We can't do great things in this life . . . We can only do small things with great love.

This little guy just stood and let me take a picture.  In reality his head and body are about 1 1/2 inch. He is just tiny.  If I had put anything by him he would have run and I wouldn't have had the picture.

I have probably a half dozen of these little guys on our patio.  He is next to a regular bolt it shows just how small they are. I think they are hatching somewhere on the patio.  

They eat the bugs so it is good...so far.

 

 This is a full grown frog on my patio.  He has a full grown croak.  But again see how small he is. 

He will stay as long as he eats the bugs. 

 

First morning of Zone Conference

It was a small miracle that the skies looked like this all three days of Zone Conference, plus there was a good breeze most of the time which, during August was a blessing indeed.  

The sisters get into checking their cars as well.
Sometimes the Elders will do it but this day it was Sisters all the way.

Elder Langarica turned into the parking spot and ran over a tube of toothpaste.

It shot out across one empty parking space onto the car in the next space.  The sisters who pulled in at the same time wondered what hit them.  It was plastered all over the front fender and mirror.  Elder Langarica was a perfect gentleman and cleaned it up for them, laughing as he went.  It was really funny....just glad nobody was standing there.

Elder Langarica standing in front of his car.

Elder Campbell really gets into it.

Elders Carmack Schmeil, Kapata and York squeezed into the van to ride to Zone Conference.  They are full bike and needed that ride.

The missionaries all stand and sing 'We'll tell the world His truth' to those who prepare the meal.  At the end when they are supposed to sing 'To bring to world His truth'  they sing 'And thank you for the food'  the sisters who prepare the food love it.
(don't know why the seniors are not standing, usually they are)

 Can't miss a photo op with Elder Fielding.  (Amy Heaton Fielding's son) When he is sitting down I am actually taller then he is.

The elder on the left is Elder Campbell
I took a picture of Sister Campbell but don't know where it is?

The morning skies all three mornings were unbelievable.

Mr and Mrs Jared Reynolds (previously Corina Guitian)

Ivonne Guitian
Was Gospel Principles teacher now Seminary teacher and mother of the bride;
I was her mom for the day.

Soledad Rowan
Ivonne's friend, we are her home teachers.  She is a single mom and so we are with her a lot when the missionaries are there to eat.  She is a very good cook.

Tonight after church we went to dinner at the Mapakoi's

k

Left and around the table.

Elder Fullmer, Elder Engeman, Elder Rydalch Elder Christiansen and Elder Campbell

William was playing music for us and Nice and Mathus were at a family gathering, Polynesian. 

They came a little bit later.

 

William Right Nive and their son Mathus

William performs -- and he sang for us while we ate.
This is his electric guitar.  We thought we were in the Islands.

This ukulele was hand made for him by a Maori man, he has several of them different sizes strings and sounds.  See his hand is blurred, he is playing a Maori song.

Nive make quilts and has another sister in the ward quilt them on her machine.

The Polynesian colors are so beautiful.

This one is being quilted

This one she is cutting and piecing right now.
The black and white is the binding.

Friday I finally had time to walk around the lake and this is what greeted me
a Cormorant a Blue Heron, a Great Egret (4 1/2 ft)
and to the right side of them was...

...this wood stork. He is a big bird as well.

Of course there are a lot of ducks all grown up.

Driving home from Wal-Mart Thursday night this was in front of me.

The skies have been amazing this week, this sunset shows the contrasts of what we have been experiencing all week.

We have received email and blogs of family telling us of last weeks activities, being together on the third year of Ruth Nick and Audrey's death, Harvest, and fun, birthdays babies and all the joy you are experiencing.  Then we got pictures of Ben's truck that rolled down a large embankment, no one hurt, most of the grain saved but the truck Ben built himself is totaled.
Then I read a letter from Mary Lynne Nelson and I am closing with a quote from her letter.
The years wing by
and one of these days 
we will be together looking back on our mortal time in amazement
at the mercy and justice of our Father in Heaven.

WE ARE SO GRATEFUL FOR LIFE AND ALL IT OFFERS

So grateful the shark found a new owner.  

Elder Larrocha (From France by way of Brazil) wanted to take him to Zone Preparation day and find a new home for him.  

His companion didn't want anything to do with it. 

We haven't seen the shark since he took it Monday sooooo.....

We are so grateful for a temple so close.  

This is a picture of a picture.  

Elder Wilks went to the temple with us a few weeks ago and took this picture, we had no idea he took the picture.

He made a 8X10 and framed it and gave it to us to say thanks for taking him to the temple and it now sits on our desk. 

