Did A Little Service On The Lake

There is a mother and son that hold a weekly potluck barbecue each week on their lot on the lake. We have attended this event throughout the summer and worked to get the young elders invited as well.  All the other people who attend are nonmembers so this has been a great opportunity for us to meet other people.  I have been able to help a lot of the people who attend with their family history.  The mom mentioned that because of a foot injury that she sustained, she was unable to keep up with the yard work. I volunteered the young elders and us to help with that task. She was very appreciative of the assistance.

We Continue To Assist A Variety Of People With Their Family History

I have helped a number of people that attend the Wednesday barbecue with their family history. I am currently assisting the mother of the person that sponsors the barbecues. We went by to visit her at her home, they raise goats for meat, and there were over a hundred in the pasture as we went by to visit her. This person was able to give us a little background and history on the Reorganized Church in this area. Her late husband was raised in the Reorganized Church and she was raised in some other Christian denomination. When she would attend the Reorganized Church with her husband, she was not allowed to take the sacrament or communion as they call it. This offended her husband and so he quit going to that Church. Of course now the “Community of Christ” Church allows open communion. It turns out her husband’s sister and brother-in-law are to this day the ministers in the nearby Community of Christ Church.

Birthday Celebration At The Davis Barbecue

Several weeks ago we found out that our neighbor Bill was about to turn 75, so Sister Anderson thought it would be appropriate to get him a card and bake him a birthday cake. Bill attends the Davis Barbecue, so the week prior, Davis decided to change the day of the barbeque so we could celebrate Bill’s birthday. He was planning to travel to Chicago the next day to visit family. It was a fun little surprise for him and I think he was touched that we remembered his birthday and sang happy birthday to him. When we first came out here on the mission, we took chocolate chip cookies over to all the nearby neighbors, and introduced ourselves to them. Bill and his son Rick were some of the first people we met. We have had them over several times for meals and games. We have helped them with family history and had a number of gospel discussions. Bill also attended the Christmas Devotional with us and watched a Sunday Morning session of General Conference. However we have not been successful in getting him to have the discussions. He is pretty active in the Baptist Church in town and we are finding people don’t easily change habits. However we consider him a good friend, and so, like with many others we have met out here, we share what we can.