Our meetings with Denise continued on Wednesday
(24th) as we strive to complete the New Member Lessons. It is
interesting to watch her as we repeat the same lessons she received when she
was investigating the Church. Now, with
a couple of months under her belt, she is beginning to ask questions about the
Gospel. We can see why the new members
are given these lessons again. Once they have some Church experience, they know
some of the questions to ask. We have enjoyed teaching her but it is
distracting though when she pulls out her phone right in the middle of a
discussion and begins to text or play with it. She has ADHD and is on
medicine, but she gets distracted easily and often she blurts out a question
that has nothing whatsoever to do with what we are discussing. She is
progressing though, and she admits that her attention is quickly off into the
neverlands. She will tell you that she is still paying attention to you so keep
going. Funny!
We had a busy Thursday. We were supposed to meet up with some
missionaries to help a nonmember get started on his Family History, but they
didn’t call. We went to Pat’s house so I could help her figure out how to change
some things she’s doing so she gets her material scanned in properly. It’s a
printer issue so I brought several things home to correct them using my
scanner. They will be leaving on the 9th
for Florida. It looks like they will not be selling their condo at this time;
their realtor was not helping so they fired him/her and took down the for-sale
sign. They will go on to Florida as planned though for the winter months.
As we were leaving Pat’s, we got a phone call
from the missionaries and so off we went to pick them up and meet a gentleman
at the Church History Center to help him. When we got there, I went in and
Elder Lenhard and the missionaries sat in the hallway. The Center is really
small, only four computers, and there is very little room to move around. The
man had a Family Search (FS) site but hadn’t used it in a long time and had no
clue what to do with it when we brought it up (getting his username and
password was a real treat). Two hours later, and the missionaries were ready to
leave. The man had to leave and get home to his wife. It was their 43rd
anniversary that day. I asked why in the world he wasn’t home with her anyway,
and he said she was sleeping so he left her to it. He had once dated a Bishop’s
daughter, and he and his brother both were investigating the Church. His wife
is adamantly opposed to him doing so and so one day he snuck off to have the
missionaries teach him at a McDonalds or someplace like that. She must have
known what was happening because she came looking for him and told the
missionaries to leave them alone. Fun times were had by all.
That night we had our Pathway meeting. Our
first lead student was absolutely fantastic. He had brought some fruit to eat,
and he lead that class from beginning to end. It was obvious that the students
were understanding what he was teaching, and they were eating it up. WOW! He
has taught Elder’s Quorum for years. I thought that if more brethren were
taught by this caliber of man, they would be more anxious to attend their
Priesthood classes and learn. Next week’s lesson will be taught by a Sister who
is not quite as self-assured, but she has a sweet attitude that says, “I can do
this.”
We went into the Family History Center for a
moment before we left. We were picking up some materials to take down to
Burlington, WI, for a Family History Workshop where we would tell people about
FS as we gave them the materials. What a surprise when we were told “Oh, by the
way, Elder Lenhard is on the program to give two 45 minute presentations on FS
while we were there.” This was completely new to us and, supposedly, to the
Family History Center Director who had asked us to go down in her place. She
had gotten an email that morning telling her about what was expected. We had
nothing prepared, and we figured tomorrow would be a busy day.
Friday, we went to the Milwaukee Genealogical
Society Meeting. It usually lasts an hour. The woman who was in charge of
Mexican Fiesta (Margaret Skremm) gave a summary of the festival and thanked
Elder Lenhard and myself and the young high school boys (missionaries) for
coming to help. She was so impressed by the high school boys who were
bilingual. They were wonderful. Elder Lenhard and I just sat and listened.
Margaret is a wonderful woman and works so hard to help all who ask. After all
the business, a librarian then gave an hour and 45 minute presentation on all
of the genealogical holdings in the library. We learned a lot, but it was
definitely information overload. It would have been wonderful to have had a
handout that summarized what she was saying, but I guess she figured we were
adult enough to look it up if we were interested. Hahahaha
We went home, and I began working on a
presentation. We had decided that I would give the presentation and that the
only thing we could do was use a projector (provided by the library) and guide
them through FS. What else was possible
at this late date? I did try to put together a slide presentation, but I
quickly realized it would take all night. Do you have a tool called snippet on
your computer? It is a wonderful little tool that allows you to cut out just
the right amount of something you want from a source and place it where it
should go. Actually, at the time, I didn’t have it installed and couldn’t find
it like I’d been told to do, so I tried the screen capture, etc., but it took
forever. I finally gave up. No powerpoint for me. That will come with lots of
time to do it.