The interesting part of this picture....Stan and I have a picture of us coming out of the temple 43 years ago holding hands just like this. 

What a neat anniversary gift as well.

We are also grateful for Assistants who think they can tear phone books like Elder Steinman could. 

That is all the tear they could do. 

But wait, there is more then one way to tear a phone book.

  Divide and conquer.  

They broke that big phone book down into smaller pieces and Voila!!!

Elder Doxey showing Elder Merrell how it is done.

There is a certain way to create that first tear, 'scientific'.

Ugh!! there is goes...

YES, Elder Merrel did it after one short demonstration. 

Elder Doxey in the back ground nursing his sore hands.

We are SOSOSOSOSOSO grateful for our in house Geek.  

He completed transferring our Mission, Zones and Areas on to Google Maps.

What a wonderful way to find and direct referrals now.

Google Maps is always updating their information so hopefully no one else will ever have to do this tedious task again.

He had maps everywhere, anyone who came into the office was captured and taken to my computer to share area information with him.  He was so diligent in this job.  

Great Job Elder Schow.

Not pictured here are Elder Doxey and Elder James trying to figure out the program on Stan's computer that he is suppose to transfer cars from one area to another.

  Believe me when I say, if Elder James was frustrated with the program you can believe it really needs  to be updated. 

Elder Herzog is a little man but such a Giant.  

He has been doing this 'temple tour' since 1994.  He used to give them every night of the week.  Then he got it down to three and now it is two. 

In the last few years the Brethren  have asked him to teach from "Preach My Gospel" as he takes investigators around the temple. 

In one hour that is just what this little giant does.  

It is so inspiring to be around a man so dedicated to serving the Lord and the missionary effort.

As he taught the sun went down and the lights came on.

We had five Elders and two investigators with us that night.

Why so many Elders?

We had the three office Elders (Hunters Creek East) who were teaching the husband who is from France but speaks good English.  

Then the two Spanish Elders ( Who live with the three office Elders) with us because they teach the wife who is from Peru and speaks very little English.  

Odd but a beautiful match.

This is our investigators.  

Aren't they cute?

I would give names but would slaughter the spelling.

The Temple up close when the lights came on.

This is the Celestial room lit  up at night.  

On Saturday mornings as we enter that beautiful room from the inside the morning sun shines through that same window and causes a prism affect giving off a myriad of color on the carpet and furniture. 

Our resident duck.

He has taught me many lessons.

He is old and crippled...

He is wise in how he deals with the other ducks, and there are many right now.

He quietly feeds, preens, swims and sleeps.

An example to all the young ducks growing up this summer on how to live the life of a duck.

He is a good example of the following.

EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE I LEARNED FROM NOAH'S ARK

One: Don't miss the boat.

Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.

Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.

Four: Stay fit.  When you're 600 years old, someone may asks you to do something really big.

Five:  Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.

Six: Build your future on high ground.

Seven: For Safety's sake, travel in pairs.

Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage.  The snails were on board with the cheetahs.

Nine: When you're stressed, float awhile.

Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals!

Eleven: No matter what the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

The sky in Florida is always amazing.

The Lord is real.  

He lives and knows each of us personally.

Listen to what the spirit says and you will never find yourselves in a compromising situation outside the safety of our Heavenly Fathers spirit and care.

We are so grateful for this testimony and for the life He has given us.

In loving memory of a beautiful daughter and her family.

 We are so grateful for the 30 years we had to enjoy with Ruth and the short nine years with Nick and three years with Audrey. 

We are grateful we still have Diana Jo (aka DJ and Joie)

They come and they go.

Anxiously Engaged

One of the first lessons learned here as a missionary is that we are all indispensable.  

I thought when Elder Bracero left, the mission would never function the same. 

Yet there was hardly a hiccup. 

Elder Doxey filled the bill.  The Lord made him capable to do what was needed in his own way with his gifts and talents the job is being accomplished. 

When Elder Hansen left my heart was broken, but mission life goes on and so did he.  

When President and Sister Darrington left I didn't know how all they did would transfer over to the Halls.....

Yes the Lord made them equal to the task and all the things the Darrington's were doing changed because of new programs and Presidents personality.

     The Halls have more than taken the space left by them.

  I look at the history book of this mission.  Many people have come and gone.

  No one knows who they were or what they did. nothing is left except a picture in the history book.  

So while we are here we are mere instruments in the Lords hands.  

When our time is up He will replace us with others who are as capable or probably more so. 

It is like putting you hand in a bucket of water and pulling it out.  

Our hand feels the water and is wet and will remember forever our time here but the bucket of water is no different for having us there.  

