Over Due Update

Sorry that we have not been diligent in updating our mission experiences.  A lot has happened so I will attempt to cover it all in this update.

Bishop Kruger has given us a new person to work with.  Her name is Delores McCloy.  She prefers to be called Dollie.  She is 67 and lives alone in her apartment.  She is somewhat of a hermit and hardly gets out except for the spring and summer months.  During this time she sits under a tree outside of her apartment and talks to everyone who stops by.  She is skin and bones and hardly eats.  Because her apartment is infested with bed bugs she has not fully moved in or at least has not unpacked most of her things.  Her health is not good and because of back problems she sits in and sleeps in a recliner.  She is delightful to visit with and she is quite vocal about her opinions on things. During one of our visits I came away with a bed bug in my wool suit.  So needless to say we need to be careful when we visit.

We have begun holding Family Home Evening every Wednesday night at the church.  It is quite the family we have.  Both Innocent, Alicia and Ivan come every week.  They both need to be taught the basics of the gospel and seem to enjoy the lessons.  One of the lessons was on prayer.  We asked Alicia to give the opening prayer.  She struggled a little through it.  What was special was her expression of gratitude for us being in her life and helping her and Ivon.  She cried during the prayer which brought a special spirit to the lesson.  Another lesson was on reading the scriptures.  We gave them their own scriptures and challenged them to use them.  We gave Ivan his own Book of Mormon picture book which he seemed to really like.  Innocent is a spiritual person and has read and knows key scriptures and stories in both the Old and New Testament.

During the end of October and first of November I spent a lot of time with Innocent in helping him find a new job.  We used LDS Employment Services and was able to find him a job with a maintenance company that the FM Group of the church uses for their landscaping and snow removal.  Since Innocent has a CDL they were offering him $15.00 an hour for driving the salt truck and plowing the snow.  Well as time went on we found out that the job has not turned out the way we thought.  He is being paid two different wages; $11.00 an hour for shoveling snow and $15.00 an hour only when he drives the truck.  Most of his work is shoveling snow and it has been inconsistent. He expressed a desire to find something with a steady schedule and better environment.  There was a recent job fair put on by the LDS Employment Services which he attended on his own.  He had several interviews and was hired by Convergys a customer service call in center that companies hire for their customer service.  He was hired to take calls from French speaking customers.  He starts January 18th.  They are starting him at $12.00 an hour and after 7 weeks they will move him to $14.00.  He is really excited and we are happy for him.  It is good to see that he understands his personal responsibility to be self reliant.  We are proud of him that he did this all on his own.

Alicia received an eviction notice and was asked to be out by the end of November.  We tried to talk with the management company as to why the notice was given and were told it had to do with incomplete paperwork.  We never really found the true reason but the Bishop was able to help get a new place in ward.  She moved during the Thanksgiving week while we were at Jason's.  She needed to get rid of all her furniture since they too were invested with bed bugs.  On our return we were able to find her a new couch and love set, a big leather chair and a chest of drawers.  The Bishop helped her with beds.

Since Christmas is a time of giving and service we knew that our families would need help.  We want to thank our family, extended family and neighbors for their generous help and contributions.  We were able to provide a wonderful Christmas and had money left over so we bought gift cards to Walmart and Target and gave them to the Bishop to give to others in the ward.  We enjoyed shopping for Christmas Trees and making decorations for them.  Molly helped in making Stars for each tree. She had so much fun making them.  Barbara spent most of her time shopping for the gifts and wrapping them.  Needless to say she was exhausted when we were all done.  But it felt good to serve.  It got us both in the spirit of Christmas.

Our home Stake (South Jordan Parkway Stake) each year, on the first week-end in December, hosts a Nativity Festival.  Members of the stake donate their personal nativities from all over the world and they are on display.  The Festival is full of other activities for the kids, music and sing along from each ward choir.  We took Innocent to this which he thoroughly enjoyed.  His favorite part was sitting in the chapel listening to the musical performances and sing along.  We found out he is quite the singer.

For one of our FHE's we took Innocent, Alicia and Ivan to Temple Square for the lights.  As long as Alicia has lived in SLC she has never seen the lights.  It was a cold night but we all enjoyed our time.

We also had Innocent over for our family Christmas dinner.  He enjoyed talking with Kenny Romney who served a mission to Belgium as well as talking to Molly who is learning French in Kindergarten.  Since sweet desserts are new to Innocent he tried one of each.  He liked the pumpkin pie the best.

We have included some pictures of our special Christmas this year.




We love serving and this Christmas will always be remembered by our service to others.

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. 

Part-time Mission

A new calling has prompted me to start writing this blog again.  Craig and I have been called as service missionaries in the Salt Lake Inner City, serving in the Riverside Stake and the Meadows Ward.  We received the calling, very unexpected, on August 23, 2015 from our Stake President.  At the time Craig was serving on the high council, so we thought the appointment was to inform us of Craig's release  We were very surprised to say the least.

We have expressed interest in serving an inner-city mission two different times previously, and both times we were told that the stake had other plans for Craig.  The first time he was subsequently called as the stake clerk, and the last time he was called to the high council as the PFR.  But the stake president remembered that we had expressed interest, so when the need arose to call someone from our stake, we received the call.  Ironically, that same day, our son Jason was called as the second counselor in the bishopric of his ward in Winston-Salem.

Our Bishop set us apart on September 10th and September 12th was our training day.  We were taught by a member of the Seventy, Elder Pingree, as well as by the leadership of the Salt Lake Inner City Mission.  It was all very inspiring and a little overwhelming; however, we were totally amazed at the enormity of resources the church makes available to help us help others become self-reliant.  That is the goal for Inner City Missionaries.

Sunday we met with the bishopric of the Meadows Ward for about half an hour before church.  They will pray together this week and choose some families or individuals for us to work with.  There are three other service missionary couples in this ward, so obviously, there is a lot of need.  We were told to wear "wash and wear" clothing as many of the homes we will go into have cockroaches and bed bugs.  We will want to remove our clothes as soon as we get home and wash them.