We pray that as you celebrate Thanksgiving Day you will know that we are thankful for all of you, our family and friends.  We are so grateful for your love, support, and friendship.  We are grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, for his Atonement, grace and mercy.  We are grateful for the Gospel that blesses our lives.  We are grateful for the blessings of life.  We are grateful for children and grandchildren whom we love and adore.  We are grateful for parents who taught us and loved us.  We are grateful for our opportunity to serve our Savior on a mission in Florida.  

Life throws us some curves.  We don't always expect or want them to happen but we know that they are for our good.  Losing both of my parents in the past three months was something I knew could happen but hoped that they would be preserved so I could be with them again in this life.  I have thought about that and realize that these are selfish feelings and what I wanted was not for their good.  Had they lingered they would not be happy.  They were both suffering in their worn out bodies.  I am  grateful Heavenly Father, in his infinite wisdom graciously allowed them to be relieved of their suffering.  I now envision them together again, with happy smiles, willingly serving those who need to hear the gospel.  They are on another mission.  What a blessing.  Knowing this makes it easier to say goodbye for a while.  They are both very special people, loved the Lord and served him and their family well. 
The night before my father passed away, 9 hours, my cousin, Cindy, passed away.  She was also a special daughter of God.  She lost a kidney when she was in her 20's, had two transplants, one lasting for about 30 years.  About a month before her death she fell and broke her neck and things went down from there.   When she lost her mother 20 years ago,  my mother took her in and would include her in our special times.  I was fortunate to attend her funeral while I was in Utah for Dad's funeral. 

Pam Brinkman (Paul's sister)

My Aunt, Thelma Barlow and her daughter, Kathy

 Bret, and his daughter, Isabelle

 Dan, and his wife, Lori

The brothers of my cousin, Cindy.             Bruce                                      Justin                         Byron

Beautiful grandchildren, Brooklyn and Weston

Son-in-law Darren King, daughter, Stacey

My brother Robert and his wife, Lori

Paul's 99 year old mother, MaRee and brother, Miles

Kellie, daughter-in-law and grandson, Crew

Daughter, Kimber, Grandson, Weston and Matt (son-in-law)

My brother, Brent, was presented with the flag 

Picture I drew of mom and dad

Picture of dad on horse

A very delicious meal at the family dinner after funeral

Kimber, Stacey, Me, Isabelle, Lori, Kellie

Dana, (sister-in-law),  son, Scott,  brother-in-law, Miles

Janet, Me and Susan

Beverly Carmack, Ronda Porter

Thank you to all the sisters who helped with the family dinner.

We so appreciate it and love you all.

 While I was gone to Utah, Paul was busy here.  He participated with the ward and branch service project at PARC.  It is like the DI.  They painted the store inside and out.  They set up shelves and organized them.  They organized the clothing racks, book shelves, etc.  They had great participation and the people at PARC were so appreciative of their work.  They have been trying to get this done for years.  Paul took me by the other day and the building looks so nice.  They did a great job.
FYI-I lost my umbrella while I was there.  It's white and has musical notes and staff on it.  If anyone has seen it could you give it to Haley and Bo to take to the house.  Thanks.  

Elders McKenna and Farnsworth

Sister Engerer (Was the HR person for this activity), Sister Fleck

Sister Burgeson - Seminary Teacher when not cruising  :)

 

 Bishop Bangerter                         Elder Nelson                           

When I returned home we had a zone conference.  I always love these meetings.  We learn so much and the spirit is so strong with all that priesthood in the room.  We had a full morning of training.  Sister Summerhays taught us about the true doctrine of the creation.  She talked about Christ being in every part of our salvation.  From the creation to the Atonement.  We broke into groups and were given some scriptures to read and then talk about the purpose, what they teach, comparisons, the blessings we can receive, and how we can connect the dots, so to speak, to help us in our lives.  It was a wonderful learning experience.  It will help us use the Book of Mormon and other scriptures more effectively as we teach.  After a wonderful lunch served by the Spanish Branch, the Elders went with Pres. Summerhays and the sisters, all three of us, went with Sister Summerhays.  The last few minutes of the meeting was spent bearing testimonies.  I love listening to the young people bear their testimonies.  They have such strong faith and commitment and love the Lord. 

