Week 12

The highlight of this week is shown below--

New couch

--the couch, not Kerby.  Our previous couch was nothing short of an instrument of torture!  We sunk so low in it that it took three men and a boy to haul me out, and then our backs were twisted like pretzels and it took a few minutes to get ourselves straightened out.  I finally said, "Elder Kerr, I just can't live with this for 15 more months."  On Thursday we left the institute to go the the Family History Center intending to get some help with some of Kerby's genealogy, but the Center was closed.  As we headed back, we took a slight detour and ended up in a furniture store, and 30 minutes later we were the owners of a new, comfortable, and inexpensive couch.  Then it occurred to us that the hideous couch really wasn't ours, and we ought to check in with the mission president about its disposition (the company would haul it away when they delivered the new one).  He checked with our Zone leaders (who drive a pick-up truck), who quickly determined that the sisters in the 2nd ward could use it. The elders picked it up on Friday morning and our new couch was delivered Friday evening.  And the best surprise was that the mission president said we would be reimbursed for the couch!

We are frequently greeted with gorgeous sunsets (and they are getting later as the days get longer--yippee!).  While the picture doesn't show it's true beauty, you can get the idea:

Six o'clock view

On Friday the temperature reached 75 degrees, and students around campus were out in their shorts (very short shorts, I might add).  The frat boys across the street from the institute were out playing ball without shirts (some on the ground and some on the roof) to loud music.  It will cool down some, but I don't think we should have highs below 50 the rest of this week.  The hot, windy days created ideal conditions for a couple of grass fires outside of town.

OSU has an excellent Fire Protection program (associate degree) and shares a building with the Stillwater Fire Department for Fire Station #2--just off campus.  The top floor is OSU and the bottom is the Fire Dept.

Best looking fire station around

We did have two more students in our Old Testament class on Monday, so that was nice.  It is really wonderful to work with these YSAs.  Because we're also part of the YSA ward, we have the interesting phenomenon of teaching in the week, then some of our students teach us on Sunday in Sunday School, RS/Priesthood, or through sacrament meeting talks.  Our YSAs have strong testimonies, and just as we try to be uplifting to them, they are uplifting to us.  Great system, eh?

Week 11

Tuesday was cold, wet, dreary, and I had the beginnings of a cold.  So imagine our happy surprise to come home to a package from my nephew and his family (Dave, Lynnette, et al).  It was a sunshine box, and every snack, treat, and toy in it was yellow.  What a cheerer upper that was!

A box of sunshine

That evening we had a ward assignment (along with another ward) to clean the temple.  My only frame of reference for that was the heavy cleaning that gets done periodically, but in small temples every night people are assigned to attend the 7:30 pm session, then clean the temple afterward.  With lots of people, it only took about 20 minutes, and we got home at 11 pm. 

Wednesday was transfer day (so glad that doesn't affect us directly--no transfers or companion changes for us!).  Transfers happen every six weeks.  In the previous transfer no one in our district was changed, but this week two sisters went home, our district leader was made a zone leader in OKC, and two other companionships changed, too, so we welcomed five new missionaries to our district.  We enjoyed getting to know Sister Engelbrecht tonight at dinner.

On Friday our district gathered to watch the world wide missionary training meeting--it was done on Wednesday, but since that was transfer day, we watched it via the web on Friday.  What a great meeting.  Most members of the Missionary Committee spoke (or taught through video interaction with a small group of missionaries).  We heard from Elders Andersen, Bednar, Oaks, Clayton, Nielsen, Bishop Waddell, and Sister Oscarson.  Wow--powerful messages addressing the theme: Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts.  I'm sure missionaries all over the world were buoyed by the content and spirit of the meeting.  Elder Bednar pointed out that missionaries can carry the message of the gospel unto the heart of the investigator, but only the Holy Ghost can carry it into the heart, and then only at the invitation of the investigator.  Elder Andersen reminded us that we should carry the name of the Savior on our lips and be ready to testify of Him at any time when prompted to do so.

Now for the wildlife report.  Bennie the Blue Heron made an appearance this week (haven't seen him for a while), as did a cardinal.  Cardinals are something I still miss from my Kansas City days, and I thought we'd see a lot of them around here.  Not so.  However, one appeared and then very kindly stayed in one spot for quite a while so I could carry on about him.  Geese started coming to the pond in our apartment complex several weeks ago. We've learned a couple of things about them. First, they can stand on one leg and tuck the other up like a flamingo.  Here's a picture of some standing on ice --the one in the foreground is doing the flamingo pose.  We saw several doing that on little ice floes in the pond.

