Week 68 - Dwight

 This week, the Albertson Ward lost one of its long-time faithful members.  My earliest memories of church include Brother James and Sister Betty Joe Jones.  He was a constant, a fixture in the ward that was just always there doing good.  His funeral was on Friday.  He will be missed.  The ward will not be the same without him.

We had a number of things planned for this week, like going to the temple to do baptisms and lots of visits and a birthday celebration!  Most everything got postponed because we were sick most of the week, especially Susan.  She's still got a lingering something and hopefully she'll get well very soon, because she's needed so very much here.  Too bad it was her BIRTHDAY this week and she was not feeling well at all.

BYU Birthday Surprises!

Friday was Susan's birthday.  Since she wasn't feeling well, we stayed home most of the day.  She (we) is a huge BYU fan and since her birthday was also gameday, her gifts included a BYU rug, umbrella and blanket.  Luckily, the Cougars were able to pull off a late come-from-behind win to cap off her birthday with something, besides a cough and a fever, to remember.

Even with the sickness, we were able to accomplish a few things this week.  We delivered a mattress to a needy family, helped the missionaries over the phone as much as we could with lessons, arranged a few meetings, helped with some work applications and rental agreements and helped get several new people to church today.  I also helped my friend JR medicate his cat several times, until she decided to scratch us both and we had to regroup a bit.  Every day we felt like we accomplished something, but just not our usual selves.

Haitian Adult Sunday School Class

It's amazing watching the Haitian new members teach each other during Sunday School and other classes at church.  We had close to 40 of our Haitian members and friends at church today.  Usually about half are not members of the Church.  The young missionaries are working hard to invite as many people as possible and we're loving getting to know and love them all!

As I consider our sickness this week and my friend, that's going through a lot of health challenges with his feet to the point that he may lose one or both, I realize that we often take our lives for granted.  When we get injured or lose function of a body part or get sick, we realize how blessed we normally are when everything is working well.  We are so thankful for every blessing we have, for our lives and our family and our friends.  This week we're not taking as much for granted and realize that every blessing comes from a loving Heavenly Father who knows us perfectly.  As we face and overcome challenges we grow.  We're growing this week!  Love you all!

Elder and Sister Potter