18 February 2012

We had an interesting time with Jill and Carol this week.  After only two months, Megan Bailey has had to return to Albany from the mission field with health problems.  President and Sister Smibert have encouraged her to go with us whenever she can to teach lessons.  So we took her with us, and had just started the lesson, when two friends of Carol’s arrived.  Now we had quite a group, and quite a lesson!  Carol, who is known for being loud and outspoken, was only outdone by her friend, Joyce, who decided to stay for the lesson with her husband, even after she understood that we would be talking “religion!”  We had planned to teach the lesson called “The Gospel,”  but could only get barely started, what with all the questions and discussion about each little point!

Today I am on my back with spasms.  Good thing I had made ahead a dinner for our houseful of guests!  Tonight we’ll have leftovers from the meal I had prepared for yesterday. 

We have the Marsdens and Innises from the office, and until this afternoon, the Lanes from their assignment in Esperence!  The Innises had to come down to clean the Elders’ flat and make sure it is supplied with all it’s supposed to have, so the President said they could all come if they speak in church!  It just so happens that my own Elder Ashby is conducting tomorrow, so he could arrange for that!

We borrowed a blow-up mattress from a member, and put the Lanes on that here in our flat, while the Marsdens slept in our bed and we took the spare bedroom.  Inneses stayed at the Elders’ flat after Marsdens helped them clean it.

They all came here for dinner and a nice evening together; then this morning Ray took them to some of the points of interest here in Albany while I slept.  I’m feeling quite a bit better tonight, so I’m going to go to the ward social with them so that I can see Elder Ashby with his bottle band.

I’m so glad they all came.  We enjoy being together so much.  I especially learned a lot from Sister Lane, who has trigeminal neuralgia, and has had it for years.  She taught me how to do visual therapy, which she says can give a lot of pain relief.  I tried it today while they were gone, and I think it helped some.  I could get to sleep, anyway. 

The Lanes went away too soon.  But they seemed to be so glad to meet with some of the seniors.  They are working in a tiny tiny branch over there where their average attendance to Sacrament Meeting is 11, including themselves!  They meet in their own flat for church.

Tomorrow Sister Innes and Elder Marsden will be guest speakers in our meeting. I have to teach Gospel Doctrine class in the older class now.  We have combined the two Sunday School classes. Then our guests will come to our flat to make sandwiches for their drive back to Perth.

Our attendance has gone steadily down here in Albany since we arrived.  Why it is, I don’t know, but it doesn’t make us look very good.  Some of the Young Adults don’t always come because of work, but I don’t think that has changed much.  We’ll have to start visiting the members more regularly, I guess.  As for investigators, we have quite a number to teach, but it seems to take so long to make progress with any of them!  We need to pick up the pace, now that I am feeling better!