“Our job is not to humble people but to find
the humble.”
“There
is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone.”
Sounds like great advice for a missionary. We are all missionaries so guess the advice
is for all of us.
On the 21st, we were delighted to welcome Miss Kennedy into
the real world of old age. No, no, slow
down your flight into the ages. She is such
a sweet young girl, and there is something really beautiful in her innocence when
we talk with her. We love this young
lady so much and look forward to watching her grow up.
The 22nd (Wednesday) brought some exciting activities. I
went down and offered up my arm for my flu shot. I really hate getting shots.
When I was little, I can remember having to be held down to get a shot in the
butt (I think that was the only place they gave shots then). When I say I was held down, I mean by nurses
and doctors. I was giving no quarter and
was going to make it as hard as possible. I’m sure I then tightened up so much
that that needle had to work its way through in the most painful way possible.
Thank goodness I’ve learned to relax somewhat now and remind myself that it is
only a little “pinch” as they say. It helps that the minute they get a needle,
I turn my head, consciously relax, and talk a lot. I just have to go back now
and get the pneumonia and second hepatitis A shot. The nurse told me that Craig can actually get
the flu shot and the pneumonia shot
also. He has never had a flu shot because he’s allergic to eggs. Evidently,
they now have a vaccine that he can take.
I had spent the morning working on some genealogy and after going for
my shot, we had a meeting set up with Brother Rebarchik, a High Priest of the
West Allis Ward. We were going to meet with him and his counselors and the
Stake Family History Director. We had to
present a new plan directed by Stake President Bruner and President Cutler for
teaching new members about Family Search with the goal of retaining new members
and getting them to the Temple within the first year of their membership. Family Search is the Lord’s program to reach
out to our family who did not have the opportunity to accept the Gospel in this
life. One thing I’m learning is that the more we help others with their work,
the more the Lord opens doors for our own work. We love it.
Our meeting went so much better than we anticipated, and the members
left energized and ready to get the ball rolling. I’m so excited. It remains to
be seen what happens.
On Thursday, we spent a good part of the day studying for Pathway that
evening. I love this program. The Lord is reaching out to those who never
finished their education, or who want to start their education to increase
their skills, or someone who wants to get an education just for their family.
We love working with the people in the class. We had an appointment with Denise which
requires some work and then she needs a lot of one-on-one time. She has no one
to really show her an example of how to mother and take care of her children
(she has three others that live with their dad and comes to see her a couple of
hours a week). She is working hard to
get her baby back, but at the same time, she is finding out that a child
requires so much more of her time than she expected. She has been on her own
for at least 9 months. She wants him back so much, but she struggles with how
to mother him.
Friday brought a really busy day.
Elder Lenhard went in and got his shots. He said his arm was sore. We both are glad that he can actually get
some help with the vaccines since he tends to have trouble with respiratory
sicknesses in the winter. We began to prepare for the Temple on Saturday. We
weren’t going, but a sister who needed a ride kept texting and asking if she
could ride with us and that spurred us on because we decided we needed to go.
That night we went to a celebration for Mexican Fiesta volunteers. It was a really nice dinner at a great hotel.
There must have been at least 200+ people there. They provided entertainment as
well. There were lots of awards given
out to all those who planned and executed the plan for the fiesta. Then there
were lots of youths dancing which was fun to watch. At 9:00, we decided to call
it a night.
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| Watching dancers as part of entertainment. |
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| Band playing American music at tribute dinner for Mexican Fiesta Volunteers |
On Saturday, we took Sister Duran with us to the Temple. We did the work for three of my relatives. It is so much more meaningful when we take our
own family names to the Temple. Now I
need some volunteers to do some sealings for us.
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| Chicago Temple |
That evening we went with Sister Duran and with the Armstrongs (part-member family) to see Meet the Mormons.
This is the second time we’d seen it. We really like that movie. Sister Armstrong is so close to accepting the
Gospel. She was very impressed with it, and we pray that she will continue to
study. After the movie, we went to P.F. Chang’s and everyone loves P.F.
Changs. We had a great dinner and
enjoyed the company.
Sunday was such a wonderful break for the week. There were some really good talks that day,
and then that evening right before we skyped with Adam, we got a visit from the
man upstairs who needed some money. We scraped up enough money for a bus trip
he said he needed for the week. (That week I met him outside as he drove up in
a car – huuuuummmmmm.) We aren’t sorry
we gave him the money (less than $20), but I think he is avoiding us now.
That’s no way to have neighbors. Then
after we had Adam on skype, another neighbor (next door) wanted to borrow our
phone. Adam kept telling his dad not to
give the phone to the man, but we did. Elder Lenhard got the phone back and
noticed that this man had called the same number six times. It turned out the number was to a person that was not very nice. Elder Lenhard then worried about what would happen if the Church found out that he was calling places he shouldn't.
Monday brought with it the annual sign up for our new insurance for
2015. I really hate doing that. You call and call, it is a 20-minute wait every time. Once when a man
answered he said hello, I said hello, he repeated it again and then hung up. Oh
to throw your phone against the wall, but the phone is too expensive to chuck
it that way. Anyway, that took up most of the morning.
We took the Sisters who live in our apartment complex to Lake Michigan.
One of them hadn’t seen the water since they arrived here in Wisconsin. It was
fun, but cool. There were actually surfers on the water because the waves were
really strong. All I could think of were their cold ears. We spent some time down there driving through some nice sections of town overlooking the lake. We found the North Water Tower and took a few moments to investigate. Then had to
come home and get ready to take Denise and Victor (our newest members in City
Branch) to see Meet the Mormons. We got
there a few minutes late, but it was important for them to see it. Denise was
really touched by the last story. She could see herself in the story line. We
were blessed to get to take these wonderful new members. We feel it is imperative to immerse them in
the Gospel as much as possible. They have to have friends that will strengthen
them, and when we leave, they will have a Church family to live and love with
them.
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| Sisters Askerlund and Tanner |
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| At Lake Michigan, Oct 27, 2014 |
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| Elder Lenhard loves the water. |
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| Can you see the surfer? |
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| Lake Michigan waves, looks cold! |
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| Old North Point Water Tower Information |
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| Old North Point Water Tower |
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| Elder Lenhard has been recruited! |
On Tuesday, we had another mile-stone in our lives. Miss Leah Kanzler reached the double digits.
How can this be happening? Another young girl who is showing the bright signs
of young womanhood. The Kanzlers had some family pictures made, and Leah looks
like a young teenager. This month of birthdays – Noah, Kennedy, and now Leah are
just too much. How we love and miss them.
Someday maybe they will be in our place and we will be the ones keeping
up with them.
In the afternoon, we met again with the Priesthood leaders of the West
Allis Ward. This time we had the Bishop in the meeting. The High Priest Group
Leader had met with the Ward Council on Sunday, and he had introduced the ideas
we had discussed the week before. The Bishop was onboard, and there was some
real excitement as further planning was made, assignments were given, and
opportunities were examined as we got ready to implement the plan. There was
some real faith expressed at the meeting. Have you see the latest New Era. It
is full of activities for the youth to get involved in family history. If you
don’t have a copy, go online and see what the Brethren are giving us. The youth
will be the tool to open up the work and see it flourish throughout the Church.
What a great week. Blessings,
blessings, blessings, we love it.
Scripture of the Month:
2 Nephi 2:6-7
Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is
full of grace and truth. Behold, he
offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all
those who had a broken heart and a contrite spirit and unto none else can the ends
of the law be answered.
Elder and Sister Lenhard
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