Corpus Christi Corless Christmas Connection

Dear Family,
Thanks to your phone calls, letters, gifts, prayers and some very special missionaries, we survived our Christmas away from home.

Monday night, we went Christmas Caroling with Bishop Workman & family, two other families and the missionaries, to six families in the 2nd Ward. We were chilled by a windy, cold drizzle-rain, but our hearts were warmed by the reception of the families we saw.

We enjoyed the Three Zone Conference and Christmas program on Tuesday the 23rd. The inspiring program featured the musical talents (vocal, piano and organ) of several of the missionaries of the Laredo, Corpus Christi and Sinton zones. We specially enjoyed our reunion with Sister Durrant and Elder Salazar who had been transferred to Laredo from Corpus Christi and the Law's and Hinckley's and Rodriguez', senior missionary couples.

For Christmas Eve we were invited to the home of the Adams family. Brother and sister Adams have 11 children, + a total of more than 100 in-laws, grand children and great grand children. They weren't all there, but there was a lot of people and kids running around having a good ol' time. They had many tasty dishes to partake of, including tamales, which as everybody here will tell you, is "THE traditional Christmas food". We brought a tin of Sam's fancy cookies and shrimp cocktail, which was classified as high class food, and it was quickly consumed; so we felt good about bringing it.

Christmas morning we celebrated "Jesus was born and we are having a party!" by hosting 8 Elders with their Christmas gifts, to open together. Of course, Mom had the toothpaste, tooth brushes and deodorant wrapped up to fill in for those who had less than the others to open. Thanks to Rachel we also had a bar of soap, socks, lip balm, etc to open as well. :) Our hearts were filled with joy and gratitude! We then had the pancake with strawberries and blueberries, eggs, sausage, bacon, cheesy potatoes and orange juice breakfast to fill our stomachs.

We enjoyed Elder Corless' (Michael) Christmas call and, thanks to Mom's perseverance, he was able to talk to most of his brothers and sisters via the wonderful three-way calling feature. It was great to hear everyone's voice and feel the enthusiasm of the moment. We are so grateful!

Christmas evening, we took a spinach salad and Mom's trifle to share at the Christmas turkey dinner at Bishop Workman's home. We were able to enjoy the company of their girls, the Thompson family and the missionary Elders as well as a great dinner! It was not the same as being with all of you, by any means, but it was wonderful still, because we knew we were where we're supposed to be, trying to the best of our abilities to do the will of Him whose birthday we gratefully celebrated.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Thanks to you we did.

Love y'all, Mom & Dad

Here we are with the Corpus Christi, Sinton and Laredo Zones for the Christmas program and zone conference. The missionaries really were excited to be together and recieve their packages from home. We were served a great lunch. Afterwards, one of the Elders dressed up as Santa Claus handed out a Texas McAllen Mission T-shirts to all of us. We enjoyed talking with the other senior couple missionaries from Laredo and another couple from McAllen. We also, enjoyed a short reunion with couple of the missionaries who had been transfered to Laredo from Corpus Christi several weeks earlier.

Merry Christmas from Our Home to Yours

Dear Friends and Family,
Yes, our home is empty, but our hearts are full of gratitude and joy. The year 2008 has come and all but gone and our event-filled life keeps rolling along unabated. Since May, we have been serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We work with the great missionaries and people of Corpus Christi, Texas, specially the new Spanish Speaking Branch. We survived the 100+ oF feel-like temperatures of the summer and now enjoy the comfortable fall weather of Southern Texas. The young missionaries bring us great joy as we support their efforts to share the gospel. Every six weeks we take a couple of days to travel around the two zones to visit them and inspect all 14 of their apartments. We enjoy teaching a New Testament Class on Tuesday mornings at the Stake Center.
As “Papa & Nonna” to 17 “grand buddies”, we have truly missed the hugs and kisses as well as baseball, hockey, soccer, swimming, dancing, birthday celebrations, etc., We thoroughly treasure pictures, notes, letters, emails, phone calls, blogs and the occasional package.
We enjoy our retirement and feel very grateful that our children in the workforce are still gainfully employed, in spite of the current dark economic period. We certainly hope and pray that the New Year will bring more prosperous times and economic stability.
As we prepare for the celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, we wish all of you and your families a very Merry Christmas.
Rex, Myriam and Michael

