And we ate and we ate and we ate and ate and ate.......

Okay--President Hall and his wife found this place in St Cloud while they were out doing interviews.  It is down home cowboy every thing fried kind of place.  I have decided that all the fish and 'things' people want to eat like catfish, alligator, and other reptile things, are all battered up and deep fat fried so that people will eat them and say "oh that tastes just like chicken".  I had a bite of Stan's catfish, which was a huge platter of fried fish, and not much fish in the fried batter.  I ate red snapper BUT it was broiled with a couple of cubes of butter.  No lie.  President loves it here, as for Stan and I... well if it is our choice we probably won't go back, except it is a family owned and operated wonderful atmosphere kind of place.  Just wish they could serve something besides fat.  Lots of fun with the Senior couples though.

Pres and his wife, the Halls are at the window.  Swains are next.  Then Stan and I and the James' are across from us.  

Tuesday we went to Winter Park, Golden Rod area to pick up Elder Whittaker. We took him to an eye specialist in the Tampa missions--Winter Haven.  Elder Whittaker has a retina degenerative problem, he eventually will go blind.  They are tracking the deterioration.  He is such a positive Elder and is willing to live life in the service of the Lord and let Him call the shots.

Oh yes we also took him to lunch.  They found a Firehouse Sub there.  Wish we could share some, they do have a good sub, lots of calories but good.  Most of the time I opt for a salad.  We had to drive north from the mission office to get Elder Whittaker then go way south of the mission office and west to the eye doctor and then take him home.  It was a beautiful drive with lots of hills orchards and farms.  

A very nice day.

Elder Steinman tears phone books. 

Can't remember if I ever took a picture of it but thought I better document this because he going home Wednesday. 

He has spent five months as an assistant, most assistants are here only about three transfers,  3-4 months.  He has worked very hard but he also plays hard.  We are going to miss this joker.  He is always playing pranks on the Seniors.  

Elder Doxey couldn't be outdone.  

Did I say I took the ASL sisters to lunch at Subway?  No picture but it is true.

Crispers is our favorite place to eat.  When I am to tired to fix anything to eat this is usually where we hang out.  All the employees know us and know what we want.  I don't even have to ask for dressing on the side, they just know it.  They have salads that are out of this world.  Plus they have wonderful soups flat bread variations that are delectable and the varieties of breads puts Subway to shame.  They also have all natural chips. They also have a lot of ice cream and ices and coffee's and teas etc

We do a lot of missionary work here as well.

This is Kaleo.  (Sounds like Ceilidha but with and o on the end.) He is two and weighs 40 pounds.  Elder Doxey Elder Steinman and Elder Campbell are teaching his mom Dahomey Barbosa her last lesson before being baptized Saturday.  

  Food is being served by Kaleo -- pretzels and marshmallows.  

Yes Sister James is wearing the Mikey ears today.  

My neighbors Sherri Hauert and Ginger Jacobsen took me to shop at the place only Disney workers can shop.  If I wanted something I just put it in the cart and told Sherri she wanted that.  After we went out I paid her for it.  Actually I just got three pillows and  Mickey chair.  Not because it was a Mickey chair but because I can sit at my computer and have my feet touch the floor. 

(Sherri sells tickets and Disney packages for a living and her daughter Megan plays a lot of the Disney Characters at Sea World and Epcot.) 

This is where we shopped.  It is a big wear house full of 'stuff'' at a discount price.

Ginger wanted to eat lunch at Earls in Down Town Disney.  I was excited because I wanted to go but knew that Stan didn't.  So they took me to Down Town Disney.  This is one of the places that has free parking and entrance.

There are a lot of stores  restaurants and places of entertainment.  

This is the boat 'Jenny' from Forest Gump.  It sits along side the shrimp place from Forest Gump.

The Lego store was fascinating to me.  Sherri's son in law works there.

The following Characters are all made of Lego's

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 This whole family as well as the leashes and dogs.

Couldn't resist.  Reigan this is for you!!!!

(No they are not Lego Characters) 

Ginger is on the right she is 75 and the Mom Grandma and Great Grandma.

Sherri is on the left she is the Daughter Mom and Grandma.

Megan is in the middle she is the Mom daughter and granddaughter.

Lydia, the princess front and center --

is the daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter.

Four generations of a beautiful very close knit family.
We did eat at Earls by the way.  It has wonderful food and at a very good price.  You have to be willing to wait in line for a long time to eat.  Everyone likes it as well as Ginger.

Yesterday it poured down for most of the afternoon.  This water is shooting out about 1 1/2 feet from the spout. (The picture is through my screen and is not a very good.)

Today it has rained all day.  It has been very dry here in Florida and things were starting to turn brown and die.  The soil is sand -- there is no top soil.  All this beautiful growth depends on the daily rain in all of this heat.  Today it was only 75 degrees which was nice even with the humidity.  

Last night we went to the new Buena Visa Singles ward.  This is where Dahomey Barbosa was baptized by Elder Doxey.  She was confirmed today by Elder Steinman.

Dahomey is on the left.  David her good friend is investigating the church.

Left to Right

Cory, just baptized a couple months ago.  He used to have dredlocks down to his shoulders and all over the place.  Elder Steinment cut his hair for him.

Elder Steinment and Doxey.

Sister Hanna Hopkins the Relief Society President of the Singles Ward

Dahomey  and David.

Actually we didn't eat here at all.

(But I did cook Yucca root earlier in the day, it is the Latino potato.  We really enjoyed it.)

Today after church we had Elders Berhold and Engeman over for dinner.

  I can't believe I didn't take a picture of this!!!!!

Elder Berhold is being transferred to Ocoee Tuesday.  This is the Ghetto of Orlando.  He will do really well there. 

(Remember he was in Brazil and had to come back to the states for open heart surgery.) 

I will miss him a lot but we will see him at Zone Conferences.

We pretty much ate out every day and sometimes twice a day this week in amongst all the fun and hard work. Oh yes we did work hard this week as well.  The work must go on.  

I usually have a picture of the skies here in Orlando to close with.  But the pictures I took were not worth your time.

This week has also been a week a miracles. 

The Lord has been with us in our work and when we thought things were not going to work out....the miracles would come and we were blessed to go forward with what we were doing. 

This is His work. 

I am so humbled to know we can be a part of such a great work.

Elder Steinmen had an experience I want to share with you at this point.

When he came on his mission he was set apart as a missionary by his Stake President.  In the blessing he was told that he would bring people from darkness into the light.  He has had a very successful mission as a missionary and assistant. But wondered about that statement and why it was pointed out to him in that manner.  The very last investigator he worked with was Dahomey.  Up until she met the missionaries she had dreams of being in a very dark tunnel and it was very frightening to her. 

After she met the missionaries she said she still had those dreams but there was a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Once she committed to baptism and was reading the Book of Mormon and praying she said she didn't have those dreams again. 

She has the light.