Aug 5 07

August 5, 2007

We’re so excited about the family challenge. It was really fun to see our first week’s report. Isn’t it sweet of Ashlin to be helping us? Everyone is doing great. Let’s try our best to keep our enthusiasm from diminishing.

Yesterday we were at church from 8:00 – 3:00. Long, long day. We served barbecue beef for our Fast Sunday Lunch, using the beef that was left over from the Stake Pioneer Day dinner. It was tasteless, at best. They just don’t know how to cook up a good piece of beef like they do in Idaho. We also had Frog Eye salad, chips, brownies and jello. Cheryl asked Robert why we didn’t have salad, because she likes salad. He said, “We do have salad…Frog Eye.” I would have said, “If you want salad make it your OWN DANG SELF!”

Eric and Byron both came to church. These are two guys Robert and the Elders have been working with for a long time. Sister Wilcock pointed out something funny yesterday. How many times do you go to church and see more people in Priesthood than in Relief Society? We have several families where the men come to church and their wives stay home. Why don’t the women come? We haven’t figured that out yet.

I also haven’t figured out why I don’t enjoy doing these dinners. At home when we did a Relief Society dinner I was exhausted afterward but I always felt good that it turned out and that we had accomplished what we set out to do. I don’t get that good feeling from these dinners. I feel angry and resentful rather than fulfilled. I’ve discussed it with Robert and we wonder if it’s the sense of entitlement we dislike. Also, at home everyone helped, but here we’re just expected to do so much. Maxine and Rhonda helped really well today, but they were the only ones. Thelma is always really good, too, but she was home sick. She did however make her brownies and send them with Alfred. And Maxine made her jello at midnight Saturday when they got home from Phoenix. I know deep in my heart that I’m just facing my own selfishness, and I’m trying hard to humble myself and get beyond it. But honestly I’m just not having much success.

We scheduled Holyan’s baptism again today, but when we went to pick them up they’d had a family emergency and couldn’t come. Rhonda’s mother was in the hospital and she was tending her sister’s kids so the sister could be with their mother. We were all very disappointed, most of all Holyan. Help us pray that he’ll be able to be baptized soon. Even Frenando was planning to go the baptism. He went up last week and waited around Show Low by himself for an hour, not realizing it had been cancelled. But he was willing to go again this week.

Elder Rogers bore his testimony and pretty much said goodbye to the branch. Transfers are August 15th. He’s been here 6 months and we’ll all be surprised if he makes it through another transfer.