With much gratitude, we can report our family is doing well.
· Michael continues to serve as Elder Corless, a fulltime missionary in the Idaho Pocatello Mission, which he says is “The best thing that has ever happened to him in his life.”
· Rachel, Ryan and Mia (1) moved to Denver, Colorado. Ryan is a first year pharmacy student and serves in the High Priest quorum, while Rachel works in the Relief Society as the Enrichment Leader.
· Lara, Dan, Abigail (2) and Sarah (8 mos.) are in Rexburg, Idaho, where Dan goes to school and serves as Ward Employment Specialist; Lara serves as the Ward Relief Society President.
· David, Jana, Adam (7), Peter (5) and David Jr. (2) are in Illinois. David is in his second year of dental school and serves as Elder’s Quorum Pres., while Jana works with the Young Women. They anticipate the arrival of a little girl in February!
· Ryan, Maureen, Preston (6), Jacob (4) and Sophia (1) are in Michigan, where Ryan works for Ford. Ryan is a teacher & Maureen is a counselor in the Primary
· Daniel, Holli, Nathan (10), Joseph (7), Joshua (6) and Isaiah (4) are in Michigan, where Daniel works for American Axle and Manufacturing, a major supplier for GM. They serve as a Scout leader and in the Relief Society in their ward.
· Vanessa, Jim, Tyler (12), Samantha (10), Joshua (6) and Olivia (4) are in Michigan, where Jim works for Ford. He serves on the High Council and Vanessa is Ward Young Women President.
We are truly humbled by the Lord’s bounteous blessings.

Praised be His name!

Week of 15th -22nd Dec. 2008

Dear Family,
We survived another transfer week.
We lost our Sisters to the nethermost part of the vineyard - one went to Brownsville (southern most) and the other went to Beeville (northern most part of the mission) - but have gained two new Elders..
Party Party - We brought the cake for the branch Christmas dinner on Friday. They had a little program of songs and talks before dinner. We attended a Christmas dance in the 1st Ward Saturday night. We danced to a few songs and enjoyed the time together.
The winter soltice weather in Corpus Christi has been variable. Yesterday, we had balmy 83 degree weather and then, this morning, a 20 mph north wind brought us a cold front with a high of 55 today.
Have a Merry Christmas!
Love ya, Mom & Dad

Week of 8-14th December

Dear Family,
The weather was pretty cool for a few days this week, but has warmed back up into the 70's.

This week we traveled to visit all the Elders and their apartments. All 14 of the apartments had various levels of Christmas decor to brighten up the otherwise austere surroundings of a missionary dwelling. It was a joy for us to look into their eyes and see the anticipation of receiving Christmas packages from home. They also expressed some anxiety about the transfers scheduled for Wednesday.
We prepared and sent the "Elder Corless" Christmas package and hope it gets to Idaho safely and in time. We hope he enjoys opening it as much as we did putting it together. We wrote the Christmas letter and sent out almost 90 cards with it. Let us know when to get it. Our Christmas plans are firming up a little more as it gets closer . Thanks again to Rachel and Lara for the packages.
A few days ago we went with the Sisters to teach a Spanish speaking man and as usual we started by singing a song. During the second verse of "Child of God" song a little field mouse peeked out from behind the man's chair and ran along the wall to the kitchen. Thankfully, Mom did not see the little critter or the song would been punctuated with a bunch of screaming. Several minutes later there was noise in the kitchen to which the man commented that it was "only a rat". We left shortly there after.
Saturday, Mom got a call and we ended up helping to finish decorating the stake center for the Christmas Musical Program. It really looks beautiful.
Sunday at the branch we were treated with the Primary program. All the songs and talks were in English so for the first time I understood what was being said. In the evening, we were uplifted by sights and sounds of the Stake Christmas Musical program. There are some very talented people in this stake - it was wonderful!
We love to you all,Mom & Dad

