January 27, 2013

This is Sister Downs' week to share experiences.  I am sitting here with my first Marshallese gift sitting a top my head.  It is a band of flowers  (artificial since it is winter here) that encircles my head like a halo.  Whatever it is called, it makes me feel warm, fuzzy and loved.  It was given to me by a sister who has thrived in our "Daily Dose" class.  Honestly, she probably knew all the English before she came to class but just didn't have the courage to speak out.  We give LOTS of praise, recognition, and encouragement in our little class.  This sweet sister is a cancer survivor but she has had a lot of pain return to her leg where her cancer was before and I am deeply concerned that it has returned.  She has no insurance or money so she won't go to the doctor.  She faithfully studies her scriptures several hours a day.  She puts her Marshallese scriptures right beside her English scriptures, attempts to read in English first and then if she gets stuck, refers to her Marshallese scriptures.  Her love of the scriptures is incredible.  There are two brothers in the church who we know would be wonderful leaders within the church if they could just speak better English.  They both try very hard and we meet with them 2 times a week for an hour each, on a one on one basis, and they are doing soooo much better.  We are also using a wonderful teaching aid called "Teach Ye My Words".  It is to be used with folks who have "some" English command but are still very basic in their use of the English language.  It starts out with a very simple scripture statement, i.e. I am God the Father.  Then you hear it, read it, write it and then think about what it means to you. I love to use it to teach!  As we wrote last week, we have been putting forth a big "push" for employment here with 5 of our members who we thought had the most potential to find employment.  Have you ever pushed a car that was stuck in the snow or ice?  You go forward a few inches, then the car slides back.  We've kind of felt that way with the employment challenge this week.  Just when we think we have one problem licked, another one pops up that nobody  thought was going to be an issue.  We are learning a new language of passports, I-94's, citizenship papers, birth certificates, photo ID, immigration and DMV offices!  Nothing surprises us anymore!  :)  We had a wonderful baptism yesterday which has resulted in a family becoming active in the church again.  Happy day!!  Great blessings!  We did two fun things this week-end....went to a show called the Vespertine Circus and then went to a "VegFest".  We are definitely widening our entertainment horizans in our advancing years.  :)  Our children will be so proud!!  Life is good, we are blessed and are grateful for the opportunities that we are having to grow and learn and hopefully, to become more like the Savior.  Have a wonderful week with lots of opportunities to grow and learn!