Christmas 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebrating our Savior’s birth. We had the privilege of going with the Spanish-speaking Sisters a few nights before Christmas to a family from El Salvador. The home was very humble according to worldly standards. Inside was a brilliantly lit Christmas tree, a gift from the oldest boy’s grade school.

In young Juan’s class the teacher asked each child what they would like for Christmas and he had said, “I only want a Christmas Tree. I have never had one.” When the school heard this they chipped in and bought and delivered a tree with lights and all the trimmings. Little Juan and his brother were so happy to show us their tree. It was indeed beautiful!

A high school girl and her family joined us when we went to visit our El Salvador family that night. The girl’s Spanish class wanted to provide Christmas for a struggling Spanish family and they had chosen Juan Sr’s. We helped the family carry in presents with the sister missionaries.

We showed the family a Christmas video about Christ’s birth and then we went around the tiny room and all 14 of us shared our feelings about our Savior.

The remarkable thing was the sister missionaries prayed before we went in to the house. They prayed the family might understand us even though they would be interpreting for us. This is where the miracle took place. As we each shared our tender feelings the room became bathed in soft light, there was no language barrier, and our hearts were full to over-flowing. We felt like we were “the privileged shepherds” visiting Mary and Joseph. Such a good experience.

Christmas Eve we returned from a Zone Conference in West Virginia. A very sweet family invited us to join their family for dinner and a Christmas program afterwards. There were several little children so they dressed up and did the Nativity. Between each reading we sang a Christmas carol accompanied by a hand held harp. The young lady playing slid a sheet of music under the strings. The paper had black dots under the string you were to play and anyone could then play the song. It was kind of like guitar hero without the paper moving.

The last carol was missing the sheet of music so Scott asked if he could try and he strummed a few strings and then he played the song for all of us to sing. Ah the gift of playing by ear! I was so proud of him.

Christmas morning we were invited to a member’s home to help prepare Christmas brunch for the elders. This member loves to invite missionaries and new people in the ward who don’t have family close by to spend Christmas morning with him. We had a wonderful breakfast and then played a few games while the elders took turns calling their families.

Today at church one of the sisters we have been teaching the temple preparation classes to said that she has the next two weeks off since the family she nannies for is on vacation. She said, “I am so looking forward to spending the next two weeks reading my scriptures and drawing closer to the Lord and getting my life in harmony with His will.” Wow!

This year instead of giving gifts I learned how to receive them. There have been so many sweet acts of service preformed for us and other missionaries. When we return to Idaho our Christmas celebrations will have a larger circle of friends for sure. We now know what it is like to be on the outside and away from home.

Thank you for your gifts of love you sent and your phone calls. It felt so good to hear each of your voices. We know this is the great work of the Lord we are engaged in. We see miracles everyday here and blessings on those back at home. Thank you Heavenly Father for your watchful care.

We love you all.
MOM and DAD

Seasons Change!

I have a few minutes, so here are some pictures. This is the view yesterday morning out our window. You can compare it to the next picture from a few months ago. It was not a big snowfall, but was fun all the same. Traffic speeds and following distances on the roads were the same as on a perfect weather day. NUTS!

This is fairly typical for the SE edge of old Cincinnati. Neat houses.

This is a High School that was built in the flood plain of the Ohio River. In order to meet code, anything built there has to be built on stilts. The parking is underneath. This is the narrow end of the building, it goes into the distance quite a ways and looks better from the front (Right).

This is in New Richmond. Our attire has changed since the heat of summer!

Turning in the opposite direction, here is the floating marina and cafe that we saw back in August, only now it is about 15' higher in the water! Check out the piles (posts sticking up in the lower picture) that hold the thing in place. Find them in this picture to see how much the river has risen. The parking lot in the lower picture is now gone.

When the river floods, (every 20 years or so) it happens in January through March. Current typical river depth is 65'. That's a LOT of water.

We Love You!

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Missionary miracles

December 18, 2009, Friday evening

Hello Family,

Today some really special things took place. First off I want to tell you about Estabon, our Hispanic investigator that was to be baptized and then got crushed against a brick wall by a car. He lost both legs as a result of the accident and couldn’t get baptized. Well, Pres. Robbins went up to the hospital last night to check on him and some really incredible things have transpired since his accident a month and a half ago. I guess a ton of people have showed up to visit him and the love the visitors have shown has really impressed the nurses. Estabon has had one nurse read to him out of the Book of Mormon and she said she was Catholic and had never hear this stuff before, but she liked it!