Week of 1-7 December 2008

Dear Family,
The weather has been cooler this week. Mom, actually, wore her coat a couple of times.
The fun part of the week was as follows:
Monday, we taught the Restoration Lesson and showed the Restoration video to Jose Giron, which noticeably touched his spirit. We stayed for an excellent Brazilian dinner made by Sister Giron.
Tuesday,we taught the New Testament class on the Atonement, death and burial of Jesus Christ. We have a lot of be grateful for.
Wednesday, was Missionary interviews. Later we went to dinner with President & Sister Miller to an Asian restaurant. We talked about the worldwide financial crisis caused by modern day Gadianton Robbers (secret combinations) and how the "Californians Against Hate" is displaying and promoting hate against the Church, and on a much happier note, we talked about our families. President Miller mentioned how the children call "Mom" much more than they call him; just then, Lara called on my phone and wanted to talk to Mom. President Miller and I had a good laugh. Thanks Lara - it was perfect timing. It was a great time.
Thursday, we took the Giron's (Brazilian couple) to their separate doctor appointments. They are so nice. They make it a pleasure for us to help them from time to time.
Friday, we went to some teaching apointments with the elders and then had a King Ranch Chicken dinner at the Weatherston's; it was very good. Afterwards we went Christmas shopping to Burlington Coat Factory. We have so much to do to get ready for Christmas and so little time. So what's new???
Saturday, We took the missionaries to appointments and attend the Christmas Creche display at the Stake Center. There were nativity scenes of all kinds from simple to complex. One of the displays took 4 hours to set up. They also had some singing and were showing the "Joy to the World" video
Sunday, we brought Betty, an investigator to church with us. Mom stayed with her through all the meetings. Afterwards, we attended the Branch, which had more people than usual attending. Fast & testimony meeting was great -no breaks- and a great spirit. After dinner we attended the The First Presidency Christmas devotional at the Stake Center. It was a great day for us.
We are keeping very a tight schedule this week with more Christmas preparations and apartment inspections to be completed.

We sure miss y'all.

Love ya, Mom & Dad

Week of 23-30 November 2008

Dear Family,
This week has been great. We went to appointments with the missionaries several times this week and they think we have been a great support to them. There are some interesting people here and each one has a story.

Christmas has arrived in our apartment. We got a surprise box with Christmas in it: a small tree with lights, ornaments, a skirt, a wreath, a little manger, jingle bells for the door, a bunch of wrapped gifts, popcorn keeping it all just right, and love oozing out all over. Mom's eyes filled with tears of joy and gratitude. It was wonderful. Thank you again Rachel and Ryan!

We enjoyed calling and talking to many of the family members to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving.Just for fun and to help break the missing of the family, we went for walk on Padre Island beach on Thanksgiving day morning. It was sunny and 70+ degrees. We saw birds, shells, fishermen, and translucent jellyfish that had washed shore. The sand was soft and warm, the salt could be tasted in the air and the waves seemed so welcoming...

We were invited to Bishop Workman's home where we shared in a delicious turkey dinner with their four girls,infant son and neighbors. The neighbors are a young couple expecting their first child in January. The wife is from Luxembourg and the husband is from California. We enjoyed being there with them. We played a rousing game of Apples to Apples after dinner.

We are very grateful for our family including all 13 of our children and their spouses, all of the 17 grandbuddies, parents and grandparents. We certainly have much to be grateful for. Heavenly Father has given us everything we need and much, much more. We can't ever come even near to thank Him enough.

Love y'all, Mom & Dad

Happy Thanksgiving Day - Morning

Mom and I went for a early morning walk on the beach to ward off the "saudades" missing of the family on Thanksgiving Day. It was nice and warm with a little breeze. We had to watch our step to avoid stepping on a myriad of beached jellyfish that littered the beach. We had fun. Mom enjoyed getting her feet wet in the salty water of the Gulf of Mexico. Lucky for you the picture does not show the white legs. Yes, I have lost the tan I got from walking on the beach at Cassino last year. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Mom & Dad

