Sharing the Gospel and Plumbing Problems

To begin we would like to share one of several beautiful Arizona sunsets this past week.

Early this week we gave a missionary copy of the Book of Mormon with our testimony inside the cover to our park neighbors and friends, Bill and Carla Dodds. These are the people whose meeting in their Community Christian Church we attended one evening last week. We have since had some conversations regarding our beliefs and this morning we attended one of their regular Sunday services with them prior to our ward conference. Their pastor spoke on "God's Greatest Desire." There was a baptism of one man during the service along with prayers and music by a choir and the congregation. It has been interesting to compare beliefs with a number of similarities noted. These people are sincere and dedicated in their beliefs and their congregation was very friendly. However it helps me appreciate that the restored gospel builds on and expands existing Christian beliefs as if seen through wide-angle optics that fill in missing details and critical principals lost with the Great Apostasy in ancient times. The Dodds plan to attend Sacrament meeting with us next Sunday as we share each other's beliefs. We are grateful for their friendship.

Along with our missionary efforts Dad also helped Bill get his webcam set up and completed getting Skype working on his laptop. This effort began last winter but at that time Bill didn't have the required camera and microphone. Then he was asked to help clear an annoying error from our Arkansas neighbor, Gayle Bramwell's laptop. Aside from these activities early this week it appeared to be somewhat relaxed as I caught Dad reading out in the sunshine on his Kindle.

That was until Dad discovered a leaking toilet in our motor home. That began a three and one-half day ordeal requiring multiple trips to Lowe's and RV supply stores, completely tearing out the old toilet, it's pedestal and all associated plumbing and building it back from scratch. This was due to nearly everything being incompatible between the old, now obsolete, pot and it's supposed replacement. Dad was complaining about a sore back, neck and knees along with a number of battle scars on his hands when it was finished.

This was the scene in my living room during the project.

But now it is finished and, gratefully, no more trips to the park's public restrooms.

While Dad was busy with his plumbing project I went with a park neighbor to the desert golf course across from the park one morning. This was my first ever golf game other than miniature golf. We played nine holes and she was very gracious to help me. It was fun but somewhat frustrating when a good drive hit and bounced off a piece of brush or a rock. The "greens" are smooth but I was also having a hard time not hitting the ball to hard when putting. For a couple of afternoons I was also busy making jewelry with the stones and wire I had bought. I have made earrings, finger rings and necklaces. I have received many compliments from friends and neighbors that have seen them and I have enjoyed this relatively new hobby.

While the plumbing project was underway we were waiting for a shipment from Amazon of safety items and a trip computer for the bicycles. We have yet to receive reflective vests. Some of our riding involves riding on streets with no bicycle lanes and we felt it would be safer and more enjoyable if we are more visible and can also better see what is behind us. It is also fun to check our speed and trip parameters such as distance, average speed, time, calories burned, etc. Here you can see the rear-view mirror, trip computer and brightly-flashing LED tail light for each bike. It is funny how these bicycles have hung around without being used for nearly twenty years and now we are getting some exercise and having fun riding them.

Friends and Relatives

     Last week after returning from Utah we were busy doing something just about every day. Monday evening we were invited by park friends, Bill and Carla Dodds, to attend a meeting with them at their Christian church for the second session of a 3-day series of meetings with music and sermons dedicated to the subject of "Heaven." The guest preacher was a visiting pastor who travels nationally. I had a difficult time with my stomach for most of the meeting and had to step out of the chapel but I still heard all. It is always interesting to learn what is taught by other Christian religions. Many of their beliefs correspond with ours but I am always grateful that we have been given a "fullness" of what has been revealed and restored by the Lord to us in these latter days.
     On Tuesday we visited Dad's Aunt Eula in Chandler. While there we picked oranges, tangerines and grapefruit and Dad helped Kevin with cleanup after he had trimmed part of an oleander hedge around the property. We are very grateful that they are willing to share this delicious fruit with us that might otherwise go to waste. I don't think Arizonians fully appreciate the abundance of citrus fruit available in this area. Perhaps they think the same of much of our colder climate fruits that also goes to waste in back yards back home. That evening we went to a karaoke jam in the park clubhouse. Not many people showed up and the equipment was not working properly so several musicians went to fetch their guitars and an auto harp and took turns singing impromptu songs, many of which were unfamiliar but fun, for our enjoyment for nearly two hours.

On Saturday we met with Dad's Queen Creek cousins, Milo, Ivan and Alayne and kids for dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then went back to Milo and Ivan's home for games for the evening. We had a great time with lots of laughs.
     This past Tuesday we went to a dinner show in the park. We had BBQ chicken, coleslaw, baked beans, a roll and a cookie. Then we were entertained by a group made up of two married couples from Colorado called the "Saddle Strings." They were very entertaining with good music, jokes, audience participation and dancing.

The next day we joined a large group of park residents for a 49th wedding anniversary for park neighbors Bob and Lori Bruns at their 5th wheel RV site near ours. Many of these people have been coming here for years and know each other well. We are still relatively newcomers trying to remember many new names.

And then yesterday evening we met at a Mesa restaurant called Wild Berry Diner for a dinner to celebrate JoAnne Campbell's birthday. She and Peter are our Canadian neighbors across the street that we got to know well last winter. The food was excellent and we all had a great time.

We then came home to another of several swims this past two weeks followed by the animated movie, Robin Hood. At the pool we met a new couple, here for just a couple more weeks from Emmett, Idaho along with two new Canadian couples the arrived recently. The Idaho couple, Terry and Susan Howard, are LDS and we have invited them to attend meetings with us tomorrow.
     This morning we enjoyed the $3 pancake breakfast offered by the park each Saturday. The pancakes are delicious with the usual sausages, scrambled eggs, orange slice, syrup, jam and butter. Then I spent the afternoon at the flea market and then visited Michaels craft store with my artist fried, Gayle Bramwell. Wow, what a store!

