Tuesday to Tuesday (July 16-29)

Wow, a lot has happened in the past two weeks. I really meant to write while at Mallory’s in Colorado, but my computer would not connect to their wifi. It was so aggravating. By the time we got it to work, it was the end of the week, and we had to come home, so I didn’t get anything done.

SEVERAL MIRACLES OCCURRED IN COLORADO.
HERE'S JUST ONE OF MANY.

Our meal with the missionaries on Tuesday (16^th) went much better than I expected. Of course, the pizza was cold, the broccoli/raisin salad was not what turned their boat, and the dessert of cake was fabulous. Other than that, it was alright. Hahahaha  As usual, I’ve learned that missionaries will eat whatever they are offered.

On Wednesday (16^th), we went to the gym that morning and then we were caught up in transfers. We went to the building where the transfers were and left soon after arriving. We realized that we really didn’t need to stay. It was sad to see one of ours leave for a new area. Talking to some who were going home was fun. You can see the fear of what they will be facing when they got back home; yet, there is much excitement as they realize they made it.

It was later in the day that we attended a meeting with Denise who is getting ready to be baptized. When we attend a meeting with her, it takes a long time. She has so many questions, and she likes to feed us. We had some great meatloaf. I remember how I would make meatloaf when you kids were young, and you hated it. I tried to make it the same way mom made it, meaning I put everything in it I could think of to make it go further. Consequently, no one liked it. Denise knew how to make good meatloaf. I think I will try again but use her recipe.

Thursday, I had to take a young Sister to the doctors, which meant that there was nothing I could do until I had taken her where she needed to be. We spent the morning making some plans and trying to get some things organized. Then I took the Sister and waited for her to get finished. I lost my way back and drove all over town (or so it seemed) before getting back to the apartment.  

It was later that evening when we went to the Pathway program. It was their last class of the semester. We are in the recruiting period for this fall. We have to have 15 students in all. We now have 10 and have several who have not yet signed up, but they plan to do so.

All was going according to plan when at 3-4 o’clock on Friday morning Mallory called and said she was in labor.  No, no, you can’t be in labor. I have things we have to do.  She assured me this wasn’t a trick, she was admitted to the hospital. I told her I would be there. I then laid in the bed trying to think of all the things I needed to do before I could leave. I think I was hoping that she’d call back and say it was not real. Finally, I got up and got to moving. It was about 6:00 by the time I got cleaned up and was ready to call the airlines. They were able to get me on a plane and out to Kansas City and then on to Colorado. I was able to get a rental car for one night (and a GPS to go with it) and off to the hospital I went. I had already found out that our little girl was in the world and that Mallory had broadcast her name over the internet without letting me know first. I was really put out (hahaha). By the time I got to the hospital, Parker Brynn was under the lights to get warm.

PARKER BRYNN IVEY

Without a doubt, she is the smallest baby we have had come into our family. I don’t really think I’ve seen a baby this small. We have some other friends in Alabama whose baby was born a few months ago. He came prematurely and weighed between 1 and 2 pounds. I’ve seen pictures of the baby on facebook, and the mother gave a running story about the babies progress. Here he is four months later and today he was sent to the Scottish Rite Hospital. His little lungs still aren’t quite ready to breathe on their own.

I won’t go into great detail for the next week. Brad’s sister, Shannon, brought little Cohen up to the hospital later in the day to see his baby sister. When he saw me, he was shy and was a little hesitant at getting to know me.

BRAD ANNOUNCES THAT HE WANTS 10 MORE  CHILDREN!
WAIT! IS THAT COHEN OR BENTLEY?

He wasn’t very impressed with Parker, kept calling her Baby Parker, but he wanted little to do with her in the beginning. However, if he could find a button to push, he pushed it. He loved to call the nurse’s desk. Later, we moved Cohen’s chair from Shannon’s car into mine and we went home. Shannon stayed long enough to pack up her stuff and go home. Bless her heart, she had her three children with her, and they had been there all day, and I mean, all day. It was 10:00 before they started home, a 45 minute drive. She was so sweet to come and help out. Cohen was exhausted, and he went to bed quickly. He is really a sweet baby, and he and I got to know each other again.

