A rather remarkable event

Dear Family,
Something rather unusual happened about 2 weeks ago that I am still pondering. I don’t know really how to tell it so you might get the feeling for what happened, so I will just tell it and I guess either you will feel it or you won’t.

I was working at my computer and a couple of missionaries came into the office that were going home the next day. I had spoken with them on the phone about mission car business, but other than that I didn’t know either of them, nor did I know anything about them. At the moment I was completely involved in my computer program (you have probably seen me like that, I become oblivious to anything around me when I am focused on something). One of them walked over to my desk and said “Hello Elder Earl, good to finally meet you” and he sat down in a chair facing me. I awoke from my trance and turned to face him, and immediately tears started to run down my cheeks. I said hello and we talked just very briefly and he got up to take care of his business. I looked down and I had lines of water down my shirt.

Over the past few years I have become much more emotional that before, I think I would cry now if I stepped on an ant. But this was something really different. I have sat across the desk from Thomas S. Monson (many years ago) and just last Wednesday April & I were interviewed by Elder Allen F. Packer in the mission office, and I didn’t “loose it” then. So what happened?

Don’t ask me, I don’t know. Something is very unusual about Elder Northcott.




Here we are at Stake Conference last night.
Did we already say that everything here is GREEN?
Pa

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To Zone Conference and back

Well, we have had quite a week. We traveled across the state and then south to Huntington, West Virginia on Monday evening. The drive was quite an experience. We saw lots of Corn on the way.
You have heard of 8 foot tall corn, maybe even 9, but 12? Click the picture.


In Huntington we held a Zone Conference on Tuesday. We had a visiting authority, Allen F. Packer, son of Boyd K. Packer. His wife came too and they were very good with their training. We inspected all the cars, (since it is a back woods type roads they all drive Chevy Colorado 4 door pickups) and did some safety training too. Then traveled back to Cincinnati and did it all over again for the missionaries in the Cincinnati area. Here are a few pictures of the vehicle inspections. The missionaries are checking tire pressure, measuring tread depth, checking all the fluid levels, checking to cleanliness inside and out, and verifying the cars are waxed. A form gets filled out for each car, and the little short fat guy checks it all out.




This is how we bring the commissary supplies (Books of Mormon, Bibles, DVDs for referrals, etc. to the conferences. There are 20 of these containers, each with what the district ordered, and we haul them in the Van with the seats removed. Taped on the cover is the list of who gets what for that district. Good idea, eh?

Great experience!
More later!
Dad

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Just a Coincidence

August 23, 2009

This is Jane and Jamie Wolf. They are both schoolteachers. Jane teaches second grade, and Jamie is starting her first year of teaching in Tennessee by doing preschool. We just sold Jamie this car and she is really excited! Jane’s husband, John, is an airline pilot for Delta who saw the ad in Craig’s List and checked out the car for his daughter. They are a neat family.



This is the member family, the Nelsons. They live two doors down from the Wolf’s! John Wolf spoke highly of them as neighbors and Jamie went to school with the Nelson daughter who is currently on a mission in Austria. John Wolf was the Nelson girl’s soccer coach a few years ago. We asked the Nelson’s if we could teach the Wolf’s in their home and they were agreeable.

Now, do you think it is just a coincidence that we put the car for sale in Craig’s List and that John Wolf just happened to see the ad and call about it?
DAD.



Mom says,
Last night we went out with the Elders on two appointments. They taught a lesson to David on keeping the 10 Commandments and Kathleen a lesson on temptation.

Two things were greatly different about our lessons last night than from other times we had gone with them.

First the elders shared with us what they planned on teaching: scriptures, lesson plan, etc… and then gave us a chance to read the scriptures and plan out what experiences we would like to share. It was so exciting to be prepared and be able to share things we had read from the Ensign or from the lives of those in the scriptures who had experienced the same things they (David & Kathleen) were going through.

The second remarkable experience was to see how the spirit had been working on both of them. They each had been pondering over things they were reading in the Book of Mormon and Bible and thinking about changes they needed to make in their lives.

Kathleen did great the first couple of days leaving her cigarettes alone then the temptation became so strong she had to smoke a few cigarettes between last Sunday and last night when we visited with her. She voiced her concern that temptation’s power had become stronger in the last week than when she first gave up smoking years ago. She couldn’t understand why it was so hard this time.

