April 17, 2011 Sunday
Tonight we went to visit Betty Reeve, an 88 year old widow in the ward. She lives in a “granny flat” with her daughter and family. She’s very active and was one of the members who came up and introduced herself to us on our first Sunday in Thornlie Ward. But, sadly, she has her arm in a sling because she fell outside while hanging up her temple dress to dry and broke her left arm just below the shoulder. Her hair is dyed a soft auburn and she keeps herself up very well. We had a good visit. After they joined the church, her husband was hired to work construction for the church here in Australia. They moved all over, even living in a trailer while building the chapel in Geralton. They had 3 children. One, a little girl who died in an accident, they found out was learning the gospel before they even knew about the church. Betty’s husband’s boss was LDS. They used to invite her daughter over once a week. She would come home with pictures she’d colored and scripture verses. It wasn’t until they later joined the church that Betty realized the family was doing “home Primary” and her little girl was attending. She told us when missionaries came to their door, she told them she was busy ironing. They told her one of them would iron while the other visited with her. It worked! She’s been a member 50 years.
When Betty let us in, she motioned to where the living room was and indicated it was “the bookstore.” Her daughter, Janine, and husband, Paul, run a local version (in miniature) of Deseret Book. The room had beautiful white book cases all around it on which were tastefully displayed books just like you’d see at home in a Utah store. They have books, puzzles, DVDs, CDs, pictures, ties, etc. We wish we’d know about it earlier. We ordered a quad and scripture case for Yingping for her baptism and it still isn’t here. I hope the members here support it. We did a similar thing when we were in Thailand. You don’t make any money off it, but we were able to get a lot of books we wanted at cost.
Monday, April 18, 2011
JESUS' BROTHER
April 15, 2011 Friday
As you can tell, there hasn’t been much to write about, until a cute thing happened tonight. So I’m going to give you a quick run-down of 5 days. Monday night we hosted the Senior Missionaries’ FHE. I made an apple cake and butterscotch sauce that we served with some vanilla ice cream. Sister Kruger gave a good lesson about reaching out to the “canaries with grey on their wings.” It was fun to have them here, and we didn’t have to make the 40 minute drive home like we usually do!
Tuesday we went to visit some new members who hadn’t been out to church for a while. We’d hardly sat down when they told us they were not going to come to church anymore. He used the excuse that he’d decided that Jesus didn’t really have an organized church and he could pray just as well in his home as in church. We started talking and a deeper reason came out. We were able to explain some things that helped them and they agreed to have the bishop come over to see them. As we left, he commented that it really had been a blessing that we had dropped by. And we are so glad we did!
Thursday night we gave a lesson about the Book of Mormon to Moana and her girls. It went pretty well and they said they would read it together each night for 10 minutes. Bless her heart—she messed up by becoming someone’s partner instead of wife, but she still wants her girls to have the teachings of the Gospel. Now if we can just get them coming to church.
A couple of weeks ago, Hannah Mortley delivered their 4th baby. We’ve been wanting to drop by with a gift. Our meeting tonight fell through so we called them, but no one answered. So we left a message telling them we wanted to drop by. We were in their neighborhood, so we decided to just drop off the gift if someone were at home. Orson took it to the door and gave it to their son who answered when he knocked. We’d been home an hour or so when Adam Mortley called to thank us for the gift. When they had asked who had delivered it, their little boy answered, “Jesus’ brother!” They tried and tried to figure out who that was. Finally, they saw that there was a message on their phone and decided that Orson must have been that special person. After all, aren’t we all His brothers and sisters?
As you can tell, there hasn’t been much to write about, until a cute thing happened tonight. So I’m going to give you a quick run-down of 5 days. Monday night we hosted the Senior Missionaries’ FHE. I made an apple cake and butterscotch sauce that we served with some vanilla ice cream. Sister Kruger gave a good lesson about reaching out to the “canaries with grey on their wings.” It was fun to have them here, and we didn’t have to make the 40 minute drive home like we usually do!
