This Week at Our House # 23

It was a quieter week, which I am very grateful for. It was a dry week, so hanging out the laundry was not stressful. We had a few dentist appointments, but mostly spent our time at home playing and schooling and just taking care of the ordinary things. I am praying constantly for John to get a job and for the safety of my children.

1. John will hopefully have his first game up. He was going to add extra bonus stuff, but is opting to drop that to get it on the market sooner.
2. We harvested our potatoes this week. I should have done it a week earlier because several of them had rotted, but I am happy to be getting food from plants that I grew organically and took careful care of. I have a lot to learn. I will need to use more fertilizer for next year's crop. But we got more potato then we paid for seed, so that is good.
3. Ruth seems to be doing well, and working hard. I asked her to pray for us without telling her why, and she said I failed at not worrying her. I sent her back saying that we are okay, but the Lord requires us to pray for our needed blessings.
4. Kate had her dentist appointment and she still has never had any cavities. She has a counsel appointment for her wisdom teeth in less than two weeks and then will be scheduled to get those removed. She did not want to get her wisdom teeth removed, but all four of them are facing the wrong direction.
5. Johnny falls asleep whenever we have family time. He didn't used to. It's pretty funny, though, because he never knows that he is sleeping.
6. Adam came inside and said, "I had a conversation with a bird. I don't know what the bird was saying, but he was talking to me." Adam had been outside walking around and whistling and a bird heard him and whistled back over and over again.
7. Rachel went to the dentist and she only has one cavity, which is good for her. She has obviously been taking good care of her teeth as she has always been prone to cavities. To help me out and be pleasant in the home, Rachel did all the dishes for an entire day. The dish washer broke down a couple of weeks ago, so that is a big job and a big service that I know she did with love. I love my little Rachel. She is a light and delight in my life.
8. Anya carries around a clip board with paper that she draws pictures on and writes poetry. She will come to me to show me her pictures a couple of times a week.
9. Joseph takes good care of the chickens and ducks. He always makes sure they are safe and have enough food and water. One day when a few of the chickens got out, he came in crying because he could not find them. We all went to look and they were enjoying the shade of the largest pecan tree.
10. Joshua's reading is coming along well. He can pick up picture books and read them, and you can tell that it surprises him that he knows what it says. 
11. Arwen came to me and said, "It is raining. The rain is coming from the sky. The sky is doing it." The next day, she came to me and said, "I looked at the sky and it looks like the sky is going to rain. The sky tells you when it is going to rain."
12. Susan loved the dentist. She is an emotional little girl, and I did not think she would let the dentist touch her, but she sat down, was still, did everything the dentist asked, and seemed to enjoy it like she was receiving a pampered spa treatment. The dentist said she looked just like her when she was a little girl and the dentist is named Susan too.
13. We have been keeping our chair and stools turned upside down to keep Sam safe. He loves to push chairs around the house to climb up and see what is up high. We want our little Sam safely on the ground, so we turn the stools upside down and tuck them neatly under the bar. 

Pictures

Adam with his large taco inside a chesadilla

Rosemary potatoes with both the potatoes and rosemary grown from our garden

This gorgeous girl cut her very long hair. She was going to wait until she gets her mission call, but I was cutting everyone's hair and it is so hot. I think it looks really cute. The boys say it makes her look 13.

Stories from Ruth # 39

The Funny:
The elders in our district our really funny. We have two elders that are complete opposites. Elder Smith from Utah plays sports, and is cold and sarcastic. Elder Soares is a brazilian who does not play football, and is super sweet and funny. The pair are hilarious.
Elder Soares "I don't like bowling. Last time I hurt my finger."
Elder Smith "That is the least manly thing I have ever heard."
They have now also taken calling a right turn a "robertson left" since I am really bad at directions.

The Missionary Work:
We taught Harvey the plan of salvation and he likes it. He has a lot of questions and we have a lot of answers, so usually we have to say that we will continue the lesson next time.

