Stories from Ruth #21

Last Monday we went to family home evening with the Barons and Phablo. Sister Carol drove us there, but accidentally dropped us off on the wrong street. I insisted to Sister Bastien that it was the wrong street and that this was definitely not the Barons's flat, however she decided to knock anyway and if not she would talk about the gospel. Let's just say that Phablo saw one of the worst tracking experiences I have had as a missionary.

 

She knocked and a small, vicious looking woman answered the door. Sister Bastien introduced herself and the woman gave a curt reply. When Sister offered her a card she stepped forward slightly and the woman shrinking back yelled at her to get her foot off of her door. With a smile Sister Bastien apologized, backed up and asked if she could show her the website. The woman agreed but refused to take the card since she read what the website was. Getting a little more exasperated Sister asked what the card said and the woman slammed the door in her face. Phablo was embarrassed and Sister Bastien and I were just laughing. Actually we all started laughing about that.

I love Sister Bastien. She is really good and is like me about the gospel. On my first day with her, she turned to me with a serious face and said "I don't know what you usually do, but we are doing both hours of study no matter what." I was so happy! We laugh all the time! Maybe a little too much, because we do it as we walk! And we almost always go overtime studying. I love it! I love teaching Phablo, because he makes us laugh and he is serious to learn more. He just doesn't understand since he was baptized before, but he will. Sister Perlini is already planning on what she is going to be cooking for his baptism.His friend Fabricio even told him that he will be going on a mission. He Will. If not now, he will. I have never been so convinced that anyone will be baptized on my mission than I have felt that he will. I know he will although it may take a bit of time. He knows it's true, he just needs to read and pray and he will be baptized. 

Whatever God commands is right. We cannot be selectively obedient. I really like Mosiah 4:10 "And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them." If you beleive these things, if you say that you believe these things, do them. Keep the commandments of God and then he will bless you and answer your prayers.

John's Conversation with Josh

As told by John:

I walked into the living room and Joshua was crying. He said "Mom told

me to pick up the living room, and I didn't do anything bad."

I think I laughed at that. Joshua told me he didn't like picking up

the living room.

I told Joshua that if he would tell me who in the family likes to pick

up the living room, then I would have them do it instead.

He couldn't think of anyone.

I asked Joshua what Mom was doing. He discovered she was doing the

dishes. I asked him whether she likes to do the dishes. He seemed a

bit bemused at the question, but decided the answer was "No.". Then I

asked him if Mom did something bad.

He said no.

I told him to clean the living room.

This Week at Our House #4 Just an Ordinary Week

The week went by pretty quickly and smoothly. I switched school up, and will keep it switched up until the end of the school year. I was really worried because I had been teaching Rachel, Anya, and Joseph science, history, and grammar and they were just not learning it. They would do the work and worksheets, but 4 months later not remember it at all. I decided that it was imperative for them to figure out how to study and how to truly learn things. Now instead of me teaching them, I am giving them the materials, sending them off to study it for two hours and then testing them. When they have it, I will give them the next thing I want them to study. This week, they had to learn about chemical bonds and valence electrons. Rachel and Joseph have passed it off with a 100%. Anya will continue to work on it until she has it learnt.

1. John has been working on some of his own software projects and math research. We know that he needs to find a way to support our family independent of other businesses. That may take a few years, but he is working on it, and helping Johnny to learn some things and work on them too. 
2. I read Pride and Prejudice to Kate and whoever else wanted to sit in and listen. I love that book. It is fun and written well. I am sad that it has ended. It was great entertainment.
3. Ruth seems to be doing well and studying hard. I am glad that she is still serious about gospel study. She studied all summer for several hours a day. 
4. Ruth was a good example to Kate. Kate has taken gospel study for mission preparation very seriously. She spends about a work days worth of time on it most days of the week. 
5. Johnny is a senior. But because he is so young, we are not sending him off to college next year. When we lived in Utah that seemed like a good option. I think he will just continue his education at home while preparing for a mission next year. He is doing online seminary for his final year, and we really like that.
6. Adam is a much better reader now than at the beginning of the school year. I want him to get even better, but I am going to have him work on studying things for two hours of his school day like Rachel, Anya, and Joseph. He passed off what I was having them learn in just one day. Adam has decided to learn to draw. He actually read a book on how to draw Japanese cartoons and has been working on it in his free time for a couple hours a day.
7. Rachel will be a young woman in just over two months time. She's so very tiny and little girl like. I hope she will do well with the change from primary to young womens. Kate had Ruth when she went in, and Ruth had our neighbor, Bonny. Rachel is all alone.
8. Anya really has spent two years ignoring her lessons, and I think she will have a harder time catching up. On a happier note, she has become interested in family history and has spent a lot of her free time on that. 
9. Joseph helped me move some very large grass bushes. They were deeply rooted and heavy. He struggled to carry them to my mulch pile, which is more of a hill now. After that he told me that it wasn't fair that I was getting so much of the yard for my garden. The funny part of that is my garden is going in an over grown section that the kids were not allowed to go into (because of snakes and thorns) until I started clearing it out. Though, I am sure his real meaning is that he does not like doing the work.
10. There were not many seats at church when we got there today, so half our family had to sit in the foyer. Josh was sitting out with John. After looking around, he announced in a voice that all could plainly hear: "Look, one of those boys has a pink bow tie. I think it looks ridiculous." From the way he said it, Joshua thought it was pretty funny. The teenage boy wearing the tie replied with a smile "Thanks".
11. Arwen is always coloring. Crayons and coloring books were what she asked for for Christmas and she spends a couple hours each day coloring.
12. Suzy only pooped her pants once this week. I think she is finally getting it. But we will see. I am afraid to speak too soon because it has been so hard to potty train her.
13. Sam is into everything. He stacks boxes in the pantry to use as a stool. When he grabs onto the shelf, he uses it to swing. Sam is only 14 months old! I cannot even imagine what it will be like in a few more months or in a year.