The lady who accidently hit Estabon had $100,000 in medical insurance. That was used up in the first 15 minutes in the trauma room. Well, the bill is now 2 million dollars. President said last night an anonymous person paid the bill! There are so many good people.

One of his legs is missing just below the knee and the other mid thigh. Estabon told president he wants artificial legs fitted so he can walk back into the church. WOW!

He said he is determined to be baptized. We can see the Lord’s hand in this.

The second remarkable thing happened at District Meeting today. We had divided into groups and roll played answering questions of the investigators. The assistants had posed the question about “Where will I go after I die?” The assistants then gave the sister missionaries several ideas about how to teach using the scriptures. It wasn’t 30 minutes later after our meeting that the phone rang and the sisters wanted to tell the assistants what happened.

The sisters met a workman going into their building and they felt impressed to give him a pass along card. The sisters told who they were and asked the man if he had any concerns or questions. The man said, “Ya, I do. Where do we go after we die?” The card they handed him was that very card. They gave the man a shortened version of the Plan of Salvation, just as they had practiced it with the assistants. The man accepted a Book of Mormon and wants them to teach him in his home. Coincidence?

Here is a picture of Mary Catherine and Addie at our Temple Prep Class. How we love these dear sisters. They were so excited when they came to class this week because they were called to be visiting teaching partners.

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Gifts, big and small

Last Friday a man called to see if we still had some cars for sale. He told us of a family with two of their children on missions, the daughter in Peru. The mother was driving the daughter's car for some reason and there was an accident and the car was totaled. The mother felt terrible about ruining the daughter's car which the daughter intended taking to college when she comes home from her mission.

Today that man came into the office with a check for one of our mission cars. There were two cars in the parking lot and before we went out to look at them and decide which one to choose, he asked if we could have a prayer. The prayer he offered to ask the Lord that we make the decision that would help that family the most was a short but humble/thankful prayer that left tears in our eyes. We went out and looked over the cars and came back in and did some fancy paperwork shuffling. On Thursday night he will deliver the car to the family's driveway with a Merry Christmas note inside. They will never be able to find out who gave them the car.

Big wonderful gifts are a rare thing, and that's okay. Most people don't really need a big gift, they need someone who will be their friend and will listen to them and offer support and love. We just need to do our tiny part and that will usually be enough. One thing for sure however. Thinking about doing something won't help. As the hymn says, "Wake up and Do something more..."

This car reminds me to "Wake Up."

We love you!

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Santa or Jesus?

Our Good Friend took an internet comparison of Santa to Jesus and revised it to fit the truths of the restored Gospel. We thought this message might help you have the Spirit of Christ throughout the Christmas Season.

Santa lives at the North Pole, Jesus lives with our father in heaven.

Santa rides on a sleigh, Jesus walked on water.

Santa comes once a year, Jesus can be in our lives every day.

Santa comes down your chimney, Jesus lovingly stands at your door knocks, and enters your heart when he is invited.

Santa has you wait in line, Jesus is right there with you always.

Santa asks your name, Jesus knew your name before you were born, He knows your history and future, He knows your daily struggles.

Santa has a belly-bowl full of jelly, Jesus has a heart full of love.

Santa offers you a toy, Jesus offers salvation and eternal life.

Santa says, “you better not cry,” Jesus encircles you in the arms of his tender care while you are crying.

Santa's helpers make toys, Jesus’ helpers make themselves available to help others spiritually.

Santa puts your gifts under a tree once a year, Jesus’ atonement is our gift, He died for us on a cross made from a tree.

Santa wants you to believe in him, Jesus wants you to believe Him.

Santa is not real, he does not make us promises, Jesus and his promises are very real, they bring true joy.

Jesus Christ, our Savior and the Redeemer of the world, will bring us unimaginable blessings if we but:

Have Faith in Him

Repent

Be Baptized by immersion for the remission of sins

Receive the Holy Ghost

Keep his commandments

Endure to the end

Amish Countryside

Yesterday the office Elders asked us to go with them about an hour away to an Amish store, so they could buy cinnamon rolls. They are not to use a mission car for outings, so we got to drive our car. It was fun to get out into the country a little ways to where things open up a bit.

The Amish farm was a huge going business, with separate buildings for the furniture, bulk foods, and bakery. The buildings all had skylights for natural lighting and gas lamps for light when the sun is not out (since they avoid electricity as much as they can). There was a windmill for electricity for running such things as the cash registers and Visa credit card readers.