On Wednesday we went to Dunmow. We decided to go tracting and knocked on this woman's door. We told her who we are and asked if we could share a message. She invited us in. She met missionaries while in Scotland, and had heard about the church in her religious studies class, but other than that knew nothing. She was a very strong christian though and had even taken classes that usually only vicars take, in order to study the bible and to learn more about Christ. She even did assemblies for young children on religion (apparently it is required to have them in the schools in England). We taught her the entire restoration and she asked a lot of questions. It was probably one of the best lessons that I have had on my mission. She truly wants to know more of Christ and is careful about her sources. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and invited her to read it and then to pray and ask God. She agreed, but she could not meet with us since she is moving to Scotland. However, she asked us both to sign the copy of the Book of Mormon. It really was the reason we went to Dunmow. I know she will read and she will feel of the confirming witness from God it is true, because everything that helps us know who Christ is more, comes from God. In Moroni 10:6 it says :"And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.

We went on exchange and taught Ghanaians the whole time." I know this to be true.
Friday was exchange in Colchester. I went with Sister Baites again and we taught Ghanaians all day. First we taught this guy who was really questioning things. For a while Sister Baites and I could not tell if he had met with us just to bash. At the end of the lesson he told us he wanted to know because he had read some of the Book of Mormon and he felt that it was good as it teaches about Christ. He was skeptical but he wanted to know. He said he will read it again and pray. 

We then taught a member and her daughter from Ghana. They had a lot of questions and got confused by our accents, but in the end the lesson went really well. It was a lot of crazy fun and they gave us joll of rice and chicken which was so good!

This Week at Our House #22 The Horrible Month of May

May has been a horrendous month. Probably the worst month in my life. It was so bad, that every couple of days, my mother in law called to ask what disaster happened next. This last week of May was absolutely the worst. Some of the stuff I cannot write about, but one tragedy, I can and will. Wednesday, May 23rd, I got our van repaired specifically so I could take Rachel to a doctor for an ear infection. I took her. A physicians assistant spent less than 5 minutes in the room with her, said she had an ear infection and gave her an antibiotic. The PA would not talk to us. The visit was mildly frustrating. A week later, I get a call from Social Services. A social worker was telling me that a report was filed on behalf of Rachel saying that she was malnourished. I knew right away who the report came from and said so. Of course, the social worker denied the fact. But after she met the family, she could not honestly deny it. Anyway, we were required to allow this social worker into our home and had to give her all sorts of information about our children, including all of their private information such as birth dates, and social security numbers, without a warrant per law. She stayed for an hour and a half. Took pictures that clearly denied all accusations by this PA and had to also file a report because it took the state nearly 5 months to sign us up for medicaid, thereby noting in full that any accused medical neglect was not from my lack of doing things. I am very organized, and we happened to clean the whole house and yard earlier in the day, and I had a healthy dinner ready and in the crock pot, so her catching us off guard and only giving us a 20 minute notice had no ill effects. I had all the information she needed on hand, even though I did not know what information she would need. She reported that we are safe, the kids are fed, there is no drug use, and the kids don't fear the parents etc. Still, we are all traumatized and the report stays open for up to 45 days. Oh and Monday we got two beautiful little kittens to replace the ones the dog killed in September and hopefully help with the mice that live around here and Thursday we found a snake in our garage. That was scary too.

