirit with them." Some missionaries (and many members) think that if they do not FEEL daily surges of spiritual euphoria, then they must not HAVE the Spirit. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Modern apostles understand this common misconception and have raised a voice of caution. President Boyd K. Packer said, "I have learned that strong, impressive spiritual experiences do not come to us very frequently" (PMG, 99). President Howard W. Hunter said, "I get concerned when it appears that strong emotion or free-flowing tears are equated with the presence of the Spirit" (PMG, 99).
Now to be sure, there are moments, occasional moments, of marvelous manifestations, undeniable witnesses, profound effusions of grace, even typhoons of tears. However, these experiences come "seemingly" at rare and random moments, always according to the will of God, and usually after the trial of our faith. To expect to spend our lives in a Divine Disneyland, enjoying every ride and feeling the excitement of the next adventure, is not only unreasonable, but it is contrary to the wisdom and the designs of God.
The promise that you "may always HAVE his Spirit" to be with you is real and is literal. "But how do we know that we always HAVE his Spirit if we cannot always FEEL his Spirit?" The answer is in our ability to see. Like the blind man healed by Jesus, we too can sing the song of redeeming love, "whereas I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25).
What do we see? We can see and understand those things which are understood only by the Spirit. We can "see the kingdom of God," meaning that we recognize The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as God’s kingdom on earth. Jesus told Nicodemus that ability to "see the kingdom" was only possible to those born of the Spirit (John 3:3-8).
We have "great views" (Mosiah 5:3) of that which is to come, meaning that we understand the resurrection and judgment like no others; we know what happens at death; we know of Christ’s return and of his millennial reign; we know of the glories of eternity. Because we have the Spirit with us always, we are a believing people (Mosiah 5:1-2; AoF 13).
In addition many of the gift of the Spirit come without an "attached feeling." For example, the gift of wisdom, the gift of discernment, even the gift of tongues come more often from a quiet and subtle increase in understanding and ability over time than they do from a sudden bolt of a singular spiritual experience.
To his meridian seventy, the Lord said, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see." I say unto you also, my fellow missionaries, "Blessed are your eyes, for the things that you can see and understand are evidence that you truly do HAVE the Spirit to be with you, always–otherwise ye would be as blind as the world."
Paul taught: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14).
May we always HAVE his Spirit to be with us, that we may ALWAYS exclaim, "I can see.""

To me that was a very enlightening statement and leaves me with a peace about my ability to feel and have the spirit.

Sacrament also dealt with the role of discipleship and many of the talks focused on being able to draw closer to the lord.  They had a young girl talk that was 12 about her experience going to the Houston Temple to do baptisms for the dead and she did a good job.  I later learned that she was just baptized about a month ago so that made it even more remarkable that she did such a good job as often converts come into the church with a fear of public speaking.

Last week was a busy week in many ways.

Monday we went to Weight Watchers in the morning and we both gained weight so we were determined to do better this week.  I tried to get in more activity during the week but I know I did not get as much on the weekend with the kids not being here.

We spent the afternoon in the office because the Williams were gone that day.  I got somewhat caught up but there were some glitches in the way the Weekly Zone Reports were transmitted and so I just had to wait for the new information to sent from the Zone leaders.

Monday night we got Nathan's suit out and got it ready as he was going to the mediation for his divorce the next day and had been advised to dress up.  It looked pretty good for having been in a clothing bag for more than a year.  I was bothered because it was a little wrinkled but all we could do at this point was to hang it in the bathroom so it could steam in morning showers.

Tuesday was the mediation.  Nathan had to be there about 7:45 a.m. which is about an hour earlier than we ususally do things so we got up earlier to accommodate.  He put on his suit and it fit fine and he looked good but her had problems with getting the pants up and down.  We determined that I would have to be there at various times to help him in the bathroom.  I went back to the office to work but had to be back at noon for him to go to the restroom.  

When I got back I determined that I needed to stay for a while after lunch so I took my computer and worked on what I could do in the lobby of the law office.  Nathan did not want anyone to be in with him and stipulated the same for same for Sara and her lawyer.  I ended up being there until about 8:30 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. waiting so I spent a lot of time on the computer.   But they were able to come to an agreement about that time.  So it took about 12 hours to complete.  I don't know when the divorce is final but the agreement has been reached.  Nathan ended up giving Sara the house even though she has said that he could have it so we will not be moving anywhere but staying in the apartment.  It is probably for the best as the house is not handicap accessible and the kids will not be displaced.  He is looking for a house to buy or build with his VA money.

Wednesday we worked in the office all day and it was amazing how much I got done.  All the baptisms in and all the referrals in and the stake report done and name tags ordered.  I even got the bike records updated.  I was excited because we baptized 15 more people in June in the mission than we had in the previous months 65 to be exact.  Larry has been swamped with cars coming in and being sent out.  They had zone meetings this week and he had to make sure all the cars were inspected and okay.

