July 24, 2016

Sister Clawson's Birthday. We went to church in Ebotown. At the beginning of Sacrament there were 10 men and two women. Sister George and her husband and Don and I sat on one side of the chapel and later a 3rd woman came in and sat in front of us. All the rest of the men sat on the other side of the chapel. Everything went well and normal until the first speaker got up. He is an arrogant pompous man who is of the opinion that he should be the Branch President and his self-importance is overwhelming. In the Sunday School class last week he kept going on and on sharing everything he knows. The teacher cut him off several times. He was the first speaker today. He started with "My brethren in the Priesthood". Then he turned sideways facing the men and his back to the women. I let him talk for at least 8 minutes and never once did he glance over at the women. So I got up and went over and sat next to a man that was mostly in the middle of the men. He had to look at me. After he talked for a few more minutes and I was still there, he started glancing over at the women. And I do mean glancing. After the Sacrament service was over, he stared hard at me and did not acknowledge me in anyway. I had an opportunity to pass him in the chapel at the end of church and when he saw me, he turned and went the other way.

 Brother Doe received the Sacrament today and for the first time since his accident he was able to put the bread and water to his own lips. WOW! He Sampson has been working very hard with him this week and he is doing amazing things with his hands. When he got here on Tuesday he could only lift is right arm a couple of inches and had no grip. Yesterday morning, Bob came over and the very first thing out of his mouth was "my dad put his hand on my head". WOW! When he first entered his home on Tuesday, his eyes were darting back and forth as he was taking in the sights. He could not turn his to the left or to the right. Last night I went over to talk to Sister Doe and he was in the living room with a ton of men. I look at him and he had a grin from ear to ear. He was so happy. I asked him if I could talk to Feima and he actually turned his head to the left and nodded that she was in that bedroom. I was shocked. He is responding incredibly well to therapy. We can hardly wait for Cholena to get here. She has done a ton of research on what kind of equipment Brother Doe would need for therapy and she is bringing many things with her.

 President and Sister Sesay came over for a visit tonight. He always seems to know when I am making cookies. The missionaries next door asked me for cookies this week and I had none to offer. So I made some this afternoon and took them down to them. President Sesay LOVES cookies. It doesn't matter what kind.