Being Prepared

I am sure most people heard about Hurrican Ike and it's wide path of destruction. It really hits home about the importance of being prepared especially when it affects us personally or someone we know. My sister lives in Houston and she is now enduring day six of no electricity. In a city this large (about 3-4 million people) there is no guarantee when the power will be restored or when they do not have to continue boiling their water due to contamination problems. To add more stress to the situation, she works for a dentist in Clear Lake , an area which suffered significant damage, and it appears the dentist office was destroyed. I think to say she is enduring is probably putting it mildly. I am so grateful the church always stresses the importance of being prepared with adequate food storage and preparing ourselves spiritually and financially. I have had to learn some hard lessons from this. We were not prepared for the hard winter that prevented Ian from working concrete for many months and then Lena's health problems. Although everything worked out alright , I try to keep reminding myself to be prepared! I do know if we are prepared it can help ease some of the stress that all of us have to endure during our trials.

Paul's Missionary Life

I have been meaning to write some things about Paul's mission so here they are. He has been gone 8 months now! Wow! In Dec he will be halfway through! I think about and pray for him everyday. That he will be blessed with health and safety, get along with his companion, have good meals (no mysterious casseroles as he had in his first area) and just overall have a good mission. While he was awaiting his call Ian and I were thinking he would get called to Mexico or some other spanish speaking country , not Everett, Washington. Things have worked out so well for him though it just goes to show how heavenly father looks out after his sheep. Washington is where Paul needed to be and we never thought it would turn in to be a spanish speaking mission. He was originally called to serve an english speaking mission, however, very soon after he arrived it turned into spanish. He was waking up an hour earlier (yes, 5:30 am) just to study . His spanish is muy bien now so I hope he doesn't still need to get up that early! He has went from totally understanding nada (nothing) to now teaching lessons in spanish and being able to converse. In his letters, he always mentions the love he has developed for the members and families he is working with. Plus, he is getting fed very well. He is in the only spanish speaking ward in the mission. He probably will be leaving the area this next transfer as he has been there about 7 months. He has been bounced between Bothell and Kirkland which are suburbs of Seattle. Right now they are living with the stake patriarch and his family again (second time) in Kirkland. Bothell and Kirkland are very affulent areas. Alot of Microsoft people live here. The next tranfer will likely take him up north somewhere close to the Canadian border , he thinks. He said their summer is pretty much over and the rain has returned. It rains alot!! Good thing this mission has allowed them a car full time. He got a bike from a missionary who was going home so that is in place when he needs it. Oh, also his new companion came straight from the MTC. He calls him his "bountiful bubble" missionary (he is from Bountiful, Utah) and although they are totally different they get along great. Paul said he never thought he would get along with those Utah elders! I am grateful he is a Kansan elder.He definately didn't live in a bubble here in Kansas and got a taste of the real world. No offense to Utah people. I just think if you live somewhere where the church is strong(anywhere west of Kansas ) and your whole environment is surrounded by LDS it can be like living in a bubble. Oh well, I better end here. It is already 2:15 . I wanted to get this posted before I get Lena from school. She takes control of the computer when she gets home to go on webkinz. Will write about that at a later time!

Lena's appointment

Hope everyone had a nice labor day weekend! Lena appt with the neurologist with okay. He thought " maybe" of the reasons she fainted the first time was due to dehydration. He wasn't sure about the second time at school since it happened in the morning. The doctor was a bit of an oddball ( some specialists are) but he did feel neurologically she is fine. He is interested in learning more about heart problems on my side of the family. My sister has rapid heart beat problems. So I need to call with this information and if he feels Lena needs to see a cardiologist he will refer her. Although Lena had a heart monitor test and it came back normal he said sometimes these can be hard to read. Poor Lena, she seems to get more anxiety each time we have to see a doctor. As you all know, she is lively all the time but that goes away once they have to take her vitals. She started crying when the nurse took her blood pressure. She doesn't like that hug on her arm. I did take her to McDonald's and the Dollar Tree once we were done, then we went to Payless and she picked out some shoes and a Hannah Montana purse! I got a real bargain on the purse. It was on clearance for 3 dollars!! Okay, enough blogging. I suppose I should get something done today. I didn't get called to work today ( that can change though) so I am trying to do little projects around the house that I put off doing. Today, I am going to tackle Lena's room and hopefully clean out my closet. Have a great day!!