Saturday, we got up early to get there by 8:30
so that we could pick out a projector screen and set up our computer. We
thought we were being smart, but every other presenter did the same. We got the
only screen that was left, and it was small. Oh, well, as it was, we didn’t
expect to get to use it at all. Four computers later and the use of one phone
and we couldn’t get Family Search to come up. We were ready to quit and just
cancel our part of the program when a gentleman who worked with the school
where we were meeting realized that there was a filter on that prevented our
being able to link up. Once he took care of that, we were good. I’m telling
you, there is nothing like having a stressful start to a presentation to make
you appreciate the fact that it helps to be prepared. Once we got up and
running, I did the presentation, and Elder Lenhard worked the computer. It was OK, and I think we helped several
people. As it turned out, there weren’t that many people who came, and we felt
bad for the person who had organized it. You could tell she was embarrassed and
kept making excuses. Evidently, in one of the cities that usually participates,
they were having a party-on-the-sidewalk for the end of summer. One of the
Sisters from the Racine Ward there said no one was coming to the Family History
Workshop with the party going on. At the
end, there were lots of door prizes that weren’t given out (everyone there had
gotten one already), and then it was a free-for-all for anything left. All I
wanted were glue dots and a Halloween decoration (NOW, I can bring out my
day-of-the-dead dolls and have a decoration or two in the apartment. I ended up
with two decorations, and I was very happy!
Hahahaha
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| Waiting for Presentation Time |
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| Lead Presentation |
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| I Really Like the Ingenuity of People Making Money in Family History Work |
On Sunday, we went to City Branch and attended
our Sacrament and RS/Priesthood meetings – still no Sunday School. We had some
great meetings though, and we were especially grateful to get to partake of the
Sacrament and renew out covenants with the Lord. That afternoon we spent time
on our own genealogy, and I scanned about 100 pictures/articles for Pat.
On Monday, we were still trying to get some
work done for Pat. We did go down to
Lake Michigan and walk along the lake for a while. It was so beautiful, nice
and warm, and just a little wind. We were next to the harbor where the boats
are moored, so we watched several set out for the water, both sail boats and
motor boats. There were lots and lots of
Canadian Geese on the lake – you’d think they would be flying south by now.
Don’t they remember last winter and how quickly it came? We have heard that
this winter is to be even worse all along the northern U.S. On the way back, a woman passed us. She asked
if the flies were bothering us. We stopped to look at her, and she was covered
with black flies. She kept trying to brush them off, and they would swarm and
land on her again. It reminded me of Pigpen (is that correct) in the Charlie
Brown comics. I just kinda wanted her to move on with her flies and not to
linger around. She said she had no perfume, lotion, or anything on that you
would think would attract them. We even asked about clothes detergent. She was
hurrying home because they were biting (stinging) her through her clothes, and
she had a long walk ahead of her. She often walks down by the lake and had
never had anything like this happen to her before. That night we heard that
there is an epidemic of these flies, and they are attracted to black and white
colors (which she was wearing).
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| Looks like fun! |
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| Such a beautiful day |
Tuesday brought with it our District meeting
and interviews with President Cutler. He encouraged us to keep moving ahead and
to focus on getting the work done. There are lots of areas that he likes to discuss
with the Senior Couples, and he and Elder Lenhard could go on forever. Finally,
we were finished, and the other missionaries who hadn’t been interviewed yet
needed to get finished quickly to make appointments. I felt bad for taking so
much time. It really wasn’t our fault, President just kept asking questions and
clarifying some things he was feeling about the area. He is such a good
Priesthood Leader, and we so enjoy working with him. We are looking forward to
Conference.
The week flew by, and it is with some disbelief
that we realize that five months have passed. Good grief, fall is here in all
its glory, and we are loving the colors. These trees are unbelievable. The
maples change colors in so many different varieties. On one side of a big tree,
it will be bright red and on the other side of the same tree it will still be
dark green. The yellows are so bright, it is unbelievable. We love it.
Our scripture for October is from Doctrine
& Covenants 20:37:
And again, by way of commandment to the church
concerning the manner of baptism—All those who humble themselves before God,
and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite
spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all
their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having
a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that
they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins,
shall be received by baptism into his church.
I love this scripture. We must have a
DETERMINATION – a great desire to serve Him and a willingness to keep on even
when we don’t feel like it. Got a lot to do and so little time to do it.
Love you all.
Elder and Sister Lenhard
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