1. Like every week John continues to work on his businesses as well as apply for jobs 6 days a week, 10 or more hours a day. We all love him. All of the kids would claim him as the best Dad. They adore him and respect and want to be like him even though he has had trouble with employment. 
2. I am traumatized. My kids are traumatized. We will never be the same and we will never feel safe going to a doctor again. 
3. I am not telling Ruth about all of the things that have occurred this month. I want her to focus on her mission and not shed tears and worry about us. I did ask her to pray for our safety, though.
4. Kate is an angel. Even before the social worker came, Kate stepped it up and did more than she was asked to do this week. The cleaning the house and the yard was the assignment I had given to the kids before taking Joseph to the dentist. Kate had them all go the extra mile.
5. Johnny continues to work on his game programming and helping John start his business. Johnny is officially a high school graduate. We have not celebrated yet, but we will. His plan for next year is to stay home and continue with the business and then to go on a mission a year later. Johnny graduated early because when he tested into Legacy Prep in Utah, her tested two grades ahead. He is a smart, and good, good boy. I think business experience and software development will be good for him, and hopefully help him to earn some mission money.
6. Adam likes to just jingle around on the piano to figure out various melodies of music and songs, but more recently, and at the request of John, he has been putting in the time to truly learn pieces of music. I am glad that he is putting in the effort. I told him at least a half hour a day and he is doing that.
7. Poor, poor Rachel. I do not want her to feel guilty about being small or not talking to the doctor and thereby being the source of a report to social services. 
8. Anya loves the new little kittens and has enjoyed playing with them and having them sleep on her.
9. Joseph had a tooth filled this week and did a great job holding still and being patient. He has two more fillings to go and a much stronger desire to brush his teeth day and night. Though, he has been a doing a pretty good job on his teeth already.
10. We've had a lot of rain and Joshua loves playing out in the rain. But he goes through a lot of clothes. Finally, I convinced him to just wear his swimsuit. He liked that because then he could come in and put on the same clothes.
11. It was really hot on Friday, so we went to the beach. Arwen loved it!!! She said several times that it was the best day of her life. 
12. Susan calls dark clouds and thunder "dragons". When the thunder got really loud this week, Susan ran to me and said, "It's coming! It's coming! The dragon is coming!"
13. Sam loves these little kittens. He also talked to my mom on the phone and LOVED it. He had a lot to say back to her too, though it was mostly baby talk. Sam has about 6 words he says regularly now. Mom, Dad, yay, Joshua, Anya, and cat. He doesn't say no yet, but he shakes his head no and says, "uh uh."

Pictures

Stories from Ruth # 38

Do not expect much from me this week I am exhausted. Our ward just had a 5k and we woke up early to go help with the breakfast and then ran. Yes, I actually ran half of it. This week we visited a lot of members, dropped by a lot of less active members, and did a lot of finding.

We called Harvey to see how he was doing and ended up having a plan of salvation lesson. He was really interested in the spirit world and the resurrection. For someone without much of a religious background it seemed to be familiar to him. It was kind of cool. He is surprisingly mature for his age. Even before we met him he had decided that alcohol was not a good thing and did not drink it. I am really happy to be teaching someone that has a desire to learn.

We met our neighbor Anthony who we have decided is the nicest Englishman ever, and he is genuine.
We had a lesson with this one guy who met with missionaries in the 80's. He understood a lot of the gospel already and wants to continue learning. Sadly we had to refer him to the elders in Southend, but we hope all goes well. 

Remember how I always say I can't speak Spanish? Well, I still can't, but my lovely companion is patient with me and is teaching me how to say "Si quieres bautizarte te compramos torta de walmart." Just kidding! I am learning how to say "Soy una misionera de la iglesia de JesusCristo de los santos de los ultimos dias e Yo se que el libro de Mormon es verdadero." Although I do not personally speak Spanish, the Lord has blessed me to be able to generally understand Spanish when others speak about the gospel. I think it is a wonderful blessing, especially since we keep running into people who speak Spanish.

This Week at Our House #21 Car Repair and Doctors Week

Wow! What a week! I had to bring the van in twice because two things were wrong. The battery was bad and the starter was dying. They had me fix the battery first to see if the starter was not getting enough power. That worked for about a day and then the starter was only clicking into gear about every other time we turned the key, so we took it back and replaced the starter. Additionally, Rachel had to be seen by a doctor for an ear infection that she is still struggling with and Joseph and Anya saw a dentist. It was week! I am hoping this next one will be better.

