Stories from Ruth # 25

 

This week was the very last week of the transfer! And I am moving to Chlemsford! This week I met the second Mexican I have ever seen in England, taught primary, and play football in Hatfield. On Wednesday we had a crazy busy day running to appointments which was good! We gave Simeon a Book of Mormon, had a lunch appointment and lesson with Sister Sim, and attended Ward counsel which we walked to. We had one lesson cancel which we were going to take a bus for, however the bus never showed up and then we get a call from our appointment asking if we could cancel that day and we agreed, because we both felt like there was somewhere else we needed to be. So we went finding and we found a young brazilian family and our mexican friend. On Thrusday we had exchange and I got lucky because we played football again with a recent convert and an investigator. 

I did not fall once! I only kept tripping people on accident!

This week's spiritual thought is:
Mosiah 4: 6 "I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his   

matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—
7 I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.
8 And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you."

This Week at Our House #8 Spring Comes to Briarhovel

Spring came this week. The weather was warm. I planted potatoes outside. We met the neighbors who homeschool and have 5 kids. Numerous trees on our property blossomed. I love the peace we feel from the nature around us.   

1. John had his first job interview in 6 months of searching. Hopefully this will work out.
2. When I was not teaching school or cooking, I was outside working or reading. I got to meet our neighbor and ask her about gardening. She has been growing a big garden here for 19 years. Adam and Anya helped me to plant some potatoes directly outside. I had two potato plants ready to be planted outside and as of today, I have five. I fermented tomato seeds, and they will be ready to plant in another week. I pray over my garden. I want it to be productive. I will get chickens as soon as we can afford it because I need their poop for fertilizer.
3. Ruth said that her area is very sad. There are a great many people who are distressed and suffering. They have a great need for the gospel, but they do not know it.
4. Kate has reached 18.5 and has talked to the Bishop. He is beginning the paperwork for her mission and gave her the first half of her temple recommend. Kate is beyond excited!
5. Johnny woke up extra early on Friday morning to clean the bathrooms for me. He is a dear.
6. We are trying and trying to get Adam to pay attention to what he is doing and do them well. I think he wants to, but has spent most of his life getting the bare minimum done and is now finding it hard to do a serious study of things. I know that if he continues to put in a serious effort and is honest about what he understands and doesn't understand things will become a lot easier for him.
7. Rachel has memorized the first vision scriptures perfectly word for word. I am very proud of her. It was 772 words and the language is older. 
8. Anya helped me plant the potatoes because she liked doing it. Having help, made the process go a lot faster. I am glad that she did. Anya is having trouble memorizing. I think it will get easier for her as she does it more and learns to concentrate and not let her mind wander.
9. Joseph finished his memorizing, though he still changes the words up. I think he has done very well for an 8 year old.
10. I subbed in primary today and got to see Joshua. The sharing time teacher asked if anyone knew about the ten commandments and Josh said, "I know one is do not commit adultery. Another is thou shalt not lie, and thou shalt not kill. Killing is evil." I thought he was really cute. When we were home and I told the story, Rachel told me that Joseph gave the same answer.
11. On the day the trees blossomed, Arwen came to me and said, "Mom, did you know that this world is becoming a flower world?"
12. I taught Susan's sunbeam class. I was pleased that she did a good job answering questions. Though, if she did not know an answer, she would automatically say, "Jesus Christ."
13. Sam did not eat again until Wednesday. I was relieved when he started eating again. He also became happy again that same day. I had missed my happy little guy. I am glad that he is finally feeling better.

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Stories from Ruth #24

This week was crazy as usual! Sister Bastien and I woke up Sunday morning to a man screaming and Friday morning seeing five policemen run after a man, both occured right outside our door. England is sketchy, but I love it. 

We taught Mary last pday and she has started to read the Book of Mormon which is exciting! 

Sister Bastien and I went finding in the windy, freezing, rain this week and had a miracle, we met this really chill guy who was interested to learn more and is now reading the Book of Mormon! We gave him one last week and he has already started to read it which is great! On the way home I got splashed by a car driving by and got mud all over me for valentines day! I just laughed and was grateful I was not wearing white. 

 

Friday we decided to go tracting around where the Baron's used to live. We knocked on this door and a little boy wearing his dad's suit coat and a little girl wearing her mom's coat, answered the door. The two of them in unison then said, "Hello we are Mr and Mrs Petell!" Sister Batien and I were giggling. First we asked if their parents were home and they said that they were the parents. We then introduced ourselves and told them why we were here. The dad popped his head around the side and the little boy asked "Are you interested?" The dad responded, "I don't know dad, I am just your son." They were not interested, but it was funny. Then we knocked on Francesca's door, who is a friend to the Baron's, and she invited us in and we are going to be seeing and teaching her family. Yeah!

We went to Hemel and climbed or lunged up hillroad two different days.
On Sunday we went tracting and met this Romanian guy who did not know much English. He then called his brother and asked him to translate and then his brother just drove down instead. We asked his brother why he drove down and he said he heard "I heard two girls and I'm coming!" Needless to say we had a gold laugh!

