It is a beautiful autumn day here in North Carolina – low of 55 and high of 77. I love 70s. They make me happy!
Branch council as per usual on Oct. 19. Got a call from Tyrei to pick him up. A member was already at church who did not have to go to council meeting, so he said he would pick him up. It was wonderful to sit through the entire meeting. Our branch clerk and family are moving to Park City, Utah, for a job, so he talked in sacrament meeting, along with a couple of sisters. Good meeting. The young single adults here are very spiritual and give good talks. Isaiah focused on what Christ has done for us. Relief Society was have a cookie and pick something to read, which is always nice. Had breakfast for lunch and Elder Steffler did most of the cooking (link sausage and eggs) while I made pancakes. We get kind of lazy on Sundays! Read D&C 42 and commentary, as well as watched a couple of talks from general conference.
Monday we had to let the sisters into the family history at church so they could do their emails. Someone had misplaced (?) the key, so our bit of service there. Then went to Great Clips and got hair cuts; mine just a trip, E. Steffler, really short. Had some grocery shopping to do and drop a suit off at the cleaners. We wanted to get our flu shots, so we spent a couple of hours going from one drug store to another. The first was not certified for Blue Cross, go 3 miles to the other, they can do it. That one did not have the high dosage we wanted, but across the road did. At that one, we would have to pay because our insurance would not. To solve the problem, we went to Rucker Johns for lunch! It was good but expensive. I called Blue Cross and they said we could pay for the shots and mail in receipt and be reimbursed or we could go to a clinic 70 miles away. What a run around! Bought some cleaning supplies for the elders who are moving and have to clean their apartment; also gave them some cookies to help. Had a good talk with Eliza; got all caught up of her family's doings. E. Steffler likes to call his brother on Mondays and they can gab for an hour or so. FHE was a mystery game played in the dark (who dun it); we did not play.
Tuesday was water aerobics. The water is cooling off, but not as cold as I expected. Don't know how much longer I can convince E. Steffler to get in the water! Made banana chocolate chip muffins to use up over ripe bananas. Had G1 sisters for practice and lunch. E. Steffler had made hamburger stew and it was too salty, so used up the last of potatoes to fix it. We were members and the sisters invited us to do missionary work. They weren't pushy at all and we told them they could be more bold in the invitation. We showed them the video the church put out about the temple garments; it is presented very well, and quite an eye opener. We decided to pay for our flu shots so back to the drug store that had high dosage. E. Steffler's insurance paid for his and mine cost $54.99. Was told if I took in my Medicare card, I would be reimbursed. E. Steffler decided he needed to see the doctor about his swollen ankles. The clinic was not very crowded and he was taken back in about 10 minutes. I waited and waited. After about an hour a nurse came and got me and took me back to the exam room where he was waiting. They suspected congestive heart failure, but may just be water retention. Had done a chest w-ray, EKG and drew blood. An appt will be made with a cardiologist, just to be sure; recheck in one week. He should have dropped 10-15 lbs of fluid by then. Had missionary correlation and had a good discussion on inactives. Went to Noodles & Co., for supper.
Had a brisk walk on Wed. I even wore my long-sleeved shirt and wished I had put on my hoodie. Got a phone call from Sister Walker, institute teacher. He dad was in the hospital, not doing well, could we teach institute for her. What could we say? So I downloaded the lesson; thank the Lord we had already read it and the commentary (thanks, Kim!) so just followed some of the ideas and put together something. The YSA sisters came for a practice and lunch. They wanted us to be "hard" on them when they taught the Book of Mormon. We were tough (even mad at each other because I had burned the stew) and they still taught a beautiful lesson. E. Steffler had taken his first water pill and had to be excused several time (which I played up with my bad mood). I really had burned the stew, so it was easy to play act. After lunch, we got down to the nitty gritty of outlining a lesson. E. Steffler wanted to talk a bit about his ancestor Daniel Allen Jr. who had lived through that era, so he introduced the lesson. I gave the bulk of the lesson, with chocolates to encourage participation. (Bribery works!) He finished up with an experience from his mission about how priesthood blessings helped a sister get her face operated on and go to the London Temple to do temple work. The spirit was testifying of what we had taught was true; it is a blessing to feel it.
After our workout in the fitness center and a brief dip in the hot tub, we had to hurry and shower and dress because the G1 elders came to give E. Steffler a blessing. He had not slept very well, just worried about what was happening and what may happen. After the blessing, we showed the temple garment video to them and they were impressed. Then off to Joanna's to read from the BOM. She had read a lot further than we had; she had been sick a couple of days, so got a lot of reading done. She wondered about baptism before Christ, so we read in the Bible Dictionary, which explained it very well. Back to the apt to get ready to take the YSA sisters to New Bern to hunt up some young singles. The R.S. president took the sisters and we split the list with them. We talked with a nephew, a YSA, a mother and a did who referred us to grandparents where their YSA daughter was living. The sisters had about the same success as we did, but we left invitations at all the places. The last name we tried to find, the address took us to a tatoo parlor! On the way home I talked with Lena about a project we want for the Bakers (mission president & wife).
The water was still tolerable for water aerobics on Friday (don't ask E. Steffler!). Getting out of the pool was much colder. District meeting was on prayer again. The missionaries practiced with each other in extending the invitation to pray. Talked about why it is so important that we pray. We had pretzels (two flavors) with honeydew melon for a treat. E. Steffler had to leave about three times during the meeting. Mornings are worse. Went to Best Buy to get a suction cup for the Garmin. I think I may have thrown away (accidentally!) the one that kept falling off the window. Then to Sam's for groceries and a hot dog for lunch; Walgreens to get reimbursed for flu shot. Medicare says insurance should pay and vice versa. So I just mailed the receipt to insurance. Sister Walker sent a text that she may need to be gone for an extended time (one or two more weeks) and could we teach again? Sure. So downloaded the next lesson and some ideas on how to go about it. Got a call from Deana, she was on her way to Nampa to see her chillins. She is also having nose surgery on the 31st. The same operation that E. Steffler had a couple of years ago, just before my mom died. His nose was still packed at the funeral. The water pills are not bringing down his weight like the doctor had hoped, but his pants and shirts don't seem as tight as they were.
Saturday had a good walk; chilly but no wind. Made bread first thing and E. Steffler put a pork roast in the crock pot for supper. Went shopping to Walmart – yes an emergency because Sam's does not have turkeys for sale yet. Checked out other prices for the sign up sheet for break the fast: we are have a turkey feast! Got all of Isaiah read for Sunday's lesson and all of Mosiah read. Got a card from Maike! Love getting mail, especially the good news she had. She is at university in Dresden and had attended church, an LDS church. It reminded her of when she went to church with us. She spoke with the missionaries afterwards and thought about us on our mission. It was so precious! Thank you, Maike. I called some kids who had signed up for activities at the fall fest at Pitt college; got one who is interested in attending Monday and one who would like to but has a class on Mondays. We are having a costume party for FHE Monday. I told E. Steffler we were going to wear a costume: missionary!
Well, we had a busy week, an eventful week. Will let you know next week how E. Steffler fares at the cardiologist. Just hope it is something we can take care of here and not have to go home. We invited all to pray that we can stay and finish our mission. We feel like we are just learning about what we should be doing. We love our ward family and our kids and grandkids; thanks for reading and caring about us. Love, Elder and Sister Steffler