Second, they are not nearly as considerate as chickens.  They sometimes carry on honking conversations all night long!  Maybe we need a goose whisperer to see what's troubling them.  It is terribly obnoxious in the middle of the night; especially when they are on our side of the pond.

Our classes remained small (didn't have the Old Testament class on Monday because of the MLK holiday, and we know there are few students who will be joining that class tomorrow).  However, we had wonderful discussions in each one, and we'll just teach tiny classes.  It's been interesting to study the Book of Mormon, the Old Testament, and Teachings of the Living Prophets at the same time. Amazing to see doctrines dovetail, truths tripled, and concepts converge (doing my best Elder Maxwell wordplay there) as we look at these three sacred sources simultaneously.

Week 10

Classes started this week, and the campus was hopping!  We'd gotten used to a very quiet town, but it was back to the usual bustle this week, and it felt good.  We enjoyed teaching our three classes, but they were very small, and we won't really know total enrollments until the end of next week.

For home evening on Monday we went to some batting cages and folks could work out their frustrations with either softballs or baseballs.  The YSAs really had fun.  I've mentioned before that the committee really comes up with some great activities for FHE.

YSAs in the batting cages

We had a couple of warm days this week (followed by some very cold ones), so we took a little walk one day.  We love the pond and fountain right on the edge of campus, so took a couple of pictures.  A lot of the trees on the pond are cypress so have the funny, knobby roots that poke up all around the mama tree; very interesting.

A few thoughts about life as a senior missionary couple:  

(1) It's important to have a good companion.  My companion is fantastic!  I think he wakes up every morning thinking, "How can I make my wife's life easier, more comfortable, or better today?" 

(2) Senior couples are not nearly as restricted as young missionaries.  Our mission president has two rules for senior couples.  "Don't embarrass me, and don't leave the mission boundaries without telling me."  Obviously, he knows maturity, wisdom, and commitment will prevent seniors from doing anything stupid or out of line with mission guidelines, but it is nice to be able to phone, text, e-mail, listen to music, even watch a little BYUtv or public television from our computer sometimes. 

(3) Our schedule is also not as rigorous as the younger missionaries'.  Because our responsibilities at the institute have us arrive there early some days and late others, our morning routine varies, but we get up about 6:15, exercise, have breakfast, and then either do our scripture and gospel study at the apartment or do it at the institute after the class or cooking that got us there earlier. We stay at the institute until about 7 Mon-Thur and leave about 5:30 or 6 on Friday.  Saturday is P-day, when we do our grocery shopping, the laundry, and clean the apartment.  We also work at Elite Repeat from 10 am-12 noon for our community service.

(4) The apartment was built in the 70's and is showing its age.  It is quite small (two in the kitchen rarely works), but that is nice when it comes to cleaning.  In some ways it's kind of refreshing to have so little "stuff," but I do miss my very well equipped kitchen.  I spent the last 15 years slowly making everything in my house "tall friendly" (shower head, toilet, vanity; kitchen counters and cabinets; closets and storage shelves; furniture. . . ).  No one has done that here, so it is not as comfortable and convenient for the two of us as it might be for most folks, but we're adjusting.  

(5) As CES missionaries, "Our purpose is to help young adults understand and rely on the teachings and Atonement of Jesus Christ, qualify for the blessings of the temple, and prepare themselves, their families, and others for eternal life with their Father in Heaven." 

(6) One of the mission requirements we adhere to is always wearing our name badges whenever outside our apartment.  We even have second badges to put on our coats, so they are always visible.

 It's very interesting to watch people take note of the tag--some with surreptitious glances, some staring, some with suspicion.  I've thought a lot about the significance of this name tag. Note that it doesn't say "missionary," it just has our names and the name of the church, with Jesus Christ in bold letters.  (When we were having such problems with the sewer, we went to the apartment management company to see what could be done.  As we drove there I said, only half jokingly, "Remember whose name is on your chest!")  It's actually quite sobering to realize that we really do represent Jesus Christ, and people make judgments about our level of commitment to Him by our talk and actions all day every day. 

While missionaries wear a tag proclaiming that commitment, didn't we all take upon ourselves His name when we were baptized? In Mosiah 18: 8-10 Alma explains the covenant of baptism which includes, "as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people. . . and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places. . . "  Earlier, in Mosiah 5, King Benjamin tells his people that because of their covenant they "will be called the children of Christ. . . I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ. . . . remember to retain the name written always in your hearts. . . ."  

