Gentle rain on a Saturday

Dear family,

It was nice to spend the day with you and get our house ready for the sabbath!  I look forward to being together tomorrow afternoon.

Love,

Dad

Saturday, November 7, 2020
10:15 pm

Good day today.  Nathaniel woke up early, so he and I came downstairs to play and read a book.  The rest of the little kids got up fairly early too.  Made Malt-o-Meal for breakfast, then they enjoyed reading for a couple hours.  Next came cleaning.  We printed a new list of Saturday chores.  That's always exciting because all the "easy" jobs are available again.  Isaac and I worked together.  The house is reasonably ready for tomorrow.

Thankful: I'm grateful that I got to work with my children today.  I enjoyed talking to Isaac while we cleaned the couches.  I joined Jessie for three whole minutes of exercise tonight.  She's lots more flexible than I am! 😊

This is how Nathaniel plays with Lincoln Logs!

Pizza and OJ for dinner

Dear family,

Mark, it was nice to visit with you briefly tonight before I came upstairs to put the girls in bed.  I look forward to getting a more complete report from mom, assuming I don't fall asleep first.

Love to all,

Dad

Friday, November 6, 2020
9:12 pm

Up this morning before 6:00 to rock Nathaniel back to sleep.  Read scriptures while he fell back asleep, then moved on to morning stuff.  Abbie is in quarantine again because someone she sits near at school tested positive for Covid. 

Work today was quite productive.  I got lots done on a bunch of projects that kept getting put off.  These are things that are probably important, but they have little direct impact on our members, so they are harder to get motivated to do.  No member has ever thanked me for the great job I did on our network security, or how well our policies and procedures are written.  I'd much rather find ways to help members directly.  Oh well.

Julie felt gross this afternoon, so I picked up pizza on the way home.  So glad she has a favorite food while she's pregnant!  Tonight the boys went to play with some neighbors after dark, and Emma and Camilla listened to an audio recording of The Wild Robot.  Emma especially loves that book.

Tonight Mark called home for a visit.  He was so excited to report that Susie, a friend they have been teaching, accepted the invitation to be baptized.  Her baptism is scheduled for December 5.  What an exciting opportunity for him and his new companion.  I am really happy for them, and for Susie.

Thankful: I got a nice text from a sister in the ward that I had a difficult interview with.  I'm glad she is not bitter, and hope I can help her draw closer to Jesus Christ and strengthen her conversion to his gospel.

Ministering: I'm working on some welfare needs for a couple families in the ward.

More later…

Nathaniel has learned to blow bubbles.

Redacted

Dear family,

I'm afraid tonight's journal entry would mostly be redacted, so I'll spare that message and simply send a quick note to tell you how much I love each of you.

Dad

Mom's invention - Reese's PB cup on homemade cheesecake.  Wound't surprise me if this is served in heaven.

Guess who's walking...

Dear family,

I promised Mom I'd be asleep by 10:45.  That's in 3 minutes, so I love you and good night!

Love,

Dad

Wednesday, November 4, 2020
10:33 pm

Late.  I have to write fast or I'll get in trouble.

Last couple of days have been intense as Bishop with some issues to deal with.  It has been humbling as I have recognized the mantle of the Bishop come upon me.  Ideas have come, words have been given to me, and I have given many blessings of counsel and comfort.  The Lord doesn't seem to care how new I am as a Bishop.  I don't need any tenure to be guided. And I thank God for that.

It's not all hard stuff.  Tonight I got to give a temple recommend interview for a new member of the ward who is getting married in 2 ½ weeks.  He is a bright, worthy, excellent young man.  It was so nice to interview him and sign a recommend to enter the temple to receive this wonderful ordinance.

Work is busy.  Stacy is quarantined starting tomorrow for being exposed to someone who tested positive.  Continuing to grow a lot, nearly $49 million in assets.  Delinquency is low, and I'm working on projects.

Tonight Nathaniel took his first three steps to me.  Julie was mock-upset that he is walking.  What a joy he is.  Gave him a bath tonight and he loved splashing.

Put in a light in the barn so the chickens will have enough light to keep laying eggs over the winter.

Thankful: I'm thankful for the Lord's support in my calling, that I can get to work late or leave early occasionally as needed, and for the support and patience of my family.

Ministering: Lots, but the details don't need to be recorded here.

More later…

I really liked this quote from Mark's calendar.

Bathtime = splash time

Voted!

Hi all,

Sorry no journal Last night. Better entry today I hope. Love you all!

Ken

Sent from my mobile device

Please forgive any strange auto-corrections! 