We tried to talk to an Amish girl at the checkout counter, but she either didn’t know what to say or was instructed not to visit.

At church today we both got to substitute for classes where a teacher was absent, but we knew about it yesterday so it was not a total surprise. We had the Rousch family over for Dinner after church and it was very good. We discussed Patriarchal blessings, which they had not heard of before. That discussion led to our heritage of pioneers who came across the plains in wagons and handcarts. They thought that was a Big Deal. You know what? It is!

Brother Rousch received the Priesthood last week, so he was on the stand today to help bless the Sacrament. BOY, He looked GOOD sitting up there! What a special little family. Javis Rousch, who is 5, now has a special bond with Elder Earl because they both have clip-on ties. His eyes were HUGE when he saw that!

Elder Earl is starting to pull in the cars we are going to sell. It is quite a bit of work to get them ready. We have an appointment tonight with a recent convert family so we better get going.

We Sure Love you all!

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Preparation Day Adventure

Extracts from my Journal:

This morning after I cleaned out the cave the creature said we (there’s that word again) need to go to Wally’s Cave for things we are out of. I didn’t note I was out of anything, everything I need is in the ice box. I go there regularly and everything I need is there. Some meat, some eggs, an occasional vegetable, a drink of cow nectar, life is good. She says if it were not for her, the ice box would go empty. That makes no sense. There will always be more. That’s what “more” means.

So off we go (that word again). She makes lists of things she needs and I am supposed to go find some of them. She keeps the list however, so I have to find her often to see what is on the list. I seem to get distracted somehow, maybe it is all the pretty colors and containers. I find the body powder but I am standing a few feet away talking to missionaries, on the portable talk thing, who have a flat tire. She has located a cave worker who brings her to the body powder section and she thanks the cave worker, picks up two containers of the stuff and walks away. I think it is odd since I have a push-along thing to place items in and I think she should put them in the push thing, but off she goes, all the same.

When I finish giving the missionaries instructions, I get going again, but she is not to be found. Not a problem, since I remember that an item on the list is socks. I head for the sock area, but find some nice clip-on ties along the way. They are pretty. I put some in the push-along thingie. When I find the socks, there are too many. There should just be black and white, boys and girls, but NO there are TONS of socks, some a short, some are long, some are colored, some are almost clear and have your underpants connected to them! I stand there a long time, and my portable talk thing rings. I answer, and it is she. She wonders where I am. That’s dumb, I’m right by the next thing on the list, Socks. Turns out she was by the next next thing on the list, a squeegee, waiting for me to show up. I don’t remember THAT on the list.

She takes me to the area with meats. I like that area. She puts some in the push-along and when the push-along starts to get pretty heavy, we go to the front of the cave where the cave worker is who pretends to be friendly and takes my money. That seems rude, but we leave and go back to our cave and she puts the cold meats in the top of the ice box where things get EXtra Cold. Says whey will keep there longer. Well of course they will. They get hard in there and you can’t eat them! We will have to go back to the Wally’s Cave again soon I fear.

Extracts from Her Journal:

Saturday! I like Saturdays. It feels good to clean our apartment and get organized for the week. Scottie and I sit down at breakfast and plan out our grocery list and what errands we need to get done. I throw another batch of laundry in the washing machine and we are out the door.

Once inside Eastgate’s Wally’s World we find they have placed items in different locations than Ammon’s Wally’s World, but no problem. I ask a nice checker for assistance. I encourage Scottie to stay put and I will be back in a moment. This should save his aching feet from doing any extra walking. I am such a thoughtful wife!

The nice checker finds what I need. I grab two, one for storage, one for now and I rush back to Scottie so as not to keep him waiting. No Scottie! I look and look and back track and then say to my self, “Self, where is that man?” He gets distracted so easily and hates to wait. He has no idea how fast I am and he doesn’t know the meaning of “waiting for a woman.” I try to imagine how a man’s mind works and it leads me to think of three places he could be. Tools, electronics, and food. He is not in the tools, electronics is out of the question for another year and that leads me to food. I wander around aimlessly for a long time and now MY feet are hurting.

I am ready to call store security when I remember my cell phone. I call and a cute little voice answers, “ Where are you?” Duh!!**!! I reply sweetly, “Looking for you sweetheart.”

I find him lost in the sock section smiling shyly. He can’t seem to find the soft warm fuzzy socks he likes best. We locate his favorite socks just to the left of his hip.

