We are in the last FULL week of our mission...can that be true?

Monday the Lord set up a lunch to bring two beautiful sisters together.

Sister Beverly and Sister Janet were both in need of a friend and fellowship.

   We came together at a lunch Sister Miller and I tried to set up separately

BUT..

it became the same lunch...

Sister Millers lunch with sister Janet and Carole...

My lunch with Beverly and Carole...

Funny thing Carole had to work...

So Beverly Janet Sister Miller and myself...

What a miracle.

Janet, Sister Miller, Sister Campbell, Beverly

We were back on the road this week.

We are trying to visit all the Farm Bureau board members...

to give them the packet Stan made up for them.

We have found some wonderful...

REAL...

People.

We found real redneck country as well.

Lots of confederate flags...

Many more American flags...

Real farms...

The people love this country...

Love their families...

and...

they love God...

Chris...

 This is not Spain.

Beautiful lakes and ponds everywhere...

 Tractors that do real work...

I know this is a familiar sight...

 Here they calls them rolls of hay...

They are grass...

And they don't sell by the ton...

They sell by the roll.

Florida's highest exports are...

 Cattle...

 and...

 fern.

This is a flag pole...

 This rancher took a dead tree and buried it...

then strung up his 

American and Confederate Flag.

His front gate was made of the same type of tree.

Elder Campbell felt right at home...

 Gates to open and close.
Elder Campbell is real good at this.

Under all the trees the farmers have shade plants...

 There are sprinklers out there to water their crop.

It looked like a type of fern and bushes.

The man who lives here is the Farm Bureau Chaplin...

He says all their prayers.

Visiting him in his home was like being in heaven.

he is a wonderful man with a sweet wife.

They have a beautiful love story of how they met...

 These are their cattle.

 This is the church they have devoted their lives to...

as missionaries.

 It was built in 1916...

 If the Juniper church...

Now Gordon Henrie's shop...

Were taken care of this is what it would have looked like.

The homes range from very southern...

 to Log cabins...

To some very redneck kind of dwellings...

 This is irrigated rye grass...

In the back horizon you can see the wheel lines.

This is not a pivot.

It is another kind of wheel line. (lateral move)

District meeting...

We had the Zone Leaders...

And...

the Assistants.

Elders Larsen, Bohn (ZL) Adriano, Jackson, Gubler (ZL) Pratter, Harrington, Willey, Vilario, Mortenson (AP's)

Sister Miller and Ursenbach.

We will certainly miss these wonderful young people.

Friday...

We took Elder Campbell to the Dermatologist. 

We told the President we would be there...

He arranged our final interview...

 Our trip to Orlando...

Brought a lot of familiar sites..

our land mark

 Traffic...

Such a contrast to the beauties we had enjoyed all week.

 Same office...

Different people.

 Sister Parker, ...don't know where Elder Parker was.

 Sister and Elder Gebs

Back in the space we used to work in.

After the interview...

Sister and President Hall...

Elder and Sister Campbell.

This was hard...

But a good experience....

But very hard...

I guess it is time.

We met Ginger and Sherri for dinner at O'Charlies...

What good friends...

I missed them as we moved to Deland...

We will always be friends...

Saturday evening...

There was a baptism for Christine...

She and her siblings are baptized except for a younger sister.

The father is not a member...

She has been going to church with her siblings since Primary.

She was ready.

Because she was late and we had to leave early I didn't get a picture.
Sunday after Sacrament meeting we got that picture.

 Elder Harrington Christine Elder Willey

Christine and Sister Campbell (Elder Campbell was missing in action, we couldn't find him)

We left  the baptism early because Sister Miller was having Keane's and us over for dinner.

When we got there...

There were a lot of cars...

Millers can never feed just a few people...

 they are just that kind of people. 

So I thought they just asked more people for dinner...

then she told us we were...

the 'guests of honor'...

and ushered us into the living room...

It finally dawned on us that this event was for US.

Then we found out it was both wards...

To start...

Carole sang 'The Lords Prayer'

She is singing in Sacrament meeting in February...

I was sad because I have never heard her sing solo.

She has a beautiful trained voice.

 Brother Larsen played the piano.

He is also trained and teaches at Stetson University.

So this was a professional performance.

Words cannot describe the moment.

Stan and I could not hold back the tears...