Thursday we worked in the morning and I was surprised that I was able to get all the work done for that day in the morning the Lord was really blessing me.  We went home for lunch and then Larry went back and I went to buy some hairspray and then went back and did a few things but then I left at 2:30 p.m.  I had to take Nathan to meet Sara to get their bank accounts divided up and to take her name off the phone plan. We had to go to Converse to do this and so we just went to the WWFSC Bingo night at 4:15 p.m.  This time we were way early and last week we were way late.  We got to sit with Lori from Warm Springs because she only had one patient with her.  Larry met us there about 5:00 p.m.  For once one of us won a game of Bingo.  Nathan won a Visa Card for $35.00 in one of the games.  I doubt that Larry and I will ever win but the meal is worth it.

Friday we worked all day in the office.  We had decided to go to John and Judy's for the night as we were not going to get the kids this weekend.  We asked Nathan if he wanted to go but he was not comfortable going because their house is not handicap accessible.  He would not let me call anyone to help him or stay with him so we left him with a large pizza and some food in the fridge and headed out.  He said that he would call someone and he did find Mark Johnson to help him get into bed.  I was frustrated that all he ate was pizza the whole evening and next day but he survived and he thought I was worrying too much about his eating.

Larry eating fried okra

Larry and I had a good time visiting with John and Judy.  We didn't get there until about 7:20 p.m. but they took us to one of their favorite restaurants in Kerrville, Texas called Billy Gene's.  The food was very good but we succumbed to eating a chocolate caramel cheesecake that was soo good!! Worth every point.  We visited there for a while and then went to their home and visited for a few minutes until Larry and I started falling asleep at the table.  We finally went to bed at 11:00 p.m. which is late for us as we get up at 6:00 a.m.  We actually got to sleep in until about 7:30 a.m. which was nice.  We read our scriptures and said prayer and then joined John and Judy for breakfast.  However breakfast was fruit until we went to get brunch about 10:00 a.m.  But they had the best nectarines and peaches so we did not starve.  They also had other fruits but those were my favorites.

We went to the Hunter House cafe for breakfast.  Apparently John and Judy go there a lot and the lady that is one of the waitresses cleans Judy's house once a week and her husband is their plummer so they are on a first name basis.  John ordered fried okra which is a popular side dish here.  We were all trying it and I liked it except for the fact that it is fried.  Larry does not like Okra, in fact when we got married he told me he would eat anything except boiled okra.  I teased him about he said boiled okra so he told me to take a picture as we would not see him doing this again so I did.  He ate one fried okra. I have the picture to prove it.  But, he says that he still does not like it but fried is better than the boiled. 

John's ship on the top and Landon's on the bottom

John had a lot of stories to share and I wished about half way through that I had brought a recorder so that I could record some of his stories.  He also showed me that he had printed a picture of Landon's ship the USS Battan and posted it on the wall with the picture of his first ship that he was on when he joined the Navy.  He was on the same type of ship that Landon is and he told is all about how it does the jobs that it is asked to do.  He is a real expert on anything Navy.  But of course he would be.  It was his life's work.

Judy had a lot of things to show Larry with genealogy.  He wanted a picture of his Grandfather Presser and so she dug in some things and found two.  Unfortunately they are regular pictures and we did not get a digital copy and we do not have a scanner here so I cannot post them.  He also got a picture of all of his Presser Grandparents family.  It was quite a big family.  I was disappointed as we drove home that we did not get some pictures of John and Judy because we were talking too much.

We stayed at John and Judy's until about 4:00 p.m. but then we started back.  We stopped for some food at Wendy's before we got home and so we didn't make it until about 6:30 or 7:00 p.m.  We did learn how to get off of I-10 at Wurzbach Parkway and make it home.  The GPS did not want us to go that way but we are learning a few things that we can do that the GPS won't tell us.

As we said, Nathan survived his first 24 hour period alone so we are making progress.  The Lord is blessing him and us everyday as we try to serve him.

The last two weeks

After the fiasco with Nathan's wheel chair we finally got it fixed on the next Tuesday.  On Monday he was home a lone and he tried to transfer from the recliner to the manual wheelchair and even though it was locked it moved and he ended up falling on the floor.  He had quite a floorburn on his head for a few days even though he insisted that he did not fall on his head.  He called me at the mission and of course I came as soon as I could but I did not bring Larry.  He was laying on the floor with his feet in the recliner when I got there.  He needed to have help getting up.  We tried several ways and I even got him up and in the recliner after a prayer for help but when we tried to transfer him to the wheel chair again it moved and we both went to the floor.  I tried for about 10 minutes to get him up again but he was too heavy.  I went across the foyer and got my neighbor to help me.  She is an older lady in her 70's maybe and we tried to get him up but could not do it either so she went to get our next door neighbor who was at the pool.  He came and then we were able to lift Nathan while Jane my neighbor brought the wheelchair around behind him and we just put him in the wheelchair.  Needless to say after that Nathan was very relieved to have his electronic wheelchair back.  The charger had been damaged when Nathan got up in the early morning and ran off with the cord.

We did a lot of things that week that I took pictures for so I will put the pictures here and then talk about them as there is a lot of pictures.

Sister Antuar talking to Nathan

Monday evening we went to San Marcos for the Senior Missionary dinner that they have every Monday after transfer week.  It was at Johnny Carino's.  We had a great time talking to everyone again and Nathan is just part of the group.