The elders read with her scriptures and taught her how the Lord will not allow someone to be temped beyond what they could stand. I shared the story of Jesus being tempted by Satan and how he experienced bodily cravings just like she was going through. You could see the light come on in her eyes. She connected the little voice in her mind telling her to “have just one” to being Satan’s voice. She also said it was getting harder and harder to pray because her mind wandered while saying prayers. I suggested she start praying aloud like Joseph Smith did in the grove.

She had just watched the video of Joseph and she instantly related to what he had gone through. She got excited and said she would. She also gave the closing prayer before we left. What a heart felt prayer. There was no repetitious words or contrite phrases to that prayer. It was straight from a daughter of Heavenly Father asking for his help and expecting through faith to get some. WOW! We all left her home very humbled to be allowed to teach one of Father’s elect.

David was waiting on his front porch for us when we showed up for our appointment. His wife stayed inside. She is not too thrilled about having the elders teach her husband. That is another story.

Anyway, the best is yet to be told. We each took turns reading the 10 commandments and just as all daylight disappeared and we couldn’t see one more word in our scriptures we finished reading about honoring our parents. David said he had been thinking about that commandment for some time and had past issues against his mother. Elder Allred shared something our mission president had taught him. It was new to me and so profound. When I heard it I knew it was true and it brought peace to David’s mind. It is this:

Most people think the commandment: “Honor thy father and mother” means to just do what your parents say and be obedient.

Elder Allred said if a father told his son to steal and the son did that, he would be obedient but no honor would be brought to their name because the son would have broken the law. When someone lives a good virtuous life and raises a righteous family then they honor their parents because they bring honor to their family name.

David just sat there nodding his head because he realized he had brought up 3 very good sons and by doing so had honored his parents. It was amazing to see the Savior’s Atonement bring peace and closure to his mind. He was a happy man after so many years.

Missionary work is a high for sure. We just love these good people. We miss our family and our dear parents but pray we can bring honor to them. Till next time. Love MOM.

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Office work is smoothing out

August 20th 2009

Dear Family,
We noticed this week in the mission office was still very busy but we seemed to remember more steps and we didn’t have that panicky feeling like we were forgetting something.

I have been putting together next year’s calendar and plugging information and meetings into the squares. I color coded a 2010 paper calendar and then transferred all the information onto the computer calendar. When I got done I realized our mission president had a meeting or interview every day of the month. My eyes are opening up to the workings behind a mission and the sacrifices involved. I have a great respect for any president and his wife and family. When our president arrived out in Cincinnati they met the old president and were shown the office and a few things and then the old president and his wife left. They were together for 4 hours. Yikes! And I thought just 2 weeks of training was tight.

Here is the office staff:


Our investigator update:
Kathleen is progressing. She gave up smoking last week and is doing well. She likes attending church and has set her baptism for September. She keeps her purse chuck full of lifesavers and candy for when she gets jittery. Needless to say, it is nice to sit next to her in church. She likes to share with me; maybe I look jittery to her!

Eugene and Trisha are paying tithing, have given up sweet tea, and coke. They are getting closer and closer to setting their baptismal date. Trisha gives me a hug every Sunday and lets me hold her little black-eyed baby boy. He is 6 months old and so cute. I listen to her mommy stories and tell her she is doing a great job because she is! I always tell her I love her and she hugs me and tells me she loves me too. What a sweet little daughter. Her oldest is 5 and entering Kindergarten this year. She is having mixed emotions about letting him go. I think all mothers can relate to that feeling.

David (in his late 50s) came for dinner last Sunday and we had a great time talking about the gospel. His baptism is scheduled for next month.

Linda is a blind sister that faithfully attends church. Her daughter and granddaughter attended with her Sunday. She is quit remarkable. If you say, “Hello, Linda. How are you to day?” She instantly knows you by your voice. She is about 65 and has her baptism scheduled for September.