Pictures

This is Joshua's fairy house

This is Arwen's fairy house

Our cat has decided the roof is a nice place to be. He is often seen sitting on the very top. He had just come down to check on what we were doing.

Samplings from the Story Club

From Joseph:

Disney Take Over

 

There was once a large company called Disney. People loved Disney. It was buying off companies like crazy. Disney was buying so much, no one could defeat them in being liked. Disney one day bought off google and their plan was complete. Suddenly, they sent out huge armies and ruled the entire world.

From Anya:

The Cheating Knight

 

Once there was a knight. He was the biggest and boldest. But he wasn't really the biggest and boldest. The only reason he is do big and so bold was that he cheated. He always was the richest, so he always went to the wizards, for he could afford it. If you saw what he really looked like, you would say he looks nothing like what it seems. He would always win the hardest battles. And when he went off to war, the spell had gone away. And the cheating knight also had gone away.

From Adam:

Untitled

 

Once there was a large family who lived in Pokeyville, North Somewhere. The eldest brother would make cookies a lot.  The fourth brother would always steel cookie dough. One day when Johnny (the eldest brother) was making cookies, Josh, (the fourth brother) was plotting. When Johnny finished making the cookie dough, Johnny noticed the missing chunk and went in search. He found Josh underneath the counter who had just stuffed the last little bit in.

Johnny said, "Josh what you took was equivalent to 3 cookies. You will have no cookies for that."

When the cookies were made, everyone got some except Josh, the cookie dough thief.

From Rachel:

Mr. Hero and the giants

There was a cowardly man, but everyone thought he was brave and bold because his name was Mr. Hero. His kingdom was being attacked by giants. The king Kingworths decided to throw a ball where he would choose a man to a to fight the giants. Mr. Hero being a noble was invited to the ball, so he came to attend it. At the ball there were many nobles. Everyone was happy. In the corner were some nobles. One of them was a duke. His name was Duke Weston. And the other nobles names were Mr. Roman, Mr. Johnson, Lady Susan, and Lady Mary. They all were thinking the same thing, "why  Mr. Hero is sure to fight giants. He is a very successful man."

Stated Lady Susan, "well I quite a agree with you said Lady Mary."

"Yes, it does look like Mr. Hero is the right one to fight the giants," said the duke. 

"What a brave man Mr. Hero is," said Mr. Roman. 

Now Mr. Johnson being a shy man did not say a word, but he agreed with the others. The entire ball thought Mr. Hero was the perfect man to fight the giants. The funny thing was that when everyone was thinking this, Mr. Hero was comfortably laying on the couch eating a large piece of chocolate cake. He was very flattered by what people said about him. But he always was telling them that they were wrong and that he was quit a coward. But people would just laugh and say, "what a good joke Mr. Hero, but you can’t fool us with such nonsense. We know you’re a hero."

A large part of this problem came from his mother spreading quite the gossip about how heroic her son was. He did quite a lot of good deeds. He’s even slayed dragons according to his mother. Everyone believed her because of her high noble rank. 

Soon the king had silenced the ball. Then he began to speak.

"You all know why I have thrown this ball. Its because we must choose somebody to fight the giant. If they succeed they get my only daughters hand in marriage and an award of one million gold."