All the couples enjoying the dinner

At wounder warriors Bingo Night.  The girl was a Dr. Who fan like Nathan

This is Lori Ann the Recreation Specialist at Warm Springs that started Nathan liking to go to the Bingo night.

Don't remember her name.  From New York in the military.  Picture shows the background areas where they serve the food.

For the 4th of July we went to the Woodlawn Lake Park for the fireworks there.  It was really quite a carnival atmosphere which we tried to avoid.  The picture to the right was David and Nathan enjoying themselves.  David refused to play on the playground because Nathan told him he had to leave his phone with him.  So he sat most of the time at Nathan's feet playing on his phone.

Maggie with another stranger.

I learned what a funnel cake was that night and we bought one to share.  We bought one funnel cake and one drink and it cost $11.00.  Maggie had to go to the potty three times.  I have never been able to get her to go in a port-a-potty because she thinks they are too gross.  But the potties that they had there were pink so for some reason she would use them if they were pink!  Go figure.

Sammy climbing up the slide

Sammy and Maggie riding together

Some man showing off with a snake around his neck.  The kids were fascinated

Maggie, Isaac, and Sammy digging in the Sand pit

This is the view from where we watched the fireworks.

Larry took some pictures of the fireworks and what they had was nice but they were not very long.  Maybe 5 minutes at the most so that was disappointing because it was a little hard for Nathan to get into. The kids didn't care though because they were anxious to get home and do theirs

Maggie and Isaac

On the 5th of July the ward had a Flag ceremony and pancake breakfast for the 4th celebration.  The High Priest put it on so Larry had to go help with it.  The kids had a good time because it also had a bounce house outside that they could bounce in.  We had a lot of fun at the breakfast and I ate my whole points value for Weight Watchers at the breakfast.

Isaac, David, and Sammy at the breakfast.

Maggie eating her treat they got when finished.

Isaac nailing his house together.

Each child with their finished product.

 After the pancake breakfast and clean up we went to Home Depot to make a project that Isaac had heard about somewhere:  Bug houses.  All the kids made one and it was fun but a real mess.  One of the mothers that got there before us told us not to follow the instructions and let them paint it first.  Big mistake.  We got paint all over our hands trying to help them nail the thing together after that.  Isaac refused to paint first and chose to follow the directions.  David choose not to paint and so finished first and did not have a mess.

Throwing Snaps

In the afternoon we  did the fireworks that they had been too tired to do when we got home on the 4th of July at about 11:00 p.m.

Larry thought it was cool that we had a blue, red and white car parked in front of our apartment on the 4th of July

 I had a virus or something get into my computer and it was doing crazy things and the technology person for the mission said he would look at it but he did not get it back to me before the weekend last week so I was not able to do the blog because for some reason Larry's computer would not let me into my google account for this blog.

Monday Nathan had some appointments at the VA that he went to himself.  Larry and I started out behind on our work for this week and it has taken all week to catch up.

The line at the SS Office

Tuesday we had some time alone at the office because Elder and Sister Williams were out inspecting apartments and so I took the time to go to the Social Security Office which is just around the corner and found out that I was already signed up for Medicare and had created an account.  I could not believe the line so I took a picture and texted Larry it might be a while.

We were a little stressed because we ran out of food money at the beginning of this week.  We were able to figure out things that we could do and eat that we still had but it was a little hard because we do not have food storage here to go to when you are tight.  But the Lord blessed us and we ate well all week.

It seemed to me that the referrals did not stop coming in all week.  On Tuesday I got 10 after I came home from the mission office.  I had about 16 waiting for me to type in and then more came in on Wednesday.  I did finally get caught up and got all the Baptisms typed into the system on Thursday.

Thursday Nathan had an appointment for his lawyer for the divorce at 3:00 p.m. It was for preparations for their mediation meeting on Tuesday the 15th of July.  I took him and waited outside.  He was in there for about 2 hours and then his person who works on his van called and said that he was coming to fix the van so I took him home.  I was disappointed because it looked like we would not be able to go to Bingo Night but I took Nathan home and then went in our car to get Larry as I had to drive home from the office and then take Nathan in his van and so I had the car at the apartment.  But by the time that I picked up Larry and we got home the van was fixed so we went the Bingo after all, just late.  They were almost through serving the food but we got some.

Friday it seemed that we were constantly being interrupted by phone calls but we finally got the Baptisms submitted and the Name tags ordered and the Stake report finished. I also had to call all the missionaries that are coming in that have not given us there plans for getting a bike to make sure they knew that they were to buy one before they came. Larry said he felt like he couldn't do anything because of interruptions.

Sara brought the kids about 7:00 pm I think.  They had had dinner so we went to the pool and swam for a while.  Then we came home and they watched a movie and ate popcorn and chocolate milk before going to bed.

Saturday was the first Saturday in a long time that we did not have to get up early for something.  Nathan had a Dunkin Donuts card that he had got for Father's Day so we took the kids to Dunkin Donuts about 8:30 a.m.  We had a good breakfast and then we took a portable toilet that Nathan never used back to Warm Springs and Nathan went to the bank to do some business.  We got home about 11:00 a.m. and it seemed like it should be 1:00 p.m.