Tuesday we went to visit some new members who hadn’t been out to church for a while. We’d hardly sat down when they told us they were not going to come to church anymore. He used the excuse that he’d decided that Jesus didn’t really have an organized church and he could pray just as well in his home as in church. We started talking and a deeper reason came out. We were able to explain some things that helped them and they agreed to have the bishop come over to see them. As we left, he commented that it really had been a blessing that we had dropped by. And we are so glad we did!
Thursday night we gave a lesson about the Book of Mormon to Moana and her girls. It went pretty well and they said they would read it together each night for 10 minutes. Bless her heart—she messed up by becoming someone’s partner instead of wife, but she still wants her girls to have the teachings of the Gospel. Now if we can just get them coming to church.
A couple of weeks ago, Hannah Mortley delivered their 4th baby. We’ve been wanting to drop by with a gift. Our meeting tonight fell through so we called them, but no one answered. So we left a message telling them we wanted to drop by. We were in their neighborhood, so we decided to just drop off the gift if someone were at home. Orson took it to the door and gave it to their son who answered when he knocked. We’d been home an hour or so when Adam Mortley called to thank us for the gift. When they had asked who had delivered it, their little boy answered, “Jesus’ brother!” They tried and tried to figure out who that was. Finally, they saw that there was a message on their phone and decided that Orson must have been that special person. After all, aren’t we all His brothers and sisters?
GENERAL CONFERENCE
April 10, 2011 Sunday
Now we know how they do it in Perth. We saw all five sessions at the stake center on satellite relay from Sydney this weekend, just a week later than in Utah. On Saturday, the sessions were at 11, 2, and 5. Today they were at 9 and 12. Since there was only an hour between sessions, most folks just brought stuff to snack on. Except Elder Baxter. He showed up at lunch today eating a Whopper. He’d bought it yesterday, put it in the fridge and warmed it up in the microwave. He is a unique guy—good thing there is only one of him. More than one would drive you crazy!
Yingping came to both sessions today. She really enjoyed Elder Bednar’s talk about light. Between sessions, Orson, Elders Kent and Able, and a fellow from the Como ward gave her a blessing. She had asked for it to be healed from all the stomach problems she has. She was blessed that she would be healed and also that she would be able to find a job. She also had a lot of questions about the temple after President Monson’s talk. We have a lot of teaching left to do with her. We had her and Maud come over for dinner on Friday. The first time they came to dinner I made a chicken satay sauce over rice, and they hardly ate any of it. This time I made macaroni salad with ham and cheese in it, and they ate seconds and took some home! So much for trying to cook Asian for them! We taught them to play Chickenfoot and Mexican Train and then showed them Legacy. Bless her heart, after seeing what the early pioneers went through, Yingping declared, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that! Maybe I can have a little trouble, but not big like they did!”
The bishop told us a week ago that he’d talked to Ariel’s dad about us teaching her again. They agreed we could if we would take it slow and easy. So tonight we visited with him to find out what he wanted. We came to find out that she has absolutely NO background in religion; so when we’d gone in and talked about the godhead, for example, in passing, she had no clue what we were talking about. She’d been raised by her Catholic mom who had given her no religious training. So we really are going to start at “square one” with her and teach her gradually just ½ hour at a visit until she’s ready for baptism. Her mom and step-dad drink and smoke. When Ariel was caught smoking at school, her mom threw her hands in the air and sent her to her dad to handle. Ariel seems to be doing really well in the family and seems to be thriving on the discipline, FHE, and family prayers. We just hope we can do our part to give her a good understanding of the gospel.
Now we know how they do it in Perth. We saw all five sessions at the stake center on satellite relay from Sydney this weekend, just a week later than in Utah. On Saturday, the sessions were at 11, 2, and 5. Today they were at 9 and 12. Since there was only an hour between sessions, most folks just brought stuff to snack on. Except Elder Baxter. He showed up at lunch today eating a Whopper. He’d bought it yesterday, put it in the fridge and warmed it up in the microwave. He is a unique guy—good thing there is only one of him. More than one would drive you crazy!