Week of 16th-23rd November

Dear Family,
We have been having fun.
On Monday, we actually taught the Plan of Salvation lesson to a recently actived member from Brazil and his mother gave us a dinner.
Tuesday, we taught six Parables and Jesus' discourse on the 2nd coming in the morning New Testament class. Afterwards, we went to lunch at Kiko's with Brother and Sister Weatherston.
Thursday, we went to visit a few people with Elders Walker and Johnson. Mom, having been an exchange student, made it possible to get in the door to meet a Brazilian exchange student and talked with the family and got to know them. Afterwards, we took the Elders to dinner at La Playa.
Friday we attended the Horne Rd. Branch Thanksgiving Dinner and Mom gave a short talk about Thanksgiving history and meaning before dinner. In the morning we had an interesting discussion with our downstairs neighbor who asked us about how our church is different from the other churches. Before she left we had a synopsis of her alcohol-garnished unwed motherhood life history, and she left with a summary of how our church is different, a Joseph Smith Testimony pamphlet and a Book of Mormon, which she promised to read.
Saturday, I went shopping while Mom prepared her Gospel Doctrine Lesson for the Spanish Branch. Afterwards, we went to Sam's to get a few things including a pumpkin pie for the Thanksgiving Dinner at the 1st Ward. Yes, we had back to back Thanksgiving dinners before Thanksgiving, therefore we are well nourished.
Sunday, we attended the 3rd Ward Sacrament meeting and spoke in the 2nd Ward Sacrament meeting, in the morning. Our talks were about thanksgiving/gratitude. We attended the Branch, but they only had Sacrament meeting because the women's restroom was out of order - so after all her preparation, Mom did not teach Sunday School . After the meetings, we invited Shawn King, a recently returned missionary to France, for dinner; so we got to hear all about missionary work in southern France.
We are doing well in south Texas, specially now that the weather has cooled from sauna to comfortable range. The members have been so nice to us. Thanks for the new pictures on the blogs and phone calls, etc. We hope the auto business picks up soon to support the estimated 3 million jobs it supports in America. It seems to be as the repeating theme of the Book of Mormon - keep the commandments and prosper in the land.
We hope all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving, including the Turkey Bowl Game (we hope no one gets hurt). We will be missing the great get-together with the family and we be will be thinking of (and missing) all of you.
Love y'all, Mom & Dad

Veteran's Day - REMEMBER to thank a Veteran!

Week of 9th-16th November

Dear Family,

This was an event filled week for us.
Tuesday we taught the New Testament class and went to lunch with a few of the students.

Wednesday was Zone Conference for the Corpus Christi and Sinton Zones. The focus was on developing Christlike attributes and improving our teaching skills, both of which we can always use. Afterwards, we went to dinner with President and Sister MIller. Most of the discussion centered around California's Proposition 8 controversy and the unruly demonstrators outside the Los Angeles Temple saying they won't leave until the church performs gay marriages in the temple. In case one hasn't noticed this is the last days and good is made to look bad and bad is being made to look good. And look who is doing it. We wonder if the other Christian Churches that supported the passage of proposition 8 are also being targeted for demonstrations... After dinner President MIller and Dad had a Stake Missionary Correlation meeting with the Corpus Christi Stake Presidency -.President Miller played a CD of Elder L. Tom Perry about energizing the Ward Missionaries and the great success experienced by other stakes.. During the meeting, Mom and Sister MIller enjoyed each other's company. She told Mom that the Spanish Branch is still going on largely due to our presence there. To Mom, this seems too generous a compliment but still, the 2 of them had a lovely time together. Sister Miller said her face hurt from laughing so much. Looks like Mom lifted her spirit up a little.

Thursday, Mom was invited to Weatherston's for a get together with some Sisters from the 3rd Ward. Meanwhile, Dad drove up the street until he found a place to get a haircut and ended up teaching the barber shop owner, Daniel Ramiez, about the gospel of Jesus Christ, prophets and the Book of Mormon. He left him a Book of Mormon, which he committed to read. Dad believes the Spirit led him to this place to share the gospel.

Friday evening we were invited to a birthday celebation cook-out - in the backyard, and the weather was perfect. We had a good time getting to know a few more people and Mom got to hold a little baby for a few moments.