We gather the last of our supplies, making sure the whole time to keep Scottie in front of me so as not to lose him again. Memories of shopping with 2 year old twins spring into my head at this point.

As we drive home I make a mental note not to forget to put treats in my purse for next Saturday. I really must get that man out more often. Sometimes I worry he lives in the dark ages.

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I Changed My Mind

As you go along through life, sometimes you change your mind about this or that on account of experiences. Sometimes it is a fairly major experience that changes your mind, but more often you accumulate small experiences and they cause you to reflect—and voila, you now have a new opinion. Too bad no one wants to hear it, eh?

So, a few weeks ago we went with the Sister Missionaries to teach a family. The father was ahead of the mother in terms of being ready for baptism. When the Sister Missionaries told us a few weeks later they had scheduled a baptism for the father and the son but not the mother yet, I sorta felt maybe they should wait and do it all together. Well, I was wrong wrong wrong. (I am getting used to that.) We went to the baptism and it was great. After the baptism, the mother went up to the Sister Missionaries, and said, “Okay, that was it. Now I know.” Tomorrow evening we are going to HER baptism. She was waiting for some kind of a witness, and she got it at her husband and son’s baptism. If they had waited for her to be ready, they would still be waiting.

We have been sick for a solid week and did not dare go around other people for fear it might be contagious. We worked at the office in the evenings or during zone conference days so no one would be there, and we disinfected behind us as we worked. We didn’t go out and teach or visit in the evenings so it was pretty boring. Now we are feeling better and we are happy to get back to a busier schedule. As Suzanne would say, we have been strengthened a bit by the tempering process.

A few days ago we drove a few miles to Edington Mound. It is a leftover from the Adena and Hopewell Cultures who lived in the area between 1000 B.C. and 400 A.D. Interesting dates, eh? The mound is 133 ft Diameter and 16’ high. It was much steeper sided and higher before it eroded for 2000 years. Neat place.

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A Pretty Covered Bridge

There is a covered bridge here in Cleremont County, OH. It was built back in 1878. We plugged in the GPS coordinates and found it yesterday. It looks pretty neat, but what caught my attention was the structural design of the bridge.

It is a 12 panel Howe Truss spanning 140 feet. Howe patented this truss design in 1840, which consists of crossed wooden members with vertical iron rods. You can see it pretty clearly here. At first I was surprised that the members are mostly in compression. A steel bridge truss has most members in tension. Then as I thought about the joints, it made sense. Joints of wood in tension will pull apart, whereas in compression, the joints are held together. The vertical iron rods hold things tight and seem to be the only components in tension.

Click the pictures to make them BIG!

As you drive across the bridge (one car at a time) cars approaching the other end honk to let you know they are in your way since they stop right in the middle of the narrow road right at the entrance and you can't get past them until they back up.

Here the creeks are called Licks and Runs instead of Creeks. I have no idea why.

We sure love you all!

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God Bless the little ones.

A small girl, about 7 years old, went to the stand today during Fast and Testimony meeting and said, (as best I can remember)

“Last Sunday I was outside picking up some nuts that had fallen. I think it is like everyone in the whole world, people who make mistakes and sin and fall down on the ground. Then Jesus comes along and scoops them up if they repent and makes it all better. We talked this out and we decided it is like a squirrel who gathers the nuts and makes them His. I just wanted to tell you about it, in the name of Jesus, Amen.”

Well, you get a talk like that once in a lifetime or so, but then at the very end of the meeting a man went up front with a questioning look on his face since it was time for the meeting to end. He looked at the Bishop and got a very warm encouraging smile, so he came on up, but then found he couldn’t speak. He stood there, then shuffled around, started to return to his seat, then came back, looked at the bishop again, stammered a couple words, and stopped. Then a little girl of about 5 years, his daughter, came up on the stand and stood next to him and held his hand, and just stood smiling at him. Then he could start. He thanked the ward for their support. He petted the little girl’s head as he calmly explained that for the past few weeks their little newborn had struggled and finally died the day before yesterday. He explained that they had been praying for the wrong thing, that the baby would be healed. They were at peace and the Lord was at the helm. He calmly thanked the ward for their support and, closing in the name of Christ, returned to his seat. This man is an investigator, not yet a member.

The faith of the children can accomplish miracles. These are the ones that Christ tarried with when he visited the Nephites of old, and He will do it again when He returns. Maybe we can learn to be more like these children if we really try hard. Neither of the above events could have happened if children were discouraged from getting up in our Fast and Testimony meetings and telling us what they feel.

God Bless the little ones.

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