Tuesday, December 29, 2015

December 28th Update

Dec. 21st marks 3months on our mission! We fed the missionaries breakfast! Elder Waite has been here since before we got here & we really have really gotten attached to him. Elder Renie went home last week having completed his mission & we will really miss him too. So we have a new missionary, Elder Walker.  Today we drove to McDonough to get our car serviced. Then I went shopping for another gift for the needy family & I also got gifts for the sister missionaries in our district. I've gotten close to one sister -- she doesn't seem to have a lot of support from home so we wanted to give her an anonymous gift & felt we should give the other sister one too. I got them 2 pair of earrings,a pretty scarf & $20 in a card. Turns out she didn't get many presents from home so I was really glad we did it. She told me her Mom & Dad divorced when she was 12 & after that there was never Christmas.

12/22 I baked cookies almost all day. We were asked to bring 7 dozen to zone conference & I made more to give out to your Dad's home teaching families. We visited four of those families this afternoon.

12/23 we went to Fayetteville to our Christmas Zone Conference. I helped the other senior sister missionaries bag all of the cookies while your Dad helped with the car inspections in the rain. He got soaked! President & Sister Foote spoke. They are so awesome & great speakers.

12/24 Today I made 10 loaves of banana bread & gave our to the neighbor's in our apartment complex that included the missionaries of course! We went to the nursing home to visit 3 ladies there-one is a member, one isn't but her family is & we also visit with her roommate who loves to join in on the conversation & seems lonely. We took them each a bag of candy except the 1 lady who isn't a member was with her family so we will have to give her the candy later.
Sister Gyyton & Katie came by & brought us some food including a bunch of tomatoes that were on sale. She also gave the missionaries some so I asked them if they wanted me to make them some tomato soup & they did. I had planned on making dressing this afternoon but instead worked on the tomatoes, pealing them & slicing them.

Our mission Christmas tree


12/25 I cooked the tomato soup this morning. Then I made some more banana bread. The soup was delicious! This was the first time I ever made some. The Stansell's had us over for Christmas dinner. It was delicious--she is a great cook. I love going over to their home, it is so pretty & comfortable & is on the lake. This was not the usual kind of Christmas & I was a little homesick, missing our family, our house, our Christmas decorations, etc. But how blessed we were to see all of y'all, except Chris & Maggie who was sick, on the 26th for Nathan's birthday! What a wonderful day it was & we loved every minute!















Opening Christmas presents with Kaitlyn's help








12/27 we went to church today. Our schedule is from 10 to 1--I love the 10 o'clock part but not the 1 o'clock part lol! Brother Price told us that there was a lady that wanted to talk to us & when we took him home she was sitting outside do we went & talked to her. Your Dad asked if we could give her a lesson & she said yes so we went back after eating & your Dad taught her a lesson--this was our first!!!! He taught the restoration lesson & she accepted it & said she would read it he pamphlet @ some in the Book of Mormon. We were excited!  We delivered a birthday candy bar & had supper with the Knight's and the missionaries. The Knight's are a great couple--I really hope y'all get to meet them. Busy week!

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Lee Grayson's baptism





December 19, 2015
Today was Barry's cousin's funeral. It was held at First Baptist Church of Lilburn, Ga. Barry was asked to do the obituary and make a few comments. The service was conducted by a lady that serves as some type of relief minister there & she did a really good job. It was a very nice service.
On the way home we stopped at the Stockbridge ward to be at Lee Greyson's baptism (pictured above). This is the first baptism since we've been there. Elder Waite & Elder Compton & Elder Reni taught him. It was a nice service. Sister Knight & Brother Godwin spoke. Charlie Knoll, a friend of Lee's, did the baptism & he has only been a member for a few months himself.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

12/15/15 District Meeting

L to r Elder Hansen; Elder Ericksen; Elder Waite; Elder Reni; Sister Jones; Sister Webb

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

December 14th Update

I am late with this but couldn't let last week go by without a report!

Monday, December 7th we fed the missionaries breakfast. Elder Reni told me he looked forward to breakfast all week long! That made me feel good. Afterward we went to Daucet Trails. It has beautiful trails & is kind of a mini zoo. We really enjoyed it. Baked cookies for the Christmas devotional that we watched as a ward for FHE.

Tuesday, December 8th we inspected missionary apartments.

Wednesday, December 9th we went to McDonough to rake leaves with the missionaries & later went caroling in the neighborhood to try to get some contacts for the missionaries there. It was a lot of fun.



Thursday, December 10th we made a visit & worked on 59 Christmas cards for ward members.