Saturday, we went with the Sisters to visit two less-active member sisters to teach them some basic priniciples. Among other things, we discussed baptism and when it should be performed. Jesus Christ was 30 years old went he was baptised. We explained how baptism was an ordinance associated with repentance and a covenant made with the Lord; therefore, one would need to be able to be accountable enough to make covenants. Afterwards, we took a couple of Elders (who told us they were starving - they don't get as many dinner appointments) out to dinner.

The weather has really cooled here as a cold front moved through and made the temperatures very comfortable.

The work goes on and we are trying to help push it along here in Corpus Christi. We hope all is well with all of you. You are in our thoughts and prayers.

Love y'all, Mom & Dad

P.S. We received a letter from Michael's Mission President indicating he is now serving as a District Leader besides training a new Elder. Keep up the good work Elder Corless!.

3rd - 9th of November

Dear Family,
Things have been a little slower this week. The weather has been very pleasant in the 70's.

Tuesday evening we attended a Branch activity at President Hernandez' home, which quickly moved to the garage to fit the people with tables and the tasty Mexican food. The food was great. Mom got to play a guitar and sing a few songs with another Brazilian lady. Elder Lopez was leaving to go home the next morning so we all got to say good bye to him and hear his testimony in Spanish. The party in the garage reminded us of our Chaldean neighbors in Michigan.

Wednesday was transfers and we got to say good bye to the those leaving and to welcome the new Elders and Sister to Corpus Christi. We were sad to see Elder Salazar leave for Laredo, because he had been our zone leader since we came here. It was a special opportunity to talk with him because we took him to the Bus Station in downtown Corpus Christi and waited with him before the bus left. He is from Monterey Mexico and is due to return home in January 2009.

Our adventure for the week - Saturday we went to the "trade center" which was like a big indoor flea market kind of place. It was kind of strange and almost scary, so we probably will not go there again.

Sunday we went to the 3rd and 2nd wards' Sacrament meetings and to all the meetings of the Horne Road branch. The 3rd Ward sang patriotic hymns and the concluding speaker is in the Coast Guard Flight School in Corpus Christi. He spoke about some of his missionary experiences in the Coast Guard while stationed at Kodiak Island, Alaska. One of the other speakers is leaving next week to serve a mission in Fresno, California. The 2nd Ward had the Primary Program in Sacrament meeting, which we enjoyed it because it brought back good memories of our children and grandchildren.

We sure enjoy talking with you and reading & looking at the pictures on your blogs. Thanks for the letter Sam! We sure miss to guys!

May the Lord bless you always.

Love y'all, Mom & Dad

Texas State Aquarium - November 3rd 2008

Flying Dolphin

Elder Corless - Baptism

Week of October 27-November 2

Dear Family,
It has been a busy week for us.
Tuesday, we taught the New Testament class using John 2-5 as our text. There were interesting discussions with our class of mostly ladies. Usually, there are two men in the class. Afterwards, we went with Sister Weatherston to shop for the Halloween Activity at Sam's and Walmart.

Wednesday through Saturday, we inspectioned all 14 of the missionary apartments in the two zones. We enjoy visiting the missionaries in their apartments as we make sure that they and the place they are living in are well. We were able to take a couple of the companionships out for lunch one to Subway and the other to Dairy Queen. Texas Dairy Queens are more into fast food than the DQ's in Michigan.

Friday night we conducted an activity for the missionaries at the Stake Center. President Miller didn't want the missionaries out on Halloween so we had a Halloween party for them with pizza, pop, chips with salsa or "queso", Krispy Kreme doughnuts, apples, popcorn, M&Ms. Mom decorated the tables with orange or black covering, and a plastic Jack-O'Lantern (with a little light inside) surronunded by M&Ms for center pieces, plus some improvised wall decorations... It looked really good! The activities included acting out a costume, drawing Jack-o'-Lantern faces on orange balloons ("pumpkin carving"), pumpkin bowling, Taboo, Pictionary (Haloween words), a "scary relay" (paper plate hat, large coin "eye lens", orange between the knees). Everyone seemed to enjoy this time together. Thankfully, we were helped by two couples from the 3rd Ward both of which have three children currently serving missions for a total of five sons and one daughter. Check our blog for a photo.
http://corlessconnection.blogspot.com/

Saturday, Dad wrote and sent the reports regarding the apartment inspections and the Halloween Activity to the mission office in McAllen. We went out for lunch.

