Gretchen and Gerrys Mission Year: May 2009

Monday, May 25, 2009

May 18 -25, 2009

We had a good day running errands and doing P-day stuff Monday morning. In the afternoon we went to teach Gloria about the Plan of Salvation and found her home but unable to visit with us due to the fact that her husband is now in the hospital in Kalamazoo, dying. She took him in the Wednesday before, against his wishes, and they said they could do nothing for him. So we have postponed the lessons until after all the things associated with his death & funeral are over. She has only been married to him for about 4 years and he is not of our faith. So there is little they want us to be involved in.

That evening we had the Elders to dinner and Veronica and Bob couldn’t come for Family Home Evening because of illness. Disappointing.

Tuesday, I had my regular Relief Society presidency meeting and then Gerry & I went visiting in Decatur. We met Christy. She was baptized when she was 15 and moved here with her family 8 years ago. She has 3 children now. She tried to find the church but thought there wasn’t a local one except in Kalamazoo and couldn’t travel that far. So she has lost contact with the Church. Her mother sent her now address into church headquarters and we got her records. Seven years ago is when we were building our beautiful chapel so I can see how she got mixed up. We look foreword to seeing her again! Visited about 5 other families, including Shelly. A good afternoon sharing testimonies!

Wednesday, we had district meetings with the Elders and then out to lunch which is always fun with them. We all hit Walmart too. That evening we Home Taught Kory & Laurie and it was a good visit , getting better acquainted with Lori and reading from the Book of Mormon, which Reilly & Holly always enjoy.

Thursday, we took Shirley to South Haven for lunch and caught up on her life then went to the rehab center and I got to interview another great lady for her genealogy. Afterward we saw Linda and then went to visit Sharron. She wasn’t home and hadn’t called like she usually does to cancel. We heard her dogs barking and she hadn’t gotten her mail. We became concerned since she is in her 70s. I called her when we got home and told her to please call me as we were worried about her.

Friday, no call back from Sharron. So on our way to Benton Harbor to have lunch with Gerry’s old secretary, we decided to drop by Sharron’s and if necessary call the police to come check on her. When we arrived the dogs were out running around and her daughter was there. She told us that her mom had gone in for shortness of breath and had been rushed to the hospital and had open heart surgery and 5 vessels had been blocked!! She was now recovering. A good contact and relief to know that she had received the help she needed. We proceeded to have a nice afternoon with Marian .

Saturday, we hit the car show in Watervaliet . Nice cars and good exercise on a holiday weekend. We then went to Kalamazoo and visited Sharron. She is very weak and in lots of pain but it was good to see her and let her know we cared. We then went to Home Teach Bill at the assisted living home where he lives.

Sunday, we had a good day. Got a call at 10:05 last night asking us to speak on missionary work in Sacrament. It went well. I then conducted in Relief Society and got the posters up for Enrichment. We had a nice Book of Mormon class at 6:00 that night.

Monday, Memorial Day, did our preparation and study time, then I shopped and made a salad for the picnic that afternoon in Lansing with the other senior missionaries. Also, made reservations for the kids coming for the weekend in 2 weeks. That will be the last time we see Greg & Jill before they move to Houston, TX for his 3 year residency.