 Sister and Bishop Hunter, 1st ward

(Left to right) Sister Waddups Stan Sister Davis, Novacs Butch and Jo Marks and Bob Keane

 The most giving and charitable couple...

Butch and Jo Marks.

Novacks and Brother Davis

Sister Hauber Carole Brother Loftmiller Elder Larsen and Adriano

 Sister Loughmiller above

Brother Loughmiller below.

 Elder Adriano and Larsen...

Sister Probst Sister Hunter and Carole

 Brother and sister Huber

 Can you believe this cake?

 Probst family

 Brother and Sister Larsen...

Hanging onto to their daughter...

Julia so I could get a picture.

 The reason we are here.

Bob and Carole Keane

 We are friends forever...

 This wonderful couple are the host of so many social events.

Bishop and Sister Miller.

Sister Miller put this book together...

 On the cover is a road branching.

The poem to the side says...

I shall be

Telling this with a sigh

Ages and ages hence:

Two roads

Diverged in a wood,

and I,

I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference...

(to Deland Florida)

Robert Frost

Inside she has pictures from the area...

She has spiritual quotes...

And sayings...

then...

some of the people

signed it and added cards and pictures.

Not everyone got to it...

there were a lot of people there.

When we got home...

 Elder Adriano had a tie for Elder Campbell

not just any tie...

this one cinches up...

he doesn't have to tie it.

Missionaries are so fun...

Their sentiment comes in the form of a tie.

Elder Adriano Elder Campbell and Elder Larsen.

Sunday evening we made a couple of visits...
But we took pictures with Andrew and family...
Andrew is the receptionist at the back doctor.
He and Bobbi his wife just had baby Sereniti.

 Getting my baby fix...

Bobbi, Andrew and Sereniti

 Daddy is quite the pro...

Sound a sleep...
Daddy's little girl.

As we come to the end of this week...

Our apartment has piles all over it...

Our hearts are tender...

tears are close to the surface...

And we are humbled to our knees...

At the love we feel...

from our counterparts...

our friends...

and our Father in Heaven.

I know what real pleasure is... for I have done good work. (Robert Louis Stevenson)

We have a few pictures...

But it doesn't even hint at what we have done...

what the Lord did...

and the wonderful life we are apart of.  

 Monday morning we picked up the sisters...

Sister Miller and Sister Ursenbach.

 We went up to Blue Springs where the Manatee (sea cows) come to get warm.

 It is a very beautiful place...anywhere we look.

 We even had a picture taken of us!

 Sister Ursenbach Mr Manatee and Sister Miller

He is made with tiles.

 Yours truly getting a little hug from our Manatee

 There were over fifty manatee in the spring outlet this morning.

They are the dark shadows.

Going up to the spring we saw a couple manatee being very playful...

Something you don't see very often.

We went to lunch with the sisters at Chilies...
it was a wonderful morning with them.

In the afternoon Elder Willey and Harrington came for hair cuts.

They were playing soccer at our Deland soccer field.

We took them back to Orange City when we were done.

We like to shop in the Orange City Walmart so it worked out great for us.

 They got their ears lowered about an inch.

It should last for a minute.

 We were still looking for people...

This is a beautiful state no matter where we go...

and...

we love these sandy roads (Sixma Road).

In our journeys and visiting we passed by these girls selling baked goods.

It was the middle of the day.

So we knew they were home school.

We made a U turn and came back...

 They were so cold...

It was in the 50's and there was wind chill.

Believe me that is cold with humidity taken into consideration.

 We had a wonderful conversation with them and then purchased all their goods.

We have missionaries next to us with a HUGE sweet tooth.

In our rear view mirror we saw them pick up and head in grateful to get warm.

Thursday Carole invited us over for more learning and dinner.
She and I then went to Relief Society Enrichment

'Let's get physical'...

We had so much fun..

lots of good visiting...

and laughing.

It is so beautiful to see the ward wrap their arms around Carole and accept her so completely...

Saturday we took Carole to see Boyds Book (LDS Store)

She found some things she could use.

We took her to Distribution also.

We sat in the temple reception area.

We didn't take the tour,

it was to cold for her...

and me.
We did have lunch with her at O'Charlies.
There was a waiter who came up to us as we were leaving.
He told us he was a member but hadn't  been back for some time.
He said he couldn't talk about his life it would make him cry.
Carole and I both gave him a hug.
I know what ward he is in...
I emailed his name to someone who could make a difference.

