Three months and Elder Campbell is becoming organized. He felt so good Friday as we headed out of the office that we were able to see his desk. (for our grandson Ben, no he didn't stuff it under the desk as you can see, or to the side.) His phone rings constantly with Elders and Sister and car needs. He has to approve everything. He found that in licensing the cars this year that some of the cars were mixed up and not done right in previous years. Details other Vehicle Coordinators have over looked or didn't care much about. With Elder James' records, he purchases the licenses, and going over every car and calling the missionaries sometimes as many as 3-5 times he finally got through the mess. I am so proud of him. Yes we all help him with other things but he is finding the glitches in the mission vehicle program and ironing them out. PLUS he has sold most of the used cars.
A BIG HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO STAN!!!!
Sunday night about ten there was a loud knock on our door. When I opened it there was a big Staples box full of hygiene products with the note attached. Monday morning we found that all the missionaries in our ward received one. We didn't need all of that so we took it to the office and set it out for the missionaries as they came in to email home. It was gone in a blink! There are some angels out there looking out for the missionaries.
Sister James grew a tomato on her patio. She gets less sun then we do. She brought some in last week for our salad day. These were so cute, a mama papa and baby. We get Costco Caesar salads every Thursday for our lunch, it adds variety to our bag lunches. (When it cools down I may make a go at growing food on my patio.)
Just a note here while taking about plants. The flowering tree in my last post is a Crepe Myrtle and the bird was a blue heron. Thanks to Sarah for the information.
This is a weed. Wish I could grow weeds like this.
Elder Deluccich drew this on the back of the envelope he sent his baptismal records to me. He is quite the artist AND he can print clearly. His is the best record I have received so far. I would have taken a picture of that, but the record has personal information on it so I can't do that.
The main thrust of this week was getting the Bowles family prepared for baptism. Since they missed last weeks lessons we had to double up this week. We were at the church with their family almost every night this week. I fed everyone as well. I purchased pizza twice and then chicken at Sam's club once and the night of the baptism I did the taco soup and cookie salad, now those were a huge hit. Something these people have never tasted before. Swaine's brought a veggie plate and James' brought cookies. They also helped clean up which was wonderful.
The above picture is of the Elders waiting while the Zone leaders interview Ian and Melissa.
The Elders have created a new sport.
They can be very creative.
This is Elder Hansen.
What they do is put the lid on a normal empty water bottle.
They twist the bottom till they can't twist anymore and all the air in the bottle is condensed at the top of the bottle putting a lot of pressure on the lid.
Holding it tight they release the lid with their thumb and it blows.
The air is so condensed it looks like smoke coming out of the bottle.
I took three pictures and never caught the 'smoke'.
Try it yourself and you will have a fun thing to do with kids.
Elder Hansen is giving Makalah and Hayden an up close and personal lesson on how to condense air.
They can be very creative.
This is Elder Hansen.
What they do is put the lid on a normal empty water bottle.
They twist the bottom till they can't twist anymore and all the air in the bottle is condensed at the top of the bottle putting a lot of pressure on the lid.
Holding it tight they release the lid with their thumb and it blows.
The air is so condensed it looks like smoke coming out of the bottle.
I took three pictures and never caught the 'smoke'.
Try it yourself and you will have a fun thing to do with kids.
Elder Hansen is giving Makalah and Hayden an up close and personal lesson on how to condense air.
This is the Bowles family the night Ian and Melissa were interviewed for baptism. Pretty special night. They are such a great family.
Back row: Elder and Sister Campbell - Melissa - Little and Big Ian - Hayden and Melissa's mom Mary and sister Sheryl and Elder Hansen. Front Row: Elder Rice - Makalah and Elder Beckstead.
Stan performed the baptism.
Elder Rice and Beckstead were witnesses.
Elder Swaine spoke on baptism and I spoke on the Holy Ghost.
Sister Rich led the music and played a musical number, then the bishop and Elders quorum welcomed them into the ward.
It was a special evening and the spirit was strong. All of the Senior couples went together and purchased quads for Ian and Melissa. They were in tears when they saw their own scriptures with their names on it. A humbling experience.
Today when they were supposed to be confirmed by Elder Hansen - little Ian was having some problems that caused them to rush to the emergency room. They didn't come till almost the end of Sacrament meeting. They will have to be confirmed next week. The meeting ran over and there wasn't any time at the end for the ordinance to be performed. Melissa was in tears. I took Makalah to Primary and Melissa and Ian went home. I feel really bad.
