Ups and Downs

At our initial training we were told that there would be ups and downs during our service.  Well we have already experienced both.  Let me start with the up...today at church Innocent was presented to received the Aaronic Priesthood and be ordained a Priest.  Since he will be meeting with the high priests, during today's group meeting Bishop Kruger came in to have Innocent ordained.  He asked Innocent who he would like to ordain him and he said Elder Romney.  That came as a surprise but what a blessing it was to confer the Aaronic Priesthood upon Innocent and ordain him a Priest.  I believe the last time I was able to do that was for Jason.

Now for the down...after serving for about six weeks we started with 4 families and we are now down to two.  Barbara mentioned the young couple who were out on parole from the State Prison.  Well Hailey is now back in prison and the Bishop has been unable to reach Rudy.  During our Missionary Correlation meeting this morning with the Bishop he told us that we are no longer to visit with the King family.  Some things have changed in that family and he is not sure if they will be staying in the ward.  We figured something was up since Patrick has not been returning our calls and Amy did not show up to work at the DI on Friday.  Barbara discovered that when she went to the DI trying to visit with her.

I am sure that the Bishop will be assigning us two more families shortly.  There is a lot of work to be done in the ward and he needs our help.

First Month

We have now been serving our mission for a little over one month.  Our eyes have definitely been opened to new things and our hearts filled with gratitude for our bounteous blessings.

Along with the bishop's help, we have gotten Innocent's apartment furnished.  Craig spent about five hours one evening at LDS Employment meeting with Innocent and an immigration attorney to get Innocent's application for asylum transferred from Los Angeles to Salt Lake.  We have also helped him to put together a resume and cover letter and apply for a job as a school bus driver (he has a CDL).  Some friends of ours gave us a nice winter coat for Innocent which we will give him Sunday.

Sister Hernandez is working on her adult high school diploma which I am definitely able to help her with.  I spent an hour this week helping her with some math and plan to meet with her again soon.  She is scheduled for knee surgery next month.  She has also found a special program for her 17-year old son.  He will be picked up each day and taken to a program that will provide a half day of therapy and a half day of school.  She really tries to be a good mom and grandma.

Our third family, the Kings, are a big challenge.  We still haven't been able to get inside the home.  Patrick, a retired high priest, seems reluctant to let us meet his daughter.  We ran into the granddaughter, Andi, outside the apartment one Sunday and introduced ourselves but that is it.  We have tried setting appointments as well as just dropping by, both without success.

With the bishop's approval we are going to start holding Family Home Evening on Wednesday nights in a room at the church and invite our families to attend.  Sister Hernandez has already said she would like that.  Innocent is agreeable with most anything, so the King family will remain our challenge.  Craig is going out of town next week so we won't begin until October 28th.

Last Sunday was Stake Conference followed by a quarterly mission conference.  We had a lovely meal and some inspiring messages.  This coming Sunday we have been asked to speak in Sacrament meeting.

Mission Update

I want to get into the habit of doing this weekly--right now I'm three weeks behind.

After our first Sunday in the Meadows ward we were assigned several families to work with. This info is from an email we received from the Bishop.

Alicia Hernandez

* Elder & Sister Casper have been working with the family for a few months.

* Sister Hernandez is a 46 year old sister that is raising her family, the size of which changes from time to time. At the present time  her grown daughter(s) stay with her with their children.  Her 17 year old son has emotional problems and rarely leaves the house and is looking at home school, which is a severe challenge for Sister Hernandez.

*  Sister Hernandez has health problems and is facing hip & knee replacement surgery, but the surgeon is reluctant to perform surgery. I have no idea why.  She also has diabetes, back problems, and depression. 

* She recently quit her job at Apollo Burger because she can no longer endure the pain of being on her feet all day.

* Within the last few months she lost most of her furniture because of bed bugs and other insect infestation.  Slowly recovering with some furniture, but lacks sofas and other furniture.

* Although there are serious problems, she tries very hard.

* She is currently on the housing list which allows her to pay a small percentage of the rent, which is a huge blessing.

* Contact the Casper's to receive more information about Sister Hernandez.

King Family

* Patrick King, 65 year old High Priest, a disabled retiree with back problems

* Amy King, 37 year old daughter of Patrick King, and mother of Andi King.  She has other children, but they are not currently with her.  She has been on some kind of recovery programs.  I failed to ask.  Recently she was hired by Deseret Industries as a Sales Associate.  Amy smokes, including in the house, which is a problem with everyone else.

