Catching Up...

7.24.2013                                                                                                                                       

Dear Family & Friends,

I apologize for letting time get away from me when it comes to writing letters home.  I see it’s been a month since our last one.  This one will obviously need to be a catch up letter.

La Familia Hernandez.  Probably the sweetest experience for us since coming to WI was accompanying the Hernandez family to the Chicago Temple on June 29^th.  They had prepared themselves well.  For at least two weeks prior, every prayer offered by a member of that family, whether at home or in public, included a sweet plea to Heavenly Father to bless them to go to the temple on June 29^th to receive their endowments and be seal together as an eternal family.  It turned out that we drove them (5) together with hna Flores, the escort for hna Hernandez.  It was a busy day at the temple.  At just after noon, when we arrived, we took some pictures of the family on the temple grounds.  There was a Primary group on the grounds from a Spanish-speaking ward in the Chicago area.  It appeared they were having a special Primary activity day at the temple. Vicki took the the children and explored the temple grounds, fountains, etc., while hna Flores and I accompanied the parents into the distribution center to purchase garments and temple clothing. That took a good 45 minutes.  When we went back outside to find Vicki and the children, they were eating sandwiches and paletas, while drinking juice. It seemed that the Primary group from Chicago had extra and had offered it to the children.  What a life saver that was.  Heavenly Father’s hand was in it. 

After a little cleaning up, we went into the temple.  A member of the presidency met us.  The children were taken off by temple workers to the children’s center, where they happily spent the next few hours.  I accompanied hno  Hernandez and hna Flores accompanied his wife.  A Spanish-speaking temple worker was also assigned to each of them.  First they were taken by the ordinance sister who had to verify all the family information on the recommend.  Turned out the sister was a member of Kenosha 1^st Ward and a friend of hna Flores.  Next came las ordenanzas preparativas (initiatory).  The member of the temple presidency then came to give hno Hernandez his orientation and instructions.  He asked that I go along to translate.  Wonderful to be present to hear that information again.  Hna Hernandez was getting her information from the assistant matron at the same time.  Finally we were ready for the endowment session.  It was in Spanish.  Vicki used headphones.  The branch president and his wife and the first counselor came to be there with the Hernandez.  There were a few other Hispanic sisters on the session.  After the session, and a bathroom stop, we were taken to the sealing room.  The sealer assigned was an Anglo brother who did a very nice job. His wife was present.  She speaks Spanish pretty well, a convert, learned Spanish on her own taking classes.  They are getting ready to serve a mission she said.  Of course the highlight was when the three children, all dressed in white, were brought in, (Alexandra (10), Jose (6) and Erick (4).  The sealing of the children was so sweet. 

The children were taken back to the children’s center, and the parents back to the dressing room to change.  Hna Hernandez had brought her wedding dress, and it still fit.  She had added a white jacket to make it work for the temple.  We changed and went outside and again took pictures for them.  When we finally got into the car to head back it was 4:30.  The branch was planning a party for them.  It got started a little late, but it happened.  Lots of food, a tres leches cake, music, dancing.  It appears that the Mexican as a people dance a lot better than they sing.  What an awesome day.  What a privilege for us to be a part of it. 

We attend mass. 6.30.2013. Some of you may recall that Theresa Setter, music director of St. Mary Catholic Church accompanied us to the Tabernacle Choir Concert in Milwaukee.  She had a marvelous experience.  On the way home she told us about her various choirs at St. Mary.  Her men’s choir was going to perform “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” one of the signature hymns of the Tabernacle Choir. She invited us to come and hear them.  It turned out to be a very nice experience.  Mass was to begin at 9 am.  Theresa was waiting for us at the west door 15 minutes before the start.  The old church is huge inside, but beautifully decorated with typical Catholic art and statues.  We felt rather over-dressed when compared with the regulars there in their casual attire.  She did a beautiful job of briefly explaining what the service would consist of and how we should respond as.  Very nice.  The last feature number by the choir was “Battle Hymn.”  They did a great job, considering their numbers.  The pastor gave his sermon about being good neighbors.    The ushers did the collections three different times, as called for by the pastor, using long handles with fish net sort of things to reach way down the pews.  At the end of the service the pastor invited all visitors to stand.  Gave a special welcome, said he hoped we’d taken advantage of the passing of the collection bag.  The congregation gave an applause for us.  Following the service all the choir members came and personally greeted us, as well as the accompanist and her family.  We thought what a nice job Theresa did to make our experience a pleasant one.  A good example of what we should do when we invite a nonmember to church.  Theresa’s sister sat with us during the mass.  She expressed her interest in attending an LDS service with her children.  Hopefully she will have that opportunity. 

Meeting President & Sister Cutler. 7.2.2013. The Milwaukee South and North Zones had the opportunity to become acquainted with our wonderful new mission president and his wife on Tuesday morning.  After a brief video introducing them and their family members, some of whom live in Wisconsin, They did a beautiful job of teaching the doctrine of the family, tying it to the doctrine of Christ, and reminding us that our purpose as missionaries is to find those whom the Lord has prepared to learn these precious doctrines, and prepare them for baptism.  It was a wonderful, spirit-filled meeting.  What a blessing to see how the specific priesthood keys for the gathering of Israel are passed to each new mission president.  We certainly sustain them and feel a great love for them and from them.  Ten days later we were blessed to have the Cutlers come to Kenosha to do interviews with the Spanish-speaking missionaries.  We were so grateful  for that experience to get to know them on a more personal basis. 

Other catch up happenings.  Vicki continues with her teaching of basic keyboarding.  The numbers of students keeps growing.  It is a blessing for Vicki.  So much of the time she is in the background while I am teaching in Spanish.  This is all hers, and she does a great job with it.  We are teaching the temple preparation lessons to a terrific young man who has been called from the Branch to Minnesota to serve a mission.  What a well-prepared young man.  He has also asked Vicki to teach him keyboarding.  He has a good previous music background and is picking it all up quickly.  The Hymns Simplified book is very helpful to him.

