Saturday thru Monday

Saturday we spent the time (and I mean spent the time) getting things done around the apartment. We worked all day on a dresser. I was so ready to scream. I would put it together, look at the drawing and ask Craig what was the matter. He would turn it around a different way and I’d see what was the matter. When it was all finished, of course, the top drawer won’t close. I couldn’t figure out why until I remembered when we were putting it together that one of the bars used to slide the drawer in was bent. I mean that it came that way. I noticed it and hoped it wouldn’t matter, it was such a small bend, hardly noticeable. Guess it mattered.

We went out to the store, and we found a gym that Craig had researched so we joined it. Finally, we are able to get some exercise which we both need. Now I just have to find someone to do hair and nails.

I had to go downstairs to the wash room to do some laundry. Oh, how pampered we are in this world. To think I have to spent $3 just to wash and dry our clothes is ridiculous. The washer hardly gets started when it is finished. The dryer does well though. It is a great blessing for us to have a washer and dryer in our home at Layton.

There are two young sister missionaries in our apartment complex. They came over while I was washing the clothes. Their names are Newton and King, and they are really nice. One of them will be going home at the end of the month. She is ready, but it is obvious that they are working hard.  The other one hasn’t been out very long. They appeared to work together well.

Sunday was so surpisingly wonderful. I say that because I was expecting almost no one to be there from the way the Elders had spoken about it. I’d say we had 35-40 people. It is very multicultural. One sister bore her testimony in Spanish and another translated for her. Two young black boys gave the sweetest, most humble testimonies.  It was a touching meeting. There is a lot of poverty among the people, but you could see there is a lot of love there. Several of the white brothers and sisters are either on assignment there to keep the Branch going or have chosen to attend there to provide support.

The building itself was one of the few that the Church built during the Depression. The earlier Saints here were German, and they built it. It had fireplaces. They are bricked over now, but we can see one was in the RS room and one is in the Branch President’s office.  I guess the building has been reviewed by Church publications at least twice. It is located in a black neighborhood. The Church actually sold the building about 1960s or 70s to a group of Baptists. The membership had dwindled from the original German group. The Church then bought the building back when a lot of the blacks joined from the area. They spent time to remove many of the crosses that had been added by the Baptists. There are steam heaters in every room. I’m not sure if they are actually used anymore, but their presence lends a touch of age to the building.

There are very few children in the Branch.  Those that are there aren’t afraid to make themselves known.  We met with the Branch President who struck us as pessimistic about the possible future success of the Branch growing. He, himself, has been serving in the Branch for 6 years although he doesn’t live within the Branch’s boundaries. He is a nice man.  We didn’t meet his wife.

There are several things happening that we will be involved in this month. I will be donating some items to a group that will be making bags for the homeless.  There is a funeral this Thursday for a member’s mother. I didn’t hear that the mother had been a member. We will go to the viewing on Thursday morning, and we will help set up and serve the food after the family returns from the graveyard.

We have Stake Temple day at the end of the month. Maybe we will have a chance to go to the Chicago Temple, which is our home temple.

Today, Monday, we got our first referral. It is a brother of a member who has expressed interest in learning more.  We went to lunch at the Mission Office and celebrated Cinco de Mayo.

We will be working with the genealogy programs. If any of you have a family search membership, you can apply to get your free Ancestry.com membership. You cannot do it unless you have been sent an email to do so. They are doing it I guess by regions. If you don’t have a Family Search account, you need to get one. Gracious, how do you think you are going to help us get our work done?

Our apartment is small, but we like it. The people are really friendly, and we like that. Our calendar is beginning to look less like a blank sheet (hahaha).  We finally got all the furniture together so we can now spend more time on getting out and meeting people. We are beginning to feel more at ease here and that’s a good thing. I even wash the dishes after every meal. It helps keep me feeling like we are accomplishing something.

Next  Saturday, we are going with the Hmong Missionaries to visit with the Hmong. The Elders will be introducing us to some they teach, and we will be eating there. We have been told that they like their food hot, hot.

Love to all. I am too tired to write more now.

MOM