Yingping came to both sessions today. She really enjoyed Elder Bednar’s talk about light. Between sessions, Orson, Elders Kent and Able, and a fellow from the Como ward gave her a blessing. She had asked for it to be healed from all the stomach problems she has. She was blessed that she would be healed and also that she would be able to find a job. She also had a lot of questions about the temple after President Monson’s talk. We have a lot of teaching left to do with her. We had her and Maud come over for dinner on Friday. The first time they came to dinner I made a chicken satay sauce over rice, and they hardly ate any of it. This time I made macaroni salad with ham and cheese in it, and they ate seconds and took some home! So much for trying to cook Asian for them! We taught them to play Chickenfoot and Mexican Train and then showed them Legacy. Bless her heart, after seeing what the early pioneers went through, Yingping declared, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that! Maybe I can have a little trouble, but not big like they did!”
The bishop told us a week ago that he’d talked to Ariel’s dad about us teaching her again. They agreed we could if we would take it slow and easy. So tonight we visited with him to find out what he wanted. We came to find out that she has absolutely NO background in religion; so when we’d gone in and talked about the godhead, for example, in passing, she had no clue what we were talking about. She’d been raised by her Catholic mom who had given her no religious training. So we really are going to start at “square one” with her and teach her gradually just ½ hour at a visit until she’s ready for baptism. Her mom and step-dad drink and smoke. When Ariel was caught smoking at school, her mom threw her hands in the air and sent her to her dad to handle. Ariel seems to be doing really well in the family and seems to be thriving on the discipline, FHE, and family prayers. We just hope we can do our part to give her a good understanding of the gospel.
Good Folks
April 7, 2011 Thursday
There are some very strong women in the church down here. We visited with a couple of them today. Sister Holcz is married to an avowed “heathen” as she calls him. She joined the church many years ago and has served as RS president in a small branch. Only one of her 3 children joined the church, but she’s strong in the faith. She and her husband, Nick, seem to have agreed to disagree about religion. However, he doesn’t hinder her in any way her activity in the church.
Tonight we visited Sister Greenwell. She’s 78 and amazing. She’s been an accountant with her own office for 30 years and still works daily. Right now, times are tough and people aren’t paying their bills, but she’s determined to work through it. Her mother and grandmother both lived to 100 and she’s determined she’s going to outlive them. She had an abusive husband and managed to pull out of that and support herself and her children on her own. She has a beautiful bishon-frieze (spelling?) named Inda. She also owns a home in Maylaysia (Borneo) and goes there often. She loves the people and the culture there.
This afternoon we visited an inactive sister who fell away years ago because of something someone said. She was very willing to talk to us; although she doesn’t have home or visiting teachers, she said we could come back monthly and see her. At one point her husband was a high priest, so the family was very active. She didn’t share what happened, but seems content with her life now. It would be great if we could pull her back in. We left the February Ensign, which coincidentally was all about reactivation.
Monday was Orson’s birthday day and P-day. We just kind of took it easy. I did make him a chocolate-chip date cake and butterscotch sauce that turned out pretty good.
Wednesday we went to Specialized Training for the zone. President Cahoon has had the missionaries preparing 3-minute talks on a variety of subjects. At meetings, he has three missionaries present their talks. (They get a toothbrush for doing so. (One of the elders commented he was going to sell his collection of “President Cahoon toothbrushes” on E-Bay. The president told him to use them and change them each month.) This month the theme was “Jesus, the very thought of thee.” As we were listening to the elders’ talks, a 3x5 card was passed to us from the president asking us to each do a 3-minute talk about the same subject. It turned out to be a spiritual experience for both of us. We had been asked to bring the 72 hour kits that are in each missionary flat. After our meeting we took out the old stuff and put in new food. The expiration dates on a lot of the old stuff was in 2009, so it was a good idea to change it all out. There are 3 cans of chili or something like it, 6 granola bars, 6 bottles of water, a big bag of nuts, a package of crackers, peanut butter and jam, and maybe something else, but I can’t think of what it is.