Last but not least.  I will include here the e-mail sent to our family members on 7.15.2013.  As you will see, the contents of the e-mail have pulled us together as a family, and perhaps set us on a new adventure –

Deep Water Ahead...

15 July 2013

Dear Family,

I wanted to let you know what we have learned so far from the medical appointments today.

The appointments were related to the lump under my left jaw that has developed over a period of several weeks.  When the small lump first appeared it was very tender.  We went to the walk in clinic and it was diagnosed as a blocked salivary gland with infection.  I was told to eat lemon drops to stimulate secretion.  Supposedly that would move the blockage and allow the saliva to drain.  An antibiotic was prescribed for the inflammation.  In time the tenderness disappeared, but the lump did not. 

After a time the lump enlarged slowly.  Then over a period of 48 hours the lump mushroomed to golf ball in size.  While visiting my doctor who tracks my blood counts related to myelofibrosis, we asked him to examine the lump.  He ordered a PET scan.  The PET scan identified the enlarged tissue as a lymph node.  From the follow up with the doctor related to the PET scan, a tissue biopsy was ordered.  Today's appointment was to receive the biopsy results. 

At this point the doctors are quite certain of a diagnosis of lymphoma, cancer of the lymph nodes.  There are various types.  They think this is most likely large cell lymphoma.  I will be having another PET scan with contrast dye that is attracted to the lymphatic tissue to evaluate how pervasive or widespread the lymphoma is.  Already I can feel other lymph nodes that have begun to enlarge.  The doctors also want another CT scan to help confirm the diagnosis. Also it will be necessary to do a bone marrow biopsy to see if the lymphoma is spread there.  These procedures will allow the doctors to stage the cancer, or in other words determine how advanced it already is. 

The usual treatment for lymphoma is chemotherapy.  However, the condition of my blood cells related to myelofibrosis complicates this process.  A treatment plan will have to be determined that my blood cells can best tolerate. 

Lymphoma is one of the most common cancers in the elderly.

So that's pretty much what we know medically speaking.

We feel like we were brought to Kenosha in order that we might benefit from the amazing medical care that is available here.  We use the Aurora Medical Center.  It consists of excellent medical doctors from almost every specialty.  We appreciate Dr. Gregg Rocco, our primary care physician.  My main cancer doctor is Malik Bandealy.  He and his associates are rated in the top 1% of general oncologists.  One of the good things is that referrals and procedures happen almost immediately and is all within one system.  Long delays are avoided.  We feel very blessed to have their assistance.

While it appears we may be swimming in the deep end, we are not without hope.  We know Heavenly Father's hand is in His work.  While we are instruments in his work as missionaries, we are also part of His work.  We know His hand will be over us as we move forward.  We have no plans at this time to request any changes in our assignment.  Our mission president expressed his wholehearted support in dealing with whatever health challenges we might have when we were interviewed by him last week.  We will continue to take things one step at a time, trusting in the Lord to take us where we need to go.  It well be another learning experience for us, for all of us. 

One of the great strengths we are blessed with is our family.  We are so very grateful for each one of you, for your love for the Savior, and your faith in Heavenly Father's plan.  We teach it to people every day.  We better believe it ourselves.  I know each of you does.  We certainly do believe it!  We are grateful for your continuing love and support, for your faith and prayers in our behalf.  We have swum in the deep water before and grew from it.  Although we wouldn't choose to do it again, there seems to be a divine purpose in our having the opportunity.  We accept it and will do our very best.  We feel there is still work for us to do.  If there is, He will provide the way.  What more can I say.  If there isn't, then we are okay with that as well.

 

Thank you so much for sustaining us wherever this may take us. 

Love to each of you.

Dad Skinner / Charles & Mom Skinner / Vicki

Notes From Mission Conference

 6.15.2013

All Mission Meeting With General Authorities held at Neenah WI. 

Missionaries were advised a month or so ago by our mission president, Timothy Jones, that five General Authorities would be coming to our mission area to do priesthood leader training in mid-June.  President Jones said he had requested that a missionary meeting with the General Authorities had been requested and he hoped would be approved.  At zone conference President Jones announced that the request had been approved.  The meeting would be held in Neenah, north of Milwaukee about two hours, at 9 am on Saturday, June 15.  He said all missionaries in the mission would be attending.  He then told us that Elder Dallin Oaks of the Twelve would be with the General Authorities.  You can imagine the excitement that his announcement gave to the missionaries, including these two.

As usual, we were asked by our zone leaders to help transport missionaries.  The Kenosha Spanish elders and the Racine Spanish elders were to ride with us.  As the time for the meeting approached, we prayed that our hearts and minds would be prepared to receive the instruction given at the meeting.  We felt very thankful to be blessed with a visit from these priesthood leaders.

We arose very early (4:30 am) on Saturday morning to get ourselves ready, pick up our passengers and travel to Neenah.  It turned out to be a rainy morning almost all the way to Neenah.  However, as we got closer to our destination, the storm stopped and the weather was very pleasant.  How beautifully green is Wisconsin, everywhere we go!

We arrived at the Neenah Chapel at about 8:20 am.  There were lots of missionary cars already in the parking lot.  We entered the chapel and found that it was already almost full of elders and sisters.  It was an amazing sight as we scanned the chapel from the back.  One of the counselors in the mission presidency came to the back and said they wanted to fit all the missionaries into the chapel area and to close the overflow area.  We moved a row of folding chairs from the overflow up behind the last row in the chapel.  That is where we sat. 

At 8:30 am, President Jones and Sister Jones lead the group of priesthood leaders into the chapel and onto the stand.  All the missionaries stood as they entered.  Church leaders accompanying our mission president were, Elder Oaks, of the Twelve; Elder Whitney Clayton, of the Presidency of the Seventy; Elder Gifford Nielson, of the First Quorum of the Seventy; Elder Randy Funk of the Second Quorum of the Seventy; and Elder Jack Ward, Area Authority Seventy.  President Jones explained to the missionaries that all of those on the stand would come to the floor level and line up across the front.  Then the missionaries would come forward starting from the front, row by row, and shake hands with all of the leaders. 