The kids wanted to go to the pool when we got home so we got ready and went.  I didn't really want to go swimming but Maggie talked me into it.  We went swimming twice that day.  It was one of the most fun times I have had swimming because I asked David to help me learn to dive for things like they do and I have never been able to do.  Our pool is not deep but it was so fun to learn how to go into the water looking for something and to find it and play games with my grandkids in the pool.  At one time I remember thinking "I am so glad that I can do this at 65 with my grandkids."

Larry went to the office and worked all afternoon and came home happy that he was finally able to do some things without interruptions

Nathan got upset in the evening so the kids went home.  Larry and I went to Orange Leaf to drown our sorrows in yogurt.  It was worth every calorie!!! Nathan went out with some friends to get snow cones.

Sara's Father came in yesterday so we did not have the kids for church.  I missed them even though they are a handful sometimes.  Nathan's friends talked about the Challenges of Discipleship and gave some excellent talks also including some great testimonies of how the atonement of Christ can help you.  The one has been off of Drugs and Alcohol now for two years and bore a powerful testimony of the healing power of Christ.  The classes were both on Baptism and why it is important and what it symbolizes.

Larry came home to a phone call that another set of Elders had got in an accident but luckily no one was hurt except the car when someone pulled in front of them.  So he had to help the Elders deal with that.

I had remembered to put a roast in before we left and so we had a good lunch.  After cleaning up we went to lay down for a "few minutes" and Nathan was waking us up 3hours later.

We went and met Sara and her Dad, Frank Roberts, and saw the kids for a while at a park by the church and then we came home and ate and the guys are in bed but I am finishing up this blog.

I am so grateful that we have had the opportunity to come to San Antonio on this mission it has been a blessing for Nathan and for us.  We are stronger than we have ever been and we are blessed each day to see the tender mercies of the Lord in our lives.  I have even been able to overcome the itchy skin that I had.  I hope that I can be an effective Secretary so that the missionaries can do the work of finding those who are prepared for the Gospel.

The joys of electrionics and other things.

It has been a crazy weekend once again.  Nathan planned to go to a Wounded Warriors picnic at the Phil Hardberger park on Military Highway with all of us when the kids were here and when he woke up his wheelchair was not charged completely so he was worried about that but we decided to go anyway.  We got there and decided that it was not wise to go on a 1.8 mile trail so we went to the playground.  When we got there he tried to go up a small bump and his wheelchair shutdown and said it had a low battery.  He could not go up.  Larry decided to go get the van from where we had parked it while we stayed there and let the kids play.  When he got back Nathan was able to back down from the area and go to the van but the wheelchair would not go up the ramp into the van.  I decided that I needed to find out what was happening with Nathan so I went over to see and Larry was trying to push the electric wheelchair up the ramp and it was not going.  We worked together and eventually got it to the top of the ramp but the ramp was below the entrance and the wheelchair would not go up over the bump.  So we let the wheelchair down and put the ramp in and out again and thought that would solve the problem but we had the same dip when we got him to the top of the ramp again.  We decided that we needed to tip him the opposite of what seemed to be natural and then we tried but we were not making it.  Then an older couple there at the park noticed our predicament and asked if we needed help.  Larry went around and tried to tip the wheelchair down and the three of us tried to push it back and over.  After several attempts we finally got him in the van and I went to get the kids that were playing.  We were glad that we had not attempted the trail.

When we returned back to the apartment then Nathan was able to go straight to the apartment from the van but after charging the chair for two hours and having it die as he attempted to go to the living room he and Larry decided that something was wrong with the charger.  They called the VA wheelchair repair facility but they said that they could not come out until Monday.  So Nathan thought "no problem, I will just go to the manual".  But he was so tired that was more than he could do some of the time.  Larry and I were panicked that he did not have a way to secure himself in the van as they put a device on the electronic wheelchair to attach it to the van but, luckily Nathan knew that we still had the straps to secure him in and David was able to install them.

I took the kids swimming for about 3 hours and finally talked them into coming back after that.  The pool seemed a little cool and it was cloudy part of the time.  We went to the hot tub before we came home and I finally felt warm.

Nathan decided that he wanted to go in the manual wheelchair to get David a phone like he had planned and Larry had fallen asleep so I said that I would take him.  We left the other kids home with Larry who woke up about the time we left.  We made it but Nathan does not like the way I drive and then when we got there it was hard to get him in.  It didn't take long but it was too long for my body and Nathan's.  We decided that we would not go anywhere else for the rest of the day although by now it was about 3:00 p.m

Isaac at the end of day camp

All this week they had a day camp for Isaac and other bears and cub scouts everyday from 3:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. Nathan decided he wanted to go and be with Isaac every day.  Some days I took him.  Some days other friends took him and one day he went the 3.3 miles by himself in his wheelchair.  I was impressed that he went everyday but I think that he overdid because he was exhausted last night when he went to bed from using the manual wheelchair and all of the accumulation of the days at Day Camp.  He went to bed early and was visibly stressed.

If it had been a normal weekend we would have had him stay home from church and rest but Larry and I and David had been asked to speak at church this morning and so he insisted on getting up and going to church.  He was able to get up and get going okay but it was harder than usual.  He has a harder time transferring from the manual wheelchair to things because it is about 2 feet lower toward the ground.  We have one of those high tables in the apartment and when he doesn't have the electric wheelchair he is not able to raise his seat up to meet the table and it is hard for him to reach the food and eat.  But he made it and we were able to talk today.

