Lafayette Second Ward

Sister Whiting called the Relief Society President in the Second Ward and inquired if there was anything we could do to serve her ward, since we didn't have our assignment as yet.  I know it was an answer to prayer for her as she said that she was having her daughter's wedding in two weeks and there were people in the ward who needed caring for now.  So we took the list and these are some of the people we saw.

The Second ward is composed of many worldly successful people who are financially stable.  They love each other and support each other in a big way.  It is a huge ward with very few less active people.  But because we thought there was a chance that they could put us over all three wards, and the Relief Society President and Bishopric was present at church, we began in this ward.

We drove about 25-30 minutes to visit the Hadderlies.  What a sweet and honest couple, we loved being there with them and sharing in their love and experiences.  We were indeed fed by them.  They are converts who went on a mission to Nauvoo in the 90's I think.  They loved their mission and also served in an historic covered wagon treck to Utah a year or two later.  Now they are having health issue and are needing a little help.  We could feel their love and humility.  They lived in an attractive little mobile home that seemed extra wide.  There was a garden in the back that the sister Missionaries had helped them put in because it was beyond what they could do.  We left them with a loaf of bread and they shared with us some yummy tomatoes out of their garden.  We talked a lot about their experiences and shared a lot.  Elder Whiting never did make it in the house, He and Bro. Hadderlie visited outside the whole time about their various experiences.  What fun!!!  They were close to their 80's.  She had artificial knees and hip, and he had a pace maker in his heart.   Wish it wasn't so far to go see them.

We stopped on the way home from the Hadderlie couple to keep our appointment with Sister Reynolds.  She also lived in a mobile home and was alone.  She had been less active in the church, but had lost her husband a few months back.  I believe she wanted to go to the temple and get her temple work done.  She sounded to us like she was very new in the church and still had some growing and learning to do.  What a sweet lady she was!!  But, she was not all the way into the church yet.  I know that as she learns and grows and people continue to love her, they will bring her back.  The second ward has a very low rate of less actives because they work together so well.

Sister Russo, we learned when we called her husband, had been admitted to the hospital the day before.  So we went to the hospital to visit her in the ICU.  Surrounded by all kinds of machines, we learned that she had gone into heart failure and they were monitoring here very carefully.  Sixty years old, and looking frail, she didn't smile a lot, but was very concerned about her own health.  She had just been released from the hospital a couple of weeks earlier for something else and now she had developed this.

We learned that Sister Russo's husband was not a member.  She was quite protective of him having to do with that.  So we left it alone.  Looking pale, she didn't look very strong.  We ask her if she would like the Elders to come and administer to her and she was anxious to have that happen.  So we ask for the names of her home teachers and called them later with her needs.  The wards here are so good to work with home teachers.  That is the way the Bishops want things handled!!!  Yay!!!  Sister Russo is working towards going to the Temple for herself.  We hope she makes it before her health really goes south.  She is supposed to be released in a couple of days if she continues to improve.

We learned that Sis. Broderick was out of town until next week, so we postponed our visit with her.  She was anxious to have us come, though and made arrangements to be there later.  I think she is on disabiity for something.  Sister Broderick has panic attacks and is a little unstable.  We listened to her for probably 45 minutes and talked a little about the Gospel.   She apologized later and told us that when she is nervous, she tends to talk a lot.   A sweet lady that needs lots of support.  She enjoyed our visit and called us later and asked if we would be willing to visit and give her Aunt a blessing who is in a rehabilitation center recovering from some life threatening health issues, even though she is not a member. 

The next day, we met her Aunt, Glenda.  Sixty-seven and lying in bed, Glenda looked as if she had some health issues, some of it maybe mental too.  She told us that she had not wanted to live because she had lost so many people through death.  She also said that it just became hard to financially care for herself and she had just given up.  She has diabetes and Parkinsons and, I think, a few more things.  Anyway now she had decided she wants to live and is willing to fight.  We talked to her about Jesus Christ and his capability to heal each one of us, and how he makes everything possible.  He is the only one we can depend on!!!  Then Elder Whiting put his hands on her head and gave her a blessing.  A couple of days later when we went back, she was making arrangements to leave next week.  We talked with her more about the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives and the plan of salvation.  We ask her if we could come and teach her about him when she got out and she agreed.

How fast we forget where our blessings come from.  When we returned the last time, we took the Sister Missionaries who had agreed to teach her, and introduced them to her.  She had already changed her mind  and back pedaled about being taught.  The Sisters were able to visit with the lady in the next bed, who had her grandaughter with her, about the Gospel, and left a card with them.  I love teaching opportunities.  Glenday took the Sister Missionaries number and agreed to call them if she changed her mind.

Sister Deck and her Sister live together in a little town outside of Layfayette.  Sister Deck has just been baptized in April, and her sister had just lost her husband sometime in the last year.  Now they were living together.  What a sweet and wonderful spirit we felt from both of them.  We talked and shared.  We laughed and talked about important things.  We shared a Gospel message.  When we had prayer together, it was such a sweet experience.  They invited us back as Sister Whiting shared hugs with them.  We wish we could visit people like them every day.

Sister Ma was a Chinese lady who had lost her husband a couple of months ago.  She, very matter-of-factly invited us in, served us some water and sat down to visit with us.  Her home was decorated with mostly Chinese furnishings and wall hangings.  We had learned earlier that Sister Ma had not been out to Church since she lost her husband.  Very sweet, Sister Ma, when asked about her feelings about the church, replied, "I don't believe it."  We had to listen intently to understand what she had said because her English was a little difficult to understand.  So we listened a while longer as she said she was believing in Evolution and a few other strange things.  We listened to her for about 30 minutes as she explained what she believed. 

Having lived in China, and several other places, she has seen some pretty rough things and had some terrible experiences.  This has caused her to doubt that the church is true.  The interesting thing is that she has been to the Temple.  But she was nice to us and responded that she would try and come to church the next Sunday.  She really enjoyed the ladies at church and how they cared about each other.  We bore our testimony to her, of the Gospel, and we could tell she had to stop and think about that.  Sister Whiting gave her a hug and we went on our way.

From this point on we were able to learn that our assignment was in the Third Ward with Bishop Allred, so we left these people with their Relief Society Sisters.  We were grateful to Heavenly Father that we could visit these people and remind them of his love for each one of them.