It was a precious thing to watch the individual missionaries greet their president and his wife for the last time before they return to their home in Monroe UT on June 28.  There were affectionate embraces, not just handshakes.  It was a very emotional time for the Jones, and for many of  the missionaries.  What a special blessing to be able to have all of their 210 missionaries together one last time before leaving them behind.  In the receiving line next to the mission president and his wife were Elder Oaks, then Elder Clayton, Elder Nielson, Elder Funk and Elder Ward.  There is a “pecking order” in the Church.  I don’t mean that in any derogatory sense.  It is part of what President Packer calls “the unwritten order of the Church.”

After all of us had had the opportunity to greet and be greeted by the priesthood leaders, which took about fifteen minutes, the dignitaries returned to their seats on the stand.  The prelude music resumed until time for the meeting to begin.  After the opening hymn and prayer, a special musical number was offered.  Two elders (one was Elder Kanahele who served with us in Kenosha Spanish when we first came) sang, accompanied by a sister on the piano and a sister on the violin.  It was lovely and prepared us for hearing from those on the stand.

Sister Jones talked about the “tender mercies of the Lord” to them, and how thankful she was for serving at this time in Wisconsin.  She made reference to the “I can do hard things” statement that has been quoted before.  This was a very hard thing for her.  Mostly she spoke of her gratitude and gave her testimony.

President Jones – The Book of Mormon is a very important part of the “marvelous work and wonder” referred to by Isaiah (ch. 29).  He gave his testimony of the Lord’s work.  The Book of Mormon teaches of the pride cycle, the doctrine of Christ, to build on the Rock of our salvation (Hel.5), that He is the Rock (3 Nephi 11).  Our mission purpose (PMG) is the doctrine of Christ.  Alma’s question, “if you’ve felt it previously, do you feel it now?”  Making and renewing covenants, nourishes and strengthens our faith to be able to do harder things.  This puts us into the upward spiral that is “enduring to the end.”  Expressed his heartfelt gratitude and gave his testimony.

Elder James Ward – Area Authority Seventy – You will never forget your mission president and his wife.  Jacob 1:5-7 – We do it first for ourselves, then for others.  PMG, p.6 – purpose of the Gospel.  “My missionary purpose.”  PMG, p 146 – goals – D& C 4:4 – a sickle is a one person devise, we do our own missionary work personally, within our reach.  Same with the ordinances. 

Elder Randy Funk – Second Quorum of Seventy – newly sustained – (he and his wife were in the MTC with Pres. & Sister Jones, preparing to serve as mission president, was just recently released to serve as Seventy).  The desires of your heart – New stake formed in India. Two men came to the gate and asked about what church the building was for.  One was a minister for a Christian church.  Invited them in to see the building and to listen to two young men who came.  After listening one of the men said, “I always did believe that Jesus would have just one church.” PMG, p. 9 – Elder Oaks quote.  Align your will with that of Heavenly Father.  Suggestion PMG, p. 19, p.2.  Study time becomes more meaningful and purposeful as we focus on understanding the Atonement.  May give you the great desire to share the gospel. 

Elder Gifford Nielson – First Quorum of Seventy – newly sustained – Preparation for this day; D&C 50:22, 24. I have done the same.  This may be your perfect day to be instructed by and Apostle of the Lord.  Expressed gratitude for Elder Oaks, who was Pres. of BYU when Elder Nielson attended there as a student.  Pres. Oaks hired LaVell Edwards to be the football coach.  As his FB coach LaVell has had a great impact on his life.  Recently had open heart surgery in December; as he came out of surgery, all connected up to tubes, etc., said to his wife please call the bishop.  We are not going to be able to attend tithing settlement.  Please tell him we are full tithe payers.  Timothy, “Be thou an example of the believers” – A key for him as stake president setting apart his missionaries – counsel them to be the kind of companion that each of their companions will say about their mission, “the best part of my mission was the time I spend serving with Elder _________.”  You are a prophetic priority.  You have the Prophet and Apostles praying constantly for you.  Enoch’s call, Moses 6:26-27, 31-33, Moses 7:13 – can that happen to you?

Elder Whitney Clayton – Presidency of First Quorum of Seventy – Told experience with mission president in Canary Islands, the Hawaii of Spain.  Goldar – no baptisms for 10 years.  Impressed to send a very dedicated missionary with 6 weeks left to go, together with a brand new missionary to Goldar to baptize before going home.  Found a family with 3 + 2 children, plus two more = 5 baptisms in 6 weeks after 10 years without any. Does not take some extraordinary thing – just obedience and faithfulness.  Returning members to activity is just as important as baptizing.  D&C 4:4, Alma 23:5, 6, 7.  Be careful that you turn people to the Lord by inviting them . . . it is not about you.  Be careful.  Heard quoted by one of the Twelve, “It is an offense to a sacred ordinance to baptize someone who has not repented.”  Help others bury the weapons of their rebellion . . . you do the same.  D&C 112:30-32 – the power of having an Apostle with you.  “Blessed to open the last dispensation . . .” (from Praise to the Man, opening hymn)

Elder Dallin Oaks – Quorum of the Twelve – this assignment is a first for him to have 4 Seventies with him.  Always has at least 1, has had 2 many times, once or twice had 3, but never 4.  D&C 28:8 – “sent out to establish the Church.”  By teaching conversion; by teaching retention; by teaching re-activation.  You are FT missionaries.  General Authorities are FT for the term of their call.  Once President Packer told the Apostles, “Your calling is to grow old and die on stage.”  FT for life.  Few people in the Church are full-time in their callings.   It is a choice time to be a FT servant of the Lord.  Update on Pres. Monson – looked terrible for the week after Sister Monson passed away; great concern for him felt. The next week he looked perfectly normal, even energized.  Confirmed Elder Clayton’s quote, “It is an offense to a sacred ordinance to baptize someone who has not repented.”  Challenge – can you find a scripture that talks about baptism that does not have repentance related to it.  You should never think of baptism without repentance.  RE: repentance – so often tied to remorse, sorrow.  But true repentance means CHANGE!  Even by degrees it is change. Repentance accompanied by confession to those we have wronged.  Repentance precedes baptism. Repentance precedes taking the sacrament.  The Spirit of the Lord will not dwell in unclean tabernacle.  We each must repent. . . “that they may always have His Spirit to be with them.”  D&C 20: 77

My scripture reading program – I don’t find a lot of spiritual nourishment reading the census of the Twelve Tribes in the Old Testament.  Reads the other three Standard Works in rotation, with the O.T. every 4-5 years.  Also studies scriptures by topic.