Sunday, it was a double dose as we attended the 1st Ward and Horne Road Branch meetings.
We haven't anything new about Michael's recovery. Hopefully, we will get a good news update on Wednesday.

Love you, Mom & Dad

Corpus Christi Halloween Activity

Let's Ride - Find - Teach - Commit - Baptize

19-26th of October

Dear Family,

Today was a church-a-thon. We spoke in the 3rd ward Sacrament meeting, which started at 9:00 am. then we went to the 2nd Ward Sacrament meeting at 11:00 am and then we did a little planning meeting for the Halloween activity we are doing for the missonaries. Then we went to the Branch which started at 1:15 pm, but today they started Sunday School (full 3 hour meeting schedule for the first time) and we attended a baptism service for three girls (Cousins) of families in the branch after the meetings, so we got back home about 5:45 pm to get dinner ready for the Sisters at 6:00. OK we were late getting dinner ready, but we really tried!

Monday we went to the USS Lexington with Elders Johnson and Walker. On the Bridge, we met Mr. Sassman, a WWII veteran who flew a Hellcat and later a Corsair off of (and landed on) the USS Lexington in the Pacific against the Japanese from June 1944 to December 1944. He was involved in several battles including Iwo Jima where Uncle Nile was. Wish we could have talked with him some more. We told him how much we appreciated his service. I posted his picture on our Blog.

Tuesday morning we taught the New Testament Class and took Elders Walker and Johnson and Sister Weatherston to lunch. Sister Weatherston is the mother of an Elder in Michael's mission and they currently have three missionaries sons - two in Idaho (Boise & Pocatello).

Elder Corless mailed us his SD with more pictures. I will scan through them and post some on our Blog when I get a chance.

Next week we are scheduled for two + days of apartment inspections, and the Halloween activity on Friday for the Missionaries. This besides the regular teaching apointments with the different sets of elders.

We love you all so much,
Mom & Dad

A WWII Veteran Navy Pilot

Cowboy Corless aims to serve - Bring it on.

CC Corless Connection 12th-19th of October

Dear Family,
Thank you so much - We enjoyed the updates of the pictures on your blogs and the phone calls. We really miss the family, but it is reassuring to see and hear that every one is doing well. All you Mom's and Dad's are doing a great job with your families. We are honored to be the Mom & Dad and/or the Nonna and Papa of this family.

Friday was missionary interviews in Corpus Christi, which is a long grueling day for President Miller, who was already suffering with a cold. After the interviews, we went with them to Johnny Carino's, for some good Italian cuisine. They asked us to host an activity for the all the missionaries in Sinton and Corpus Christi zones on Halloween so that they will not be stuck in their apartments as they are not to proselyte that evening.
During the interviews, the zone leaders have training sessions for the missionaries that await their interview. This was an interesting experience for us - one of activities was to write down two stewardship interviews with Heavenly Father. 1st as if you were actually accounting for mission thus far it had room for a dialogue between Him and you (Father...You...Father... You...3-4 times), and 2nd., as you would want the interview to be. This really started us thinking. It is a good exercise for all of us to go through regarding our own stewardships. Another part that impressed us was the words of Ammon as recorded in Alma 26:22. In short, it says: repentance, faith, good works, continuous prayer, result in knowing mysteries of God, to reveal things,and to bring thousands to repentance.

Saturday, we enjoyed the 2 hour adult session of Stake Conference, which included, some great talks and a great organ solo by Elder Walker. We heard sounds from the organ that we didn't know were there to be heard. As a speaker put it on Sunday, "the music seemed to swell until the very chapel rocked with the power of that old (dropped) hymn "Oh Thou Fount of Every Blessing'". It was so touching, even our Stake President, and armed force career man, wept like a child.

