Feb. 7, 2016

Well, this has been a rough week.  (we are doing great, but there have been some difficult things that have happened)

1.      My phone died and I had to get a replacement (easy enough done, right?)

2.      Elder Merrill caught a cold and cough and is miserable (that can be better with time)

3.      Elder Spencer had a cornea transplant (and it went very well and he is recovering—but she can’t keep him from coming into the office and working part of a day)

4.      A couple called to do be camp directors here suddenly didn’t show up on our records and we found out that he had died suddenly.  (Not so easy, and very sad!)

5.      Some of our missionaries were being disobedient and Elder Merrill recommended that they no longer have car privileges.  (not so easy and very disappointing!)

6.      President Frances’s brother-in-law died while having a stress test for a mission.  (very hard and sad!)

Our lives can change so quickly and we need to be prepared to do what we are required to do.  I feel so blessed to have been given so much and such great families.  I can’t imagine heaven without everyone there—family, friends, and ward members.  Everyone has been such a blessing and help to us.

We just finished reading the New Testament again.  There are so many good things for us to learn there.  I had a little trouble with Revelations.  I think that John had a very long and scary dream.  Some of the creatures he saw reminded me of some of the crazy characters from Lord of the Rings.  (I think that story was also written with some of the Bible in mind) 

We had the opportunity to go out to supper on Friday night with the Selvages.  Sister Selvage is a 2^nd or 3^rd cousin of Elder Merrill and it was fun to hear of their experiences working at the sacred sites.  They said that every day there are spiritual experiences to have there.  Elder Selvage told of people that come there expecting to see everything is a short time span and end up have a life changing experience; sometimes without them saying a word.  Heavenly Father knows what we need and what will change our hearts.  The Holy Ghost testifies of the truth of all things and that is when people change.

We invited the Spencer’s and 2 sets of Elders to our home for an ‘un-super bowl party’.  The Elders both said that they could come, but then both called to say that they had other engagements and couldn’t make it.  We called the Selvages and asked them to come.  They were working at the Whitmer Farm (they give tours even on Sunday) and could come at 6:00.  We couldn’t believe it when we looked outside and the 1^st set of Elders were coming to the party.  They said that they could only stay ½ hour so we hurried and baked a few items and fed them and they left after about an hour.  Then the 2^nd set of Elders came and they were still here when the Spencer’s and Selvage’s arrived.  All in all it was a successful party!  We had plenty of food.  We made chips and cheese dip, hot wings, bacon wrapped chestnuts, bruschetta, shrimp cocktail and caramel corn.  The Spencer’s brought chicken enchiladas and homemade refried beans.  We had LOTS of food!  Oh, who won the game?

Go Broncos!  The first seating!

Go Jaguars or is it Panthers! The second seating!

We drove over to Mendon Pond on Saturday with the Spencer’s.  It is really beautiful even in the winter (if this is winter) and there were a couple of girls that had a bag of carrots and they had 3 little deer that were trying to get close enough to them to get a taste of carrots.  They wouldn’t even run when they put their hands above their heads and threw the carrots out.  It was pretty fun to watch.

A little buck is rare, for some reason they don't come out of hiding very often

On Golden Pond in Mendon, New York

Cool Barns, eh?

We listen to the scriptures in the car when we are driving to church and this morning I heard this scripture that really stuck out to me:

1 Nephi 1: 20 . . . But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.

We are loved by our Father in Heaven and blessed in everything!  

We got a picture of Elder Peters and Elder Rushton after church.  Elder Ruston will be transferred to another area on Tuesday.  

Funny:

Shirt at a Mexican Restaurant--LOL!