This Week at Our House # 43

1. Ruth told me that I need to send emails to her on Saturday instead of Sundays, so I will now be writing my weekly blog posts on Saturday. We obviously had a busy and labor intensive week. Monday we put in about 90% of the wood floor in the living room. We will have the 10% of the living room, dining room, kitchen and possibly laundry rooms to go. We got just enough done to move our furniture into the living room. We got back to the rental at 3 am, so I postponed the moving truck until 2pm. I wanted us all to be rested before having to move so many pieces of heavy furniture. We got the truck, loaded up nearly everything, and left the rental about 9pm. We got to the new house at about 10:30 and unloaded enough stuff to get to our mattresses. We put the mattresses on the floor boards in the bedrooms, and went to bed around 2 am. The next morning, I drove the 30 minutes to the nearest Sam's Club and got groceries. When I got home, we moved in the refrigerator, washer and dryer and all the rest of the stuff into the garage. Most of our stuff will be stored in the garage until we get the carpets installed and the wood floors completed. Then we moved the piano in. That is always the hardest part. After that, we left Johnny and Rachel as the babysitters, returned the truck and went back to the rental to clean with Kate, Adam, and Anya. We left there after 9pm, came home and had dinner at 11pm. Thursday and Friday we took time off from the heavy labor. John enjoyed the yard. He's working on building a fire pit and archery and gun target. He took the boys shooting in our own yard for free on Friday!!! For the first time ever, John said he loves the place we bought. This is our third house. He always thought that the first was a mistake and that we were too extravagant. The second, he liked the house, but not the yard or neighborhood and it cost too much in the first place. Saying that he loved this house after only 3 nights was a big surprise!He never wanted the isolation of the country, but now I think he will never want to go back to the suburbs.
2. John didn't let me do any heavy lifting. I took care of a lot of the small things, the unpacking and organizing the living room, laundry room, bathrooms, and the rest of the kitchen. I look forward to starting to remove some turf to ready a plot for next year's garden. We have scallions growing wild all over the yard and native grapevines. I will be making grape juice, and I have already begun using the scallions. I love the kitchen, the deck, the bedroom set up, seeing the stars at my own home for the first time in my adult life, and taking walks around all the farms and woods. I think I will love it here. But the house is very tiny for such a big family. I am hoping that I will not feel cramped. We do have a huge garage, and that will make it easy for me to keep the clutter under control.
3. Ruth is getting a new companion. I look forward to hearing from her about it this week.
4. Kate worked and worked and worked. She helped with all of the heavy lifting and all of the deep cleaning. We forgot to bring the shop vac back tot he rental, so she used her hands to remove all the dirt away from the walls in the entire house. By Wednesday night, probably after midnight when all of the hardest work was done, Kate finally broke down and cried. She is a trooper. She will be a force for good in the world. There are not many 18 year old girls that will do what Kate did.We are grateful she was here. This move would have been much harder without her.
5. Johnny worked and worked and worked too. He did all of the heavy lifting too. He is growing into such a strong good boy. He did not break down and cry. He didn't even complain. Obviously Johnny has considerable endurance. He will make someone a great husband some day. 
6. Adam worked and worked and worked too. Just on Wednesday, he moved a refrigerator, washer, dryer, many boxes, mowed for 2 1/2 hours, cleaned 3 bathrooms, moved seats in and out of the van, packed all the stuff left at the house into the car, and then carried in some of it when we got home. That is in addition to putting in a wood floor on Monday, and moving on Tuesday. He did really well. He will be 13 in one week, and did the work of a man without breaking down.
7. Rachel was trooper too. I did not hear much complaining from her. She moved boxes and things that her scrawny little arms could carry, plus she spent a lot of time babysitting Sam. 
8. Anya endured well too and did all that she was asked to do. She came with us to clean. She washed down baseboards very carefully.
9. Joseph was impressive. He carried as many heavy things as we would let him and kept asking for permission to help move the heavy items.
10. Joshua played in the dirt while at the new house and played outside at the rental and generally just stayed out of the way. I think he likes the new house even without the carpeting because the yard is just incredible. 
11. Arwen played with Josh and kept an eye on Susan. The little ones were definitely neglected this week, but they seemed to understand and kept themselves out of the way and busy.
12. Susan is in heaven. She can finally safely go outside whenever she wants to. All of the toys are in the garage (awaiting carpeting) and she has been going in there to play a lot too.
13. Sam had a very hard week. He does not like moving. He was stressed out and clingy and very unhappy. After two days of less work, he is finally calming down. He will be one in two weeks. He is walking a lot more now too. I think he is at half walk/half crawl.