A cute thing happened in Gospel Essentials Class a few weeks ago. When our instructor asked for a volunteer for prayer your dad waved his arm and said, “Me, me, me!” Then he shared an Idaho story about a family he ate dinner with that had 10 children. The father of the family asked for a volunteer to bless the food and all hands went up at once around the table. Your dad explained to the class he learned that to pray to Heavenly Father was a privilege and we should want to talk to him. Well, every since that Sunday all class members race to have their hands up first. We had a stake visitor this last Sunday probably because he had heard rumors about our incredible Gospel Essentials class and how many investigators we have so he came to see for himself. He was amazed to see the hands shoot up even before our teacher could get the word “volunteer” out of her mouth. It is a fun group for sure. We had 8 investigators Sunday. Wow!

Our cable has been down for the last 3 days so we apologize for not emailing you or if you tried to call and didn’t get us. We should be up and running tonight. If you got this email we are online.

We send our love. MOM

A few snapshots of weird stuff.

Hi All! Everything is going good here. I sold another car today, so that is all till this fall. Now if we can just keep the 44 other ones all working.

Last Sunday we gave an investigator a ride to church and back. After dropping her at her home we went on a search for several inactive members. That took us to New Richmond, and interesting town right on the Ohio river. The river is in a valley so the roads and towns are down in the valley but above flood stage.

Here is a most interesting home on a river front street in New Richmond, a few miles east of Cincinnati. Click on the picture to make it bigger and look at the details, including the street sign. Way cool!


This is a floating cafe (this is not your average cafe) and boat dock/marina. There was live music coming from inside (as opposed to Dead music) but it was pretty different. Sounded maybe Cajun?


Ok, enough of that.

Today was baking day. Here is our pantry with our 30 minute food storage.


Here is what our dishes look like, the matching ones in purple are thanks to Spring! Nothing else matches, but you can eat with it!


Here is what April used as a rolling pin. Works just fine!


Ah, Chicken Pot Pie! YUMMY!



Chaun keeps asking what I am using for tools. This is my tool chest. I can fix most stuff with my assortment of a hitter, a squeezer, and a turner.
Love You!

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Another special week!

August 13, 2009

Dear Family,

Interesting week. Dad put on Craig’s list 5 mission cars and sold 3of them yesterday. I know we didn’t come all this way to sale cars but the Lord is sure using it as a way to make contacts. We met a wonderful family. The father is a preacher for a local community church. They were buying one of our cars for their daughter who is going to be going to a college here in Cincinnati. We had lots of things in common with them. Your dad told them we hadn’t come all this way to just sale cars we had a gospel message and would like to send a couple of elders to their home to share the message with their family. Dad told them he didn’t want to take anything away from their beliefs we just wanted to add to them. The father looked at us and said, “Sure!” he would like that. It was way exciting. We want to drive out to their acreage and visit them one of these weekends also. They are good people.

Dad and I did a shuttle of cars out to Kentucky this morning. Dad had the GPS in his car and I just stuck to him with my car like a tick to a dog’s back, which was going some with all the morning commuters. We drove across the great Ohio River going and coming. You could see large rafts of barges being pushed by tugs. The large rafts are 3 barges wide X 3 barges long. Combined, the 9 barges are about the size of a football field. The propellers on the tugs are 3 feet wide. They are very powerful.

Last night we invited a resent convert, a young married sister, in our ward to dinner. Well, we invited her family but they couldn’t come at the last minute, but she did. At first we were disappointed but then we saw a little miracle happen. She stayed one and half-hours and talked and talked. It basically ended up being a marriage & family counseling session. She was so teachable and we talked about how hard it must be to be the only member in her little family. We covered supporting her husband and allowing him to lead the family, how to run a family counsel, how to have her kids wash walls instead of grounding them, how to invite but not force family members to go to church with her, choices and consequences, putting her family’s conversation into the Lord’s hands and time schedule, etc. . .

The best part was when she said her scripture reading had gone from just reading words to prayerful study with expectation of finding answers to specific problems. She was so excited to go home and do her scripture study for the night.

Our trainers are now moved out of the office and we are on our own. Pretty scary thought! I get a lot of random phone calls and you have to really think on your feet. I am making quite a few friends in Salt Lake home office and dad has made several friends with the owners of the oil change shop, the auto body shop, and the tire store. When you service 44 cars they see you coming.

Sunday we picked up an investigator for Church. Kathleen is in her 40s and is planning on quitting smoking this Saturday so she can be baptized in September. We are praying for her.