1. John continues to work hard. He had a bad cold and didn't feel well the whole week, but still worked a lot. He did not put his first game up for sale yet. I believe he decided to add unlockable levels first.
2. I am struggling. I would appreciate prayers from anyone who reads this. We need John to get a job, even if it doesn't pay well. We can get along on a little.
3. Ruth said this to me this week, "This week I have truly come to recognize how often God answers our prayers and how often we do not recognize it. I am grateful that sometimes he waits to answer until the time is right. It is on God's timing that he answers prayers." I appreciate her faith. She is half way through her mission.
4. My mother in law's Bishop approached her and said their ward would help Kate on her mission. We needed that. I think that is an answer to Kate's prayers.
5. Johnny has been such a big help this week. We all rely on him so much. When I was pregnant with him the Holy Ghost whispered to me that I was pregnant with a baby that was better than me, better than my husband, and better than my two other kids. We all know the truthfulness of that. He is everything good and always has been.
6. Sam relies on Adam to carry him around and play with him a lot. I love that Adam will just do it. I think Sam and Adam will have a good relationship when they are older. One of the blessings of having a large family is teens caring for babies.
7. Rachel's ear infection is still a problem. I am almost certain I will need to bring her back to a doctor. With the ear pain, Rachel has been taking baths to help relieve the pressure and Kate has allowed her to bring the ducks into the tub. Rachel's really liked that. Because Rachel has not been able to sleep with the ear pain, John spent a night up with her. They searched through Netflix and Rachel said that Netflix is like dumpster diving. Most of the movies are really trash, while rarely there will be a treasure.
8. Anya had to do a lot more chores this week since Rachel has been out of commission. She has done a good job taking care of things, but then today she woke up not feeling too well.
9. Joseph spent the week mostly outside. He and Adam love to climb our sycamore tree, they catch fire flies at dark, and play tag. I am happy to have such a nice place for them to play.
10. Joshua loves his chicken a lot. He wants to hold it all day. Thankfully, his chicken is growing and seems healthy still.
11. Arwen drew a picture of her and Kate and said it was "Funny, silly, Kate."
12. Susan has been telling her primary teacher that her name is Lila and her primary teacher has been very confused because there is not a Lila on the roll.
13. Samuel got into a fire ants nest and has bites all over his feet and up and down his legs. The poor baby. He loves to be outside a lot, but is too young to understand what fire ants nests are.

Pictures

Stories from Ruth #37

Ruth has officially finished half her mission!!

This week I have truly come to recognize how often God answers our prayers and how often we do not recognize it. I am grateful that sometimes he waits to answer until the time is right. It is on God's timing that he answers prayers.

There is a recent convert here who has not been able to come to church and she was close friends with many of the members but they can never seem to see her. When I was with Sister Georgieva we visited her and we love her. She told us about her little boy and asked us if we knew where she could get graham crackers. We of course did not, but I prayed for them and felt prompted that we would find them. Three months later I had found nothing. However, this Thursday we went to Sister Lallyette's house and her daughter gave me cinnamon gum. Yes! Then she pulled out a new box of graham crackers and gave them to me. We were going to see Clara the next day so I texted her that we had found graham crackers. Well she told us the next day that ten minutes before the text her little boy had been praying to have smores with graham crackers. At first to her it seemed silly, but then she received her answer. God does answers prayers especially the prayers of children.
I also prayed for people to message us and two individual people texted us and told us they could meet! Yeah!

We met some Jehovah's Witnesses in the park and all they wanted to do was argue, so I pulled out 2

Nephi 29:7-12 and read it to them. They all stopped for a moment and were quiet. Then the main man who wanted to argue asked me to hand it to him. I complied. He read it again verse by verse and after each line exclaimed that it was true. He then handed it back and changed his argument to disagree with something else. To me it was a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. He could not argue with the word of God, for he cannot deny it.
Harvey came with us to a dinner appointment on Monday and it was a lot of fun. We taught a lesson about families and how to come closer to each other through the gospel and everyone got really involved.