A Special Family Weekend

While we were sad that some family members were unable to be present we made the eleven-hour drive each way to Springville, Utah from our winter "home" in Arizona to help Laurie prepare for and to attend the baptism and confirmation of our sweetheart granddaughter, Mckinsie Ockey, on Saturday, January 7. The roads were clear as we traveled there on Thursday and the weather was nice on Friday. Thursday evening we arrived early enough to visit Leon and Chrissy in Payson. They fed us and Brendon showed us his science project showing zero-energy magnetic levitation that he created with a lot of help from his dad. We were even blessed by a visit with Kendra as she dropped in briefly. We then spent some time with a very interesting toy called Bucky Balls and watched some America's Funniest Videos. Leon has always had amazing talent and interests in science and these small, shiny magnetic balls were most fascinating with what could be built with them. Friday I put finishing touches on Mckinsie's dress and helped with preparations for an amazing brunch Laurie planned for the families following the service. Dad worked on his usual list of "Daddy-does" for Laurie. That evening we spent with LaRinda, Trevor and family. That always involves music and art which we enjoy immensely. Then when we woke up Saturday morning there were two to three inches of new snow on the ground and it was snowing, which it did off and on all day. Nevertheless the baptism service was wonderful as Mckinsie shared it with three other girls. Her brother, Ryan, offered the opening prayer, Jordan played the piano for a musical number by some of the children and her sister, Kristina, gave a well-prepared talk on the Holy Ghost.

Following the service we enjoyed the wonderful brunch that had been prepared and everyone visited and enjoyed the time together.

Breanne and Dad had a date Saturday afternoon to make homemade Reese's peanut butter candy together but there was too much going on and Dad accepted a rain check in the form of an invitation to attend a Utah Valley University (UVU) Wolverines basketball game against Seattle University that evening along with Kristina's hubby, Jared, since Kristina was ill. Breanne's boy friend, Kellen sits at the scorers table and handles stats and press releases. What appeared initially to be a runaway game for UVU came down to the last minute to decide that the Wolverines won.

Breanne wrote the recipe for the "Grandpa & Breezy's Bars" on a card and Dad came home and mixed up a batch. They were delicious.

Fortunately the storm passed and we had no problem with roads for the return trip Sunday although more storm was predicted for Monday. On the way up we traveled through Flagstaff and passed the Glen Canyon Dam on our beloved Lake Powell near Page, Arizona.

Due to the storm we returned through Las Vegas and Kingman to avoid potential problems in Northern Arizona. The last couple of hours was under a clear sky and a beautiful full moon. A soak in the pool before turning in for the night sure felt good on a sore behind.

Holidays in Arizona

We are told it has been a little cooler than normal this past couple of weeks here in Apache Junction but then this last couple of days it has approached record high daytime temperatures in the low 80's, much different than the Christmas holiday experience back home in Idaho. We sincerely miss family and friends back home but have renewed friendships with friends from last winter here in Countryside Park. This has been an interesting past year for us as we lived for extended periods of time in Arizona, Belgium and Idaho. We never dreamed we would have these opportunities and we are starting to feel like nomads. On Christmas day we opened gifts from friends and family and made calls to all. It was a great time to renew contact with many we don't get to see very often as well as those we are closer to. We are very appreciative of all the gifts and blessings we have received. Lunch was a pot luck affair in the park with a group's table to which we were invited. It was delicious and we made new acquaintances.

Then that evening we went to Chandler to have dinner and games with Dad's cousins, Milo, Ivan, Ruby and Ruby's daughter, Alayne's family at Alayne's home. We had a fun evening.

We have continued to enjoy the pool and hot tub in the park every couple of days, usually in the evening when we are usually there alone.

Last Friday we visited the nearby flea market. As we said last year it is huge and one could browse in there for hours. We bought a personalized redwood plaque to identify ourselves that Dad hung on the front of our motor home.

During the week we visited Dad's other cousin, Norman and his wife Kathy in Mesa. We had just come from his mother, Aunt Eula's home in Chandler where their son, Kevin lives and cares for her. We brought Aunt Eula with us for the visit to give Kevin and his wife Andrea a break. Aunt Eula looks much better this winter than last year. We had a good long visit and went out to get dinner at Taco Bell before returning to home. The evening before new year's eve was our neighbor, Gayle Bramwell's birthday and we went out for Mexican to celebrate with her and her husband, Dick. After dinner we came back to the RV's for cake I bought and decorated with re-lighting candles. We had quite a bonfire and about had to call the fire department before we got them all extinguished. Dick suggested that maybe one candle for every ten years would be better next year.

On new year's eve we watched a couple of movies and listened to fireworks until nearly midnight. On Sunday we went to church (meetings at 1:00PM this year) and then went to Queen Creek to meet with the same cousins and families as Christmas day at Milo and Ivan's home for another delicious pot luck dinner and more games and fun. The following Monday morning Dad went to assist Brother Mason, a former counselor in the Goldfield Ward bishopric, to move. He said it seemed like the entire ward priesthood was there to help.

Yesterday on a shopping trip to a nearby strip mall Dad saw and unique tricycle motorcycle he liked a lot that I didn't think looked all that cool. It had wide rear tires, the back end of an 80's Chevy Corvette and a V8 engine. Dad said he bet it would really kick butt.

Last night we went to a show in the park where a performer named Kenny Miller took us back a few years with impersonations of Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Kenny Rogers  and Marty Robins. He did better on some than others but there was a huge crowd and we enjoyed the evening with Dick and Gayle.