8th Post (Sunday Sept 27 - Sat.Oct 3, 2009)

It seems the weeks do go by fast. We are blest to be serving at this time and place. We attended church with Christine and her family today. It was fast day as next Sunday is General Conference. Lots of faithful testimonies spoken today, it is always an uplifting thing to hear others express their faith and testimony. We came home and had lunch. It was funny to listen to the kids as they asked their mother if this was dinner or lunch and would they have something to eat before they went to bed. We got to visit with Jessica and her family on the "computer camera". That is always fun. Carson and Ronin really had a fun time "talking" to each other.

Monday morning we were at the Hafer Road employment office as usual. The kids came to say goodby. We introduced them to the employment staff and took them over to the bishop's storehouse and the peanut factory. Randy the manager took them on a tour and even gave them a couple of bottles of peanut butter. After work today we drove up to the Woodlands and had dinner with Kent & Diane Chamberlain, Leona's cousin. We had a really nice meal and a great visit with them. It was fun to catch up on them and their family.

Tuesday is our late day at the Bering building. Leona had scheduled a hair cut in town so I drove her to the appointment. The traffic was not bad at all and the shop is only about 4 miles away. I know she was nervous about a new person cutting her hair, but it really does look good. The Bering building was busy today. Steve, our employment manager, taught a Self-Employment workshop today, and Alex, the assistant manager, was also with us for part of the day. So it was not as quiet as normal, which is a good thing. We did contact many of our candidates today and two of them had found work, so that was exciting for us and for them.

We had one person show up to our workshop today, Wednesday. Actually there were two, a man and his wife, but his wife completed the workshop last week. He was a bit hesitant to participate, but as the morning went on he got into the class routine more, and seemed to appreciate the information he received. I have really come to appreciate this great employment program of the Lord. The information is so helpful and if practiced so very powerful in helping people in their job search.

Thursday we were at the Broadway building, but the Internet was not working so we were not able to send any job leads or email our candidates. We did make some phone calls however. A couple came into the center today wanting some help on the wife's resume. It was fun to work with them and even though she had been a stay at home mom most of her married life she did have some work experience and the beginnings of a resume that we could work with. I really believe she was thankful for the help and suggestions. It is interesting that this was the same engineer that gave me such a hard time on the phone a few weeks ago and here he is bringing his wife in to see us for help. He was a much different person today. It is always humbling to see how members act in faith. We had a person walk to the center, in the rain, to see if we could help him.

We drove up to the temple to do a session after we closed the center today. We missed the 6pm session so we did some sealings while we waited for the 7pm session. What great blessings are ours when we are sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. It was wonderful to be reminded of those blessing.

Friday and the day for my second BCG treatment at MD Anderson. It went well - thank goodness for good medical facilities.

We really enjoyed watching both sessions of General Conference today, Saturday. We are able to see conference on the computer. The picture is very clear - thank goodness for all the modern conveniences. We enjoyed the talks and messages that are so helpful in our lives. I called Elder Greenwood and he rode over to the priesthood session this evening with me. The Herman Park ward building was packed with priesthood holders this evening. When we sang the intermediate hymn I thought they would raise the roof. A really great spirit at that meeting.

We are so thankful to be missionaries and to be able to serve at this time. We enjoy so many blessings from our Father in heaven, we cannot number them. We are grateful for all our friends and family for their love and support.

Love Mom & Dad (Steve & Leona)