The name tag is a very physical, tangible reminder of something that should affect our thoughts, speech, and actions every day, with or without the official call as missionaries.

Week 9
We spent most of the week getting ready for our classes this semester.  We'll be teaching three different courses (if they all carry):  Book of Mormon part 1, Old Testament part 2, and Teachings of the Living Prophets.  Brother Valletta is teaching two different courses (two sections of one of them and one of the other) and a couple from the stake is teaching Book of Mormon part 2.  Each class only needs about 4 students to carry, but we won't know until the end of the second week which classes will have enough to continue.

On Friday we went to the temple in Oklahoma City, then drove further south to Norman.  Saturday morning was a Scripture Conference in-service for all the early morning and home study seminary teachers  (and the two CES couples) in the Stillwater district (3 stakes) and the Norman district (2 stakes).  We didn't want to drive down early on Saturday, so spent the night in Norman, home of the University of Oklahoma.  After dropping off some supplies at the institute building there, we drove around the campus (very nice, but not as nice as OSU [see, we're starting to bleed orange and black]) then went to the art museum on campus.

The museum was a wonderful surprise.  The visiting exhibit was 20 busts from the Hall of Emperors of the Capitoline Museums in Rome, and it was the first time the exhibit has been in the US--it was marvelous.  Also on the first floor was a re-creation of the sitting room/parlor/dining room of a wealthy OU benefactor.  It included all of the original furniture as well as all of the family art--a Monet, a VanGough, several Renoir, a Pissaro, a Toulouse-Lautrec, a Gauguin, and many by lesser known artists.  Fantastic!  On the second floor was a very impressive collection of Southwest and Native American art.

Saturday morning dawned with a fairly heavy snowfall.  We only had a mile to drive (and we were grateful we'd come early), but many folks were on the road for over two hours to get to the in-service, and the snowstorm caught them half-way there.  The keynote speaker was President Gray, stake president in OKC.  His remarks were so touching, as he reminded us that we're reminding students that Heavenly Father knows them individually and is breaking down barriers for them constantly.  His topic was helping our students (and ourselves) recognize the Ananias moments in our lives.  We looked at Acts 9: 1-9 briefly, but focused on Acts 9: 10-17.  What were Ananias's thoughts, feelings, fears as he received his instructions from the Lord?  What allowed him to fulfill his assignment?  We discussed those and several other questions, and we invite you to ponder those verses, as well.  Our focus in the chapter is generally on Saul/Paul, so it's easy to overlook the spiritual insights of the Ananias experience.

Brother Sturges, the CES coordinator in Norman, used the book of Jonah to illustrate an approach to teaching (and studying) the scriptures.  That is to make a list of the questions you would like answered about a particular chapter or block of verses while reading it.  So we read Jonah 1 individually, each making his or her list.  Then we shared our lists (where were Nineveh and Tarshish, why was Jonah a prophet, why was he scared, why did he volunteer that he was the cause of the problems, why didn't he just jump in, how big was the fish, etc).  Though some questions may not be "answerable," we talked about where one can find answers to a lot of the questions (footnotes, Bible Dictionary, lesson manuals, etc), but the most interesting thing is what it does to make reading active.  We did some similar activities with the remaining verses of Jonah, and it was very interesting how many of the questions led to spiritual insights as well as to factual information.  Again--give it a try with the next block of whatever you're studying in the scriptures right now.

The final speaker was Brother Valletta, teaching about IUFA (identify doctrine and principles, understand them, feel their importance, and apply them).  That is the pattern for teaching the scriptures that we learned about in the MTC, and continue to strive for as we begin teaching our classes tomorrow.

By the time the in-service was over, the snow had stopped and the roads were dry.  Today our ward met together after the two-week hiatus, and it was so good to be with our YSAs again.  Tonight we attended the world-wide devotional broadcast with President Nelson and his wife, Wendy as the speakers.  Good, good thoughts and spirit.

Week 8
Since our primary responsibilities revolve around the young single adults, and since most of the young single adults are home for the Christmas break, we've had a slow week.  We didn't even go into the institute; rather we worked on our lessons for next semester at home, with a couple of diversions.