Pictures

The new living room. Sometime in the next year, I hope to be rid of all the ugly wall paper.

The kitchen and laundry room. It's a pretty big kitchen for such a small home.

The floors going in

mattresses on floor boards

Carpet goes in Friday, Nov 3rd! That will be a happy day!

Front yard

North field. The over grown area is where we will put the garden. It is about a full acre.

The bar is great for cooking with kids and eating at. I am so glad to have this option again. I did not expect to get it in a tiny and cheap home.

Saturday morning relaxing with the tv.

One of the cotton fields on the north side of the home.

The woods is the beginning of our property on the west side. This is the farm directly behind the house. It has been plowed for the winter. 

I love that we own some woods.

Fire ant hill. Unfortunately, we own several of these too.

Stories from Ruth #6

Saturday we went to a cemetery and helped cleaned it up and uncover graves. We have done this twice and I love it! We discover new graves all the time it's kind of cool and I'm sure my loving it has to do with family history. The cemetery is gorgeous! It's all woody and wild! We pulled off like five inches of moss and dirt and discovered a really old grave. There are these beautiful flowery trees that have grown over some of the graves and we hedge then so it's like a canopy around the grave that you can crawl into a hole sit down and see the grave, but outside it looks like a flowering tree. I love it! There is also the owners cute little dog that comes and helps me dig out the stones or chase away big toads. His name is Hugo and actually makes me wonder if I might like dogs.

We went to the beach! My first transfer and I actually go to go to the beach! It was awesome! The water was brown at first which was a little gross, but it cleared up as the day went on. Turns out It was because of this tropical storm in Scotland and Whales called Ophelia. Then the sky went brown that night. It Elder Grush's first time ever seeing the ocean which was kind of fun since he was ecstatic about everything. I think we went to Klacton in Essex and it was gorgeous and so relaxing. We ate fish and chips which were huge! I almost couldn't finish it. Best p-day so far.

I'm getting a new companion tomorrow, who was Sister Cooks MTC companion. Actually all the trainers in our district are leaving and all the greenies have to take over the Cambridge areas. I'm a little nervous because I still have no idea where anything is. Since we bike I kind of just follow Sister Cook and try not to get hit by a car. So next transfer is going to be so different! 

Nothing much happened this week because Sister Cook got really sick. We did see a few miracles as we needed a Romanian and a traditional Chinese Book of Mormon and just happened to find those two languages at the senior couples house, even though they don't have that many languages. We met this one girl in Parker Piece who just got married and moved from Brazil four days ago. She is interested in learning and is excited for us to help her learn more English which is going to be fun! Sister Cook and I also felt prompted to talk to this one girl who looked really sad and young. Her name was Nicole and she grew up in an atheist household. However, when she went to religious studies at school she felt like it was right and believes in Christianity. We had her read some of the Book of Mormon and she said she would like to read it someday. So we gave her a copy, and our contact. We can't teach her without parent permission, but I know she will read it, and she needed that copy then.  

This Week at Our House # 42

Whew what a week! And we are not even close to finishing what needs to be done. We got the keys to the new house on Monday and went there with Kate and Adam in the late afternoon. I thought I would be able to get all the carpets pulled and the bathroom and kitchen cleaned in about 3 hours.

I was very, very wrong. I went to pull out the carpeting and it just wouldn't come like it has in other houses. As we tugged and pulled, we realized that not only was the carpet glued instead of the typical tack boards, but the carpet was actually under the walls between the rooms. It turns out that the carpet was installed before the walls were put in. It took us 4 days to get the carpeting out and to the landfill.