We are visiting some wonderful people.

There are so many stories to be told.

They are in my personal journal.

Some are heart wrenching.

We hate to leave at this point...

BUT...

We know that the Lord is in charge.

The couple that will replace us...

have been trained to be missionaries.

They will have been set apart for THIS area...

They will be wonderful and be able to do what we couldn't.

That is the way of missionary work.

You try to be of worth while you are here...

BUT

When you leave and others come in..

They are the ones who will make a difference.

It is beautiful the way it works.

What a beautiful plan.

As you appropriately seek for 

and 

apply unto the spirit of revelation,

I promise, 
you will

"walk in the light of the Lord".

Elder David A Bednar

TRY A LITTLE HARDER TO BE A LITTLE BETTER

There is a lot to do and keep focus on ...why we are here.

Our preparation day was full of organizing ourselves and making lists...

One fun thing...

This is the place that was flooded before Christmas...

 Now made over ...

 New paint, carpet and furniture.

It smells brand new... and the missionaries are moved in and organized.

We took our extra table over to them.

Elders Jackson, Pratter and Campbell

Tuesday evening -- we signed up to feed the missionaries.

We went to Dustin's Barbeque. 

Elders Cooper and Adriano...

Wednesday evening after interviews with the President...

Elder Cooper received a transfer to Longwood.

No it isn't transfer week.

Elder Cooper had a traffic violation.

By going to Traffic School he could have the points taken from his record.

The problem...

The school was the week of Transfers... 

After Transfers!

Elder Cooper was concerned...

With transfers coming up he might be transfered before Traffic School.

He took it to the Lord and explained his dilemma, leaving President out of the loop.

The Lord left him here one more week...

The President felt like there needed to be a change after that week.

So now Elder Larsen is on the scene.

The Lord does hear our prayers not matter how small or insignificant they may be.

 Elder Larsen (from Rexburg) Elder Adriano (From Portugal)
Elder Larsen has come to take Elder Cooper's place.

Our experience with Presidents Interviews Wednesday was amazing...

His teaching was inspired,
as usual,
but it was something we had been studying and needed some confirmation on.

Once again the President was inspired in his teaching.

While he was teaching, three well dressed young men were standing out in the hall.

Elder Campbell saw them and went out to visit with them

They were missionaries from the Seventh Day Adventist.

They were interested in the church.

Elder Campbell took them around the church...

Explained pictures and teaching as he went.

When our instruction was over he brought them in to the Relief Society Room where we were meeting.

They were met graciously by a couple dozen missionaries.

That is Elder Campbell for you...

Our interview was wonderful.

It is a privilege to sit in the presence of this man.

Thursday we went to the temple so we could find some perspective in all our chaos.

AND

We had some people whose names needed to be on the prayer roll.

Thursday night...
 

Elder Campbell went to the local Farm Bureau Board Meeting...

He has spent a lot time trying to get an audience with these people.

He was on the FB Board in Idaho and he knew all the good they do.

They are a strong Christian people who are actively involved in local government matters.

He prepared 25 packets with the Book of Mormon and 5000 Year Leap and his testimony.

He enjoyed the meeting and had a few minutes at the end to speak to them.

BUT...

He was impressed that at this time he wouldn't present them with this gift.

He doesn't know just how this will happen...

There is another meeting next month...

Maybe before we leave he will be able to give them out...

If it is right...

The Lord will provide the way.

Saturday..
we were asked to transport these two wonderful women to the Temple Tour.

 Cindy was baptized last week.

Judy is investigating...

 We were so glad to see Brother Herzog as our host this day...

 He is amazing...

So animated...

So sincere...

So real.

We will miss him...

Deland 1 missionaries doing their magic.

Elder Willey, Cindy, Judy, Elder Harrington.  

We drove just the ladies...

So we got some one on one with them.

What wonderful people.

I can't put anything personal on the blog...

But take my word for it...

These are the cream of the crop.

We took them to Gram's Kitchen for dinner.

It would have been somewhere else but Saturday night everything was full full full.

We had fun and good conversation.

I believe the Lord is in control of all we do.

This was what He orchestrated.

Florida...

This week got quite cold...