Sunday, we attended the Stake Conference general session in the morning. Afterwards, we talked with several members and the missionaries. But most importantly, we listened to the Stake President. He is a retired marine pilot, who flew over 2000 missions during his career, which started in Viet Nam. He started with jets, and later went to helicopters, which is his favorite. As a captain, he lead missions of 50 aircraft. Dad could listen to him for hours. But more importantly, he is a good, solid, humble, sensitive man that enjoys serving the Lord. His wife "Pinkie" is a live wire in our Tuesday morning New Testament Class. There are many great people here that have been so helpful and kind to us.

During our companionship study time today, we read and discussed the Creation as recorded in Abraham 4. (The greatest engineering project ever!) It seems that all the physical and biological sciences are nothing more or less than an effort to understand the Creation process of our Heavenly Father. Even our efforts to take matter unorganized and create something beautiful/good are, in our own little nano-level, an attempt at learning to be creators. (Pres. Uchtdorf taught about this in his great talk in the RS Conference broadcast). At the end of verse 10, it says "and the Gods saw that they were obeyed", which indicates to us that even matter has a choice to obey or not. The "freedom to choose" is, has been and always will be, at the very core of Heavenly Father's plan. It's evidence of an "active principle of maximum participation/cooperation of all God's creatures to work out His Plan for their own benefit. "Everybody gets in the act. "Every creature, to the limit of its competence, is given the supreme compliment of being left on its own, so that the word 'obey' is correctly applied". May we always show faith in Him to make the right choice.

Love y'all, Mom & Dad

PS The weather has been beautiful these last few days; what a relief from the heat. And, the Anti Ant Assault "AAA" continues.

Papa & Grandbuddies

Missionary Determination

Week of Oct. 5th-12th

Dear Family,
We really appreciate your efforts to keep in contact with us via phone, blog, letter or a care package. It is wonderful to get news and know what challenges and joys you are having. Thanks for keeping us a part of your family. We bought and installed a webcam on our computer so we use Skype for those who want to see and hear us.

We have decided to launch an All-out Anti-Ant Assault to rid the apartment of these little pesty free loading biters. We found on the Internet a bait formula that uses sugar- water laced with Boric Acid that the ants get and take back to the nest and put an end to that colony (by poisoning the queen); or at least, that is the theory. Blessed be Mom, who has resisted the urge to kill and endured the "Freak show" of ants massing around the bait and waiting 48 hours for the process to be completed. Its kind of like the "Go Tell Your Friends" approach. :) We launched the offensive on four fronts: Kitchen counter, 2 bathroom sink counters and the study room. So far the ants appear to be almost gone in 3 of the 4 battle fronts! Mom's sink that at first had the least ants, now is the one with the most, by far!!! Its not that we hate ants, but they just don't belong in the apartment with us. :) :) :)

Pamela, an investigator we visited with Elders Walker and Johnson, was set to be baptized today but it fell through. At least she came to church still, which was a plus. She has health problems as well as WW habits to overcome. We also have been teaching Nancy with Elders Salazar and Johnson. She is a spunky octogenarian with a great sense of humor and we enjoy going there. She has a friend, Joshua, from the Philippines (about the same age and just as lively), who sometimes comes to the lesson.

We are still teaching the New Testament class on Tuesday mornings. Dad leads the discussion and Mom adds interesting insights that really shed light and make things easier to understand. The class is mostly all seasoned sisters eager to learn more, which is a totally different experience for Dad to teach. He says they must enjoy it because for most part, they keep coming back.

Today we attended the 2nd and 3rd Wards and the Horne Rd. branch meetings. No surprise - Mom seemed to have the most fun with the sisters in the branch (Spanish) Relief Society! Dad, as usual, helped with the youth there, since they all are English speaking. Next week is Stake Conference.

We love y'all, Mom & Dad

A Farmer of Men

Luke15:5. . . he layeth it on his shoulder, rejoicing.

Senior Elders and President Miller

Senior Sister Missionaies at Port Isabel

Elder & Sister Corless at Port Isabel, Texas

Elder Michael Corless in Idaho

Week of Sept 29- Oct 5th

Dear Family,

We are survivors! The oppressive hot 90+ weather appears to be behind us now. Although, officially the hurricane season goes until the end of November, the locals claim the hurricane season is over because the "cooler weather" (90 to high 80's) has cooled down the water temperatures in the gulf. We are so very thankful we did not get blasted. Our sunrise walks have been so much more pleasant with temperatures in 70's instead of 80's.