Additionally, it took me two full days to get the bathrooms reasonably clean. It took Kate and Rachel two and a half days to get the kitchen all cleaned and washed down. Then we needed to wash all the walls and ceilings and ceiling fans. There was dog hair on every surface, as well as plenty of dirt, dust, and cobwebs.

Once that was done my parents bought us new toilets and new flooring.  Kate, Johnny, and I installed the new toilets last night, but the hoses connecting them to the water supply were too small, so we will need to buy extensions to get the toilets working tomorrow.

The kids did a good job with all of the work. The property is beautiful and the little kids were happy to be outside playing while Joseph, Anya, Rachel, Adam, Johnny, and Kate helped to clean and tear out carpeting. There is a spot near the deck where the former owners had a pool that now has very nice sand. That kept Josh, Arwen, and Susan occupied for hours.

When the kids needed a break from cleaning, I would tell them to take a walk around the property. 3 acres is pretty big, in fact, it is 10 times bigger than the yard in our rental and 30 times bigger than our yard in Utah.

There is this really nice deck on the back of the house, that I have loved sitting on. The kids have enjoyed exploring the woods and climbing the trees. The house was so filthy when we got in, that I was really second guessing myself on this decision, but once the nasty carpets were out and the house washed down and disinfected it began to seem nice again. I think we will like it there once we get the work finished and our family settled down and back on schedule.

We still have a lot to do. On Monday we have to install the wood laminate floor in the living room and hopefully through to the dining room. We will have to do whatever we don't get done after we move in, because on Tuesday, we are getting the moving truck and moving all of our stuff out of the rental house and into the new house.

Since the carpets will not be installed in the bedrooms and hallways, a lot of our stuff will have to be stored in the garage until that is done. We will just put our mattresses on the floor boards.

On Wednesday, we will come back and clean the rental, wash the carpets, and mow the lawn. Hopefully that will only take a couple of hours with several of us working.

It will be a very hard next three days. I am nervous about it.

Pictures

I actually did not take many pictures this week. I just had Adam take a few to send to Ruth. Pictures of the house and the floor installation will come next week. 

He has always hated shaving, yet this is his first beard

Stories From Ruth #5

My district is the best! We do everything together which is fun! I had the best hot chocolate this week. It was like a shot, but it was pure melted chocolate with some cream, a little whipped cream an honeycomb on top! It was heaven! They also let us taste chocolate and the sweet worker made chocolate caramel truffles and gave us some! It was wonderful! They also made chocolate in the shape of donuts, pie, and cupcakes!

I really think the thing I really learned about this week was acting on the promptings of the spirit. There was this one time where we were biking and I felt prompted to just turn around and talk to this girl. I decided to slow down to see what Sister Cook would do and she didn't didn't do anything. So I stopped and I said can we talk to this girl, and she said if I want. That didn't help, but after being very indecisive and backing off a lot, I went for it, prepared to be shut down. She was very sweet, her name was Lydia from Bulgaria, and she didn't know much English. The spirit was there and we talked to her and set up a return appointment. I was surprised and I knew it was the Lord. We tried to get a hold of her, but we forgot to tell her our names so I hope that's the only reason, but I know that no amount of missionary work is ever wasted. I know God wanted us to talk to her even if she had denied us. 

We had a day where we taught two amazing lessons, but found no one. Everyone we talked to or felt like we should shut us down and I know that even that they rejected us we needed to give them that choice to hear it and then reject it. 

We taught Chris and his family. They missed church, but we met a girl at church who knew Chris from university and her and her husband came teaching with us. When we got there we asked Chris if he had read the Book of Mormon expecting him to say no as he had before. However, he had! He had read to 1 Nephi 4 and started discussing it with us. Then his wife came in and she said that she would only stay five minutes, but we taught the plan of salvation and she stayed the whole time! We are even invited back! I am so excited for this miracle. I know there is nothing I did, but it is all the Lord. 

We taught this girl named An who has a friend named Sammi in the church. She is super sweet and does art, so I was excited. She has looked at other christian churches but never felt right. We taught her the plan of salvation and about prayer and she has been praying. This Sunday at church she said she felt strength and calm. We are teaching her again and I am so excited! 