Paul, Sister Turley, Sister Rood, Elder Farnsworth

Elder and Sister Keys, Elder Prince

More Elders

And More Elders

 President Summerhays put on some of his wife's clothes to 

roll play with the Elders.  Telling them that there are 

temptations in the world and that they need to be cautious.

Looks like it was a very entertaining roll play

I came home to the news that a sweet sister, a new convert, is back in the hospital with stage 4 cancer.  That was hard for me.  I have grown to love this sister and her little family.  She is so strong under this trial that she is struggling with.  She is raising a grandson, 6 years old, whom she and her husband adopted.  Little William is like a grandson to me.  He always comes to me and gives me a great big hug.  She is so worried about him.  She asked us to help her with some SS issues to be sure that he will be taken care of when she passes.  We in our ward had a fast for her and pray that her time is lengthened and she can return to good health.  But the Lord knows best and will do that which will be right for her and her family.  

Last Saturday President Summerhays took Paul golfing.  Paul was afraid to go home and face his golf buddies and not have played with the pro.  But they finally were able to have a free day and he had a wonderful time.  President Summerhays gave him some pointers to become a better player.  Watch out Dorn, Greg, and Troy.  They played TPC in Tampa.

 Today, Thanksgiving, Paul played with a member of the ward at the Vinoy Country Club.  He said it was an excellent golf course.  But...he said he didn't play very well.  He now needs to put his lessons into practice.

 Vinoy Country Club Golf Course

Vinoy - Beautiful

 Brother Jim Hunt             Paul

The other day I cut up my pumpkins, two of them at least.  The big one started to rot on the bottom and smelled really bad when Paul picked it up.  After I cooked them I made some pumpkin cookies that were so good.  I got the recipe on Pinterest I think.  We always need to have something sweet around here because we are always having a need for a treat.  I've spent the last week making rolls for just about everything.  Last night I took some cinnamon rolls to a dinner appointment we had with a member family.  They were a hit.  Today I made rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner.  I put a little piece of paper with 'I am thankful for....' in the middle as I rolled them up.   We went to dinner at the Hunts (she is our RS Pres).  They also invited a young family with two little children.  The 3 year old ate an entire roll before most of us got our plates filled.   I mentioned that there was a message in the rolls only after we realized that the 3 year old had eaten the roll and message too.  I guess paper won't hurt him.  One day our next door neighbor told us that our apartment smelled like a bakery and I wasn't even baking that day. 

Monday, November 19, we went with some of the other senior couples to Myakka State Park.  We took a ride on an airboat and saw alligators, birds and lots of beautiful nature.  The lake was full of water lilies and different water plants.  The only downfall was it was cold that morning and I wore a very light sweater that did nothing to keep me warm.  After the ride we walked to the little dam that they have there and watched the vultures temp the alligators.  One of our group had a camera with a very large zoom lens.  He got some beautiful close ups in the park.  He had it on a tripod and carried it around everywhere we went.  We had lunch at the cafe in the park.  I decided to try the "gator stew".  Yes, children, your mother ate alligator!   I guess I'm getting braver in my old age.  It was really good.  It tasted like chicken and was very tender.  After our yummy lunch we drove to the canopy overlook of the park.  We had to climb up to a suspension bridge which took us to a tower that went 79 feet into the air.  It was quite a hike but well worth it.  We were above the trees.  It was a beautiful site to see.  It was a great day getting to know the other senior couples that we don't see too often. 

Look at those teeth

We still had a climb ahead of us after crossing the canopy walkway (a suspended bridge)

 

Senior Couples

Cafe where we had lunch and "gator stew"

 Life is good.  We are having a wonderful time.  Since returning from Utah we have been very busy, much of which I will include in another blog.  Time is passing so fast.  We have a little over 7 months left and so much still to do.  Our goal is to visit with all the members of this ward before going home and to get the ward list up to date.  The problem is that we have to get into these homes and it is hard to find people home.  We have been going to an apartment the past couple of weeks (5 or 6 times now) and no one was ever there.  They are new 'move ins'.  Today we checked at the office to see if that apartment is occupied and it has been empty for months.  Not sure where our new move in went!  This happens often though.  By the time we get their records they are already moved out.

We send our love to all of you.  Have a wonderful week.