059 Tuesday to Tuesday (June 3-9, 2015)

June, June how did you get here so quickly. The last of the first half of the year, the month when summer officially begins, a day of promised sun and heat. May you live up to your name.

On the 3^rd, we went to the Temple, again. This is getting to be fun. As usual, we took our selfie afterwards, and we laugh every time because we look so dorky. What is it with selfies that just do not come out correctly.

The selfies were so bad, we just had to go with a good picture of the Temple.

 That night we attended a Mission Open House at our Parkway Ward. We were supposed to have FHE with the Armstrongs, but we encouraged them to come to this instead. To say that it was not supported, not planned, chaotic, would be an understatement. Although it had been on the calendar for weeks, hardly anyone showed up except for the missionaries. One inactive member and her two children came and the Armstrongs. It was YM/YW night along with Cub Scouts. You can imagine the craziness. We didn’t say anything to the Armstrongs, but afterwards, we went for custard at Oscars (not our favorite, but it is theirs).

On Thursday, we took Victor to the Genealogy Library, and he printed out names that we will take to the Temple with him. Now, we just need to make a day when we are free and so is he. He is making tremendous strides in the Gospel. He wants his Patriarchal Blessing which is amazing. Wish Denise were coming along as well.

That night we had to move Pathway to the RS room because High Council was in High Priests room. It is always different when we do that because we don’t have tables on which to work.  We can tell that the students are beginning to look forward to the year being over. It is summer time, and all are very busy. I know they want to take time off for vacations and family.

Friday, we were at the Genealogy Library again working with more Elders to prepare them for the Polish Festival.  This is our last group for this festival. It seems every time I get the time schedule laid out, someone has to change it by saying they can’t come or wanting to come at a different time.  Just part of the work.

We were supposed to have a meeting with the Elders teaching a nonmember (I’ve mentioned Janice before), but at the last minute it was cancelled. I hope she will continue to work with them.

On Saturday, we had wanted to go to Scottish Fest. That morning we went by the Genealogy Library to cut some papers that we would be using at the Polish Fest. We made three copies on each page and had to cut them apart, there were 100 pages of five different handouts. After a while, my back was killing me and so were Craig’s hands. He cut while I kept putting them together and straightening them after each cut. Then we headed out for the Scottish Festival, but we had to stop off and get some cash first. We never carry cash, never – and we remembered last year that they asked for it. So we went to a grocery store, but realized that Craig’s card to use for cash was the old one and could not be used. So we went home, got the new one, activated it, and went to another store. This time it was getting late in the day, and we realized we wouldn’t have much time at the Festival if we didn’t hurry it up. We went to the store, and the card was invalid. Don’t ask why. Maybe because we had just activated it, and no one had time yet to get it going. I doubt that was the reason, but it sounds ok. When we got out of that store, there would have only been two hours left of the festival, and it would take 30 minutes to get there. We decided the Lord felt we had more important things to do at home. So home we went. I spent the evening making calls about Pathway. I had 30 calls to make to people who had been recommended by their Bishops for the program. I might have gotten 3 at home. I left messages for the rest. There were about 5 whose numbers were no longer any good. By the time, evening came around, we were glad we had stayed home and done the Lord’s work.

On Sunday, we were able to take Denise to her Ward for Church. They had not made any arrangements to assign her to a VT or HT because they didn’t have her records, so they couldn’t get anyone to give her a ride. We took her, and she did pretty well. She has been using again, drugs this time, and she had an interview with the Bishop. He talked with me first and told me that we were doing too much for her, and she needed to be responsible for getting herself to Church. I reminded him of her circumstances. She didn’t have a car, she had no one to call because she had no directory, she had no one assigned to her, etc. I told him about her history. He did not know she had been a member less than a year nor did he know her history. He is a relatively new Bishop, and I like him. She had an interview after me and evidently told him she had fallen off the wagon. He started the meeting on his knees in prayer and asked her to join him. She had never had anyone ask her to do that. She was so impressed. She came out really liking him. She was on her phone way too much, and at one point, left RS because of it, but she was there at the end. The next week she went out of town with her dad who told her to get back to Church and stay away from her sister who is an addict and has no desires to get clean. He told her to either choose him or her sister.

The next morning we had to take Denise to Burlington, 40 miles south of us, to pick up her purse she had left there with all her ID. We had to leave early because the person she needed to see was leaving to go somewhere, so we left by 8:30. Getting up at 6:00 is my usual time, but then we have time to read Scriptures, etc., to prepare for the day. Getting up to actually go somewhere is much harder.

We had to get Denise’s ID because we were going to get Timmy enrolled in a school for the fall. The trip down was great, and she went into the house by herself. It was the house of the father of her older children. This man’s grandmother lives with him now because his grandfather died in a house fire just a week or so ago. I guess they had to hold off with the funeral until his death had been investigated. Anyway, when she came back to the car, she smelled of the strongest deodorant smell that can be imagined, and then she passed out. Later, we wondered if she had gotten some liquor while in the house and was trying to disguise the smell. We took her right to the School District Offices, and she was in pretty bad condition by that time. She didn’t want to do it, and I wasn’t going to make an extra trip for it. We went to the District Office, and they sent us to another school. Timmy is only 3, so when we got to the other office, they said they had no program for him. She was in a program on the bad side of town, probably because there are so many families like hers. But here in West Allis where she lives, he cannot start school for another year, even with an IEP. Don’t have a clue what she is going to do now.

Zone training was on the 9^th. It was a good meeting, and Sister Cutler was there. We enjoyed it, but we left as soon as possible. Again, the emphasis was on the Sabbath Day Observance. When we observe the Sabbath as we should, and we don’t allow it to become just another day, we will receive great blessings. That means we should not be cleaning house and working that day. I am trying harder to get things prepared on Saturday.

We were making arrangements to take Denise back to Burlington the next day so that she could go to the funeral of the grandfather with the rest of the family members. However, she was told that the father of the children did not plan on her going with them, and they invited her sister along so Denise could ride with the sister. The funeral was down in Illinois, and we couldn’t have taken her anyway, but it was good that she was able to go. That meant that the next day, we could stay in bed until 7:30 if we wanted.  Love those extra minutes.

Our scripture for June is Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-10 -

          And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world,      
          thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my 
          holy day; For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, 
          and to pay thy Devotions unto the Most High;

         

Elder and Sister Lenhard