Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Yesterday afternoon, we received a call from President Holm. He informed us that the new Senior Couple, the Meechems, would be here the next evening, today. He asked us what he thought would be best to do with the Sisters who were then currently living in the apartment where the Meechems were going to be staying. We told him to have them move in with us to give the Meechems time to get situated without having to worry about the Sisters. So this morning we moved everything out of the 2nd bedroom and cleaned it up well so that they would have a nice room to sleep in. At 10:00 we started the move. The young Elders came to help and we were able to get everything moved over and the apartment clean by noon.

That afternoon Elder Gowans attended his chaplain's meeting and then that evening the Meechems arrived at 5:20. We had been in contact with them during the afternoon and told them we would have dinner for them. When they arrived we had them and the sisters, us and then two of the young missionaries came down too. So we had quite the crowd in our little apartment.

During the evening, Elder Gowans took the two sisters, out to visit some men, and since they cannot go to visit a single male without having someone else with them, Elder Gowans was happy to help them out. The first visit was with Brother Wood, he has been a member for a few years, he is in the Navy, so it was great that Elder Gowans could go and visit with him as part of our responsibility to minister to our military families.

We went to visit Jimmy Walker (member, but not active) and his brother Wayne (nonmember) and Jimmy's adopted daughter Tiann. We wanted to discuss with them our Savior Jesus Christ. As the discussion began, Jimmy asked Tiann to give the account of the creation. She did so and very well. Wanting to steer the topic to Jesus Christ, Elder Gowans asked, "Who created the earth"? Of course she said God. Then one of the Sisters chimed in saying that the God referred to is Jesus Christ. We also pointed out to her from Hebrews and St. John how the Bible testifies that Jesus was the creator. At that point Wayne objects to that doctrine and Jimmy gets very angry about it too, and tells us all to leave and that we are not to come back. At first we thought he was joking, then it became very apparent that he was not. He gets up and goes into the back yard, Wayne goes into the house. Tiann is sitting by Elder Gowans; we offer a closing prayer. Elder Gowans tells the sisters he is going into the back yard to talk to Jimmy. He does so and finds Jimmy and tells him he is sorry if they offended him, and wanted him to now that we came by to visit because we love them. Jimmy continues to say that we are not to come back that he has read the bible more than anyone and that it does not teach that Jesus Christ is the creator nor does the Book of Mormon. Elder Gowans is not going to argue with him, but reaffirms their love for them, shakes his hand and leaves. We were all in shock about the events that just occurred and we talked about what happened wondering if we had done something wrong. We all felt that we had been led by the Spirit as to the words we spoke. Later after thinking about it, we felt that something important will come of what was discussed.

We also met the Heise family this evening and had a real nice visit with Brother Heise who is home from the Middle East, his wife and daughter, Liz. He wanted us to come back and enjoy dinner with them at some point in time before he leaves to go back. They have two sons one is in the Middle East and the other is serving a mission in Long Beach.

We are enjoying having the Sisters here with us and hope they will enjoy being with us too.

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