Real cold.

BUT...

By the end of the week it was beautiful...

This is Florida in January.

 We went to Bunnell...

Richard F. is a man Elder Fielding was working with.

He does Genealogy.

He did the Moore line...
 This is my step fathers line that has been filled with dead ends.

He has completed it...

It is beautiful...

BUT...

The good of this trip was the time we spent  visiting with him.

What a tender heated wonderful man.

He is not a member...

He goes to church every week.

He does genealogy of the missionaries in his ward free.

There is a discount price for all other missionaries and members.

His service and dedication to the missionary work is phenomenal.

 What a privilege it has been to meet and know him.

This was taken a month ago with Elder Fielding.

We miss that guy for sure...

So does this mission...

Anyway that is Richard in the chair.

This week has given us some interesting opportunities...

We are so grateful for this privilege and honor to work with these people.
This mission has raised the bar for us...
We do try a little harder so we can be a little better.

"The brick walls are not there to keep us out; 

the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."
- Randy Pausch-

(author of 'The Last Lecture')

PANIC

Today is December 31, 2011

I will post this the 1st day of 2012.

Our going home day is February 8 2012

The other couple replacing us is supposed to leave the MTC January 21.

We don't want to leave before our going home day.

But...

The PANIC comes because we only have 39 more days left!

I remember when we had our first month under our belt...

The other 22 months felt so far away.

We made one big mistake...

We Blinked.  

This was our last Transfer week before we go home.

 Elder Day is now a District Leader and left...

Elder Day and Jackson

 Elder Pratter took Elder Day's place with Elder Jackson.

 Sister Miller and McClain..

Sister McClain was transferred.

Sister Ursenback from Calgary Alberta Canada... 
Sister Miller is training her.

District Meeting this week was a beautiful experience.

We roll play to help each other know how to teach or help those we are working with.

I am always amazed at how the Spirit teaches during these sessions.

I was brought to tears as two of the Elders...

Taught me.

WOW

This week

We have had some amazing moments.

We have solved a couple of mysteries..

as to why we couldn't find some people.
and traveled to Port Orange to see an investigator we were teaching who moved there...
We had a good visit with her.
We had lunch with her.
One of our goals before we go home is to find her a place where she can have missionaries...
and be independent.

The Lord is at the helm...

Oh how we will miss these spiritual experiences.

Saturday Elder Harrington and Willey had a baptism...

 The ward mission leader is...

Well lets say...

Busy doing 'things'.

SOOOOO

They came here and showed me how to do the Baptism program on my computer.

(They can't use the computer)

Elder Willey, Alex Milton, Cindy, Elder Harrington

She is the sweetest person.

They were riding their bikes and met her on the street.

She felt their spirit and trusted them.

Florida

 I have fallen in love with Sand Cranes...

 They are regal...

and...

they mate for life.

This is a family.

This is an average morning temperature

 mid 70's daytime...

that is why people want to live here.

That is why my body wants to stay here.

BECAUSE

That is December weather.

Almost every yard has oranges grapefruit and tangerines etc.

 We have more Citrus than what we can eat...

 We can get it just about anywhere free.

 Sky-diving, something Deland is famous for. 

 One day we saw dozens of planes with jumpers coming out of all of them.

It was beautiful...

I saw this a lot in the office as I processed mail...

My heart broke to find that it was from Sister Gessel...

My primary teacher...

Who had her daughter invite me to Primary.

I googled the zip code.

It is Auburn Washington.

I don't know if you can read the sign.

It is the only Christmas decoration on the lawn.

It says...

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Last year we lived in Hunter's Creek.
South Orlando.
New Years Eve we could see fire works from our patio at the parks and around Orlando.
The apartment complex was quiet.

This year we are in Deland.
We are in the SOUTH...
not south Orlando.

Starting about 9:30-10:00 we heard fire works out and around.
We went for a walk around the complex where the noise level of the parties...
was getting loud.

About 11 we heard MORE...
At midnight...
Oh my goodness.
I thought we were in a war zone.
Then Quiet!

Happy New Year from Florida...

Of course the sunsets.

 "Contemplate the next 12 months.

First we should resolve to be good listeners.

And to whom should we listen?

To the Prophets of God,

to the whisperings of our conscience,

to the whisperings of the still small voice"

(President Thomas S. Monson)