The king’s daughter was very pretty and kind. 

"Now any suggestions," said the king. 

Everyone pointed to Mr. Hero including the princess. Well I guess that means Mr. Hero must slay the giants. 

What Mr. Hero said, "I can’t face the giants."

"Don’t worry we paid for your life insurance and we have someone to introduce you to the giants." 

The next day Mr. Hero and the somebody went out to fight the giants. When they got to the giants they were both afraid. The giants stood ready to attack. 

"WHO ARE YOU?" the giants asked!! 

"This is Mr. Hero and he’s true to his name," said the somebody. 

"MR. HERO! OH NO HE WILL SLAY US WE MUST FLEE!!"

And so, Mr. Hero had defeated the giants without doing a thing. He married the princess who was proud to call herself Misses Hero. 

The End!

From Kate:

The Worth of Gold

Golden walls and floors and stairs. Wizard's work. There was once a wizard who wished to discover the secret to make gold from straw. When the King of the Land heard of this and also of the wizard's great repute, he summoned the wizard to him and commanded him that he would tell none but the King of his discoveries and progress, that he would come daily to the castle and that if he succeeded he would be greatly rewarded. This inspired the wizard to work harder than ever at the task. Everyday he came to the palace and everyday the King waited impatiently for gold but was always sorely disappointed. What the King did not know was that the wizard had learned the secret, but it was useless knowledge, for none have the power to turn straw into gold, one substance can only become another of less worth, and so only a fool who thinks straw better than gold can make the transformation. Now some have been able to do it once or twice, before the good effects of the gold proved it's greater worth. This knowledge made the wizard feel rather bitter indeed for what kind of spell would only work if for one who would not wish it too? As he walked home, pointy hat sagging heavily upon his grim head he heard a girl in the hills singing. He was not a great lover of music, nor was the voice a lovely one, but the words struck at his heart for he heard her sing:

"Grassy meadow, leafy tree
how I love to walk through thee
I like thee more than kingly power
or sacks of gold that fill his tower"

Within minutes he was with the girl. He handed her a piece of straw and asked her if she could sing for him a little rhyme he had made. She saw that he was handsome and kind and sang his little verse:

"Straw of farmers field and lawn
sparkling in the silver dawn
harden quick and shine bold
become a brilliant stick of gold"

The straw turned to gold directly.

He was elated but she only said, "It's just a gold stick, it can't be important, it doesn't live like the straw did, you can't even feed it to another living creature now. Honestly, I don't see how you wanted it that way. King's will crave and thieves will charge and it can't do any good but sit and look pretty."

This only made the wizard happier, for she truly didn't care for gold. He quickly asked her to marry him and she rather liked the strange man in the pointy hat so she assented.

"Why are you looking me up and down like a mule? Am I to carry a heavy load?" she queried. 

"No no, I will carry all the gold." replied he. 

And so they were married within three days, and every morning when she woke up he would hand he a piece of straw and beg her to sing his transforming spell.

The wizard did not bother to tell the King of his good fortune, for he believed the King would steel it. The King indeed did intend to steel his gold and suspected the wizard of keeping discoveries to himself, this was the reason he called him into the palace everyday and this was the reason he sent a spy to watch him in hopes of finding the secret to making straw into gold.

It only took a mornings peeping in through a window for the spy to see that the wizard had indeed turned plenty of straw to gold. Once he heard the spell and saw it's performance, he ran back and told the King. Both excitedly tried the magic words, but to know use. After a day of saying the rhyme in every imaginable way, the King was quite worn out and angry and sent an army of fifty to the wizard's cottage and brought him to the the castle in chains. Then the King demanded to know the secret to making gold from straw and vowed if the wizard did not tell him, his head would be severed from his body, as he was trampled by horses and burned to death. The wizard could see the absurdity in such a death, but he also did not want to try it, so he told the King of the uselessness in anyone who wished for gold reciting the spell, and his good fortune in finding a girl who could. He promised the King that he would have his wife give his majesty a stick everyday until they could find another fool to do it for him.

This was not enough for the selfish King and the woman was brought to him immediately. He then told her that her husband was his prisoner and would be until she filled every tower in his great castle with golden straw. The girl cried mightily and promised to do so to save the wizard.

She was then locked int a dark room full of straw and set to work. It was good for the King that the room was dark, for had she a candle she would have burnt the bundles of straw to the ground so tired was she of singing the spell. In these conditions, there was no hope of her liking the gold any better, for she and her husband were prisoners from it.