Last night we dropped by on a former investigator. Talk about having a rough time. Jennifer was pregnant with a member kids’ baby when she took the lessons. She was living with the guy at the time. Everything written in the teaching history says she was very positive about joining the church, but the guy wouldn’t marry her. She’s now back living with her mom (an alcoholic). Jennifer is 20 and has a little girl, Piper, who is 2. When Piper was about 6 months old, Jennifer was diagnosed with mouth and throat cancer. Part of her tongue was cut out and replaced with a muscle from near her wrist. She was told she might not be able to talk, but she talks perfectly. You’d never know she’d had a problem if she hadn’t told you. Then she did chemo and radiation therapy. When Piper was 18 months old, she was diagnosed with Kruzon’s (spelling?) syndrome which runs in her dad’s family. The syndrome causes the bones in the child’s head to grow together too soon and can cause severe brain problems. She and Jennifer flew to Adelaide for a month for a surgery in which plates were inserted into Piper’s head to provide room for growth. She’s a very bright, friendly little girl who obviously has no problems. And Jennifer talked about all this with no sense of “poor me” at all. But she didn’t want to learn any more about the church. She says she just “didn’t connect” with it. We aren’t sure that’s the reason, but we certainly admire how she’s handled all that she has over the past couple of years.
There are some very strong women in the church down here. We visited with a couple of them today. Sister Holcz is married to an avowed “heathen” as she calls him. She joined the church many years ago and has served as RS president in a small branch. Only one of her 3 children joined the church, but she’s strong in the faith. She and her husband, Nick, seem to have agreed to disagree about religion. However, he doesn’t hinder her in any way her activity in the church.
Tonight we visited Sister Greenwell. She’s 78 and amazing. She’s been an accountant with her own office for 30 years and still works daily. Right now, times are tough and people aren’t paying their bills, but she’s determined to work through it. Her mother and grandmother both lived to 100 and she’s determined she’s going to outlive them. She had an abusive husband and managed to pull out of that and support herself and her children on her own. She has a beautiful bishon-frieze (spelling?) named Inda. She also owns a home in Maylaysia (Borneo) and goes there often. She loves the people and the culture there.
This afternoon we visited an inactive sister who fell away years ago because of something someone said. She was very willing to talk to us; although she doesn’t have home or visiting teachers, she said we could come back monthly and see her. At one point her husband was a high priest, so the family was very active. She didn’t share what happened, but seems content with her life now. It would be great if we could pull her back in. We left the February Ensign, which coincidentally was all about reactivation.
Monday was Orson’s birthday day and P-day. We just kind of took it easy. I did make him a chocolate-chip date cake and butterscotch sauce that turned out pretty good.
Wednesday we went to Specialized Training for the zone. President Cahoon has had the missionaries preparing 3-minute talks on a variety of subjects. At meetings, he has three missionaries present their talks. (They get a toothbrush for doing so. (One of the elders commented he was going to sell his collection of “President Cahoon toothbrushes” on E-Bay. The president told him to use them and change them each month.) This month the theme was “Jesus, the very thought of thee.” As we were listening to the elders’ talks, a 3x5 card was passed to us from the president asking us to each do a 3-minute talk about the same subject. It turned out to be a spiritual experience for both of us. We had been asked to bring the 72 hour kits that are in each missionary flat. After our meeting we took out the old stuff and put in new food. The expiration dates on a lot of the old stuff was in 2009, so it was a good idea to change it all out. There are 3 cans of chili or something like it, 6 granola bars, 6 bottles of water, a big bag of nuts, a package of crackers, peanut butter and jam, and maybe something else, but I can’t think of what it is.
Last night we dropped by on a former investigator. Talk about having a rough time. Jennifer was pregnant with a member kids’ baby when she took the lessons. She was living with the guy at the time. Everything written in the teaching history says she was very positive about joining the church, but the guy wouldn’t marry her. She’s now back living with her mom (an alcoholic). Jennifer is 20 and has a little girl, Piper, who is 2. When Piper was about 6 months old, Jennifer was diagnosed with mouth and throat cancer. Part of her tongue was cut out and replaced with a muscle from near her wrist. She was told she might not be able to talk, but she talks perfectly. You’d never know she’d had a problem if she hadn’t told you. Then she did chemo and radiation therapy. When Piper was 18 months old, she was diagnosed with Kruzon’s (spelling?) syndrome which runs in her dad’s family. The syndrome causes the bones in the child’s head to grow together too soon and can cause severe brain problems. She and Jennifer flew to Adelaide for a month for a surgery in which plates were inserted into Piper’s head to provide room for growth. She’s a very bright, friendly little girl who obviously has no problems. And Jennifer talked about all this with no sense of “poor me” at all. But she didn’t want to learn any more about the church. She says she just “didn’t connect” with it. We aren’t sure that’s the reason, but we certainly admire how she’s handled all that she has over the past couple of years.