“Establish My gospel . . .” before the Church was organized.  “Establish my Church . . .” after the Church was organized.  It is an ongoing process.  “Establishing my gospel” is centered on Christ’s Atonement.  “Establishing my Church” is centered on the Lord’s prophet, and the keys he holds for all the ordinances and the blessings that flow from them.  Missionaries are doing both.

Letter from missionary grandson about 4 years ago, never felt to share it, but does today.  Re: How to start a conversation with local residents.  Would you like to know why I am here?  (principle – how do you get people interested to listen to you?)  “We are here because we know families are meant to be eternal.  We know that Christ’s Church was lost from the earth.  It has now be brought back.  May we tell you more about why we are here.?”

P-day is a missionary day too.  Do GA’s have a P-day?  Yes.  Usually Monday.  After returning from assignment we don’t go into our office on Monday.  “get our hair cut” haha. 

Influence of leaders in our lives (Elder Nielson’s reference to Coach Edwards).  My stake president as a graduate student at U of Chicago, John K. Edmonds.  People’s lives are touched one on one.  Every servant will touch someone. Be worthy.  Be willing.  Be anxiously engaged, and the Lord will use you. 

Story of meeting Olsen Amu, patriarch in Los Angeles area, Chinese ancestry, but grew up in American Samoa.  His family gave the land for the Samoan Temple.  Where did your name come from?  Did not know.  Father died as a baby and mother died when he was two.  He was raised by other family members.  No one ever told him why he was named Olsen.  He was told he was named for a great teacher that was beloved by the people.  Elder Oaks asked about his parents, what year would they have lived in Apia and gone to school there.  Did some quick calculations, then said, “I will tell you who you are named for.  My great grandfather was called to serve as a teacher at the Church school during the time that Bro. Amu’s parents would have been attending.  They loved the teacher and named their son for him.

You are called to teach by the power of the Holy Spirit. Conduct your life so you can.

Today for you it is missionary work.

For your lifetime it covenants.  Make them!  Keep them!

Special Guests

 

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert

Father Mike, Teresa, Elder and Sis. Skinner

 

Teresa, Archbishop Listecki, and Father Mike

The Hand Of The Lord...

 

18 June 2013

The Hand of the Lord is always in His work.  Yesterday proved again that this is true.  What a blessing it is to see Heavenly Father’s hand in His work, as we surely did!

More than a month ago I attended the annual stake high priest quorum meeting.  Branch president, David Calderwood, invited me to accompany him on Sunday evening.  We road in his sports car to Hall’s Corner, (Milwaukee suburb) where the Milwaukee South Stake Center is located.  President Bruner, the stake president, spoke at length about the Tabernacle Choir coming to Milwaukee.  He emphasized that the purpose of their coming was to increase missionary work.  He told us that we should buy tickets, then, pray to know the right persons to invite.  He said, “If you don’t have the money to buy tickets, then, pray to know how to have the money.”  I was touched by his bold counsel.    

When I came home I shared with Vicki what the stake president had counseled. We agreed that we should be obedient.  I went on line and ordered 4 tickets.  They were about $45 each.  For us, this was a significant amount.  Following this, we began praying to know who we should invite to accompany us.  After a week or more had passed, we decided to invite hermana Cecilia Roman, a recent baptism in the branch.  She has a non-member friend that we asked her to invite to accompany us.  After a week or so Cecilia said her friend would be out of the state at the time of the concert.  So we began praying for direction on who else to invite.  We finally settled on inviting Father Mike Newman, a fellow volunteer at the Shalom Food Pantry whom we have become acquainted with.  Fr. Mike is a retired Catholic priest who lives at St. Marks rectory in Kenosha. 

Fr. Mike accepted our invitation.  Neither he nor Cecilia knew much about the Choir.  We e-mailed a link to Fr. Mike from the Choir’s website regarding the 2003 Midwest Tour.  It has samples of their performances, and people sharing their experiences in attending previous tour concerts.  Fr. Mike became more excited about going.  We gave Cecilia a CD of the Choir.  She also became more excited. 

Sunday, June 16, the day before the concert, Cecilia reluctantly told us she did not think she would be able to go.  Her daughter would likely have to work on Monday evening, making it necessary for Cecilia to take care of the two grandchildren.  We asked her to let us know if she couldn’t go, so we could try to find someone else to use the ticket.  Cecilia texted about 8:30 Sunday night, saying she would not be going with us, and apologized. 

Vicki and I immediately began thinking of who we might invite in Cecilia’s place.  We made a list and decided to ask Heavenly Father what we should do.  We slept on the dilemma.  In the morning we had thought of Barb, the director of the Shalom Food Pantry, where we volunteer.  Then the thought came to call Fr. Mike and explain to him what had happened, asking him who we should invite.  We did so.  One of his first suggestions was Barb.  Vicki and I went to the Pantry to see Barb.  It was about 10 AM.  We told her about the concert and explained that Fr. Mike was going with us.  She became very excited about the Choir and the opportunity to hear them in person.  But then she explained that she had a meeting scheduled Monday evening that she could not miss.  How she wished she could go. 

At that point, we called Fr. Mike back and explained to him that since he knew so many more people than we did, we would like to put it in his hands to invite someone to use the extra ticket.  He agreed to do it, and to let us know how things progressed.  We continued to pray that Fr. Mike would be guided to someone who would be blessed by going with us. 