So she worked wonderfully fast in hopes of being free and was soon set to the last tower in the castle. She did not, poor girl, known that this work would actually be the end of her freedom and the wizard. For the King was too selfish to give her up and planned to kill the wizard and marry the little wife himself when she had completed her task.

The wizard however, had learned a great lesson in his small prison cell and had applied his great mind to something better than riches. He spoke first to his barred door:

"Lock holding me in here to dwell
let me leave this lonely cell"

The lock obeyed and he spoke to the guard:

"Sturdy guard standing nigh
sleep you soundly by and by"

The guard slumped to the floor and the wizard snuck to the last tower in the castle. He hid in the pile of straw and waited for his wife to be sent in. When she entered and the doors were locked behind her she sat down and cried and the wizard felt worse than ever for his own selfishness. 

Then he whispered to the wall and said,

"windowless wall hard as can be
open widely so we may flee"

And the girl, not hearing her husband, saw to her great astonishment the wall open before her. She came to the opening and saw the green meadows that she had so wished to see again and almost ran out, but instead just leaned against the wall and said:

"Thank you dear wall for setting me free from this room,
but I cannot leave my husband to his great doom."

And she sat down and began to turn straw to gold. When she came to the stack where he hid, the wizard took her hand and came out from the pile. Then he led her out the wall of the castle and together they fled the country together.

The King was left full of wrath and misery, which he had no right to be with a castle filled with gold.
The wizard never asked his wife to turn another sliver of straw into gold again. His wife was the only thing he could ever turn into gold, for she was the only thing to him of more worth.

From me:

The Candy Mouse
A little mouse
so fuzzy and grey
went out of his house
on a snowy day

Find something good
like crackers and cheese
It’s what you should
said, his mother, please

His feet did tingle
as he crossed the snow
and he heard a merry jingle
from the house below

That’s the right place
so cozy and warm
He looked for a space
to squeeze without harm

A tiny little hole
found under the floor
up through he stole
instead of the door

Tiny colored lights
shone in his face
giving small delights
as he searched the place

Hide though he must
being feeble and small
knowing not to trust
the wide open hall

Under he scurried
through a closet door
up he went, unworried
into a dark dresser drawer

He wiggled his nose
and quietly thought
while he gained his repose
he had not been caught

Now for what he came
he must look for cheese
and crackers to claim
if he were to please

His dear little mother
she was a good soul
unlike any other
to the pantry he’d go

Crawling around
he smelt something pleasant
food he found
a nice Christmas present

It was not the right food
of crackers or cheese
But he did conclude
it would definitely please

A nibble a munch
a wee happy sigh
this was the best lunch
he ever did try

He ate and he ate
so pleasant to dine
the taste it was great
delicious and fine

It must please my mother
this fine, luscious treat
I’ll search for no other
there’s nothing as sweet

He gathered the candy
in his tiny mouse paws
they weren’t very handy
but he did have his jaws

With a mouth full
another chocolate he held
he gave a good pull
down the dresser he felled

He got right back up
and scurried on home
His family would sup
in their underground dome

His mother was glad
“chocolate’s better than cheese,”
said his good old dad
who was so hard to please

Stories from Ruth #20

Monday was my last day with Sister Nunes! It was really sad, but we will see each other again! Also Elder Barfuss left as well! That means it is just me and Elder Williams left in Watford from last transfer. My new companion is Sister Bastien. She is originally from Mauritius but has been in Manchester the last few years. Do you know what that means? I'm going to touch up on my french! Sister Bastien is really funny and we get along well! She is really pumped and is very diligent! This week we couldn't get in touch with almost anyone, so we ended up doing a lot of finding. Finding is crazy but fun! We talked to a guy today and he said that he knew we couldn't be from England because we were singing, smiling, and friendly. That made me laugh a bit. Sometimes I wonder if it is a crime to smile and say hello in England. It has been sunny a lot of the week which is crazy weird for England. To me it feels like their isn't much sun but I am feeling blessed for what we have got. Saturday night we put on a sports night with the members and investigators. We were worried no one would show up, but it was a blast! Collette, Phablo and Fabricio came as well!

 

This week was really good! I feel really happy! We have not found anyone new to teach, which is rough. We went finding and tracting all day long for two days straight without meeting anyone who would listen. However, it was more than made up for with teaching Phablo. He is so good! We are also teaching Drau! She is really good! It is just hard to meet with her! We told her to read Moroni 10 and she accidentally read Moroni 1 and 2. She really enjoyed it though, but was a little confused. She is good though! This transfer we seem to just be teaching people my age which I really enjoy!