When her mother criticized the Book of Mormon, Kathleen defended it by telling her about the people in the book and how it was another witness of Christ. She said to her mom, “It is the word of God so how can that be bad?” It was way cool to see her tender little testimony grow leaps and bounds. Since she has started investigating the church her spiritual eyes have opened. When asked what caused her to look into our church she said her car broke down and she couldn’t get her other church members to give her a ride to church. She felt lonely and unimportant in their eyes. Sunday was her first time attending church. Afterwards she said she liked how she could learn things in all three meetings. What a sweet heart!

We are doing well. Thank you for all your wonderful emails and phone calls. We love you all.

How did NASCAR come to be?

These folks are GREAT. We love them to pieces. Salt of the earth, and they know how to have fun.

If you click the picture it will enlarge. Then look close to see that the passenger is carrying a bow and arrow and a plastic gun on his lap, just in case.

Here are some leg extensions.

Hmm, I wonder how that happened?


This one is a video clip, so click on it for some fun.

A Night Out!

Wednesday evening, August 6, 2009

We were scheduled to visit Steffani. She had surgery today so she was in bed and couldn’t receive visitors. We had a nice chat with her husband who is not a member on the doorstep. (He waved big and friendly to us early the next morning as he drove by us.)

We next saw a black grandma herding her 16-month-old granddaughter down the road. We smiled and waved. She came right over to us to talk. She read our nametags and said she was a Christian too and she could tell we were people of God because we had smiled and waved at her. (She said if you smile and wave to others you have love in you and that is from God).


She shared with us her love for Jesus and told us a little bit about her life. She is from Zimbabwe and lives with her daughter in Ohio. She asked us to pray with her. Her son is in Zimbabwe trying to get his Visa Papers signed so he can come to America to live and she wanted our prayers in his behalf. Scott offered the prayer right there in the parking lot next to our car. She was so happy afterwards. We gave her our card and invited her to church. She said she would let us know what happens to her son. Nice lady. We will watch for her in the complex.

Decided to try again for the 3 time and see Lisa. She is an inactive lifetime member that no one can get in to see. We knocked on her door about 7:20 pm and she opened up a crack. She said, “Thanks, but no thanks.” She said she was taking a vacation from church. We kept her talking and bit-by-bit she spilled out all the things that had offended her about ward members and the church.

She evidently had taught Gospel Principles for 3 years and had many other teaching assignments but she got her feelings hurt and she was tired of not fitting the Mormon mold by being “SINGLE.” She then said that every time she goes to church she hears the same thing. She stated very forcefully that she is a very intellectual woman and she needed to be simulated mentally.

I asked her if she was reading the Book of Mormon and she said honestly that she was not. I invited her to start at the beginning of the Book of Mormon and read it and to pray and ask God to teach her something new. I told her we would be back in two weeks with cookies and we would discuss what she had learned. I only asked her to provide the milk! She laughed said she would.


I asked her if I could give her a hug and she was so taken back she let me. All her prickles melted in that hug. I then asked if I could get my picture taken with her so I could say to my kids, “Here is my friend, Lisa, the writer.” She liked that and let Scott take our picture together. We plan on going back in two weeks with cookies. She definitely needs a friend.

We then drove out into the county to see the new investigator, David. We found his home with our trusty GPS. With out that sweet device we would be hosed! David wasn’t home but his wife, Diane was. We talked to her on the doorstep. She was quite friendly. She seemed surprised we came for a visit. Diane had followed David into baptism in their last church and she isn’t too happy about him looking for something different. Bless her heart. Change is hard for sure. We just need to befriend her.

David wants to be baptized right now. He keeps telling Scott, “It just makes sense!” He is fascinating to watch in class. He loves the participation, he loves the doctrine of prophets in these last days and he loves the fact that there are answers to all his questions.

Mission Office

What goes on in the Mission Office

August 2, 2009

Dear Family,

This past week we have been finishing up our “on the job training.” I have been busy making sure all incoming and out going missionaries have plane tickets, the president and his assistants have the flight itineraries, and everything is a go for Week One.

I have made lots of notes in the instruction binder and practiced with Elder Tingey. Yesterday we went through several scenarios of different things I would come up against and he said I did great. Monday I will be the official office secretary.