A couple of hours later he called to say that he had talked to several people.  He related that each one he had talked to spoke very enthusiastically about being able to hear the Choir, but they all had previous commitments Monday night.  He said he had talked to John, a close friend who is now in his eighties, and who has had a funeral home business for decades in Kenosha.  John very definitely wanted to go, but was up north at his cottage, but thought he could be back by 5 pm.  Our plan was to be on the road by 6 pm.  So we said John would be great, and let it go at that.  At about 4:30 pm Fr.Mike called again to say that John would not be back in time to accompany us.  He explained that a lady named Teresa Setter, who was the director of music at St. Mary’s Parrish, and a friend of his had come to his mind.  He had invited Teresa and she excitedly accepted.  She was very familiar with the Choir, loved their music, and could not believe she would actually be having the opportunity to hear it in person.  Vicki and I felt good that we finally had two guests to accompany us. 

We went by to pick up Fr. Mike just before 6 pm.  Teresa was waiting to meet us at St. Mary’s church when we arrived.  Finally, we were off to Milwaukee for the concert.  Both our guests are long-time residents of Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee.  They knew much of the history of the area and delighted us with accounts of happenings and landmarks that we knew nothing of before.  Our 45 minute drive was very pleasant and without incident.  I had gone to Mapquest for driving directions to the Milwaukee Theater. We had them examine them and they said they could navigate us there much more directly, and they did. 

We arrived at the Theater in downtown Milwaukee before 7 pm, and parked in the structure behind the Theater.  We made our way into the Theater with the multitude of excited people who had also come to enjoy the Choir.  Our seats were in the balcony, just off center and perhaps 6 rows up.  It was a perfect place from which to enjoy the performance.  The Choir and Orchestra were already in their places on stage.  The entire stage was filled with people. 

At the appointed moment, Mack Wilberg, Choir director, walked on stage, took the director’s podium.  The concert was underway.  The Choir performed two beautiful Welsh hymns.  At the conclusion of the second one, Teresa said, “I think I am in heaven!”  As the program continued through the evening, both of our guests were filled with joy at listening to the Choir live.  Repeatedly they expressed their wonder and appreciation for being present.  The program came to a close with the Choir singing “Come, Come, Ye Saints,” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”  Then came a standing ovation.  The director returned to the stage for the encore, “God Bless America.”  Then came the second encore.  The announcer explained that it was a tradition for the Choir to invite a local, well-known and loved person to direct the final encore.  As he introduced the guest conductor, Archbishop Jerome Listecki, he came on stage, baton in hand, stopped before going on the podium and crossed himself.  A huge smile came to his face as he stepped up and began to direct, “This Land is Your Land.”  It was obvious that the Archbishop was enjoying himself.  He was dressed in his formal habit, with his little red cap on his head.  Several times he had to grab the hat to keep it from slipping off as he conducted.  He conducted the Choir and Orchestra with great enthusiasm.

When the Archbishop was announced, Fr. Mike and Teresa were stunned.  Their mouths dropped open and they gasped, “Archbishop Listecki here?  To direct the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?”  Then they seemed to relax and thoroughly enjoy it.  At the conclusion of the number the Archbishop stepped off the podium, grinning, knelt on one knee and crossed himself again.  Obviously his prayer had been answered.  Our guests, over and over, expressed their wonder at what they had just seen. 

As we descended to the lobby we found the Archbishop there greeting people.  It was apparent that he was still enjoying himself.  Both Fr. Mike and Teresa knew the Archbishop personally.  We had them pose together and took their picture.  Fr. Mike was so excited.  He said, “Wait until I show that picture to my colleagues.”  What a marvelous, unexpected conclusion to an amazing evening with the wonderful Choir.

Kyle Vincent, son of our dear friends from Parowan, is a member of the Choir.  We had e-mailed with the Vincents and they with Kyle to try to arrange for us to meet him in front of the Theater after the concert.  So we waited there for nearly 20 minutes without seeing any of the Choir members appear.  What we didn’t realize was that the Choir members were all changing into their street clothes and preparing to board the 11 buses that would take them to their hotel.  Finally we decided that we would not be able to meet Kyle.  We began to go to the parking structure behind the theater.  As we turned the corner of the theater and walked down the sidewalk, the choir members were coming from the back of the theater out to the front where their buses were awaiting them.  All wore nametags.  We watched for Kyle but did not see him. 

About half way through the block I observed a couple walking with the Choir members, and said to myself, “that is my cousin.”  As we met, he recognized me as well and we shook hands and embraced.  It was Elder & Sister Craig Cardon of the Seventy.  I am afraid my, “Well, hello my cousin,” was probably not the appropriate greeting to be used with a member of the Seventy.  But it was what it was.  They explained that they were on assignment from the Brethren to accompany the Choir on this tour.  We introduced them to our guests and visited for a few minutes before going our separate ways.  It was a sweet “family moment” for me.   In retrospect, I am a bit embarrassed that I was not more formal in greeting them.  They were very warm and kind and acted like all was as it should be.  However, I feel I owe him an apology for being too familiar in that setting. 

As we were leaving downtown Milwaukee, Teresa insisted we stop at Leon’s, a long time Milwaukee tradition.  Their frozen custard is always in high demand.  We each enjoyed the butter pecan cones and visited as we started the drive home.

As we drove back to Kenosha, the opportunity presented itself for me to explain many things regarding the LDS Church.  A Restoration discussion was shared with our friends.  After explaining what the Book of Mormon is and its role in the Church, I offered to give a copy to Fr. Mike.  He did not respond, so I said I certainly did not want to in any way jeopardize his position at the rectory where he lives.  Teresa just laughed.  We all did.  Teresa told us that her choir is going to be singing “Battle Hymn of the Republic” on Sunday, June 30^th for the 9:00 am mass.  She invited Vicki and me to attend with her.  We accepted her invite.  It has been a while since we attended mass.

