May 10, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
What a marvelous thing it is to be a part of the Lord’s work, serving in what at times may seem to be insignificant ways, in a small struggling branch of Spanish-speaking saints, in southeastern WI. The Lord manifests His hand often in our feeble efforts. We see a heart touched, hear a desire to repent expressed, often see tears shed, feel the outreach of fellow saints to us, are taught by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it is not so different from what happened as we served at home. But it is different, because we are here where the Lord has called us to serve.
Blessing of little Reed. It was a blessing for us to be able to return home for a few days for the blessing of our most recent grandchild, Reed Jesse Skinner, son of Cedar and Heath. When Grandma is unable to be present for the birth, it is a certainly she will be present for the blessing! We flew out of Milwaukee late Friday afternoon, arriving in Phx at about 7 pm. By the time we got the rental car it was after 8. We had to drive by the homestead and temple to make sure they were still there. Both looked good to our eyes. Then on to meet up with Matt, and pick up Maren and Wyatt, who were to ride with us to Taylor Ranch in Pinedale, where we were able to stay. (Blessings on the Taylor for their generosity!) By the time we arrived at Taylor Ranch, it was past midnight. Ben and Amy were still up, as were Camille and Madelyn. They welcomed us warmly. The girls showed us to our room,“suite 5,” they called it. They had written notes of welcome from the “maid service.” It was wonderful to finally arrive. We were ready to rest. After a late breakfast on Saturday morning we drove the half hour to Snowflake to meet little Reed for the first time. It was amazing to see this little one month old grandson, to hold him and feel of his sweet spirit. We are so thankful for him. We are so thankful for his precious mother, Cedar, who was willing to bring another of Heavenly Father’s children into our family circle. After taking turns enjoying little Reed, and seeing Heath’s various projects in progress, we made our way back to Taylor Ranch for an enjoyable late afternoon and evening. Ben and Amy prepared dinner and fed us. Need I say more? They are amazing hands when it comes to food! A fire was built in the pit, where we enjoyed leisure visiting and observing the grandsons as they each offered their encouragement to the fire in various ways. (What is it about boys and fires anyway?? Hmmm, maybe that’s why Lehi’s family wasn’t allowed any fires . . . they may have never made it to the Promised Land. . .) Sunday morning early saw us heading back to Snowflake for sacrament meeting and Reed’s blessing by his father. Very sweet indeed! Turned out that the bishop of their ward, Bsp. Nielsen, has a son serving in our mission. Elder Nielsen will be returning to AZ in late June. We saw him on Tuesday at zone conference. His parents had already told him about meeting us on Sunday . . . (Monday e-mails). Sunday afternoon we enjoyed more good food and more family visiting back at Taylor Ranch. We returned to Mesa Sunday night, staying over with Nate and Jennifer. Monday morning early we were on our way back to the airport, returning the car, catching the shuttle and the plane back to Milwaukee, arriving in the evening. As much as we loved being with our family again, it felt good to be back “home” in Kenosha at our apartment, ready to re-engage in the work early Tuesday morning.
Zone Conference. We drove to north Milwaukee early Tuesday morning, taking the Kenosha and Racine sister missionaries along with us. (We do a lot of transporting of missionaries.) This is President & Sister Jones’ last zone conference, as they will be returning home and the Cutlers taking over the first of July. President Jones announced a mission wide meeting to be held in Neenah (near Oshkosh) on Saturday, June 15th. There are to be five general authorities present; most likely one will be an Apostle. They were scheduled only to train priesthood leaders. President Jones petitioned for a special missionary meeting and it was granted. On the heels of this meeting, Monday, June 17th, the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra will be performing in Milwaukee. The purpose of their visit is to increase missionary work. We will be taking with us a new member, Cecilia, and her non-member friend. President Jones taught us about the importance of obedience. I am always inspired by his teachings. He has a very gentle, yet powerful manner in his teaching. He always refers to the scriptures. All of his teaching is interactive, with missionaries being asked for their responses. Sister Jones talked about the importance of the “fundamentals.” That felt comfortable to this old basketball coach. She did a review of the various themes President Jones has emphasized during his tenure as mission president. She then talked about transition to new leadership and gave suggestions to help it be a smooth process. She did a wonderful job. A local ward provided a nice lunch for all 60 missionaries attending. Then back to training. President Jones used Elder Bednar’s talk on “Learning by Faith” to teach us the importance to inviting investigators to take action so that their faith will grow. The assistants and zone leaders did training as well. I always think of Jordan when I listen to the ZLs teach. The conclusion was hearing the testimonies of the missionaries who have arrived since our last ZC and those who will be going home before the next one. Many, many more new arrivals than going home. A very edifying ZC. We and the two office couples were the only senior missionaries present.