Well quote and scripture of the week is: "Then, the more one’s will is thus “swallowed up,” the more his afflictions, rather than necessarily being removed, will be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ” (Alma 31:38)." Neal A Maxwell "Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father"

And "Valiant in the Testimony of Jesus" by Ezra Taft Benson "Not to be valiant in one’s testimony is a tragedy of eternal consequence. These are members who know this latter-day work is true, but who fail to endure to the end. Some may even hold temple recommends, but do not magnify their callings in the Church. Without valor, they do not take an affirmative stand for the kingdom of God. Some seek the praise, adulation, and honors of men; others attempt to conceal their sins; and a few criticize those who preside over them."

This Week at Our House #7 My Nightmare Returns

We have been pretty blessed in recent years as we have not really had to deal with the stomach flu. I have read posts on Facebook galore of friends whose whole family was sick with the full on stomach flu and thanked my lucky stars that it was not me. We'd have an occasional kid get sick, but it never was hard or it just didn't pass through the whole family. Our lucky streak ended this week. We had a horrible stomach flu and it did pass through the whole family fast. The last time we had anything like this was in 2009.

I think Sam must have been the person who spread the flu so thoroughly because he got very clingy, lethargic, and grumpy on Monday. We were wondering if he had an ear infection or something. But then on Tuesday, Sam would not eat anything and didn't even want to nurse much. Then Josh got sick in the car just as I had left for the grocery store. I turned around, brought Josh home, cleaned out the car and went grocery shopping.

I got home to the news that Sam had an explosive diaper, Josh was fine, and all the laundry was being done. All seemed reasonably well.
 

Wednesday was Valentine's Day and Kate woke up early to bake for a tea party we had planned to do for our story club. The kids sat at the bar and ate jam cookies for breakfast and we did school. All seemed to be well.

Later in the day, I noticed that I was not feeling well, and thought I may have caught what Josh and probably Sam had. I decided not to make our fancy dinner that we had planned for Valentine's Day and I am so glad that I did. The day was normal. I never get sick to my stomach, I just feel uncomfortable, so except for the nice dinner, we stuck to our daily plans and routines.

We sent the kids to bed a little earlier than usual to spend time alone for Valentine's Day. At midnight Kate came into our room and said that Arwen had puked all over. Arwen shares a room with Kate, Rachel, and Anya so all the girls were up feeling somewhat traumatized by the scene. John and I cleaned it up and decided to put Arwen  in the living room for the night. Kate said that she was sure that she was sick too and wanted to be in the living room. I opened the window in the girl's bedroom to air it out when it seemed clear that Anya and Rachel were not ready to go back to sleep. I told them they could just stay up a while. I am so glad I did. All four girls were sick over and over throughout the whole night and into the next day.

Which brings us to Thursday. John and Johnny begin to feel sick but had symptoms like Sam and myself, so nothing compared to the girls, but still unpleasant.

Thursday night Kate felt better, but Rachel, Anya, and Arwen were still having a lot of stomach pains and they now had fevers, so Kate went to bed in her bed, but Rachel, Anya, and Arwen stayed camped out in their sick beds for another night. John and I thought we might be able to get a little more sleep. I had only gotten 2 hours in the past 24 at that point. But fate had other plans. Two other kids chose to repeat the scene of the previous night. Susan and Adam were up and sick all night and into the next morning, each with fevers on Friday and really feeling too sick to move. By midday, Joseph who was holding out longer than anyone else fell prey. Saturday and Sunday became rest and re-hydration days.And again, I will say that I hope this never happens again!

Besides all the yuck, here are a few things about the kids:

1. Ruth had a missionary meeting on Monday, her normal p-day, so we worried for 24 hours until we heard from her on Tuesday.
2. Kate spent 4 hours making an adorable and delicious tea party. Since that time, Arwen, Susan, and Joshua have all asked to have a tea party on their birthdays.
3. Johnny had a cough, except when he was playing video games. John says he has the same thing.
4. Adam hung out with Kate and did things for her while she was very sick, so Kate hung out with Adam and did things to make him feel better while he was sick. 
5. Rachel had her hair up in a high ponytail while she was sick and John kept telling her how pretty she looked. Rachel and Kate determined that their dad must think girls look pretty when they are weak.
6. Anya hung outside with Sam and I the whole day she was re-hydrating. I really enjoyed her company. She just walked around with us carrying her cup of water that she was sipping with a spoon.
7. Joseph never holds still. He bounced around the whole time he was sick.
8. A few hours before Josh got sick he matter of factly told me that he was too sick to do any more school work. I didn't really believe him. He did complete his school work, and then came with me to go grocery shopping. Next time, I will believe him.
9. On Susan's second day of recovery and Arwen's third, we gave them some baby dolls to play with on Susan's sick bed. They seemed very happy about that. When I looked over at them, I noticed that they were having their little babies say prayers. 
10. While John was bending down to kiss me, Arwen climbed up his back and got onto his shoulders. Susan started yelling, "No, that is my shoulder ride! Mom, Arwen is taking my shoulder ride."
11. When Kate was sick and lying on the couch, Sam came up to her and gave her a very gentle, sweet hug.

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