THICK THINGS

In his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey suggests we keep our priorities right in terms of not letting lesser concerns get in the way of our greater ones, so that we avoid finding ourselves “in the thick of thin things.”  This week has been one full of very “thick things.”

On Wednesday evening, Eileen and I had the opportunity to go with the young sister missionaries to teach a lesson to Nelda, a recent convert, on Family History and temple work for our deceased ancestors.  The young missionaries are limited to visits of just 30 minutes in our mission.  It took that long just to get Nelda up and running on her android phone with the FamilySearch app.  As I (Russell) was showing Nelda how to input her father’s name, we only had to input his full name and then his birth day and month (she was not sure on the year) for the program to “suggest” a person that we might be searching for. The record showed her father’s birth, marriage and death dates, along with locations for each.  Nelda excitedly confirmed that he was indeed her father, but none of us present were prepared for what happened once I pushed the button accepting the app's suggestion.  Nelda’s family tree/geneology filled in immediately.  I quickly followed her father’s line back to the 1600’s.  We were all amazed.  Nelda asked if we could pull up the records of a deceased uncle, which we did. She was delighted to see names she recognized from long ago, and siblings of her uncle she did not know existed.  At one point we were stumped as to how to work the program on an android phone.  Eileen suggested calling Chuck and Fran Moulton.  Nelda was again amazed that with just a few pieces of information, Chuck was able to get on the program with us and fix a problem in her family tree.

As we looked at the names of Nelda’s ancestors, I reminded her that she could do temple work for them.  We talked about 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul teaches about Christ overcoming death and the resurrection.  We read in verse 29, were Paul asks, “Else what shall they do which are baptised for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?  Why are they then baptized for the dead?”  We look forward to going to the temple with Nelda to do baptisms for her deceased family members.

Earlier on Wednesday,  Eileen’s sister Chris, who had been in a coma, opened her eyes.  Medically it was the first positive sign in over a week.  Each day this week Chris has improved, to the point that she was able to talk to us a few days later.  We feel greatly blessed to have her back.  We appreciate so much her friend Yvis, and her sisters Cindy and Cathy for their being by her side during this ordeal, for the wonders of modern medicine and the medical professionals that took care of Chris, but most of all for God’s healing and comfort.  We are very blessed!

While Eileen has many interactions daily with the young missionaries regarding their medical issues, three stood out this week as being of significant consequence and situations where she felt guided by the Spirit.  One was a missionary who had suffered silently with severe medical problem, working hard as a missionary, and only very reluctantly finally disclosing the issue to Eileen.  The missionary had no idea that the condition would require a return home and operation. Another missionary with just minor symptoms was surprisingly (miraculously?) diagnosed with a serious disease that usually only afflicts senior citizens. The last of the three situations was one where two missionaries told a new missionary that Eileen was “someone he could trust.” He then spent a lengthy visit with her, sharing some very personal challenges. It was a tender visit. 

There was a horrible ice storm on Monday.  Our car on Monday morning was totally coated with ice. This was Russell trying to get the ice off of the car.

Sister Hard slipped on the ice two weeks ago. She hasn't been going out and her battery died. It was very cold outside when Russell went to go jump her battery.

Elder and Sister Dunham taught Tai Chi for our senior missionary FHE.

Road trip to Mound City (extremely rural area) looking at housing for future missionaries. We had 5 phones and a computer going during the trip.

Previous missionaries had signed their name on this goat head, with a Book of Mormon next to it

                                      Russell helping Nelda with her family history.  

This was in our shower. I think it is a brown recluse. Since they are very poisonous I am glad it wasn't found in our bed.

It was a thrill to see my (Eileen) sister Chris extubated after two very critical weeks of illness.

I have been wearing this boot and a sketcher flip flop now for 4 months. Not exactly appropriate missionary attire. I received three more cortisone shots in my feet on Friday. MRI showed I still have edema along the nerves.

Remember 10 days ago at Zone Conference when the church reeked of gas and I called the fire department?  We were in the middle of a fireside today when the firemen came in and evacuated the church building. Fortunately we were able to go to the visitor Center nearby and continue the fireside.