A field trip

Dear family,

Mark, it was nice to visit with you briefly today.  I'm glad things are going well with Susie and I look forward to hearing all about your Church exchange and how your talk goes at the end of November.

It was fun to finish making dinner with you tonight Jessie.  Thanks for being such a willing helper!

Love to all,

Dad

Monday, November 2, 2020
8:58 pm

I spent the morning working on some administrative stuff.  Updated the LED reader board on our building and rewrote the statement notification email letting people know what needs to happen since our lobby is closed again.  Aspen has been out of work for a few days.  Several members of her family tested positive for COVID, and she was afraid she was exhibiting symptoms, so she got tested and has been self-quarantining.  Tomorrow I have three people in a training class, so we spent a fair amount of time today getting things configured so she could answer phones from home if her results still weren't back by tomorrow.  Naturally, just as I finished getting everything configured and working, she got the negative results.  Hooray!  It will be good to have her back in time to help cover tomorrow.

Suzanne and I took a field trip to see some software in action at Pacific Horizon Credit Union.  We are considering purchasing cash recyclers and wanted to see how the machines interact with our core software.  We weren't impressed, but we couldn't tell if it was the software we weren't impressed with, or the way they used it.  Their operation is totally different than ours.

Tonight I was in charge of treats for FHE.  Since Julie doesn't like sweets in the evening, I decided to go savory and bought some samosas from Bombay House.  I ended up serving them for dinner, and she liked them a lot.  They're not terribly expensive either, so I may pick them up every few days to treat her.

Thankful: I am thankful for apostles.  Next month the Springville area will have the opportunity to hear from Elder Gong.  There will be a leadership training meeting for three hours in the morning, and the youth are invited to join from 1:00 pm until 2:00 pm.  I joined one of these meetings with Elder Bednar several years ago when I was EQP.  It will be nice to do another one in my new calling.

Ministering: I wrote an email to the youth in our ward explaining the upcoming opportunity with Elder Gong, inviting them to submit a question for him to answer.

More later…

FHE activity tonight was Minute to Win It with Ritz crackers.  I won!  (But don't tell Camilla.)

My emails revolve around food... :)

Dear Family,

You are all wonderful and I love each of you.

Love,

Dad

Sunday, November 1, 2020
9:52 pm

Great couple of days, amazing how fast time goes.

Yesterday was chore day.  Worked in the house with the kids, got inside chores done.  Pulled out the garden.  Must have been over 200 pounds of tomato vines etc.  Used Dad's truck to haul to the compost site.  Ministered there to an old guy folding up his tarp and a young couple struggling to unload a large load wrapped in a tarp.  Two extra hands made all the difference for them.

Julie carved pumpkins with the kids while I was outside working.  Bless her for the great work she does with our kids.  Then I took Neil, Isaac, Emma and Camilla trick or treating through our neighborhood.  We got started around 5:45 and hit every house with a porch light on.  It took about 90 minutes, and the kids candy buckets were overflowing.  Camilla literally had stuff spilling out.  And we went until the kids were asking if we could please be done.  I love it when I am not the stick-in-the-mud saying we need to go home.

Dinner was late last night.  Enjoyed burgers to begin our fast.  Mine had a fried egg, tomato, pineapple and cheese.  Too bad we didn't have bacon or avocado.  But it was already hugely messy; that might have been too much.

Today was full but nice.  Started w/ Bishopric meeting.  I love the men I am working with and pray for them and their families.  Then Ward Council.  They are good people who want to do good and I am looking forward to making a difference together.  Conducted my first tithing settlement interviews today.  Early on is great – I get all the active members who want to visit with the Bishop.  I hope it continues that way.

I was home by 3:00 pm, which is my goal "home time" on Sunday.  That is also when Sunday School started, so I joined that for the next 30 minutes.  Then we did a few Sunday activities.  Camilla tried to orchestrate charades, and I think we made it good.  Then we talked about the role of sorrow (Mormon 2) and how we can use it to become better.  Dinner was excellent, then we sang a hymn and read scriptures.

After dinner I helped give Nancy Nusink a blessing.  She has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and starts chemo tomorrow.  I will pray for her.  The most likely "best case" scenario is that she will have 12-18 months with the chemo.  Without it the doctors think she only has 3 months.  She has lived a faithful life.

Thankful and Ministering: See above.

More later…

The Payne house decked out for Halloweeen.

This is what happens when you ask Neil to go to the other room and grab all the copies of the BoM he can find.  Literalist!

Look at these sweet potatoes that we harvested yesterday from our garden!  I love making Sunday dinner with Abbie each week.  (Sorry Mark, we speak English now.)

Last night's burger before it became a total mess.