Monday, April 4, 2011
WHEW!!!
April 3, 2011 Sunday
Yesterday afternoon Fifi met us at the church for her 2nd lesson. She hadn’t read any of the stuff we’d given her which was disappointing so we spent a lot of time on the importance of that and also a couple of the main teachings of the first lesson we had gone over quickly the first time we met with her. She had gone to Institute on Tuesday night and seemed happy with everything she’d experienced. Then she dropped the bomb: “This is the last time—I’m going to Indonesia.” We both about died, but then she went on and explained that she had a month off from school and so was going to visit her family. She assured us she would be back. Whew! And then she came to church today and stayed for all 3 meetings. It was testimony meeting, so she got a wide variety of teachings, struggles, blessings and testimonies. The investigator class lesson was about faith and how it leads us forward in the gospel. Scott Mortly is an excellent teacher and she enjoyed it. As we sat down in RS, she asked, “So what do they do here?” I explained and she sat through a 3rd meeting. It was neat because between meetings she went up and spoke to 2 different Young Single Adults that she has met at Institute. It seemed like she was taking care of her own fellow-shipping. Before she left, she made sure that we knew when she was returning (May 10) and that we would get hold of her as soon as she came back. What a sweetheart! She was wearing a beautiful skirt. When I admired it, she said it was of Indonesian batik.
This morning we went to the Como Ward so Orson could confirm Yingping. She showed up in a dress and cute sandals. (Last week, she’d worn jeans and Nikes.) Her confirmation blessing was beautiful. Sister Bancroft and I both wrote as fast as we could to get down what was said. She is going to combine our records, type it up, maybe frame it, and gift it to Yingping. We are so glad the Bancrofts are in the Como Ward and can strengthen Yingping for this first little while.
The bishop told us today he’d gotten permission for us to teach Ariel again; but he said we have to teach it in small pieces and slowly. I guess her dad thought we’d just dumped too much on her—and we only did half of the first lesson. But we will do anything so she can be taught. She is super faithful in coming to church.
Yesterday afternoon Fifi met us at the church for her 2nd lesson. She hadn’t read any of the stuff we’d given her which was disappointing so we spent a lot of time on the importance of that and also a couple of the main teachings of the first lesson we had gone over quickly the first time we met with her. She had gone to Institute on Tuesday night and seemed happy with everything she’d experienced. Then she dropped the bomb: “This is the last time—I’m going to Indonesia.” We both about died, but then she went on and explained that she had a month off from school and so was going to visit her family. She assured us she would be back. Whew! And then she came to church today and stayed for all 3 meetings. It was testimony meeting, so she got a wide variety of teachings, struggles, blessings and testimonies. The investigator class lesson was about faith and how it leads us forward in the gospel. Scott Mortly is an excellent teacher and she enjoyed it. As we sat down in RS, she asked, “So what do they do here?” I explained and she sat through a 3rd meeting. It was neat because between meetings she went up and spoke to 2 different Young Single Adults that she has met at Institute. It seemed like she was taking care of her own fellow-shipping. Before she left, she made sure that we knew when she was returning (May 10) and that we would get hold of her as soon as she came back. What a sweetheart! She was wearing a beautiful skirt. When I admired it, she said it was of Indonesian batik.
This morning we went to the Como Ward so Orson could confirm Yingping. She showed up in a dress and cute sandals. (Last week, she’d worn jeans and Nikes.) Her confirmation blessing was beautiful. Sister Bancroft and I both wrote as fast as we could to get down what was said. She is going to combine our records, type it up, maybe frame it, and gift it to Yingping. We are so glad the Bancrofts are in the Como Ward and can strengthen Yingping for this first little while.
