October 19

Finally remembered to write my blog on Sunday afternoon! It has been an "easy" day; I guess that is why I'm not wiped out. Let's see what our week was like.

Monday was "find an apartment" day. Headed to Kinston (about 30 miles south) and met up with a realtor who was working on an apartment. He gutted it, was putting in new carpet, paint, all new appliances. Looked perfect to us, but we could not get with the K1 elders, who need a new apartment. We wanted the elders to see the apartment before recommending that the mission housing got ahold of the realtor. But the elders were with the Spanish elders celebrating someone's birthday (it was P day, after all!) so did not hang around waiting for them. Texted them to go look at the apartment and let us know what they thought. Kinston does not have a lot of newer type of apartments for rent. We had a couple of realtors looking and they can't find anything, either, only about like what they are already living in. That night at FHE the members carved pumpkins. We had bought 4 extra in case someone showed up without one, and 3 of them were used. There were some really fancy ones, some fairly plain and some very creative. Will post photos when I get them. (I asked a member to take photos and I ended up taking them on his camera.)

Still doing water aerobics, even though it is getting cooler. Our sister missionaries who are scheduled to teach us, called; one of them was not feeling well, so canceled. Then got a call from another sister who needed a blessing, so got the G1 elders to go with us to give the blessing. They had a conference call from mission president (they are also zone leaders) so we could not stay very long. She seemed so appreciative that we would go on such short notice. Our afternoon got really interesting. The photo shows the group of youth (with a few adults) that participated in the BillionGraves project. (I did NOT draw the arrow!) The kids only had half a day of school, so this project worked out great. We drove to Pinewood Cemetery to take photos of gravestones. About 25-30 youth and 10-12 adults went. Had the photos taken in about 30 minutes. Then back to the church to upload. That took some time because of so many on the internet at the church. There even had snacks while we waited. Once the photos were uploaded, we came home to transcribe them. I tried to type them all in then save; nope, had to do them all again! I now know how to transcribe. Took a break and went to Cracker Barrel for a bowl of soup. We decided we liked their soup. Just got home and Eliza called and we chatted for quite awhile. Philip wants to Skype for his birthday on Friday.

Wednesday was the first time we walked and actually got rained on. Does not usually rain in the morning, but it did that day. When it started to downpour, we waited under a carport until it slowed down, then made it back to the apt. Decided to make chicken noodle soup for lunch, in honor of the weather. The YSA sisters wanted to do a church tour for their lesson, so we drove them to the church. E. Steffler does an awesome job at the tour, telling a little bit about each of the pictures and what goes on in the rooms. While we were eating lunch, the K1 elders texted; they had the afternoon open so we headed to Kinston again after lunch. Traveled in a downpour, but made it safely. A member had found an apt that we checked out. Drove on down the street and saw another For Rent sign, so called that number and got ahold of the owner. He showed us that apt plus another just down the road. Elders were not too excited about either; both had been smoked in and look a little run down. Not much better that what they have. Drove around for about an hour looking for more apts in the area they wanted to be in, but there was nothing. Houses were for sale, but no apt for rent. So drove back to Greenville. At Institute we studied D&C 35-41; lot of revelation for new converts. They were all eager to know God's will for them. The answer was basically what He wants us to do: preach and share the gospel.

Joanna forgot our meeting Thurs. morning, so made an appt with her on Friday. Back at the apt, we got calls from realtors looking for apt for K1 elders. There is just not much available. The elders came up with a solution: have the sister missionaries move into the renovated apt (which is close to the middle of Kinston) and they move into the sisters' apt, which is more the area they are working. Called the housing elder with the proposal and he was going to talk with Pres. Baker. Sisters don't know about this, and that may be a hang-up. They are behind a member's home in a little apt and may not want to give it up or the owner may not want elders instead of sisters. So it is still up in the air! We decided to invite the Spanish elders in Greensville to supper as they don't get many member meals. They asked if they could bring an investigator and then give him a lesson; we were happy with that. Made our usual creamy chicken enchilada verde with coleslaw. Told them to bring their own heat, but they forgot. Luis brought a small cake to share; how sweet. Have not had that happen before! It was interesting to hear the Plan of Salvation in Spanish and not know how it was being received. I could tell he had a lot of questions. E. Steffler and I were asked to bear our testimony of the atonement. He can understand more English than he can speak, so I guess it went okay. A good evening.

Friday we did water aerobics when the temp was 54 degrees; a little chilly, especially when we got out of the water! District meeting focused on praying always from E. Bednar talk. Had good discussion on what it means to pray always and having a prayer of gratitude. After snacks, we invited the G1 elders to help us eat leftovers, which they gladly did. They are moving into our complex Nov. 1 and are concerned about the cleaning they are expected to do. They were also eager to see what the inside of the apt looked like and how roomy it is (much larger than where they are). Then we met with Joanna to read BOM. Read Mosiah 15; don't know how much she remembers, but she feels the spirit when we are there. She invited us to dig some peanuts that the digger missed. E. Steffler tromped out in his suit and helped dig about a gallon of peanuts – just like diggin' spuds! Then drove to the park where we will have a picnic on Saturday. I wanted to check out the lay of the land. It is a nice park with a covered area for picnics. Took the YSA sisters to meet with a member, who never showed, so we took them to Burger King to have supper – it was right there in the area and the sisters had not eaten (we had). Watched a couple of conference talks, then remembered we were to "hang out" with Philip, but his mom said when a friend invited him to watch a movie, he was out of the house in a flash! Anyway, he forgot. So will catch him later.

Saturday was Service Project Day. Met at the church in jeans and work boots. We were divided into three areas of service. E. Steffler and I headed to 3rd Street Community Center. It is an old school being renovated and needs lots of work. Some folks worked inside, but we went outside and helped rake up pine needles (called straw hereabouts) then hauled to the flower beds for mulch. We worked hard for 2 hours raking, picking up sticks and pinecones (which went to the compost pile). Then a few went to make the flower beds look pretty. The stake president had his pickup and hauled the pine straw to the front and pine cones and sticks to the compost pile. There were 25-30 large, mature yellow pines along one side of play area in the back. It took about a dozen of us working hard to rake it all up. Then we left to set up the picnic at the park. We had invited all the missionaries because they had to be ready for Walk & Talk at 1 p.m. But the elders all backed out and the sisters all came, so it worked out. We had PB&J, crackers, chips, carrots and cookies. The sisters had cleaned tubs and painted at the Community Shelter. Then E. Steffler and I had to reward ourselves with yogurt at Sweet Frog. It was yummy! We wanted to get together with the other senior couple nearby, but they were in Raleigh, so we went to a movie and a burger at 5 Guys. The movie was Alexander's Bad, Awful, Horrible Day, and it was pretty cute. I'm afraid I'm going to be very sore from all the stooping and picking up. But it was a good project and a lot got done. The landscape lady (in charge of the great outdoors) was thrilled to get so much done.

Another week comes to a close. When (and if) I get photos of the pumpkin carving and service project, I will post on blog and maybe some on facebook.

I can't believe how quickly time is flying past. We enjoy working with the young singles as well as the missionaries. We feel very blessed to work in this area. The gospel is true and God truly does love all of His children. Even those who chose not to believe in Him; He still loves them. Hope everyone's week was good. We see many miracles each day (mostly driving and not getting hit!) and are truly grateful for His tender mercies. God bless; we love each and every one of you. Elder & Sister Steffler