"FORGET IT! 
IT CAN'T EVEN WALK YET."

COHEN SAYS: TRADE HER FOR A TESLA.

PRETTY CUTE!

Mallory didn’t come home until Sunday. The hospital was really nice, clean, and newer looking. Every one that I met was so good to Mallory and our precious baby.  As they got home after 1:00 that afternoon, they were ready to settle in and begin life as a family. The rest of the week was a blur. On Sunday, Elder Lenhard was able to come.

ELDER LENHARD NOTICES
all of
COLORADO WAS SMOKING STUFF.

He had stayed in Milwaukee because on Friday there was a Senior Missionary Training Meeting that one of us needed to attend. We had planned a Temple Prep class that morning and cancelled it until later. On Sunday, he had to go to the ELKHORN WARD to present a Pathway program for recruitment.  

Finally, on Monday Elder Lenhard had a doctor’s appointment that he couldn’t miss since he had to get some blood work done in order to prove to the Utah license bureau that he was capable of driving. Utah has weird driving requirements -  you need blood to drive in Utah.

Brad had taken the entire week off for maternity leave so he picked Elder Lenhard up from the airport. Unfortunately, from the time he arrived in Colorado, he had a headache most of the time. We think it was due to the elevation. He was so cute with Parker. We felt it was a privilege to be there for our 18^th grandchild. We now have 8 girls and 10 boys.

Cohen asks: "Is that me on tv?"
Brad is so tired he asks: "Who is Brad?"

On Thursday, we celebrated Elder Lenhard’s birthday. Mallory and I fixed fresh crab legs for her and myself; Brad fixed steak for the men. The meal was delightful. We loved it. I think I can fix the crab by myself now. [CRAB? IS SHE TALKING ABOUT ELDER LENHARD?]

Friday night we flew out together to come back to our work in the mission. It was time for us to leave. We hated to leave family again, but we know the Lord has something for us to do, and we needed to get back to it. It was 11:00+ by the time we got to our apartment. This airport is really nice and much bigger than we imagined.  When we had to wake up the next morning, it was hard to get out of the bed. However, the day was full.

First, we took a brother to the grocery to buy groceries for him. He had a stroke a month ago, and he is doing so much better. He is a proud man, and he hates to take help. But his gait was more like normal, and his speech was greatly improved. We could understand him which was an improvement.

We left there and headed to the Chapel for the baptism of Denise Karr, an investigator we have helped teach!!!!!

Elders Ward and Santos, Denise, Elders Ellsworth and Cutshaw

Sister Lenhard and Denise!

Elder Lenhard appears startled about Elder Ward's mood swings!
(Maybe he just realized that wasn't Elder Lee beside him.)
Elder Santos is just happy!

Denise had taken the challenged and found the Gospel was true. What a remarkable young woman. She was able to get her baby to come to the Church for the baptism, and several friends came. She was embarrassed by the white jump suit people wear for a baptism. It is the only thing we have found that doesn’t flair up when they go under the water. This is the first baptism we have had a part in. I ended up keeping her baby in the nursery most of the time. I brought him in to watch his mom be baptized and then took him back to the nursery. Lots of pictures were taken, and there were lots of people there to celebrate with her. At least one other sister was there who will be baptized sometime in August. What a blessing!

After the baptism (which was over around 12:00), we got in the car and drove across town to open the genealogy library at the Brookfield building. No one came in for the first two hours. The library coordinator came in to check on us. While she was there, an older gentleman came in and together we found the graves of his father and grandfather. He didn’t think we would be able to find something. He was so sweet.

Finally, we ended the day by working at German Fest. This genealogy activity was sponsored by the Milwaukee Genealogy Society. We had so much fun. Most of the people carried around a huge tankard of beer. Who can drink that much? People were dancing the polka and having a great time. Those who came into our genealogy booth were really nice, and so many had a desire to learn about their families.