Friday, December 11th we visited with Bob & Sonya Crosby some friends of ours from the Tuscaloosa ward. Her mother is Sister Kirkland (where we got stuck in the ditch). When she told them they had missionaries named Sadler from Alabama they thought it might be us! We had such a nice visit with them. That afternoon I went to the dr & got antibiotics. Being in the night air Wednesday made me sick. )o:

Saturday, December 12th we went to a missionary meeting with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland! It was the Atlanta Mission & the Atlanta North Mission--about 400 missionaries & we all got to shake his hand! He was a great speaker. It was awesome! Then we got stuck in traffic for a long time! We heard that there was a 5 car pile up on the interstate. The Marchman's took us & the missionaries out to eat for supper. They are a great couple & we really enjoy being with them (they had us over Thanksgiving).  I called Garrett & wished him a happy birthday. He is 15 years old! Hard to believe.

Sunday, December 13th your Dad/Papa gave a talk in Sacrament meeting & taught the gospel principles class. After church we fed the missionaries & Elder Waite gave me the cd "The Forgotten Carols". His mom had sent it for us. I was touched! Your Dad/Papa & the missionaries went to An elderly sister's home to bless their house. Barry said he felt no problems there      ( this was the lady whose grandchildren had been playing with a wigi board). That was a relief. Later we delivered 2 birthday candy bars.

It was a great week! We love being around the missionaries! We've enjoyed them all in our district.

Monday, December 7, 2015

December 6th Update

We've had another busy week. Monday, November 30th we fed the missionaries breakfast & cleaned & shopped. One of the missionaries told me that he looks forward to breakfast on Monday all week. That made me feel good!

Tuesday, December 1st we had a district meeting & afterward we took our Elders out to eat. We delivered a birthday candy bar & had supper with the Knight's & they also invited the Elders.

Wednesday, December 2nd we delivered another birthday candy bar. We've been trying to catch this lady at home so we waited until 6 pm but she still wasn't there. We had supper with the Huddlestons. They are relatively new members & a nice family.

Thursday, December 3rd we delivered a candy bar to an inactive young guy. We have really tried to see this guy. We've left him notes & visited where he did work--girlfriend still works there--gave the girlfriend a note asking for him to call. Apparently he is one of those that does not want to be found! Your Dad & the Elders went to see An elderly sister to give her home a blessing but she wasn't there. She said her grandchildren were playing with a wigi board & they have had hoards of flies & other strange things going on at her son's house. So she wanted her home blessed.

Friday, December 4th we did apartment inspections. Afterward we took the sister missionaries out to eat. Then we went to see Sister Barringer who recently had a baby& gave her a baby gift.

Saturday, December 5th Barry took a couple, Lisa & Greg to the Bishops Storehouse for a food order. While they were filling the order one of the guys there took your Dad on a tour & he was very impressed! He said they also store supplies like tarps, chainsaws, etc.  This couple lives with other family members & when they got to the house one of the male family members said he wasn't going to help unload "that man's car" but Lisa said, "well I guess you won't eat the food either" so then he decided to help. Greg is in a wheelchair so he couldn't help much. President Carrin had given them a big food order.
The Sister that wanted her home blessed also wanted us to find a ride for her to church but she has MARSA. We talked to Pres. Carrin & he & your Dad will take the sacrament to her. It is contagious so she doesn't need to come to church with that. She has a weakened immune system. We've faced several problems that we've never encountered before which kind of surprises me since we've been in the church for 41 years & Barry has served 6 different times as a bishop or branch president.

Monday, November 30, 2015

November 29th Update

Monday, November 23rd was p day so we cleaned & bought groceries.

Tuesday, November 24th we had our district meeting & took the missionaries out to eat afterward. Later we visited several people.

Wednesday, November 25th Elder Sadler took Brother Price home teaching & made several visits. Natalie & the kids came to see us & spent the night! I cooked supper for them & the missionaries. It was great to get to see them.

Thursday, November 26th the former branch president & his wife, Larry & Bev had us over for Thanksgiving. It was different not being with family but they were all very nice to us & we enjoyed it.

Friday, November 27th we delivered a birthday candy bar. Also on the way home from Orlando Melissa, Kevin & the kids visited with us & it was great to see them too! It was definitely a blessing to get to see some of our family & we really enjoyed it.

Saturday, November 28th I was sick so we didn't make any visits. This week we made over 30 calls or texts to less active members.

Today our attendance was way down as several were sick & our largest family was out of town so that was a little disappointing. Talked with a sister today that wants Elder Sadler to bless her home. She said that her grandchildren were playing with a wigi board & they have had several weird things happen at their home like hoards of flies, etc. so she wanted her home blessed. Your Dad has never had a situation like this before. He is going to take the Elders with him when he blesses her home so say a prayer for him & the Elders.