We were asked to speak about what it is like to be a Senior Missionary and what others needed to do to go on a Senior mission.  I talked about how we came to be on the mission and how to find out the opportunities for a mission.  Larry talked about the importance of missionary work and why we do it.  I did not hear Davids talk because Maggie had to go to the bathroom just as he started to talk and so I barely made it back to give my talk.

Larry and Nathan took naps today after lunch but I figured that someone needed to keep and eye on the kids.  The kids played some games and David played with his new phone and then we watched some things on Mormon Channel that they like and we read some scriptures that Isaac was supposed to read this week for his Primary Class.  Then we ate some more and then Sarah came for the kids about 6:00 p.m.

This week was a stressful week at the mission as well.  It was transfer week and so we always have a lot to do during that week.  Larry also had a regional manager from Salt Lake City for cars here on Thursday so he was not able to help me drive a new car to Austin for the transfer meeting there.  He thought it was worth it though because he learned that there were a few things that he had been doing that should be done by the assistants so they are more insightful about who can drive together.  He spent 6 hours with him and said that he really liked him. 

We thought that his manager would be here on Wednesday so we had traded the Williams to do Tuesday Lunch for them and have them do Wednesday lunch for the incoming missionaries.  Elder Williams ended up getting some kind of stomach flu on Wednesday and the boss did not show up so I worked with Sister Williams on the two meals on Wednesday and Larry helped on Wednesday night.  It worked well that Nathan was at the Scout Day Camp in the evenings because we were able to do the things we needed for transfer week without too much problem with coordinating with him.  Wednesday night was the day he drove down in his wheelchair though and I was not feeling very calm about him leaving because we do not live on a seculed street but he didn't care what I thought.
It rained a lot that morning so it was pretty muddy at the day camp.  When he got home it took about an hour to get all the mud cleaned off the wheels of his wheelchair.  The video at the top is of the rain pouring down in our parking lot in the morning when it was pouring.

When we went to Wal-Mart to pick up our food for lunch on Monday they said that we could not go in because the rain had knocked the power out so they were closed.  We asked if we could pick up the sandwich that we had ordered.  They went inside and asked and came out and said that we could because the sandwich was ready but that was all we could do.  When we got inside the manager asked us what we were in there for and we told him.  I asked him if we could get the other things that we needed as the lights were only out in half the store.  He said yes as long as we did not go into the part that was dark.  Luckily all the things that we needed were on the lighted side and we were able to get the things we needed with no problem.  We really felt like the Lord had blessed us because they did not let anyone else in the store.

Larry with the other veterans

Friday I went to the dermatologist again because I woke up burning all over my neck and face with this rash I have on my neck and face.  She didn't have much of a solution for me so she took a biopsy of one of the spots to see if they can determine what was causing it.  Larry went with me and was frustrated that the office where I had gone will not take VA payments when they gave him and appointment so he spent the time trying to get an appointment somewhere else.

We went back to the office and tried to get all our work done until 7:00 p.m. and then went to the closing ceremony for the Day Camp that was supposed to start at 7:30 p.m.  Sara met us there and we watched the program and then took the kids home for the weekend.

Nathan Standing in his wheelchair

Nathan standing for the song.

At the ceremony at the end they had all of the veterans in the audience come down and they played God Bless the USA while the cub scouts held flash lights on them.  Larry went down but Nathan was too tired and it was a really rocky area to navigate with his wheelchair.  But when they sang, "I'll gladly stand up and defend her yet today" Nathan stood up in his wheelchair for the rest of the song.  It gave me great pride and respect for him knowing how tired he was.

June 22 and before

Sorry, I just cannot think of a clever name each week for this blog.

Ryker and Erick playing at the lake

We had Nathan's kids for Friday night and Saturday night.  We finally got smart and had Sara bring some of their blankets to stay here so we have the blankets we need.  Now we just need to get some pillows.  Nathan tells them that they have to sleep with him if they want to use his other pillow.  Sometimes they like to do that.

Ryker Eating breakfast or lunch on the campout

This morning we were late for church and it was mostly my fault so I have learned I need to get ready faster.  I took my purse in the bathroom last night in the middle of the night when I was looking for a benadryl and I forgot that so I spent 10 minutes looking for my purse. I took my brown purse even though I was wearing black because I just could not find it. When we got home I instantly remembered where it was and went right too it.  I just do not understand why I was prompted to know where it was after church. But I do appreciate finding it.

Jeff and Misty and the kids at Mariners game.

I had a hard time learning anything in Sacrament meeting.  Maggie had to go out and use the bathroom three times.  But I know from my experience as a mother that you need to go when they tell you at this age because if you don't they will probably have an accident.  I did understand that the theme was missionary work though.  Larry and I are talking next week with David, Nathan's oldest son.  We are talking on missionary work also but they wanted us to focus on the work that senior couple can do.