Teaching Eric. We returned home with an appointment to accompany the Racine elders on a teach with Eric, non-member husband of Lupita, whom we home teach. This was to be the second teach with Eric. We received a text from the elders saying one of them was too sick to go, and could we go ahead and handle it by ourselves. We went ahead by ourselves. Eric and Lupita were let down by the elders not coming, we could tell. We taught a review of the Restoration lesson, using a lot of pictures that depict the major events of the restoration. It was very well received. He committed to be baptized when he comes to know for himself that it is all true, and his life is in harmony with the Lord’s commandments. Both of them have work to do in this regard. They are not married. He needs to be divorced from a previous marriage before he can marry Lupita. She has two daughters, two year old Emily and two month old Zayra, who are not Eric’s children. She is trying to get her papers legalized. This is not at all an unusual situation with these Children of Lehi. We have three regular attenders who have marriage (or lack of) irregularities. It is a huge challenge to the work. But, we teach, they commit, and we follow up. In time these issues can be overcome so that they can progress spiritually. Our visit with Eric and Lupita was Spirit-filled. They had prepared cheese cake to serve us. As the elders did not come, they gave the entire cheese cake to us. Very tasty by the way. On Wednesday afternoon we took half of the cheese cake and a pizza to the elders. The sick elder had been to the doctor, gotten antibiotic, and was feeling some better. He asked for a blessing. His companion anointed him and I sealed it. Very sweet experience in being the voice for the Lord in giving a priesthood blessing.
Wearing The Badge. Our service days at the Shalom Food Pantry are Wed. and Fri. We served all morning with many coming to receive their food. Our role is to escort them and see that they receive the quantities they are approved for. When our lunch break came we decided to stop at the Subway for a sandwich. It was very busy, a line of several people awaiting service. We got in the end of the line. I then excused myself to visit the boys’ room while Vicki held our place. When I returned several additional customers were in the line. As I returned to where Vicki was waiting, I had to work past those behind her. The man right behind, short and stout, with a goatee and hat to match, a phone on his ear, was blocking my return. I touched him on the shoulder and asked if it would be alright for me to join my wife just ahead of him. His reply was, “that is not for me to say.” He smiled and allowed me to pass. When we had ordered and had our sandwiches at the cashier, I took out my debit card to pay and the cashier said, “yours is already paid for.” I asked by whom, and she nodded to the man behind us. I turned back to him and shook his hand, thanking him. Then I asked what this was about. He simply said, “you wear the badge, boss!” and got a big smile on. I immediately understood that he must be a member. We seated ourselves and began eating. As he was leaving he passed by our table. Turns out he is the new elders quorum president in Kenosha First Ward, Pres. Sladek. It was a very nice surprise and left us with a good feeling about “wearing the badge.”
Meeting fisherman Bob. Today (Friday) at the Food Pantry, Vicki escorted a man named Bob as he received his food. Somehow in their conversation he shared that he was headed up north to fish for walleyes and bass, and would be bringing a lot of them home to smoke. Smoking meat seems to be a favorite way of preserving it here. He ended up inviting us to come to their home for a fish fry next week. Vicki reminded him that we are missionaries and the only way we would be able to do that would be for him and his wife to listen to a message from us. He was very open for that, gave us their number and his wife’s name, saying they would be looking forward to our call to set it all up. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. (By the way, maybe you can get in more fishing time if you can qualify for the Food Pantry. Not sure how that works, but also not really surprised. There are quite a few very able bodied appearing folks who come for their food.)
Elkhorn tomorrow. We have not been to visit la familia Hernandez in Elkhorn for a couple of weeks. Tomorrow we will make the trip (100 mile RT). We will give them another lesson about temple blessings. The husband is struggling with a worthiness issue which is holding the family back. We will keep working with them. Vicki will also teach the basic music instruction lesson to the daughter and mother. In the afternoon she will teach her third regular Saturday class at the church. While Vicki practiced the piano yesterday morning I was on my knees J and hands in the flower bed in front of the building. There is more to do. Service opportunities are all around us.
More friends pass. Two more of my fellow high priests punched their ticket home this past week. Melvin Montierth, whose family was in the 29th Ward back in our time there. Also Robert Rowley, one of my high priests from the Olive Ward. Also, Vicki's cousin, Burk Jarvis left this week. As I have observed before, it seems the safest place to be is on a mission. While I am always glad to have more friends on the other side to greet me when my time comes, I am in no hurry in arriving there myself.
More than enough for this time! Thank you for you love and prayers for the missionaries. We are very thankful for the Lord’s call to us at this time in our lives to serve here in WI. We are happy and enjoying the experiences that each day brings. May you see His hand in your daily life; it is always there. We love you, each one of you!
Charles & Vicki