The bishop told us today he’d gotten permission for us to teach Ariel again; but he said we have to teach it in small pieces and slowly. I guess her dad thought we’d just dumped too much on her—and we only did half of the first lesson. But we will do anything so she can be taught. She is super faithful in coming to church.
LESSONS
March 29, 2011 Tuesday
We taught 4 lessons today. We visited with Sotos and taught them the last official New Member Discussion about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By the time you get to that lesson with already baptized folks, they know most of those principles.
This afternoon, we went to Tata and Graham’s (more new member lessons). We took the DVD “Legacy” to show them and then we discussed the faith it took for the pioneers to endure all that they went through. We also talked about the fact that just because they are members of the church doesn’t mean that they won’t have trials. Just as we were leaving, their home teacher showed up—did you notice that it’s the last week of the month ;o)
We also dropped by Dan and Hollie Collett’s home. They are such a cute member couple. He was inactive for many years and was really into heavy metal music. He had a stack of about 100 CD’s that he had culled out of his collection because he now realizes that he doesn’t want his kids going down the same road he went down. At $30 each, it’s a small fortune that’s he’s getting rid of. He’s hoping to sell them to a friend of his and get a little of his money back. We started talking about the fact that Paul’s wife, Diana, is going to start home schooling her kids again because of the garbage her kids are running into in the schools they attend in Germany. Hollie said that her son’s school held a “disco” at 6 pm one evening for Lachland’s grade. He’s only 5, for heaven’s sakes! She says it’s like they’re training the kids to get ready for night clubs when they are older. Crazy!
After dinner we taught James. He was home alone (no kids) and said he kind of enjoyed the quiet time. It made me laugh because he had the Disney channel on his TV when we arrived. Maybe it was too quiet? We taught the 10 Commandments and Chastity. He said he had some stuff to work on and that he’ll do it. He’s just a good, honest guy who’s trying to get his life in order and his family strong. His wife is an inactive member. They are separated right now. He’s from New Zealand but he looks more like a Mexican that a Kiwi to me.
Then we went to Moana’s. We had received a referral from the mission office last week. It was from the internet and turned out to be Moana’s daughter, Sarsha. She’d requested “Finding Faith in Christ.” So we took it over and watched it with them. Rob, her partner, but he didn’t even bother to come out of the bedroom where he was watching TV to greet us. I got the impression that the girls had no clue about the incidents in Christ’s life that were depicted on the DVD. We talked a little about it and then about prayer. We were able to commit Moana and the girls to come to church Sunday. Hope they do it.
We taught 4 lessons today. We visited with Sotos and taught them the last official New Member Discussion about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By the time you get to that lesson with already baptized folks, they know most of those principles.
This afternoon, we went to Tata and Graham’s (more new member lessons). We took the DVD “Legacy” to show them and then we discussed the faith it took for the pioneers to endure all that they went through. We also talked about the fact that just because they are members of the church doesn’t mean that they won’t have trials. Just as we were leaving, their home teacher showed up—did you notice that it’s the last week of the month ;o)
We also dropped by Dan and Hollie Collett’s home. They are such a cute member couple. He was inactive for many years and was really into heavy metal music. He had a stack of about 100 CD’s that he had culled out of his collection because he now realizes that he doesn’t want his kids going down the same road he went down. At $30 each, it’s a small fortune that’s he’s getting rid of. He’s hoping to sell them to a friend of his and get a little of his money back. We started talking about the fact that Paul’s wife, Diana, is going to start home schooling her kids again because of the garbage her kids are running into in the schools they attend in Germany. Hollie said that her son’s school held a “disco” at 6 pm one evening for Lachland’s grade. He’s only 5, for heaven’s sakes! She says it’s like they’re training the kids to get ready for night clubs when they are older. Crazy!
After dinner we taught James. He was home alone (no kids) and said he kind of enjoyed the quiet time. It made me laugh because he had the Disney channel on his TV when we arrived. Maybe it was too quiet? We taught the 10 Commandments and Chastity. He said he had some stuff to work on and that he’ll do it. He’s just a good, honest guy who’s trying to get his life in order and his family strong. His wife is an inactive member. They are separated right now. He’s from New Zealand but he looks more like a Mexican that a Kiwi to me.