So....This last Monday we had nine new missionaries who came and Wednesday eight missionaries left.  It will be sad not to see their faces and have their teasing but others are out there and will continue doing what they did.  

Monday the new missionaries come and we feed them a meal at the Mission Home.  It is always fun to meet them before anyone else. Glad it was our turn to help this time.

Tuesday-Orientation

Sister Lovejoy came a few weeks ago but was here for Orientation.

Elder Steinman went home.  Boy is it quiet without him, he was a prankster.

Elder Merrell transferred from Stuart to Assistant.  Unusual because he will only be assistant for six weeks one transfer -- usually they stay minimum of  transfers, but he is going home in six weeks.

Elder Berhold (right) was transferred to Ocoee our Orlando Ghetto.

Elder Fulmer (greenie) on the right took Elder Berhold's place.

The ALS sister were broken up.  Sister Snyder (no picture) is now with Sister Ellsworth in the back,  and sister Homer on the right has greenie Sister Lovejoy.  Sister Snyer has six months before she goes home and is learning ALS.  She is doing well.

What transfer and Orientation looks like.

Wall to wall missionaries, I fear for my life because they might step back on me or knock me over --I just kind of stay put and only travel through the maze if there is a need. (Most of them are six foot or more.

Elder Lussier in the back shows his new companion where their area is.

Later that Day

We took Sister Homer and Lovejoy to Winter Part to get the car they will use.

The area, Eatonville where the car was is a black area.

We told them we would take them to lunch.

No Subways, McDonalds, or Firehose Subs.

We saw this sign and stopped.

Gordon and his 'little' cook.  He is sitting down she is standing up.

He had many pictures on the wall.

A picture of the under ground railroad.

This is Gordon's no shirt no shoes no service sign. 

 

Sister Lovejoy and Homer with African artifacts and pictures in the background.

Once again if you put enough batter with the fish and deep fat fry it, you can eat anything.  

The atmosphere in this little place was worth the visit.  

There were two little black ladies in the corner visiting in their down south black manner, they were so cute.  I just love it.  (He gave us an order of fries because we were there for the first time.)

When we left Gordon said:

You know what kind of fish you just ate, it is "be back".  

That is the name on his sign Gordon's be Back Fish.

Just a note from last week.

This is the Micky Chair I purchased.

There were some comments  that we were  having way to much fun.

In reality we are, BUT we work hard in between times and this work  aids and support the missionaries.

The mission shark.  

It has been past around for some time now.  

It was brought to the Mission Office by the ALS Sister who stuffed it in Elder Stienman's car trunk  He put it in someone else's car at Transfers in hopes to get rid of it. 

(Everywhere it goes it gets signed.)  

Stan left our car unlocked for a moment and it was stuffed in our back seat.

We brought in into the office and Elder Stienman stuffed him under Sister Jame's desk.

She put him in the back of the office on Elder Miller's bike. 

Elder Miller came to get his bike and left it in the office.

  President Hall said to get rid of it.  

The Missionaries not wanting to get rid of it stuffed it in the corner of my office space.

President came in and said where's the shark?  

No one said anything.  

He looked around and even into my space but he didn't turn his head to look  in the corner.  

So the Shark remains.  

Probably till Zone Conference when we can put it one of the cars we are inspecting.  

Maybe the dirtiest car.

President Hall.

He is trying to figure how to get the coat hanger that is stuck to the back of the new office desk.  I guess when you get a new piece of office furniture they figure that you need a coat hanger, they don't want it banging around so they stick it on with really sticky - sticky tape.  Each Elder had their turn at it, the President tried really hard, even Stan pulled on it.  Stan went to the shed to get a hammer with a claw and was interrupted by a phone call so Elder Doxey took the hammer and was able to pry the silly thing off.

The assistants assisting the President.

This is sister Marge Peck and her adopted baby.  She and her husband have been trying for 17 years to have a baby.  Finally they got one, and she is the most adorable little thing you have ever seen.  She was just brand new when we moved into the ward.  Marge's husband is out of work, like most of Orlando and they will probably be moving to Austin Texas soon.  They will be missed.

This is Clair Lind 

First child of Steve and Natalie

Born August 13, 2010

She is our 31st grand baby who will be almost two we we actually get to hold her.

This is a very difficult part of being on a mission.  We want to hold her so bad our arms ache.

As we come to the close of another week we reflect on the goodness of the Lord. 

Changes happen all around us...

...He is constant.  

We know this by the beautiful sunrises that happen on a daily basis.  

A way of saying, this is a new day, make the most of it, build the kingdom and tend my sheep.