*Andi King, 13 year old daughter, that is trying to grow up too fast.  Mom and daughter fight (police have been called).  Andi is a go getter, but needs to be at church and establish a pattern of righteousness.  Andi attended church the first couple of Sundays, but has not been for awhile.  Her best hope is to be to church every week and adopt the standards outlined in the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet.

Both Mom and daughter need to see what it means to establish a church/Christ centered home.

Rudy A. Tello/Hailey Nan Manning

*A young unmarried couple with an infant that I met two days ago.

* Normally I would not provide assistance with couples that are not married, but there was something about this couple that caused me to reconsider.  I believe they want to change and return to church activity.  He is a member, but Hailey is not a member, but I believe she will be at church.  We talked for some length Tuesday evening.

* Already from our conversation they scheduled a baby blessing with his grandfather. 

* Rudy's mother (I believe it is his mother) currently has cancer (not much time left)

* Rudy works Friday - Sunday 14 hours a day, then is off for four days

* Hailey is looking for a job (as a waitress).  She lives on her tips, as her salary is garnished 65%.  She has been convicted of two felonies, but my take is that she will take the missionary lessons, join the church and change her life.

* I have talked to this family to determine if they would welcome assistance from a wonderful Service Missionary family.  They are willing, but would like you to wait until next Tuesday before you come over.

* Family needs to establish a pattern of church attendance and commitment.

  Our second Sunday included a meeting with the Bishop and all of the other service missionary couples (presently five but one is soon to be released and we are taking their place).  He informed us that a murder had taken place in the ward that week.  A grandmother and her two-month old granddaughter were shot and killed along with an unknown 28 year-old male.  The grandmother was a member and the bishop had just been over to meet her a few days before the incident.  After listening to all of the challenges in the Meadows Ward, we were both overwhelmed and realized we were definitely out of our comfort zone.  We just weren't sure we were up to the challenge.  At this meeting, the Bishop also assigned us another individual to work with:  a man named Innocent, a refugee from Congo, who's baptism was scheduled for the following Saturday.

Our first project was to find a sofa for Sister Hernandez.  We found one on the Inner City Mission website and Craig arranged to pick it up on Monday after work.  He and a collegue   picked it up in Bountiful and delivered it to Sis. Hernandez's apartment.  He described her as a very nice lady who was thrilled to get the small sofa.  He drove his collegue around the ward boundaries and he, too, was overwhelmed with the poverty and slums.

Saturday, September 26, we attended Innocent's baptism.  He is a very humble and intelligent man who has suffered things unimaginable to us.  He has enthusiastically embraced the gospel.  Brother Weight, the High Priest Group Leader, is assigned to be his home teacher.  Bro. Weight told us Innocent was sleeping on the floor with a sleeping bag and air mattress that had been loaned to him.  Sunday Innocent was confirmed.  He was so happy that he literally "beamed."  The Bishop told us he was going to get Innocent a bed and dining from Deseret Industries on Monday, so we could concentrate on other furniture.  

We have learned that Innocent has applied for asylum in the US and his case is still pending in Los Angeles.  We need to find out if it can be transferred here.  He still owes the lawyer some money, and he has a debt for CDL training in Las Vegas.  He presently has a minimum-wage job which doesn't give him enough money to cover his expenses.  We are trying to help him find a better job.  Someone else gave him a sofa and love seat and we found him a microwave, a living room table and lamp.  

As for Rudy Tello and Hailey Manning, I discovered that they are both on parole from the Utah State Prison so I had to tell the Bishop that I cannot work with them.  I was also able to give him some background information that will help him decide how to proceed with them.

We have met Patrick King and he is anxious for us to meet his daughter, but so far that is proving to be a challenge.  I had planned to go to the DI where she works today and introduce myself to her, but Patrick called and said she was getting off early today.  I will try another time.

Sis. Hernandez lives next to Innocent, so we have been to see her.  She is working to get her high school diploma and was excited to learn that I teach adult ed--I agreed to help her with her homework.  I am taking her to night Relief Society this coming Tuesday.

We have decided to try and organize a weekly family home evening for all of our people.  We will try to do it on a Wednesday night when we can get a room at the church.