The greatest miracle to me of all happened this morning. We had a lesson at the chapel with Harvey and Sister Lallyette. We talked to him more about who God is, because if we do not know that God is our father in heaven and is not some ambient force, then it is hard to pray. Then we discussed receiving and recognizing answers to prayers and the importance of keeping the commandments. He felt that everything we said was good. He reads, prays, and every time he meets with us he feels that it is good. We explained more about how the Holy Ghost speaks to us and who he is. After all this we invited him to be baptized and he agreed. I was so happy. He truly is seeking to know who God is and is willing to commit and to live all the commandments in order to receive his answer. I know that he will be blessed and I know that I am so blessed to be a part of this. I am grateful to be teaching him. He is seeking after truth.

 

This Week at Our House # 20

Because we are continuing school to a lesser extent through the summer, we decided to start our summer schedule this week. It was nice to have less to do. I wanted to get my garden finished this week, but the rain prevented that. I did however, get the second set of corn in and the rows ready for a third set that I will plant in two weeks.

1. John continues to work hard to start his business. Kate helped him a lot with art work for his website and then did a lot of the designing of it on Saturday. I think he will have his first game up on the app store this week. I may be saying so too early though. He continues to apply for jobs daily as well.
2. Sometimes I am in love with my life and my big happy family and sometimes I feel so discouraged about life. Sometimes, it just feels like more than I can handle. We have had to rely on family and church to help us and now our car is having trouble and again, we will have to rely on other people to help us get that fixed. It wouldn't start when we got out of church today and we live an hour drive away. We prayed together and the car started. We made it home and then it would not start again. It looks like this week will be car repair week and hopefully no towing.
3. Ruth was very excited to be staying in Chelmsford. She has investigators that she loves and she fits in well with the ward members. It is unusual for her mission president to keep someone in an area for more than 2 transfers, so she feels quite blessed.
4. Kate has become a really good gourmet cook. I think I am a good cook, but Kate has helped bring our meals up a step or 2 in the past year. She now makes really good Chicago style deep dish pizza.
5. Johnny's computer has been having trouble, so he has not gotten as much work in on his game as he would like. But, when he can, he really works hard, and often 10 hours or more in a day. John will tell him it is okay to quit.
6. Adam is still working on math for the summer. Our algebra one math book is really more algebra one and two, but I have found that having more of the algebra two stuff down helps a lot with understanding geometry. So while Adam is well past anything he would have been taught in public school math for 7th grade, I am continuing him on through the summer.
7. I allowed Rachel to lie next to me in bed this week after the little kids have gone to bed and watch Forensic Files. She is starting to get some older kid privileges and I know she loves it.
8. Anya loves Beatrix Potter. She read all of her books to Arwen when they went to bed at night, and now she is coming to me and reading her favorite ones. 
9. As soon as I asked Joseph to help in the garden, he took off at a fast sprint. I made him come back and help. Once he gets started, he seems to like it quite well. Joseph planted all of our corn this time around. I put the holes in, but he put the seeds in and covered them up. 
10. Whenever I go to work in my garden, Josh comes out with his chicken. The chicken forages for worms and bugs and Josh talks to me a lot. I really love that my kids come out with me and spend time with me while I work.
11. Arwen loves the chickens and ducks. She wants to hold them and snuggle them all day long. Then she prayers for them to survive her love.
12. John told Arwen to say her prayers. Susan then started telling Arwen what to say and Arwen said exactly what Susan said. Susan began Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and then continued to name all of our chickens and then requested that they do not die. (We have 7 chicks).
13. Sam has been carrying around a duplo golden treasure chest, 3 pencils, and a little cardboard box for two days. The treasure chest, he just seems to like. The little box seems to be his personal laptop. He uses the three pencils to write on his little box. It is pretty cute. He sits up like anyone with a laptop and looks like he is working. John asked him if he was holding his laptop and Sam closed it in just the same way people close a laptop, and then looked important.

Pictures