We are also teaching Dan. He is super sweet and has given up all his alcohol and tobacco. Now he just needs to give up his tea and coffee which he said he will. He was introduced to the church by his friend Gary who was baptized invited him to it and he has been excited to learn and be baptized ever since. He knew it was true, because the spirit had witnessed that to him. 

Heavenly Father is definitely teaching me humility, because everyone we are teaching was not found by our own efforts. They were all introduced by other missionaries or had friends in the church. They are prepared and I am so happy that the Lord is trusting me to be a part of teaching them.

This Week at Our House # 41

1. We closed on the house on Friday.  John was quite unhappy with some of the terms of the loan, but struggled for a good ten minutes and then signed. Our last house payment was over $1500 a month and our current house payment will be well under $500. This at least is pleasing to John, but we do not know how we are going to like living in such a small home.
2. I had my 42nd Birthday! I had been thinking that I was 42 already, so when I was processing my age, I almost thought I would be turning 43. I think this might be an old person trait. I have to thank my parents who have offered to pay for new flooring in the house. The kitchen and dining and laundry have decent hardwood, but the rest is animal lived on 17 year old carpeting.This is a new thing for us. In essence we are trying out the tiny home life. The house has 1400 squ ft and is on a 3 acre lot. We moved from a 2400 squ ft home in Utah that many people told us was too small for our family. But we ended up in a 1650 squ ft rental and have done just fine. The upside of the tiny home, is that we will have 4 bedrooms instead of 3 and there is a very large 2 car garage that will be a very convenient for storage and crafts and running around on very hot or very cold days. I am excited to try out big gardening things and learning skills like soap making and maybe quilting.
3. I only hear from Ruth on Mondays and I write this blog, upload the pictures, and then download them again so that the files will be small enough to send to Ruth on Sundays. She has made me more scheduled with my blog writing. I had a nightmare that I forgot to email her on Sunday and when her p-day started she was really sad not to have an email. Monday morning is now a happy morning because I get to hear from Ruth. 
4. Kate saw the house for the first time. She thought the house itself was better than she imagined, but the yard worse. It is mainly fields with a small amount of woods and Kate would like more woods. But, as she said, she will be going on a mission in a year and then she'll get married and her husband can buy her a better house.
5. Johnny always forgets the one live seminary class he has each week, so he has to keep making up the class by watching it later.
6. We're trying to teach Adam that when he has some work to do, he needs to do a good and thorough job. He always tends to do a very sloppy job or just do part of the job. He used to do this with the dishes until he had to redo them several times and now he has been doing it with mowing the lawn. But now, he has to go back and redo. Hopefully, he will get less sloppy about work as he grows and learns.
7. Poor Rachel, she was excited for the primary program because she loves to sing. Well, she was given a very large speaking part and no extra singing part. She is taking it like a champ, but I feel for her. All Rachel has ever wanted is to sing. She will be 12 in 6 months, so this is her final primary program.
8. Anya has become a very dependable girl. I can ask her to do just about anything and she will do a good job and not complain about it.
9. Joseph loves, loves, loves riding his bike. When we move, I am going to have Joseph make a bike path around the property that will be good for biking and jogging. The house also has a good basketball hoop and I am very glad to get that to shoot some baskets with the kid. I think Adam and Joseph will be the most interested.
10. Joshua cares if he is doing well and learning in school. He is always asking me if he is doing a good job each day.
11. Josh turned to me a few days ago and said, "Do you know Arwen." "well actually, yes, I do. What do you want to tell me about her?" "She ate an ant."  Arwen, sitting next to Jsohua started laughing and said, "it was only one." So it is true. Arwen ate an ant. She said she ate it for Susan. Upon questioning, Arwen said that Susan screamed, ant, so she just grabbed it and ate it.
12. We found a gecko sitting on the hdmi cord in the house (that was a big surprise for Johnny who almost grabbed it). We caught it and put it in a jar for the kids to play with before letting it go. Susan really liked it, and whenever anyone took the jar out of her hand, she would yell, "Give me my echo." That was too cute, so we named it Echo the Gecko for the 18 hours that we kept it.
13. Sam is 11 months old. The year of his babyhood has sadly gone by fast, but I have enjoyed nearly every minute and every cuddle. He's such a sweet and fun baby.