Owen, Matthew, and Leah at the lodge

Sara took the kids home after church so we had a very relaxing Sabbath.  We ate and then I took a nap.  Larry came to join me for a while but he was not there as long as I was.  Nathan does not like to nap during the day.  I know that it is okay but I keep thinking that there are many things I could be doing to help others to come unto Christ so I feel bad when I sleep so long.  Then we ate again and now I am doing the blog.  Larry is studying something and Nathan is watching Netflix.

I mentioned before but I just have to say how cool our back yard looks.  It is like a mini forest in back and by the patio.  Isaac was having fun watching a doe and her fawn as they ate outside our window on Saturday morning and earlier in the week Nathan saw several type birds and the squirrels eating the bird seed that Larry puts out.  They will leave if they see you move inside the apartment but it is amazing that they will live within the apartment buildings in this little wooded area.

Holly and BJ with Andrea and Nate

Nathan wanted to take the kids shopping on Saturday with his friend Reed Johnson but he was planning to leave about 9:00 a.m. and Reed did not come until about 10:30 a.m.  David and Isaac were all excited about some contest that was on Roblox and it started at 11:00 a.m.  Nathan realized that was important to them so he took Sammy who was anxious to go somewhere.  It was really boring for a while waiting for him.  We are used to getting up to clean the church and going all day but we were just here at the house.  The kids have wanted to have some goggles for swimming so we had promised them we would get them but it ended up that Nathan and Sammy picked them out for everyone and brought them home.

At church in Hawaii

David was able to use my computer to go to the online thing he was excited about and he spent the entire time on the computer working with it and looking at the contest from about 10:00 a.m. until it ended about 5:00 p.m. and then he stayed on for the rest of the night playing the game.  He is very interested in computer games and such.  It said on the website when he downloaded it that Roblox was an educational game but I worry about the amount of time he wanted to spend on the computer.

The first casual picture of BJ and Holly in something besides swim wear

Nathan got home about 1:00 p.m. and the kids were excited about their goggles and he had also bought them cooling blankets which Maggie was more interested in.  After we had lunch they all wanted to go swimming except David.  We went down to the pool with them and it was very hot.  Not much shade and I didn't want to put on my swimsuit as I had a hair appointment st 2:00 p.m.  Larry got his suit on and went down with the kids and Nathan came later after he and Reed had built the weight he was wanting to make.

Picture on the Big Island

I liked the lady that did my hair but she sure made me blonder than I have ever been with my highlights.  She didn't pull the dye through my ends because she said it was not good for your ends.  She has been doing hair for 27 years she said but she is the first person that has not pulled the dye through the length of my hair at least every other time.  Larry was a little hesitant to say he liked it so I guess that means he doesn't want a blond.  I had her wax my eyebrows and everything went fine until she put on whatever it is that they cool the red with.  Instead of cooling my under eyebrows it burned terribly.  It still was burning when I got home and I put my lotion on it to try to neutralize the burning but that burned also.  This morning I have 1st degree burns on the under part of the eyebrows.  I tried to make it look like eye shadow but I don't know if I succeeded.  I think it is part of the skin problems that I am having and not her fault.  My skin does not like San Antonio.

Just to mention a few things that happened this week:

Maren and Max enjoying his presents

Monday Larry and I went to weight watchers in the morning and were disappointed that we had gained weight again this week.  It has really been hard to have food for the Grandkids and go to Bingo night and have food at the office that is high points.  I only have about 7 lbs to lose before I am at goal but it seems like it is just going up and down above the goal.  We need to exercise a little more but it is hard to do when you are so tired at night and the morning is already filled with activities.

Gauge likes money for a present

Larry got four new cars this week that he has to get switched with the other cars that are to be sold.  He has been very busy getting the cars and working with the missionaries that he has to get them too and get the cars from.  He also got in a truck for the moving Elders and he was really disappoint that the day after they got it someones garbage blew off onto the car on the freeway and did some damage.  He has also had two or three accidents this week.  So far none of them have been the missionaries fault but it is frustrating none the less.  He worked most of the morning on Saturday at the office to try to get caught up with what he needs to do.

Blowing out the candle on the cake

I spent most of the week at the office typing in referrals and baptism and confirmation records to send to the church headquarters.  I sent in 19 on Friday that were the ones that I typed in just on Thursday and Friday.  We also get the mail and sort it.  The address on the pictures that we had printed on is the address to the mission home so we will always get mail that is sent there but that is not where you would come to visit us.

Thursday we had a fun afternoon with Judy and John Trolinger and their son Mike and granddaughter Allison.  We went to lunch with them at Logan Roadhouse which is a restaurant chain here is Texas They have good Steak. When we got there Allison was very upset because she had lost a ring just a few minutes before that her boyfriend had given her the day before he left for something.  She spent the entire time looking for it but they never found it.  We had a good time visiting with them despite Allisons misery and stayed for about 2 hours with them.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of anyone.

Sammy and the others on the playground at WWFSC

Nathan came back to the office with us after that and we worked for a while before going to bingo night at the Wounded Warrior Family Support Center.  I was surprised that the grandkids showed up just as we got there.  They were really good and all played bingo but they didn't want to eat much of the food.  I ate some of it but had to quit because I got too full.  I took some pictures on the playground with the kids but only one of them ended up saved on the camera so I guess I am getting sometimers about how to use the camera.