While we arrived home very late Monday evening and were both very tired, we rejoiced in the fact that Heavenly Father had answered our prayers.  It was His hand that was in the process of inviting the right people to the concert.  Truly these two were supposed to be there. 

How grateful we are to be His servants.

Mormon Road...

 

At the Mormon Road turn off to Burlington, WI

 

Kenosha District at Mormon Road

 

Miguel, Eric, Lupita and girls

 

Kenosha 2nd Branch, Primary

 

The 5 Euro Note!

Wearing The Badge...

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 15^th. 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 17^th, 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 29^th 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

The Sun Is Out In Kenosha!

4.22.2013

Dear Family & Friends,

Today, Monday, is a beautiful sunshiny day.  To look out the window is to see green grass that is now growing up everywhere, but it is also to see barren trees everywhere, with no sign of leaves yet.  I suppose it is with the plants as it is with us; each one in its own time and season.  We certainly find that with those we try to share the gospel with.  Everybody must go through the readying process that they require.  So, apparently grass is ready to grow, and the trees are still getting there.  Have faith!  Spring will yet come to Kenosha!

Kelly finds his Danish roots in Racine.  Since the last writing we have been blessed by a short visit from Shelley and Kelly.  Coordinating their visit with a business trip to Chicago, they arrived late Friday PM, 4/12.  How wonderful to see family again!  And to be able to visit in person!  It was a stormy day, but we nevertheless took the short drive north to Racine along the Lake Michigan Circle Tour route.  It was not a beautiful view, but the Lake was there.  (Incidentally, the LMC Tour route takes interested persons on a 1,100 mile journey around Lake Michigan.  It purports to be a wonderfully scenic drive, with tons of interesting attractions.  Much is available on the Internet about it.) 

In Racine we went to an authentic family owned Danish bakery, where we purchased a “Kringle” to bring back home to enjoy. Kelly was right at home in the bakery.  The Jespersons are Danish.   The Kringle is a delightful pastry, about 14” flat oval-shaped with hollow center, and made of secret recipe crust layers, filled with amazing combinations of fruit filling, and lightly glazed.  Delicious, but also rich.  Not for every day, but definitely for special occasions.  Racine is known for their Kringles.  They are in high demand during the Christmas season.

After getting our Kringle, we returned to the apartment to enjoy a nice home-cooked meal, visiting, and then partaking of the prize.  Goooood!  All of it, not just the Kringle.  Vicki still does her magic in the diminutive apartment kitchen.  As always, she is amazing!  We’d hoped our guests would stay overnight and spend Saturday morning with us.  But, alas, Chicago beckoned to them and they returned, very late to their hotel.  It was wonderful to see them, but Saturday it was back to our regular routine.  

MP Interview.  Fast forward to Friday, 4/19.  President & Sister Jones came to do interviews with our district.  This was our first opportunity to visit with them personal like, since arriving the first week of January.  It will be our last also.  They will be going home the first of July, and President & Sister Cutler from SLC will be coming into the mission.  It is always exciting to experience changes in church leadership.  We do not know the Cutlers, but have heard great things about them.  President Cutler will be the third engineer to preside over the Milwaukee Wisconsin Mission.  President Jones told us that several general authorities, including a member of the Twelve, are coming to Milwaukee to do area priesthood leader training in June.  He is trying to get SLC to agree to do an all mission conference in connection with that training.  That would be awesome. We will see what happens.  Incidentally, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square is touring the Midwest during June as well.  We have invited Cecilia and her non-member friend, Teresa, to accompany us to the Milwaukee Theatre performance on Monday, June 17^th.  Cecilia is the recent baptism we are teaching NM lessons to.  She is progressing very well.  It would be an experience of a life-time for her and her friend to attend the performance.  We’ll see how it progresses. 

We continue fill our time with less active visits, visits to teach NM lessons, teaching our much loved Primary classes, giving service at the Shalom Food Pantry on M & W.  We finally got to visit with the Racine Correctional Institution chaplain, Ray Cole, and the wheels are turning for us to perhaps do some “pastoral visits” with LDS affiliated inmates.  Pastoral visits, we learned are one on one visits.  A need and interest on the part of the inmates must be determined first.  We prepared, in English and in Spanish, bulletin board announcement sheets for the inmates to make their interest known to Chaplain Cole.  If that interest materializes, we will take the next step of arranging to make visits.  When we visited the chaplain, we presented our clergy credential to him.  He said we had already passed the background check and he did not really need to see our clergy license.  So there you have it . . . . if you can pass the background check, you are in.  If you cannot pass, your fishing/hunting license, driver’s license (even English), social security card, bar card (lawyer type), nor temple recommend will get you in, not that you really want in that place anyway.  It’s okay!!!  We will see how it progresses.  (As a side note, church service to inmates is not a missionary responsibility, but a stake responsibility.  President Jones reminded us that our mission is “to invite others to come unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored gospel, through faith on Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.”  He said the inmates are not able to be baptized until they have satisfied their obligation to society.  At one time the Church did have representatives serving the prison.  But somehow that has been lost.  Maybe we have no LDS affiliates in the prison.  That would be a good thing. 

The Basic Music Course.  Vicki started the Basic Music Course instruction on Saturday, 4/20.  She taught a lesson to the mother and daughter of our Hernandez family in Elkhorn.  We returned to Kenosha and she taught a class of 5 youths and 2 moms from the branch in the afternoon.  Vicki was pretty stressed out about how it was going to go, but it appeared to go well.  It is a beginning.  The course starts with the rudiments of music, then directing, then basic keyboarding.  If some new blood can be developed to provide music and teach others to do the same it will be a great blessing for this branch.  We are almost without at this time.  We will see how it progresses.

