Missionary Memories: May 2013

For the Beauty of the Earth

This is one tree that I never get enough of. It is so beautiful. Everyone that I pass by I take an extra long look. There are no leaves on it when it blooms into these wonderful purple blossoms. I was told that when the tree begins to fill with leaves we are heading into our humid, hot summer. The leaves are just beginning to appear but there are still lots of blossoms on the tree. I hope that they stay there a little longer.

I am so grateful for the blessing of General Conference. Every six months we are able to be spiritually fed by our Prophet and apostles. Our Prophet and other General Authorities spend (I'm sure) many hours supplicating the Lord for the messages that we need for our lives. Messages that will strengthen us, increase our faith, and help us to become the people that we can become. I always look forward to hearing our leaders and immersing myself for two days with the Word. We were told to " ever follow His example” by our Prophet and then D. Todd Christofferson said to “go about doing good in the redemptive pattern of the Master.” The Savior himself said to "Come Follow Me". By following him we will be going about doing good as He did.

We spent both days at the Stake Center. On Friday, we, the Elders and our new converts, the Kings, went to Applebee's for lunch between the sessions. When the afternoon session was over Paul took me home only to turn around to pick up Brother King and go to the Priesthood session. On Sunday we packed a picnic lunch and ate on the front entrance of the Stake Center inviting anyone who wanted to stay to eat with us. Most of the Elders had appointments for lunch. Brother King brought a mini picnic table that he set up for us and also some patio chairs. Sister King and I put out the food and we had a wonderful lunch. It was a very enjoyable day.

Some of our cute missionaries

Sister King Paul Brother King

Elder Sholler

Elder Farnsworth

This past month has been a very busy and enjoyable one. Lots of things to do. On Friday, April 5 we met with a sister who has wanted to stop smoking and has had a hard time doing it. We have a program to help people stop smoking and so we presented it to her. It is a 7-day program that has proven to be successful 80% of the time. So we took Pizza and a salad and had dinner and then presented her with the rules. She was excited and committed to all the things we asked her to do. We knew it would be hard for her but she seemed to want this very much. We told her after 7 days we would celebrate with a roast dinner at our place. On Tuesday we visited with her and she had had 2 cigarettes during that time. We we really disappointed and so was she. We asked her to start over and make it the 7 days. On Wednesday, April 17, we had a party with the Elders and April and her boyfriend. She was beaming and said that she felt better than she had in a long time and could sleep better also. So far she says that she is still a non-smoker. Yea!

Ron Smith and April Overturf

A couple of weeks ago we spent our P-day at two state parks. Weeki Wachi and Homosassa Springs Park.
At Weeki Wachi we took a boat ride down the river and they also had a Mermaid show that was ok. Before the program they announced that there would be some parts that may be frightening for children. I wondered what a mermaid show would have that could frighten children. Well...at the end of the show the witch came out of a window and screeched and laughed a witchy laugh. Suddenly little children and babies were crying. The warning went unheaded by the parents and so their children were scared. Terrified really. It wasn't my favorite park. But...Homosassa Springs Park was beautiful and had so much wildlife. We saw Manatees, alligators, birds of every kind, fish, hippopotamus, otters, etc. We enjoyed our walk through the park for about 2 hours.

Weeki Wachi

The witch up in the port window was very loud

Homosassa Springs

More alligators

We have been able to spend some time with our new converts the Kings at several different times the past month. They invited us to dinner a couple of times and we enjoyed our visit so much, getting to know them, that we didn't get home until 10 pm. We also had another couple, Chuck and Sue Kennedy. They served a mission recently at the Church Ranch in St. Cloud.
On April 25th we went to the beach with the Kings to watch the sunset. They have a place on the beach that they go to often and watch the sun set and the moon come up. When we arrived there the wind was blowing at quite a clip. We drove there in the Kings motor home. I had left my sweater in the car and I really needed it. There was a chill in the air because of the wind. We set up the little picnic table and ate the KFC boxed dinners that they brought. We spent the next couple of hours eating our dinner, feeding the birds, watching the birds, the para-sails and the kids play on the beach. At around 8:15 the sun began to set but there were a lot of clouds in the sky and so it wasn't what we had hoped for. Guess we'll have to go again. But what we saw was still beautiful.
The next thing we did with them was go to the Temple for our ward Temple day on April 27th. Our ward has been looking forward to this day for months. The youth did some of their genealogy and took names to do in the baptistry. They had about 100 names. Sister Mazey also went with us. She was baptized a year ago in March and has been looking forward to receiving her endowment for sometime now. She asked me to be her escort. It was a very special day. I love going to the Temple. After the session, Paul went with the youth to do baptisms and Sister Mazey and I took pictures and went to the little distribution store they have there. When the kids, Bishop and Paul came out of the Temple I took a few more pictures. It was a beautiful day.
Our next trip was to the Church Ranch. The Kennedy's said that they would arrange for a tour for us and possibly a ride on the airboat. When we left in the morning it was raining and rained a good part of the day. It was pouring when we arrived but they still did the bus tour. We hit ruts in the road and had to go around giant puddles but we pushed on and saw most of the ranch. When we returned we had a picnic lunch that Sister Kennedy and I had prepared. The Visitors Center at the ranch has a wrap around porch and we ate out on the porch. It was beautiful there. While we were eating the rain stopped and Chuck called to see if our guide would take us out on the lake. What a ride it was. We saw alligators, held an alligator that Dale, our guide, pulled from the water, chased gators and enjoyed the beauty and wildlife there. When we arrive in St. Pete we went to dinner at Cody's Steakhouse. The food was delicious. What a wonderful day it was...We also had a couple of tender mercies that day...When we left in the morning we were so busy getting everything in the car and getting on our way that we left the front door not only unlocked but ajar. At the restaurant Paul's Kindle was knocked out of the car and no one noticed. When we were getting back into the car we noticed it up against the back wheel. Someone commented that a lot of people had probably passed by there. We were so blessed that day. The house was fine and the Kindle wasn't taken.

Dinner at the Kings: Sue, Chuck, Joe, Paul

Nancy King

On the Beach

Sister Mazey

The youth and adults after the baptisms

Mallory Farthing, Colette Mazey, Erika Rickel

Gus, the alligator mascot (He was bothering the help and had to be slowed down)

We walked into the woods to enjoy it's beauty

These are not burned out trees. This is how they grow. There are many unusual roots here.

I love how the cattle all stop and stair when you get close

I think I've become the district barber. When the Elders hear that someone got a free haircut I get a phone call. My clients change frequently. But it's always fun to have the Elders over and help them out whether it is a haircut, a meal or joining them in a lesson.

Last month a young sister in our ward, Lindsey Farthing, was married in Utah and then came and had her reception here. It was a very nice evening. Since her father is not a member and he and his family wanted more than just a reception, Lindsey and her husband had a little ceremony where the Stake President spoke to them about the vows they had taken and how to live their lives in the Lord. A little missionary work was accomplished that evening since most of the family members were non members. Of course, lots of members of the ward attended and so it was fun to be able to leisurely visit with them.

Lindsey and her Dad