We run on a 6-week schedule and then repeat it over and over. The first week, Monday, we have new missionaries arriving from the MTC. The office staff gives them the dos and don’ts and they watch a driving video since our mission has cars due to such a large geographical area. The new missionaries have supper at the president’s home, which is the mission home, that evening and then the assistants deliver them to their new areas of assignments the next day. This is where the shuffle begins.

The old missionaries finishing up their missions come into the mission office on Tuesday. They go on splits and proselyte in town until 2:00 and then they go to the mission office for interviews with the president. They then go to the mission home to have supper and spend the night. The next day the assistants take them to the airport early and make sure they catch their flights home.

The number of incoming and out-going missionaries is rarely the same, so a lot of work goes into closing down some areas when there aren’t enough missionaries to go around or opening up areas when there is an increase of missionary power.

The financial secretary (Elder Parker) is in charge of housing and handling apartment rent, finding apartments, paying bills, and making sure the apartments are in safe areas, etc. What a huge job. He quietly does his work in the background and makes it come off without a hitch.

Elder Fox is the referral secretary. He pours over church on-line maps, finding out which area “incoming referrals” go to and then contacts the missionaries in that area. He gets a lot of calls from the MTC.

Your dad, Vehicle Coordinator, is kept very busy keeping the missionaries on a tight schedule on their car care—when to change their oil, training them to call him right away when accidents happen (which they do frequently because of the narrow winding roads and backing up), rotating tires, listening for funny noises (which he is an expert at), or any kind of car trouble. Plus he keeps meticulous records of vehicle expenditures. He has an audit coming up in November and everything has to be just so.

Every month the missionaries have to detail their cars, which includes a deep cleaning, wash and wax. This involves a lot of phone calls and buying of supplies for the missionaries to keep their cars looking good. One of the church’s goals is to train the missionaries to take very good care of their cars personally and to realize it is a privilege to drive a car. If missionaries are in a preventable accident they loose driving privileges for 6 months or maybe for the rest of their mission.

Last night Joseph B. Worthin’s son stopped by to pick up a pickup the mission had. He will be driving it back to Salt Lake for the Church. He is the materials manager for the church. He was telling your dad they have now started to put “little black boxes” in the cars of six other missions. The “black boxes” have GPS in them. The tracking is turned on all the time so it records where the missionaries are, what the speed limit is in that area, and how fast they are going. It has a G-force indicator, which records how hard they are making their turns, and their starting and stopping. If at any time they go over the speed limit by 20 mph their driving privileges are taken away for the rest of their mission. What a wake up call for sure!

This past week I went on splits with two different sister missionaries. We visited a dear little grandmother, Collen with a word of wisdom problem who is raising her 5-year-old grandson. This dear sister comes to church when she can get a ride. She also has an artificial leg and it is hard for her to get around. Her Book of Mormon is an older version—a big blue one with pictures in it. It is so worn out but very much loved. She says she reads from it when she has a desire to smoke and that helps greatly. We invited her to turn off the TV and play sacred hymns to help her remain focused. She said she would. The missionaries are going to get the ward 5 yr. primary teacher to go back with them to Collen’s home so the little grandson would get to know her and look forward to going to church on Sundays.

The other sister is not a member but her husband is a recent convert. After visiting with them for a little while I learned of her worries for her daughter with aspergers. I shared my testimony of how reading the Book of Mormon helps one find the peace in this life so our troubles don’t consume us and how turning our problems over to the Lord and waiting for him to put the puzzle pieces together helps greatly. She teared up and then gave me a big hug when we left. She said she would start up her reading of the Book of Mormon again. She is such a dear mother.

We have started going to the fitness center every morning at 6:00am and working out. When we walk down the road to and from the center in the morning the trees hang over the road and you feel you are on the island in Juristic Park. There are strange bird calls that sound like Rusty is out there! It is quite beautiful and calm at that time of morning. Things definitely change when we hit the freeway at 8:30. What a rush.

We are doing well and think of you often. When we see a cute baby we think of our beautiful grandkids. When we see young couples with children we thank the Lord for our hard working children at home. Thank you for loving each other and being strong in the gospel. You bring a great peace to your mom and dad just knowing you keep the commandments and are bringing your children up in righteousness. Thank you. A mom and dad couldn’t be prouder. We keep you in our prayers.

Have a great week. MOM and Dad