Getting to know Eric.  For the past two months we have been assigned as HT/VT to hna. Lupita Mancera in Racine.  She was baptized in the branch about 2.5 years ago.  Sometime thereafter she found Eric and they fell for each other.  They moved in together.  Now two years later they have two children, Emily, almost 2 and Zayra, born Feb. 1.  Eric is a NM, also a non-divorced husband from a previous marriage.  Obviously Eric and Lupita are not married, cannot get married until Eric gets a divorce from his previous wife.  They are probably about 30ish in age.  Lupita was so excited when we first visited her two months ago.  She is feeling the Spirit again in her life after missing it for a long time.  We go and teach her every two weeks.  She has missed her contact with the Church and is excited to have it back.  She realizes she has the dilemma of not being legally married to deal with.  One of her first inquiries was about whether Zayra could be blessed in the Church if she and Eric were not married.  Two weeks ago when we visited her, we felt impressed to ask if we could come back when Eric would be home and get to know him.  She said she would ask him.  She did.  He gave his okay and we went to meet him on Tuesday night last week.  We noticed the first time we visited Lupita that there was a candle burning in front of a picture of a young man.  We asked about it and she explained that Eric’s brother was killed a couple of years ago in a shooting.  The picture was of him.  The Catholic way is apparently to burn the candle in front of the picture.  Not sure what that is supposed to do, but it is what it is.  So Vicki suggested that we go to meet Eric, get acquainted and then talk a little about the Plan of Salvation and how it applies to Oscar, Eric’s brother.  Vicki was inspired to make that suggestion.  I had other things on my mind that I had thought to talk to him about, like manning up and getting a divorce so he can marry Lupita.  Anyway, I was wise enough to follow Vicki’s counsel.  Eric was very receptive.  We read from Alma 40 about where the spirits of all men go when we depart this life.  His response was, “This is very interesting.  I’d like to know more.”  Perfect!  So this week on Wednesday, we will return, with the elders to begin teaching Eric.  Maybe Eric is ready to bloom spiritually??  Heavenly Father knows such things.  We will see how it progresses. 

Can Dominga learn to read?   Dominga Morales, recently baptized mother of hno. Emilio Aquino, is in her mid-70s.  She cannot read or write.  Grew up in a tiny Mexican pueblo.  She has a wonderful spirit about her.  We gave her a Book of Mormon to hold close to her heart while she listens to the CDs of the BofM.  The branch president called and wondered if we might be able to teach Dominga how to read.  Well, who has a special education background and knows how to do things like teach people to read???  That would be Amazing Vicki.  So she went to work to figure out some way to assess Dominga and then to see if she has the desire and the capacity to learn to read.  Friday last week was the first lesson.  Just like school, a lesson has homework that goes with it.  So once a week a lesson and homework.  We will see how it progresses. 

German blesses the sacrament!  German, Dominga’s son who was baptized with her, finally  was ordained a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood by the branch president.  (We thought his brother Emilio, and elder, and counselor in the branch presidency, should have been the one to ordain him, but . . . . )  Well, yesterday it was wonderful to see German come to church dressed in a white shirt (collared) and tie, and even slacks.  He’s always come in jeans and T-shirt before.  He was assigned to be at the sacrament table with his nephew, Giovanni, who is getting ready to submit his mission papers.  Giovanni schooled German a bit before the meeting started.  German did his part wonderfully well.  What a joy to see the locals magnify the priesthood.  It has now been a couple of weeks without missionaries at the sacrament table.  That is a step forward for the branch in my opinion.  Yea!  We will see how he progresses.

As you can see we are continuing to enjoy the blessings of serving in the Lord’s work.  We trust each of you is doing the same wherever you are.  What a blessing to see the Lord’s hand in our efforts, not always the way we had anticipated.  We are excited to be with family members for little Reed’s blessing in Snowflake AZ on May 5.  What a wonderful blessing it is to have this marvelous family.  Each one of them is a keeper!  We love each of your dearly!  Wyatt will be turning 12 in May and is readying to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and be ordained a deacon.  Wonderful stuff is happening!  How blessed we are! 

Love to each of you. 

Charles & Vicki

Rain In Kenosha!!