Monday, November 23, 2015

November 22nd Update

Saturday, November 14th we met the Chapman's at the Atlanta temple. Jaxon is preparing to go on a mission to Brazil.  We are so proud of him!



Monday, November 16th we fed the missionaries breakfast, then cleaned the apartment.  We delivered a candy bar to Brother Knight. He wasn't there so we hung it on the door in a bag. He called later to thank us for it--first time someone has called to thank us! We went to Indian Springs park (which is only a few miles away). It is a beautiful park with a great area to swim & has a small playground.

Tuesday, November 17th I cooked lunch & Barry made 10 phone calls. We did home teaching with 2 families & left messages for 3 other families. While we were out we saw a lady pushing a guy up a hill & we offered to take them home & made an appt to teach them Friday am. We ate supper with the Guyton's.

Wednesday, November 18th we went to the Temple! Got up at 4:30! Had zone training afterward. Didn't get home until after 6 & hurried to our supper appt. with Sister Kirkland. It rained all day & was still raining when we left. Barry backed up & the back left wheel went off a stone embankment & was hanging over the ditch. Almost immediately a neighbor came out to help us & then another one. They & Barry were able to push the car back on the road (in the rain!) while I drove. We did have a little body damage but probably would've had it with a wrecker also--no telling how long we would've had to wait on it though so we were very thankful for their help.

Thursday, November 19th we asked the Griffin sisters to meet us at the French Market hoping to introduce them to Lauren (the waitress that we met last Monday) but she has started working night shifts so we didn't get to see her. We delivered a birthday candy bar to the man that was going to eat his wife's candy bar & found out he did give it to her!

Friday, November 20th Barry went w/the missionaries to teach the couple we helped Tuesday but they had forgotten about it & he didn't feel good. I cooked fried chicken & we fed the missionaries. I made banana bread & we took it to Sister Kirkland & her 2 neighbors that helped us.

Saturday, November 21st we made several visits. We found a 12yr old member whose aunt wants us to teach him again & his uncle who has terminal cancer has some questions for us. We delivered another candy bar. I cooked a roast & cranberry salad for dinner after church & we took Brother Price supper.

Today, Sunday November 22nd we had dinner after church. We sat by 2 less active members & a nonmember husband & got to know them better. We helped clean up & took Brother Price home. We both got a nap today!

Monday, November 9, 2015

November 8th Update

We've had a busy week! Monday we always feed the Elders breakfast & then we cleaned & washed clothes (p day). Tuesday, November 3rd we had our district meeting. Our Elders here in Jackson always ride with us & we take them out to eat afterward.


These are the missionaries in our district.  They are all really good missionaries!

Elder Compton on the left and Elder Waite on the right

One of the missionary couples said that they deliver Kit Kat  candy bars to the adult members on their birthday with a message & a cute ribbon so we decided to do that & the ones we've delivered them to seem touched so it's been fun & everybody likes it. We delivered several this week. We went to one home & the sister who had the birthday had gone shopping so we gave it to her husband to give to her but he said he was going to eat it! He has a birthday in a couple of weeks so I told him "don't eat it we are going to bring you one in 2 weeks" but he said he was going to eat it!



Wednesday, November 4th we went to our first transfer meeting & it was a very spiritual. Our awesome mission president had all the brand new missionaries bear their testimonies & all the missionaries that are leaving also bore their testimonies. Our Elder Compton was transferred & Elder Waite was made district leader. Elder Reni was transferred in.

We finished up our visiting all the member homes this week on Saturday. (We also cleaned the church for the 3rd week in a row on Saturday but we didn't this week.  Barry typed up a message to leave on the family's door if they aren't home. He has taken 50 families off the roll using people smart to get their new address.

Barry says I remember the people we've visited by their pets--i.e. the family with the 3legged dog, the Great Dane, the long haired chihuahua, the hungry cats (yes I feed them) etc!

Barry also finished up the new home teaching routes & gave them out today.

So I think that pretty much sums it up. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone on Nathan's birthday & in January!

Monday, November 2, 2015

November 1st Update

We've had another busy week! We are still going out & visiting (or leaving a message) to the members. We only visited 17 this week--we have 20 more to visit plus the 3 in prison. We had a district meeting Tuesday & did apartment inspections Wednesday & Thursday. The missionaries have very nice apartments in this area! I now see the wisdom in having apartment inspections!  There is one apartment that has 4 sister missionaries & none of them knew that the dryer had a filter much less that they needed to clean it. I told them they needed to clean it every time they used it & if they didn't it was a fire hazard. Another missionary set didn't know that you were supposed to change the a/c filter--one of them had been here 6 mos. & had never changed it & it was filthy.