Oh some crazy tracting experiences. We knocked on a door of a pretty big and nice house. We started to look around. The door was black, and the name of the house was Sodom House. Inside the windows it was dark and we saw the outline of lots of black boxes. Then like Joseph, we ran. We also knocked on the door of a house that had what looked like a halloween leftover on it. There on the door was a skeleton which is you pushed a button stuck out a tongue, laughed creepily, and said welcome. I assure you that we felt anything but welcomed. There are also a lot of houses here in England that have old fashioned door handles that you pull and ring a bell.

This Week at Our House # 3 More Snow in North Carolina???

Life is busy, yet quiet. It's busy because we are schooling and feeding so many kids and it is quiet because we don't have the money to go anywhere, and therefore have as few obligations as possible. I like our little house and big-ish yard. I like that my kids can be sent outdoors when the house gets too noisy and bouncy. We had Joshua's birthday this week and another opportunity to play in some snow. I dug out more sod for my garden on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then to our surprise it began to snow Wednesday night, so we woke up Thursday morning to snow. With snow on the ground, and kids who were too excited to pay attention to lessons, I changed school up, and made Thursday talent day. The school kids had to spend time practicing the piano more seriously than usual, drawing and painting. I dumped out all the toys and organized them again. I also made sure they all had their math lessons and we spent an hour on Spanish. It was pretty fun to mix school up a bit. I think I will try that again in another month. 

1. I am anxiously hoping John will get another contract soon. It's so hard to be this poor. I want John to find a way to really start his own business to cure us of this unemployment curse. I realized this week that John hasn't been counted in unemployment statistics because he has been working contracts, and only the people who have had w-2 jobs and have applied for unemployment insurance get counted. I think that means that the unemployment numbers are much bigger than what is actually published. There are a lot of people who work contract work, so the employers are not responsible for health care and benefits.
2. I have several books on my mental list to read or reread this year. I love to just sit down with a good book. Once it gets past 10 pm, I just get in bed to read. If my kids want to hang out with me, I read out loud. I like this arrangement. It gives me time to relax and recoup.
3. Ruth has gone through another transfer. When we hear from her again, she will have had a new companion in the same area for about a week. I sure miss talking to her. 
4. I was reading Anne of Avonlea to Kate, because that is the book I was reading to myself in bed at night. Last night, when it said that Ruby Gillis has lots of beaus like she always said she wanted, Kate said it just makes sense. Girls who think a lot about math are bound to be good at math, and girls who think a lot about boys will be good at getting boys. That made me laugh. 
5. Johnny is John's good friend. They do math and programming together, and they have a variety of games that they always like to play. 
6. Adam is such a strong athletic boy. I have played basketball a couple of times with him. He is rather aggressive, but he almost always makes the basket he shoots for. 
7. Rachel wrote a very good story for the story club this week, but she left out all the punctuation except periods. Once she fixes that, I will get her story on here. She did spend most of her time this week either reading or writing. 
8. Anya painted the prettiest picture out of everyone on Thursday. Maybe she has a natural knack for acrylic paint. 
9. Joseph is really good playing the piano with his right hand. He can pretty much take any new piece of music and get the right had right away. It's been hard trying to convince him that he needs to learn both hands.
10. Joshua had his 7th birthday!! Kate and I made him a layered orca cake with two kinds of sponges and two kinds of fillings. It is the first time I have made a cake that tasted good and had a good rise and texture. Josh loved that it was a killer whale. He said that he had the best birthday. 
11. Arwen drew a picture of her and Josh getting married for Josh for his birthday. The next morning, when she woke up, she immediately declared that she would not share her birthday candy with Josh, if he would not marry her. She is so funny.
12. Taking a page from Arwen's book, Susan decided that she is going to marry Adam. Once she declared her intentions, she jumped on Adam and kissed him all over his face. Johnny hid under his blanket in embarrassment and tried again to explain to his youngest sisters that they cannot marry their brothers.
13. Samuel likes to be outside, especially on the warmer days.

Pictures

Drawing together. There's snow outside, so the hats and mittens bin is back in use.

Suzy kept snitching cake throughout the day, so by the time, we got to singing happy birthday, there was a chunk missing from the fin.

This is the cake before Suzy got to it. 

Arwen's Present to Josh

Since Josh got this set, he has built every single dinosaur. He keeps taking it apart, getting out the instructions and building anew.

Joseph and Anya made these space lego creations for Josh for his birthday

Kate making the pattern for the cake.

Fitting the cake to the board

Our first 1000 piece puzzle for the year

Adam made these pianos for their lego game.

Johnny made this lego robot for Josh for his birthday