Hello Everyone,
Hope this
finds everyone doing well and enjoying the cool temps. We have had a
great couple of weeks. We have finally settled into our own place and
we are quite liking it, in spite of the walls and walls of mirrors.
The view is absolutely amazing from our deck and the sunsets are breath
taking. Today was P-day so we spent some time cleaning up the
apartment, I think Dad is in heaven with all the glass and mirrors to
clean and shine-up. The floors are all wood laminate so he likes to
dust them frequently, so not a lot of vacuuming, just dusting. Today we
had a fisherman that waded out into the channel up to his waist and was
fly fishing. It was fun to watch, he didn't catch any fish that we
could see, but they were sure jumping all around him. Big fish!! We
could see the birds, pelicans,and osprey swooping in to catch the fish
too. We went shopping and picked up quite a few things. Seems like we
have spent a ton of money just trying to set up house. Our address is:
7050 Sunset Dr. #1109
South Pasadena, FL 33707
We would love to have letters and notes...hint...hint. I thought I could cover the many mirrors with kids art work.
We have been sitting in with the Elders, they are teaching a young
woman who is 23, so they need to have someone with them. It has been a
wonderful experience. She was a self referral, so the Elders just
contacted her and she was ready to be taught. She has investigated the
church quite a bit, watched pro and con off the internet. The very
first time we met with her she said, "I believe it is all true and want
to be baptized", so she is pretty golden. The Elders are amazing and do
such a great job teaching her. She came to the Branch Trunk or Treat
last Wednesday and had a ton of questions for me. It has been so great to
answer her questions and get to know her. She came to church
on Sunday
and is very honest and forthcoming with her questions. She saw the
picture of Esther in the Relief Society room and had questions about
her.
We had a "break the fast" on Sunday
also. Tons of great food and it was so nice to be able to visit with
the members. Sister Caphart made her famous sweet potato pie and it was
soooo good. I had my first taste of collard greens with ham and
cornbread. Yup, love this southern cooking. The people are so warm
and friendly to us and each other. We had some that did not stay and
some that came just for the meal.
We have been working
with the Branch leaders, trying to get to know them and see what their
goals are for the Branch. Our Branch Mission Leader is in his early
60's and had a stroke about 3 weeks before we arrived. We have met with
him, but he is still recovering, he has been to church the last two
weeks and is coming along really well. We have about 6 Branch
missionaries to work with but have not wanted to step on toes so we are
just working with the leadership council first. They are giving us
names of people they have not seen for awhile or that could really be
visited and invited back to church.
We attended District Meeting on Wednesday
with all of the missionaries in our District. There are about 8
companionship's. They are all so amazing, well trained, and
knowledgeable about the Gospel. The Sisters from St. Pete called me on Tuesday
morning last week and invited me to attend a special Sister's Conference
with them. It was so nice to be included. I'm not sure I was supposed to
attend, but I went anyway. President and Sister Cusick did a special
training just for the Sisters. It was so good and he centered most of
it around the talk by Elder Jorg Kiebingat - "Approaching the Throne of
God with Confidence". It was so fitting for these young sisters and this
one old sister.
They are keeping us pretty busy, we have
two meetings this week in Tampa at the Mission Office. We have
transfers and they want us to attend the New Missionary Training
on Wednesday and then the transfer meeting
on Thursday. It will be fun to see how the whole thing works.
Wednesday
will mostly be training on the Ipads. Our mission is one of the few
that have them. They are so valuable, I don't know how they could do
what they do without them. What a blessing it is for the missionary
work. When they talk about Hastening the Work those little things are
sure going to help it happen so much faster.
Our mission has started a
new program to help the missionaries help the members share the Gospel and help get the full-time missionaries some referrals. They call it "Sunday
Game Day" the first week they did it they had over 765 referrals, that is more than they have had the past year from the members. It is
pretty exciting to see it happening and watch the members feel a part of
missionary work. The members do not feed the missionaries here. President
Cusick's theory is that when you feed the missionaries you feel like you
are doing your part,or share, of missionary work. We all need to be
doing more. The only way the missionaries can eat at a member's home is
if they have an investigator or someone who has been inactive for a very
long time, invited to be there also. He says it is time we quit taking
the Gospel to people like "pizza delivery guys", giving them a piece of
the Gospel when we visit them. They may feel satisfied for awhile but
have not had to make a commitment. We can really see what he is talking
about.
Well I had better wrap this up and get ready for bed. It was so good to Facetime with most of you
on Saturday.
Hopefully this week we can catch the rest of you. We have the internet
now and it seems to be working pretty well. Thanks for the letters and
updates on your families. Please keep me posted on how everyone is
doing. We love you all so much and pray for you everyday.
Love Mom and Dad
Sun setting on the Gulf of Mexico - taken from our apartment deck
So many inlets and islands everywhere
The sisters and I at the conference on the beach
The Elders and President Stretch at the Trunk or Treat
The Elders did a "trick" for the other set of Elders, now they want to make pumpkin pie
The brick streets in Old Gulfport city
Dad on the beach in shorts