Dear Family & Friends, "April showers bring May flowers." We will see how true it is. Rain this morning and good possibility of it off and on most of this week, although it might turn to snow flurries later in the week. The temp ranges from the low 40s to the mid 50s. Brown grass is starting to show some green, and what look very much like leaf buds starting to show on trees. So this must be the beginning of spring in WI. What a wonderful General Conference! We enjoyed being able to watch the Sat. sessions in our apt. on the internet. Priesthood session was at the church. The R.S. room was set up for Spanish. I am very sorry to say that not one branch Hispanic adult or youth showed up for the priesthood session broadcast. Hard for me to understand, but apparently that is where we are at with the branch. Sunday morning we took hermana Cecilia, one of the recent baptisms, with us to conference. Turned out the Spanish broadcast in the R.S. room would not give any volume, so she had to watch the English transmission in the chapel. Fortunately she does fairly well with English. She said afterwards that she enjoyed it. She was most impressed with how big the Church is, its worldwide presence. She loved the choir. She's heard things about the Tabernacle Choir. It is coming to Milwaukee in mid-June. So to be able to listen to "Music & the Spoken Word," as well as the conference music was special for her. My restless companion has prodded us to find service opportunities to fill in our free time. Consequently, we are now officially volunteers at the Kenosha Shalom Food Pantry. We are scheduled to serve on Wed. and Fri. from 9:30 AM until everybody has their monthly food given to them, about 2:30 PM. We are mostly escorts for the shoppers, explaining to them their options for commodities and the quantity limits they have. We also help with translation needs. We are the only Spanish resource they have. A lady and her daughter from Puerto Rico, who spoke only Spanish came on Fri. The director needed some translation help to get the lady registered and qualified to receive commodities. So we were able to help with that, as well as with escorting them for their shopping. Of course we wear our missionary name tags while serving there. We do not do any proselyting, but can answer questions if people ask. We have had nice opportunities to share what we are about with several of the other volunteers already. We are an LDS presence at the Pantry. We had talked about and planned to go to the temple in Chicago on Thursday. Since that is out of our mission boundary, we texted the mission president Wednesday night to ask his approval. He immediately called us and in his very kind and sweet way corrected us. He reminded us of the policy for missionaries, even senior missionaries, regarding attending the temple. Once every six months, or with members we are working with when they go to the temple. As President Jones talked to us, I felt the Holy Spirit remind me that we are here to serve others, not ourselves. Although it is a good, and wonderful thing, to go to the temple for ourselves, it is not the appropriate thing for us to be focusing on at this particular time. We were very grateful for the sweet inspired way that he re-directed us. How can you be upset when you feel the Holy Ghost confirming to you what your priesthood leader is teaching you?? As much as l love being in the temple, I am very grateful Heavenly Father loves me enough to give me reminders like He did on Wednesday night. Since our morning was open on Thursday, we decided to go to the church and do service by deep cleaning the kitchen. For some time we have both been commenting to each other of the need. Armed with some cleaning materials and determination to make a real difference in that kitchen, we went to work. Fortunately there were no local members hovering to pass judgment on whether some of the items long kept in the kitchen should stay. It was pretty amazing what we found. Some of the stuff just needed to go into the dumpster. The Salvation Army Thrift Store was the beneficiary of other stuff. Even the window curtain got washed, ironed and replaced. This building must be the only one that has no wet mop. Instead it has some kind of high pressure cleaner. It looks like it washes and then vacuums up the water. Only one problem. It doesn't work. So, as of Thursday, the building has its own wet mop, and it has been duly broken in and tested in the kitchen. We are making a list of other service projects at the church. The limbs from the pine tree that broke off during winter and are laying on the front lawn. The massive amount of lost and found articles, piled in the corner by the Primary room. Vicki has already taken over the long-neglected Primary bulletin board by the branch president's office. It now shows the monthly sharing time theme, with pictures and words to support it, all in Spanish. That companion of mine is amazing. How does she know how to do that in Spanish?? We have had wonderful, Spirit-filled visits with the recently baptized people that we visit each week, giving the new member lessons. We have completed the restoration lesson and will move on with them to the plan of salvation this week. These lessons are a review of the basic lessons they received from the missionaries as they prepared for baptism. Each new member needs to have the chance to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. We have had the opportunity to share doctrine of family history and temple work with them. They are amazed at such a wonderful doctrine. (We all should be!) Each of them has the "How do I begin my family history?" worksheet in Spanish. It is the starting place. We will soon see what resources are available for doing Mexican family history on the Family Search website. Each of them needs to experience identifying an ancestor and taking them to the temple. It will be an interesting process. We have a little Family History Center at the church. Twice we have visited there asking for direction. So far they have not been much help. But, if we can help our new people to find a starting place, maybe help can be found to proceed from there. Missionary transfers took place on Wednesday morning. We were asked to help shuttle some of the companionships to the transfer point, our Milwaukee South Stake Center, located in Hales Corner, to their new assignments. We now have Elder Fisher, from Florida, who has joined us in the branch. He has been out more than a year. Elder Ashcraft, from ID, was been sent to Neehah, up north, near Oshkosh. The mission received 19 new missionaries; 3 went home. You might think about the logistics of all these new missionaries President Monson talked about on Sunday. Think of the transportation and apartment needs that accompany them in each mission. New places of assignment have to be determined. Places are receiving missionaries that have not had them in the past. Elder Shumway, our mission "car czar," told us at the transfer point how desperate the mission is for more cars. He said he spoke to somebody at Church hdqtrs. about the mission's needs and was told that the Church just ordered 3,000 new cars to support these new missionaries. Do the math on that purchase. Even with the fleet prices the Church must pay for the cars, it is mind boggling to consider the financial impact to the Church of all these new missionaries. I don't think the change announced last October was a sudden inspirational idea that the prophet had. I think it was well thought out and planned for. It had to be. The ripple affects of that announcement are astounding. Our telephone and mail contacts with Stuart are very interesting. He has been telling us about meeting on Sundays with Bro. and Sis. Hale at the jail. After asking some him a few questions, we have determined that it is Steve Hale and his wife from Mesa who are serving in that assignment. We know them well. Stuart says he is reading the Book of Mormon, and doing a fill in the blank worksheet with his reading. He also has received the conference Ensign from last October and is doing some reading in it. He attends anger management classes too. He commented in one of his short letters that the idea had come to him that we had probably been praying that he would end up where he is at, so we could serve this mission without having to worry about where he is at or what he is doing. He did not seem to say that in any sense of anger. It was more like a light of understanding had come on in his mind. We constantly pray he will receive a sentence and prison assignment that will allow him to receive drug addiction help. We love him and know that Heavenly Father loves him. We hope he will be remembered in all of your prayers. As a result of the good experience Stuart is having with the Hales, we are looking into doing some volunteer work at the Racine Correction Center, a medium security prison located about 15 miles from where we live. We spoke with the chaplain by telephone last week. Our background checks should be completed this week and then we will be able to go into the prison and see what the situation is, and what opportunities may exist for the Church to have a presence there. How excited we were for little Reed Jesse Skinner's arrival on April 2. We are very thankful for this new grandson. We are thankful that his mother and he are doing well. His naming an blessing on May 5th will no doubt the most costly of any of our grandchildren for us to attend. But we will be there! We are very excited for that occasion. May will bring another Aaronic Priesthood holder to our family as well. Wyatt will turn 12, and be ordained a deacon. President Monson got my attention in priesthood meeting on Saturday evening when he talked about the huge number of missionaries that are serving are will be serving shortly. Then he said, in two years these will all be back home, and their places will be taken by you Aaronic Priesthood holders who are here present in this meeting. My thoughts immediately went to Preston, Jarom, Riley and even to Wyatt. It will come sooner than any of us realize. Our English missionary, Elder Jordan Jones, will have his 20th birthday this week; no longer a teenage boy, but a man, even a man of God. He has been very blessed by serving in the motherland. He has been and will continue to be a blessing to that historic country. We are very thankful for his faithful service. He is a blessing to our family as well! We reiterate Elder Nelson's invitation to each of us to catch the "missionary wave" as it moves forward. What an amazing time we live in. How blessed we are! Love to each of you! Charles & Vicki