Gauge opening a present

It has been busy at the office because they have been working hard on determining what the new transfers will be. This coming week will be transfer week and so it will be busy.  Also Larry has the regional manager for the cars coming to visit on the 25th of June.  On Tuesday and Wednesday we were able to have lunch with the assistants and President Slaughter.  Wednesday Sister Slaughter and the children came up for lunch.  I had a good time visiting with Sister Slaughter and she told me that the mission doctor recommends that the missionaries take benedryl every 4 hours for the rashes that they get at first to break the cycle.  My itching has got better but it is still there and so I had just bought the benedryl that the PA at the dermatologist recommended.  I felt like as she was talking that the Lord had sent her to help me know what to do.  It has been much better but it is still there.  It feels kind of like when you get hair down your neck after a haircut but it is on all the parts of my body that are exposed to the sun.

Annette was obviously happier about fishing than I was.

Heather and Erick went camping for Father's Day weekend and they posted some pictures on Facebook this week so I thought I would share those. Also Erick has been sharing several old pictures as he digitizes the slides that I had at home.  I am posting one that is of me and Annette when we went camping up at Flaming Gorge just after John and I got married when Mom and Dad came out and we had a family weekend at the lake.  It was probably in June of1973

Gauge and a friend with the cake

Maren had a birthday party for both Max and Gauge this last Friday I think.  She posted a lot of pictures on Facebook.  She rents a giant water slide from the post and then they have the whole neighborhood come and have fun on the slide.  Usually she has Landon to help her put it up but this year he was not available.  She also gets a canopy so that they have some shade to eat in because they have no trees big enough to provide shade.

Brinlie and Ellie with a friend

Jeff and Misty did some activities with their children this week.  They went to a Mariners game and then went to a special lodge of somekind.  I did not understand exactly where they were.

BJ and Holly had her Sister Andrea and her husband Nathanial come over to Hawaii and they went to the big island.  It looks like they are having fun with them in the pictures they posted.  The one of BJ and Holly on the beach did not look like them on my phone so I asked her who it was.  She thought that was pretty funny.  When it is enlarged it looks like them but it sure didn't that day.

Well it is bedtime.  I hope that you are reading your scriptures and praying together.  It is the way that Christ can teach us how to be happy.  Love to all.

Happy Father's Day

Well today is Father's day.  Grateful for all the Father's in my life.  Especially my own dear father who has passed to the other side.  He was an ideal father and I was so blessed to have him in my life.  I am grateful for the father of my children.  I am grateful for Larry and the good example of a husband that he sets for my children and grandchildren.  He is truly a self sacrificing person and I love him so much.  I hope all my children can learn from his loving example.

We had a really good lesson on the oath and covenant of the priesthood today in Relief Society.  It pointed out the ways that both men and women obtain the priesthood and the blessings that the Lord promises to those that magnify their calling in the priesthood.  It also pointed out that women magnify the priesthood by magnifying their callings.  I have never had a problem with the fact that I am not ordained to the priesthood because I have all the blessings of the priesthood but it was a good lesson to clarify what the oath and covenant really are.  She pointed out that the covenants are what we promise God we will do and the oath is the blessing that God promises to give us if we keep our covenants.

We had the kids all afternoon for Nathan for Father's Day and they stayed overnight last night.  We ate lunch and made cookies and had Family Home Evening.  Then the kids and Nathan did different things on their electronics.  Maggie took a nap for about 2 hours so I was able to read and watch some videos on lds.org on Family History and Missionary work.  Larry really got into helping the kids today too. Larry didn't get much of a Father's day dinner because we focused on what the kids liked to keep it simple.

Erick has been working on digitizing some of the slides that John and I took over the years that I had not already done and he posted some pictures of Annette and Rex and I on Facebook that were fun.  Annette looked a lot like Maren in the picture.  Then Jeff posted a picture of Larry when he was a baby so it was fun to see the old pictures of ourselves.

Last Monday Larry and I found ourselves very behind on our work at the mission.  The Williams had been gone for a little more than a week with their family and we had been going to Zone Conferences and had Mission Leaders Conference the week before so we needed to spend some time in the office.  We determined that we would not go to the Zone Conference for Round Rock and Round Rock East Areas on Tuesday.  It would have taken most of the day to drive to Austin and back.  So we sent the materials with the Assistants and stayed in the office.

On Tuesday I spent most of the day doing referrals and typing in baptism and confirmation records.  Larry has mileage reports that he has to do at the first of the month so the gas credit cards that the missionaries have can be reloaded with money for the month.  He really had a lot of receipts out for so late in the beginning of the month.  He also has some cars that need to be sold and some new cars coming in.  He has to get the cars that need to be sold repaired so they are like new so he was getting estimates on that.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I ran home to feed Nathan and on Tuesday he was out going to somewhere with a friend and the door was locked and I had forgot to bring my keys so I just had to go back and eat snacks at the office.  On Wednesday he had the Senior military missionaries feeding him Kentucky Fried Chicken so I stole some of it for Larry and I and went back to the office. 

Nathan is going to the VA on Monday's and Friday's now for Physical Therapy.  They come and pick him up so it works out well for all of us.  Sometimes he spends most of the day there if he has another appointment and he is getting so he can endure that better but sometimes he is really tired after a full day like that.