Then we went to Moana’s. We had received a referral from the mission office last week. It was from the internet and turned out to be Moana’s daughter, Sarsha. She’d requested “Finding Faith in Christ.” So we took it over and watched it with them. Rob, her partner, but he didn’t even bother to come out of the bedroom where he was watching TV to greet us. I got the impression that the girls had no clue about the incidents in Christ’s life that were depicted on the DVD. We talked a little about it and then about prayer. We were able to commit Moana and the girls to come to church Sunday. Hope they do it.
GOOD NEWS
April 1, 2011 Friday
This afternoon we went to the hospital to visit Scotty Tuiletoa, the Samoan member who broke his neck playing rugby. When we visited him the first time about 6 weeks ago, he was lying flat in bed and could only move his right arm a little and could hold a fork in his right hand. When we went in today, he was sitting up in a wheel chair watching a rugby game on TV. He turned his head and raised his arm so we could shake his hand. He had a TV remote by one hand and his cell phone by his other. While we were talking, he scratched his head and he showed us how he could moved both feet. What a blessing! He said his doctor couldn’t believe how well he is doing. He told us that his wife has kept his name in the temple in Samoa since the accident 10 months ago. He even gets to go watch a rugby game tomorrow (the same team he was playing with when he broke his neck). It was just great to see the progress he’d made. He told us he’d been married in the temple and served as YM president before he came to Australia. His wife is currently a YW president in Samoa. He commented that he gets a massage, but that he needs a man to do it instead of the small women that do it there in the hospital. He’s determined to walk again. We left there totally uplifted.
A week ago we found Esther while we were tracting. She is 17, from Africa and said she’d always wanted to visit our church. We invited her to come Sunday but she didn’t. So we went back to see if we could talk to her dad about teaching her. He was busy then so we went back last night. He met us at the door and invited us in. We found out they were from the Sudan and have a family of 5 kids. We explained a lot about the church and asked if we could return to teach the family. He told us that we were welcome to come back but that he and his family are Catholic and he doesn’t want to confuse his kids with other teachings. He told us that he even invites J-dubs in because they also teach about Christ, but he won’t change. He’s had missionaries before who gave him a DVD about Christ and talked to him a lot. Perhaps when Esther is older, she’ll be “found” again and able to make her own decisions. He was a sharp guy—too bad his mind is closed.
Last night we visited Wendy Rosales. Her family came from El Salvador in the late 80’s to escape the war there. It may seem funny, but it sounded good to hear a Spanish accent again. She joined the church when her mother invited the elders over to teach Wendy’s brother who was staring to hang out with a bad crowd. He didn’t ever join. She’s single and in her early 30’s. She was active until she moved into this ward and she was given the impression that they didn’t need her. She then had a bad experience with a home teacher so she doesn’t have VT or HT by request. She was very friendly with us and talked about how difficult it is to be single in the church. We told her we could identify with that since our daughters have also faced that trial. She said we can drop by occasionally and read the Book of Mormon with her. Even though her mother didn’t join, her mom tells the J-Dubs when they come by, “We’re Mormons.” Wendy still has her tithing taken out of her checking account each month. She’s such a good girl—we just wish we could wave a magic wand and help her feel comfortable at church again.
Yesterday we visited Yingping. She’s always worn pants to church, so we offered to take her shopping for a dress. When I was talking to her on the phone, she admitted that she had some dresses, but that she has always been a “tomboy.” (I think that may be because she was the only child in a Chinese family and perhaps she acted like a tomboy to please her father who naturally had wanted a son.) So she showed me her dresses saying that she had bought them at some time wanting to be “girly.” We picked out one she will wear for being confirmed on Sunday. We also gave her prints of the photos we took at the baptism. She was so happy to get them and looked at them over and over again.