On Monday, we invited Edgar, a member of the branch, who is working in Corpus Christi as a painter to dinner. He has a wife and two children at home in Guatamala, and hopes to be able to return in December. He misses his family a lot. We enjoyed getting to know him and his family a little better. He is the only member in his family. He said he studied his language in school and hears all kind of incorrect Spanish here. Mom says he speaks very good Spanish unlike many others we meet in Corpus Christi.

Conference was great. We take solace knowing that wherever you were, you were doing the same thing as we were. We enjoyed listening to the speakers, taking notes and being edified during each of the sessions. We are truly blessed to be able to listen to and receive counsel from these servants of the Lord. Saturday we took two Elders to lunch and two other Elders to dinner between the sessions. On Sunday, between sessions we went with the Elders for a teaching appointment and after the last session, we made dinner for the Sisters. During the last session, Mom went to where conference was translated into Spanish and tried to take notes in English. It didn't work out so well. :)

We are so grateful for you and your children and miss you so much. Please give our grandbuddies a hug from Nonna and Papa.

We love you all, Mom & Dad

USS Lexington

USS Lexington

Anchors of the District

Elder Sandberg & Johnson Sisters McClure, Corless and Durrant

Nice Sting Ray!

This is Sister Corless with Elders Salazar, Maynes, Smart and Hadley at the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi.

Week of Sept 22-28, 2008

Dear Family,
Monday was a three (Corpus Christi, Sinton and Laredo) zone conference with Elder W. Douglas Shumway and his wife Sister Dixie Shumway. Mom got recognized for her September birthday along with all the September birthdays. The two senior missionary couples (Laws & Hinckleys) came from Laredo and afterwards we went out to dinner and had a great time just talking and getting to know them better. It was great to be with some other senior missionaries even if was just for an evening meal. Elder Law was a research chemist at University of Maryland and Elder Hinckley was an engineer with Boeing in Seattle. They are Dad's kind of "good guys".

Tuesday morning we taught the New Testament class. In the afternoon, four of the Elders invited us to go with them to the Texas State Aquarium. See the attached pictures of Mom petting a string ray and Dad getting attacked by a Hawk. I was called out of the audience to sit with my camera and take a picture of this hawk diving in on me - the hawk landed, as planned, just above and behind Dad's head. He thinks the grandbuddies would love it there. We would have loved to show them all the cool stuff they have.

Wednesday was transfers and almost all of the companionships that we most often work with were affected. We took Sister Durrant to the bus station in downtown Corpus Christi to catch a bus to Laredo and Mom was the companion to Sister Gallik until her companion arrived a couple for hours later at the Stake Center. One of the transfered Elders ask Dad to email some pictures to his home so he did it and his mom was very grateful. Dad has been working with the apartment maintenance supervisor to get the flooded apartment ready for the Elders to reoccupy it. There was more damage than originally thought so it has been taking longer than originally estimated. The problem was getting the apartment dried out quickly enough to avoid mold growing. Unfortunately, mold has been growing in a few spots inspite of all the efforts. Also, their phone line has gone bad so we have been host to their land line and fax machine. Actually, we got the information about the transfers at the same time the Zone Leaders did because it was all faxed to our apartment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MOM! Thanks for all the calls, songs and cards from all of you. Mom specially liked hearing the little ones joining in the songs. "Saudades"... Thank you so much to all of you. Mom got serenaded at the branch (by the president) for her birthday. He sang " Las Mananitas" (a Spanish/Mexican birthday serenade song). When we got home from church there were messages on the phone from Brazil and Dad got to chat on line with her friend Eloisa waiting for her to finish talking to Amelita, Perez and Armando, etc. Suzana had called first thing in the morning, complete with "Congratulations!" :) Missionaries called and sang Happy Birthday to her and the Zone Leader (from Mexico) later called and sang "Las Mananitas", too. So it was a very "musical", fun day; a day filled with love. Thanks!!!

We love y'all,Mom & Dad