Pictures

Stories From Ruth # 4

 I read Alma 40-42 and the next two days we met people who believe in reincarnation so it was fun trying to correct that. My district consists of three Americans which is unusual since forty percent of those called to my mission are American. Sister Cook, Elder Brush and I are from America. Elder Anderson, the big guy, is from New Zealand, Elder Klobtitch is from Slovenia, and Elder Dineir, who does not know Bonnie and his name sounds like a French pronunciation of dinner, is from Germany. I thought it was also interesting that all the trainers are loud and crazy with brown eyes, and all those being trained in our district have blue or green eyes and are quiet but clever.
Today we had to help the Elders and the senior couple move flats, so it took up most of the day. Sister Westensckow is very sweet and makes the best treats. Her lemon cake is the best I have ever had. We went to a lot of members homes and I think you ( the family) would be pleased about how good so many people are. There are two young couples, the Lucas's and the Neilson's where the mother had children and is staying home and although they get a lot of slack, especially the Nielsons since her husband is in school, they stand up for families and love teaching about it.

I have been fed a lot.

I'm not sure I will have a week on my mission where I don't say a lot has happened. Monday we went to the church in Barry and had a barbeque with the elders there. Then we came back to Cambridge and went to FHE where we watched the rest of general conference. We are teaching a few people, but we are still mostly finding. There was one point where I felt like I should talk to this lady, so I spedwalked to catch up with her, and wasn't catching up. Sister Cook then ran and started talking to her. Turns out she was from Switzerland, and was leaving for home tomorrow. We talked to her about missionary work, but it wasn't until we mentioned the Book of Mormon that she perked up. We told her what it was and although there was a language barrier the spirit helped her to understand the importance of the Book of Mormon. She asked for a copy and we gave her one. We said goodbye and sent a referral to the elders in Switzerland where she will meet with them there. 

There was another woman from Italy who was studying here to be a nun, but was going home to see her mom who was sick. She wanted to meet with us when she comes back in a week and said she would read the Book of Mormon on the plane. 

At one point, I saw my companion nod at a guy to talk to, and although I wanted to bike on, I couldn't. I felt like I needed to talk to him, so I got off my bike, and because I was lost, asked him directions. We talked and I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon. He agreed to meet with us. After this, I felt a if I was told that even if he didn't show up, gave us a fake number, or fell away after us teaching him, that no moment of our teaching and testifying is ever wasted. The prophets were called to preach repentance and even prophecy destruction, they cried repentance even if a city was to be destroyed. Even if they knew there was nothing they could do, they still cried repentance. This work of calling people to repent and to come into Christ is never wasted, even if they do not accept it. We had Zone conference this week and the APs gave an amazing lesson. They taught us to always teach and reference the Book of Mormon. That if anyone denied us or turned away it was just part of the sifting. We are not here only to teach everyone and we are not here to find numbers, but to find those who are prepared and who are ready to accept the word of God. They challenged us to read from the Book of Mormon when we find and leave them with a copy and a chapter to read. It was really amazing, and we have been doing so. 

This week in my scripture study what has struck me has been how much of a daily rigorous mental effort always having our thoughts centered on Christ is. I challenge each of you to read the accounts of Christ's crucifixion and 3 Nephi where he visits the Nephites. We promise each week we partake of the sacrament to always remember Him. How often could we set aside our media to do so. To read our scriptures, to pray, or even just spend time with our families. God gave us families. They are a thing of eternity. He wants us to joy in them as he has found joy in his. Teach your children to be righteous, and even if they fall away you will be blessed. A quote by Neal A Maxwell I love is, "Righteous desires need to be relentless, therefore, because said Brigham Young, 'the men and women, who desire the celestial kingdom, will find that they must battle everyday.' Therefore, true Christian soldiers must be more than weekend warriors." How essential is our desires and our determination to become like God.