Tuesday night we went to an OSU basketball game.  We bought $10 tickets in the nose-bleed section, assuming we'd be able to move down because most folks wouldn't be in town--we were right.  As expected, the chairs and bleachers are orange.  Every person in the arena except for the opposing team (Univ Missouri-Kansas City) and their fans was wearing orange (including us).  The school mascot is Pistol Pete, and he is one tough cowboy!  I don't know which would be less comfortable--Cosmo's cougar suit or this giant head, but the head keeps him from doing anything athletic.  The Cowboys (or Pokes, as they are also called) won.  There are a lot of Native American tribes in this area, and many operate casinos.  The game was sponsored by four different casinos (and other businesses)--just a little unexpected.

Pistol Pete--Go Pokes!!

We went down to the temple in OKC on Wednesday morning.  Every tree between here and there was covered with ice or heavy frost--it was kind of eerie.  OKC got a lot more ice than we did in the latest storm, and the broken limbs from the previous storm hadn't been cleared out yet.  The next pictures are trees right in front of the temple and the church next to it.  Maybe hard to tell, but they are completely encased in ice.

Icy trees

Here is a little more information about Stillwater and environs:

Oklahoma started here

Before the April 22, 1889 legal opening of the Oklahoma Land Rush, where President Harrison opened up the territories to anyone who wanted to settle here, a group of folks sort of snuck in.  They were called Boomers and were removed before the land rush.  They came back when it was legal and were among the first settlers here.  We have a Boomer Lake Park on the north side of town.  Sooners (hence the Univ of OK Sooners) came in a bit sooner than April 22nd, because they were government employees that could come legally, and they marked out some of the choicest land before the others arrived.  

Oil is a big part of the OK economy, so while we enjoyed paying $1.57 a gallon for gas last week, the low oil prices are hurting the economy.  You can see oil pump jacks all over--sometimes just one and sometimes several together.

Oil pump jack

An unwanted result of all this oil is that the disposal of waste water underground has caused OK to become the state with the highest number of earthquakes in the country.  Our local paper includes an Earthquake Tracker side bar several days a week showing where the earthquakes have been and what their magnitude was; there were 7 in one day in Edmond (40 miles south of us) last week!

And speaking of the local paper, we subscribe because they told us in the MTC that CES couples should be aware of the news and current events to be able to discuss them with students when appropriate or related to class topic.  So, we take the Stillwater News Press, which comes 6 days a week. Sometimes it is just one section, sometimes two.  It is definitely a small town paper, reporting things that just wouldn't make the news in big cities, though it does carry some national columns and good cartoons.  Every day there is a smile of the day with a picture of a person and why s/he is smiling.  One day it was, "and she is smiling because she loves Jesus."

Which brings me to another aspect of life here.  This is a very religious part of the country.  Lots and lots of churches; in addition to the Catholic and various protestant churches (lots of Baptist churches), there are many churches with interesting names that I'd never heard of.  A very popular one is Life Church--several of them in area. Another is Church.tv.  Anyway, people have good solid values.  A local business sometimes posts, "See you in church on Sunday" on it's marque.  However, in quite a few churches the preachers warn their parishioners about Mormons, and between that and believing they are already saved, people aren't very receptive to the missionaries.

In Stillwater, wrestling is a big deal.  The Cowboys have been national champions several times and some of the top ranked wrestlers are (or have been) here.  The National Wrestling Hall of Fame is located just off campus.  Football is a BIG deal in most of this part of the country.  The high schools have huge stadiums--the Stillwater Pioneer stadium is below:

Local high school football stadium

Oklahoma State is the agriculture school for the state, so there are a lot of farming research plots and vet school facilities around town.  Also several USDA centers.  The soil almost everywhere is deep, deep red; quite startling when big patches are exposed for construction.

For hamburger fans, the first Sonic drive in was right here in Stillwater.

1st Sonic

On our first day in Stillwater we drove through town on 6th Street (Highway 51) and saw a giant transformer on both ends of town.  We decided the grandsons needed to see Papa standing by one.

Giant transformer made almost entirely of auto parts

On New Year's Eve, we ate lunch at Red Lobster (thanks to Norm and Kathy) then went to see Star Wars.  That evening, our district had a party at the institute at 8 pm. We joined for a couple of hours--young missionaries had permission to stay out until 11 pm that night, but we left at 10.  

Now we can hardly wait to see what we learn and discover about Stillwater in 2016.  We're excited to teach our classes and work with our YSAs.  Studying and teaching the gospel--what a great mission!