A week of Hope

There has been so much going on this week but to tell it in a blog would be boring.  Lets just say that all 76 new baptisms are recorded with Salt Lake, referrals are pouring in and the work continues onward and upward.  

When we got here there were 17 cars in our parking lot that were retired from Missionary work and needed to be sold.  Stan is now down to two cars.  He has had calls on those, but he has been resurrecting them by letting the missionaries use them.  The cars had sit in the parking lot for a year and a half and the Florida heat and humidity is not good for them.  The batteries become corroded and they will not work.  Stan had the missionaries use them and little by little he has been able to sell them.  Of course 'wheeling and dealing' is what he loves doing.  Elder James and the Assistants are still helping a lot with the computer records, but he is gaining in the work.

The rainbow above is a symbol of hope.  That is also our theme for Sacrament meeting this month.  With a week like the one we just had we need hope and faith to carry us through.

These are some interesting things we have seen and observed this week and since we have been here.

One of the many wonders of the Florida skies.  They are NEVER the same, I could do a complete blog just on the changes in the sky above us.

When we got here in March there were these trees all over that were just sticks coming out of the ground.  No growth at all.  I was very curious about what would become of them.  As soon as the weather really warmed up the growth on them exploded and I was blown away, you could actually see them grow they grew so fast.  THEN this last week they started to bloom.  They are everywhere.  There are white ones, purple and pink.  Mind boggling.  

In front of our office there is a similar tree -- but it is BIG.  The blooms look like lilacs, but lack the fragrance.

Mama duck with her four little ones who now have feathers.

A new mama with NINE little ones. They are so tiny!

This guy moves so fast it was hard to get a good picture.  I still haven't found him in our bird book, he does look like the white egret but it isn't.  This is the first time I have seen him around our complex.

Geckos are so common. The reason for the screens around back yards and patios are for insects yes but these guys are found even in our homes.  Top he is very little on top of the trash can, here he is on the side.  I have never been able to get my camera fast enough to take one, this little guy was not shy.

Another interesting phenomenon.  These are 'love' bugs.  They are like a push me pull you.  They fly all over like this.  They are very hazardous to the paint on the cars.  The acid in the eggs corrodes the paint.  This one was sleeping on our patio screen, this is the tummy side of them. 

These little guys, blackberries, are growing up in our honeysuckle hedge.  I don't think anyone else takes the time to observe the growth.

Today's harvest.

Another side to Orlando.

The Eskelson family.  Kathrine holding Jeffery.  John is down by the kids with JD on the left and Mary on the right. They are in our ward.  I meet them out walking a lot.  The kids come up and hug me and then walk with me.  Gives mom and dad a few minutes alone.  This family moved here a couple months ago from Idaho.

The work goes forward in the Lords kingdom.  People come up to us where we are eating, when we are shopping or just walking around.  They ask us what church we represent, and they always want more.  People are so hungry for the truth and they want security and the gospel gives them that.  We carry the pass along cards with us all the time.  We have to replenish our supply a couple times a week.  The Bowles family are getting ready for baptism next week.  What an outstanding couple and family they are.  Already Ian is being a missionary.  He has invited his new boss of four days to come to his baptism next week.  Melissa's sister who has had some major problems wants what her sister has and is going to come join in.  Melissa's mom is next.  

We have been so blessed while here.  Even when things are tough we feel the strength of the Lord with us on every side.  This is His work and nothing will stop it.

I know that Christ is the Savior of the world and He has restored HIS church on the earth once more.