Today while we were tracting, we found an Indian woman who was holding her 4 week old baby when she came to the door. Orson made a comment that she ought to let me, a grandmother, hold the baby. She opened the door and handed me the baby! It was a darling little girl. Her mom listened very attentively as Orson explained what our church was about. The baby had a black dot on its forehead like the Hindus use. While they were talking, her 4 year old daughter started playing with me. Whatever she did with her hands, I did. She thought that was so fun. She was beautiful: big dark eyes and shiny, thick black hair. Her mom said we could come back and she would talk to her husband. We don’t have a lot of hope, but what a cute family!
This afternoon we went to the hospital to visit Scotty Tuiletoa, the Samoan member who broke his neck playing rugby. When we visited him the first time about 6 weeks ago, he was lying flat in bed and could only move his right arm a little and could hold a fork in his right hand. When we went in today, he was sitting up in a wheel chair watching a rugby game on TV. He turned his head and raised his arm so we could shake his hand. He had a TV remote by one hand and his cell phone by his other. While we were talking, he scratched his head and he showed us how he could moved both feet. What a blessing! He said his doctor couldn’t believe how well he is doing. He told us that his wife has kept his name in the temple in Samoa since the accident 10 months ago. He even gets to go watch a rugby game tomorrow (the same team he was playing with when he broke his neck). It was just great to see the progress he’d made. He told us he’d been married in the temple and served as YM president before he came to Australia. His wife is currently a YW president in Samoa. He commented that he gets a massage, but that he needs a man to do it instead of the small women that do it there in the hospital. He’s determined to walk again. We left there totally uplifted.
A week ago we found Esther while we were tracting. She is 17, from Africa and said she’d always wanted to visit our church. We invited her to come Sunday but she didn’t. So we went back to see if we could talk to her dad about teaching her. He was busy then so we went back last night. He met us at the door and invited us in. We found out they were from the Sudan and have a family of 5 kids. We explained a lot about the church and asked if we could return to teach the family. He told us that we were welcome to come back but that he and his family are Catholic and he doesn’t want to confuse his kids with other teachings. He told us that he even invites J-dubs in because they also teach about Christ, but he won’t change. He’s had missionaries before who gave him a DVD about Christ and talked to him a lot. Perhaps when Esther is older, she’ll be “found” again and able to make her own decisions. He was a sharp guy—too bad his mind is closed.
Last night we visited Wendy Rosales. Her family came from El Salvador in the late 80’s to escape the war there. It may seem funny, but it sounded good to hear a Spanish accent again. She joined the church when her mother invited the elders over to teach Wendy’s brother who was staring to hang out with a bad crowd. He didn’t ever join. She’s single and in her early 30’s. She was active until she moved into this ward and she was given the impression that they didn’t need her. She then had a bad experience with a home teacher so she doesn’t have VT or HT by request. She was very friendly with us and talked about how difficult it is to be single in the church. We told her we could identify with that since our daughters have also faced that trial. She said we can drop by occasionally and read the Book of Mormon with her. Even though her mother didn’t join, her mom tells the J-Dubs when they come by, “We’re Mormons.” Wendy still has her tithing taken out of her checking account each month. She’s such a good girl—we just wish we could wave a magic wand and help her feel comfortable at church again.
Yesterday we visited Yingping. She’s always worn pants to church, so we offered to take her shopping for a dress. When I was talking to her on the phone, she admitted that she had some dresses, but that she has always been a “tomboy.” (I think that may be because she was the only child in a Chinese family and perhaps she acted like a tomboy to please her father who naturally had wanted a son.) So she showed me her dresses saying that she had bought them at some time wanting to be “girly.” We picked out one she will wear for being confirmed on Sunday. We also gave her prints of the photos we took at the baptism. She was so happy to get them and looked at them over and over again.
Today while we were tracting, we found an Indian woman who was holding her 4 week old baby when she came to the door. Orson made a comment that she ought to let me, a grandmother, hold the baby. She opened the door and handed me the baby! It was a darling little girl. Her mom listened very attentively as Orson explained what our church was about. The baby had a black dot on its forehead like the Hindus use. While they were talking, her 4 year old daughter started playing with me. Whatever she did with her hands, I did. She thought that was so fun. She was beautiful: big dark eyes and shiny, thick black hair. Her mom said we could come back and she would talk to her husband. We don’t have a lot of hope, but what a cute family!
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