BUT
Mary, Melissa's mom was there for all of the service. Before the meeting she showed me a Book of Mormon. She said that Melissa gave her, her book. I asked Mary if she was reading it and she indicated she had already read some of it. I asked if she wanted to be taught by the missionaries and she said yes.
The other day I was waiting for Melissa and was visiting with her sister Sheryl. Sheryl said she is looking to turn her life around and wants the same things Ian and Melissa have. She has been in prison for using drugs. Her husband is at a Jacksonville rehab facility right now. She is going into one at Ft Lauderdale. Her in laws have her three children. She has weekend supervised visiting rights. She has a serious word of wisdom problem as well. But she is sincere and really wants something different at this point.
Once again the skies of Orlando are amazing. This doesn't even begin to capture the beauty.
Thursday I left work for a little bit to go out to distribution that is by the temple.
On the way back I could see some very dark and threatening clouds ahead of me. Lightening was striking constantly. I didn't know if I should keep going. But the traffic was slow so I just watched. As I got closer to work I could see a lot of huge puddles. As I drove a little more I could see a lot of destruction. Clearly it was a terrible storm. When I returned to the office they said that the storm was of hurricane strength just for a short time. The power shut the computers down twice and they stayed off the phones because of the lightening strikes. The slow traffic kept me from being right in the middle of that. I think that would be as scary as being in the middle of a blizzard. I am grateful the Lord was watching out for me.
I do not know how we continue at the pace we are going except for the strength of the Lord that is with us. I am so grateful for the blessings that are ours.
We are together all the time and have learned a very different kind of love.
The Lord blesses the senior couples greatly as he does the youth that work so hard day to day.
This is His work, and we feel very humble knowing that we could do none of this without Him.
Back row: Elder and Sister Campbell - Melissa - Little and Big Ian - Hayden and Melissa's mom Mary and sister Sheryl and Elder Hansen. Front Row: Elder Rice - Makalah and Elder Beckstead.
Stan performed the baptism.
Elder Rice and Beckstead were witnesses.
Elder Swaine spoke on baptism and I spoke on the Holy Ghost.
Sister Rich led the music and played a musical number, then the bishop and Elders quorum welcomed them into the ward.
It was a special evening and the spirit was strong. All of the Senior couples went together and purchased quads for Ian and Melissa. They were in tears when they saw their own scriptures with their names on it. A humbling experience.
Today when they were supposed to be confirmed by Elder Hansen - little Ian was having some problems that caused them to rush to the emergency room. They didn't come till almost the end of Sacrament meeting. They will have to be confirmed next week. The meeting ran over and there wasn't any time at the end for the ordinance to be performed. Melissa was in tears. I took Makalah to Primary and Melissa and Ian went home. I feel really bad.
BUT
Mary, Melissa's mom was there for all of the service. Before the meeting she showed me a Book of Mormon. She said that Melissa gave her, her book. I asked Mary if she was reading it and she indicated she had already read some of it. I asked if she wanted to be taught by the missionaries and she said yes.
The other day I was waiting for Melissa and was visiting with her sister Sheryl. Sheryl said she is looking to turn her life around and wants the same things Ian and Melissa have. She has been in prison for using drugs. Her husband is at a Jacksonville rehab facility right now. She is going into one at Ft Lauderdale. Her in laws have her three children. She has weekend supervised visiting rights. She has a serious word of wisdom problem as well. But she is sincere and really wants something different at this point.
Once again the skies of Orlando are amazing. This doesn't even begin to capture the beauty.
Thursday I left work for a little bit to go out to distribution that is by the temple.
On the way back I could see some very dark and threatening clouds ahead of me. Lightening was striking constantly. I didn't know if I should keep going. But the traffic was slow so I just watched. As I got closer to work I could see a lot of huge puddles. As I drove a little more I could see a lot of destruction. Clearly it was a terrible storm. When I returned to the office they said that the storm was of hurricane strength just for a short time. The power shut the computers down twice and they stayed off the phones because of the lightening strikes. The slow traffic kept me from being right in the middle of that. I think that would be as scary as being in the middle of a blizzard. I am grateful the Lord was watching out for me.
I do not know how we continue at the pace we are going except for the strength of the Lord that is with us. I am so grateful for the blessings that are ours.
We are together all the time and have learned a very different kind of love.
The Lord blesses the senior couples greatly as he does the youth that work so hard day to day.
This is His work, and we feel very humble knowing that we could do none of this without Him.
1 comment:
I just keep thinking of all the little things you all influence, without having any idea. This family, that's a big one of course, but all the little things steming from it...oh the possibilities :)
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