Elder Sadler has gotten more than 40 families off the unit records using People Smart. He found that one man died in 2007 & no one even knew it. We went to a home where the guy had been there 6 months & the house was vacant a year before he moved in & no one knew that the family had moved. Elder Sadler has now found 50 families that have moved out! That will really make a difference. The missionaries get tickled at all of his lists--he has one for the inactives, one for them by area, one of those we've visited, one for those we haven't,  he sends a report to the bishop every week, home teaching & many more!

One  that has been inactive for years & years now asked Elder Sadler to give him a blessing last night. A member told Barry today that he never remembers him talking about the church but he has talked to us about the church a couple of times now.

Sister Guyten told us that we might not know why we're here but we are here for her family. They feed us every week--I know that it will be hard to leave them when our mission is up. They are a sweet family. There's more but it's late & my phone is about to die.

Monday, October 26, 2015

October 25th Update

Thinking of Mom today. One year ago today she passed away. So now it is time to plan a family get together at the Atlanta Temple!  Y'all let us know which Saturday works for us b/c we're open on Saturdays right now! Jason, would you be able to come before Christmas or would after Christmas be better for you with your class schedule?

Recently Sister Guyton told me that "she was a "hunter & gatherer" of food -- she really works on her food storage. That phrase stuck in my mind & as your Dad & I have gone out looking for & talking with the inactives it occurred to me that we are a "hunter & gatherer" of people!

We've been giving out invitations or taping them on the door if they weren't home for the branch party which was last night & the party was a huge success. We had a bunch of inactives there & a few came to church today! Your Dad gave the eulogy for Aunt Margaret's funeral Thursday & he taught the plan of salvation in his talk. He did a really good job & got many compliments. I think he is going to send y'all a copy of it. My crown came off on my tooth so we went Wednesday to get it reattached & spent the night at home. The pets were all healthy & happy which made me feel so much better. Shirley is taking really good care of them which is such a blessing to me.

For pday tomorrow we are going to help Melissa! Looking forward to seeing them!

Monday, October 19, 2015

October 18th update

Hey! We've had a busy week! We met our goal this week & visited 30 homes-- some were not there & we left an invitation to the branch party this Saturday & wrote our names & phone number on it. Your Dad is learning the area which includes 2 1/2 counties. The branch president asked us to speak today & we got compliments on our talks. Your Dad has been emphasizing home teaching. I think I told y'all that for the 2nd quarter they had 4% & they just got their 3rd quarter numbers & it was 3%. Hopefully part of the problem is under reporting.
We had a district meeting Tuesday & a missionary couples conference Saturday at the mission president's home. We enjoyed it so much. We met a sister from Fairhope & she knows Marjorie Garrick (she is the one who used to always do the name cards at the reunion) & her daughter Adell was her music teacher.

Melissa is having surgery on her little finger Wednesday because of her severed tendon. Please remember her in your prayers. Also we're still waiting to hear about Aunt Margaret. Your Dad talked to Teresa a few days ago & Teresa said she was really fighting to hang on but it could be any day now. Will keep y'all posted about that.

Dad made 19 phone calls this afternoon!

Thursday, October 15, 2015

October 14th Update

Well, this has been an interesting week so far. We have been looking for the inactives--we have met a few of them. One sister today that we talked to has depression & touretts. We helped her straighten up for a good while & she seemed to really appreciate it. We hope to get some inactives back active again & we got 2 there Sunday & 1of them got another one there. You never know what's going to happen next when you knock on someone's door!

Friday, September 25, 2015

MTC

This picture was in our room at the MTC and Elder Sadler loved it & wanted me to take a picture of it.


Our MTC district.  Left to right: the Burgons, the Brodricks, and the Chandlers.


Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Pre-mission Email

Dear family and friends,
Judy and I have accepted the call to serve as Member and Leader Support missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have been assigned to serve in Jackson, Georgia for 12 months. Our new address will be 124 Cedar Street, Apt. C4, Jackson, Georgia 30233. My new email (effective 9/19) will be barry.sadler@myldsmail.net and Judy’s will be mary.sadler@myldsmail.net (Judy’s name is actually Mary Judith). My cell phone is 334-695-0262 and hers is 334-695-3812.
We look forward to this adventure as we share our faith and support the members and leaders of a small congregation of our church in that community.
Please remember us in your prayers.
Barry