Elder Lenhard manned a poster area that discussed the life of a Mr. Weiss who started German Fest. He passed away on July 10. When people came to this tent where we were located, they were given a  stamp book. As they looked at an exhibit, they got a stamp. If they got all the stamps they needed, they got a prize.  Elder Lenhard would make them work for the stamps by giving them a quiz. He would point to pictures in the display and ask silly questions that they couldn’t possibly miss. Then he told them they had passed, and they got the stamp. Everyone loved it and thought he was so funny. The purpose of the activity was to remind folks that EVERYONE HAS A STORY!!!!

German fest Display

We left the festival at 10:00PM  and aren’t sure how we got home because we were so tired.

On Sunday, we went to pick up Denise and then to the foster home to pick up her baby.  Denise was confirmed a member of the Church, and I taught a last minute lesson in Gospel Principles on chastity. Afterwards, there was a linger/longer for members who were moving out of the Branch. They will be missed.

One of Denise’s friends and a son had come to Church today. She let Denise know that she had her own Church and was not coming again. Anyway, because our car is so little, we had to take them home in separate trips. It took a while, but we got home at 3:00 PM.

We were going  back to German Fest again since there weren’t many workers on tap for Sunday.  After we got started, the sky looked nasty. It began to rain, and we were thinking we would be called and told not to come, but come we did. We worked another 4 hours that night and had so much fun. I showed one woman how to find her grandfather and great grandfather using FamilySearch. When we found them, she cried. It was so touching. This work is truly the work of the Lord. We had several instances that were as touching. It was a good Sabbath.  Again, we got home late, and we were exhausted.

On the way home, President Cutler called us to give us three more assignments. This next Saturday, the Sikhs hold an interfaith 5K run to promote interfaith unity. We have a member of the Church who is on the Interfaith Council in the area, and President Cutler would like us to help man a table at the run to hand out literature about the Church and about family history. We are excited.

Preview picture of a stilt-walker wearing an Ecuadoran
mask at today's SIKH festival. (wait until the next post for an explanation!)

We will also be contacting all the new members for this year and working with them to begin their family history and find someone in their family for whom they can do the Temple work. We want to get them to the Temple as soon as possible.

Finally, we will be working with a new missionary couple on family history. They have been set apart as family history consultants, but they do not know much about how to do it.

Elder and Sister Linsley
(PICTURE FROM THE MISSION BLOG.)

On Monday, we got up and planned on going to Costco, but never got there. We went to the gym, then to the Mission Office to pick up some packages, waited for the Sister missionaries to get their groceries to take them home, and finally, as a celebration of both our birthdays, we went to a German restaurant.

(SEE THE PICTURES IN THE PREVIOUS POST BELOW!)

It looked just like what I think it might have looked like a hundred years ago. It was really nice. Stained glass windows, dark wood, hunting murals on the walls. The food was delicious. Elder Lenhard got goulash (thick pieces of the most tender beef with noodles) and I had the most wonderful scallops I’ve had in I don’t know how long. The bread was fabulous, the cherry strudel I had and the rubarb pie Elder Lenhard had was wonderful.  Yum, yum, I’m hungry just thinking of it.  It was very nice. If we must grow old, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be with than my mate. (Sweet!)

Here it is Tuesday again. I can hardly believe it is almost August. My birthday. This is the youngest 63 I’ll ever be. It has been a great day. I’ve heard from all my kids. What more could I ask? I had lots of birthday wishes from Facebook friends. Again, it is so nice to be thought of on this day. We had District meeting today, and it was about “Resolving Concerns.” It all comes back to the Book of Mormon. If they read the Book of Mormon and pray about it with real intent, they will know if it is true. If it is true, then the Gospel is true and Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the Lord. It’s that simple. We are blessed to have the Book of Mormon as a second witness of Jesus Christ. I truly have a witness that it is true.

A new week has begun so I will stop here. Sorry it is so long, but I want to be able to remember this time. We have been so blessed. We have a new granddaughter. Both Dan and Brad got new jobs. Dan became an Assistant Principal and Brad started a new position where he was working.

We are feeling cool weather right now, I mean it was in the 40s the other night at the German Fest. Hope this is not a sign of what is to come, but if it is cold, we will find ways to continue the work.

This is a great place to work for the Lord. I cannot believe how this place has such a history.  Love it.

Come visit and share with us.