Tuesday the Williams came back and got some work caught up but they had to leave again because Elder Williams mother was dying.  They flew out for Colorado on Wednesday morning.  In talking to them later in the week, she died before they got there but it was good to be there and help with the arrangements for them.  They got back on Friday but have to go again this coming week for Tuesday and Wednesday to Dallas for the funeral.

On Thursday I typed in 26 Baptisms and it took me most of the day but I was finally caught up. I was at the mission all by myself that day and because they were having a Finding by Faith training in San Antonio for all the areas here and all the missionaries were there it was really quiet.  I liked that. They are baptizing about 50 people a month in this mission so I was behind about three weeks.  I learned that the ward clerks start calling you if you are behind because they cannot issue a call or record their tithing or do a number of other things if their membership has not returned and if I have not submitted the Baptism record then it does not come back.  So no more getting behind.

Nathan was frustrated because someone submitted something to the VA stating that because of a report that was issued in July of 2013 he may not be competent to handle his money and they wanted to appoint a fiduciary for him.  He had 60 days to prove to them that he was competent.  Larry has been frustrated that the VA has not recognized that I am his wife yet for his disability payments even though he gave them the papers with the initial application and resubmitted them again in August of last year.  So they went together to the Disabled American Veterans to see if they could get some help with their cases.  They went at 7:30 in the morning because they do not take appointments and it took them until almost 2:30 p.m. to finish being seen as they had 23 people before them. 

But it was a good trip for both of them.  The lady that Nathan saw took one look at him and talked to him and said that she could solve his problem with a phone call to his psychiatrist.  So he just needs to get them to call them soon.  Larry was thrilled because he found out that a lot of the cases have been transferred to other organizations like the DAV because of the complaints about the length of processing of some problems at the VA and so by going in he basically put his case to the front again and they should have it processed soon they said.  He was also excited because when she found out that he had neuropathy and a few other things she said that he could be declared unable to work and he would receive more money.  I don't know if that is good considering how much we are doing for the mission and Nathan but we know that part of the reason we are doing so well is because of the Lord's blessing us to have the stamina to keep doing what we are doing.  He is also blessing us with the ability to do the work better than we could do by ourselves.  But I still wonder if it is honest.

Thursday evening we went to Bingo night again.  Warm Springs Rehabilitation Center was providing the dinner for the Wounded Warriors that evening and because that is the last place that Nathan stayed before he came home he was able to see all the people that he worked with there and renew friendships.  I think that was fun for Nathan.  And of course we did not win!! As always.

Friday was a fairly quiet day also.  Larry was there with me this time though.  I had a dr appointment with the dermatologist in the morning for my itching neck and then I got to the office about 11:00 a.m.  We worked until about 6:00 p.m.

Friday evening I did not know if we would have the kids at first and I was really tired.  When we got home Nathan said that they were not coming until Saturday about 3:30p.m.  That was the greatest present that Sara could have given me.  I was just tired and though I love them to death they wear me out sometimes.  So we took Nathan and went out for chinese and then watched a Bones when we got home.

Saturday morning we got up early and I went with Larry to pick up a new car about 8:00 a.m.  Unfortunately they did not have it ready so I dropped Larry off at the office even thought it was our Preparation Day and he wanted to work all day.  I went home and was able to get some pictures sent to the kids outside of Utah that have needed to be sent since before the mission.  I also sent some to family that we did not get to visit on our way to Texas as our car broke down at the MTC.

At about 10:30 a.m. I took Nathan to a shoe store that sells good orthodic shoes to get him a pair of shoes that will fit over the brace that he should wear on his right foot.  It is too big to fit in his shoes if he wears his regular size and so we determined that he would need to get a larger one.  They determined that he needed a 14E to fit the brace.  They did not have it in but they were able to order it and he will have it in about 2 weeks.  In the mean time he has a different brace he is wearing that fits better in his shoe but is not as solid as the new brace.

Nathan treated me to lunch at Chipolatas grill.  I really liked the concept of building a taco, salad, burrito or bowl the way I like it.  We got lunch for Larry also and then we took it to the office so that I could take him to get the car that was supposed to be finished at 12:00 p.m.  It was the first time that Nathan had been able to go to the mission office and go inside with us.  Sister Williams was there trying to get some work done also and some of the Assistants.

We got home about 2:30 p.m.  The kids were supposed to be there about 3:30 p.m. and so I worked on getting my 2 visiting teaching people from the Woodlake Ward Contacted.  I had to write a letter to the one as she has no phone listed on the record.  The other one was on vacation with family in Elsinore, Utah so I had to just talk on the phone with her.  I got that finished and then we waited and worked on paperwork until the kids finally came at 5:00 p.m.

In the mean time Nathan had invited a family from the Woodlake ward over for the evening so we dashed to the store to get Isaac and Sammy some new church shirts because Nathan thought that theirs were getting too small and then we came back and went swimming and had pizza with the Eric Alonzo family.  They brought a salad and some soda and as they have kids about the same age as Nathan's kids I think that everyone had a good time.

Well it is too late so I must finish.  Sorry no time to do pictures from Facebook and I did not take any this week!!