We are baaaack!

Dear Family,
We apologize for taking so long to write. Thanks be to Heavenly Father, we arrived home safely Tuesday (12 May) evening after our 2600 mile journey from Corpus Christi, Texas to Denver and on to Alton, Illinois. We sure enjoyed our visits with the families of Ryan & Rachel and David & Jana. We also have enjoyed being with the families of Jim & Vanessa and Ryan & Maureen. We were released from our mission by President Barberis on Thursday evening and reported to the High Council on Sunday morning the 17th of May. We have been invited by Brother Marshall of the High Council to speak in the Farmington Hills Ward on the 21st of June, and Myriam will be speaking in Youth Conference on the 2oth. It was good to be in our home ward once again after two years of being away (We served in a Detroit Branch for a year previous to our mission). We found fewer people, a few new people and a few familiar faces.
Sunday evening (17th.) the family came with the grand buddies and Papa took them in the canoe. It was Sophia's first time and she was not very confident in the stability of the canoe until she sat in Papa's lap; then life was good once again. A few friends came that day to see us and we enjoyed visiting with them also.
Friday night we had a sleep-over at our house. Papa slept outside in the tent with his grand buddies and made a pancake breakfast for the whole crew.on Saturday morning. The parents, Tyler and Mom enjoyed sleeping inside, looking at old pictures and reminiscing. Mom's favorite part was seeing them go to bed upstairs, talking and laughing, and then again in the morning, sitting in the stairways, visiting quietly, as they used to do when they were little. She couldn't resist sitting with them, enjoying every minute of it. Just that made her holiday wonderful!
Saturday evening we went to Stebar's for grilled steak dinner and to get ourselves updated on the events of the last year.
There was and is still much to do in the yard and house to get our "Matter Organized". But we have been chipping away at it and little by little, things are starting to look a little better. We need to get the roof reshingled and the deck needs to be cleaned and stained. There is never a dull moment.
We are doing fine.

Love y'all, Mom & Dad

Denver Zoo with Rachel & Mia

With mix emotions we leave Corpus Christi, Texas. I will not miss the speed bumps of Walnut Ridge Apartments nor the anxiety of the Hurricane Season. We will certainly miss the friends we made and working with the missionaries, who are the servants of God.
We are grateful for:
Our Companionship
The enormous help of the missionaries in the moving our stuff out of the apartment and being so helpful to us.
The wonderful weather and great road conditions for traveling across the great state of Texas.
The watchful and warning eye of the courteous Texas State Highway Patrolman Porter, who gave us a warning for doing 75 mph in a 70 mph zone.
Our Valiant Vehicle – the” Little Red Wagon” in spite of being overloaded and stuffed with no space to spare has safely and reliably gotten us to Clayton New Mexico.
The edification from “Approaching Zion” book by Hugh Nibley on CDs that we listened on the way.
I am grateful to Heavenly Father for sending me these things and much much more.

Week of 19-25 April 2009

Dear Family,
It's our last week in Texas. We will surely miss the people and the nice winter weather, but not the summer heat.
Monday, we made lunch for and took Elders Clarke and Valentine to the Texas State Aquarium.
Tuesday, we finished the New Testament class with the discussion of Revelation followed by a tasty potluck lunch. Later we visited Pamela Kins a recent convert. She bore a powerful testimony about the how the church (gospel) had helped her physically (does not need a walker nor oxygen anymore), mentally and certainly spiritually because she let the missionaries teach her. Once again we were blessed more than we could be a blessing to others.
Wednesday, we attended the transfers to say “good-bye” to the Elders and Sisters who were leaving the Corpus Christi area. Later we had dinner at President Hernandez home, it was Sister Hernandez birthday.
Thursday, we were taken out to dinner by Patriarch Kemple and his wife, Ana. We enjoy being with them because of the interesting things they have done and places they have been and his love of and knowledge of history.
Friday, we received some great news and bad news – Dan has a job, but they will not be meeting us in Denver. We will greatly miss seeing them, yet, we are so happy for them.
It is our plan to leave here on the30th. and arrive at Ryan & Rachel's on the 1st of May.
We love y'all, Mom & Dad

Week of 6-12 April 2009

Dear Family,
Happy Easter!
Today, Mom & Dad spoke in the Spanish Branch Sacrament meeting. Mom told the story of Easter and Dad read in English, “The Testimony of the Living Christ” as issued by the 1st Presidency and Quorum of the 12 (January 2000), and Mom read it in Spanish. Later in the 1st Ward, Mom took part in the Relief Society lesson and Dad taught Elders and High Priests. After church, we made a strawberry angel food cake “flower” dessert and deviled eggs and went to Bishop Workman's for dinner. It was fun being with their little family and neighbors.
Saturday morning, we attended a very interesting preparedness seminar. Mom stayed for bread-making in the afternoon, while Dad returned to the apartment and worked on the outline of the Book of Revelation for the Tuesday morning Institute class. In the evening, we went to Weatherton's for a Texas BBQ and to meet Sister W.'s brother and sisters. It was fun and we ate too much! They showed us a youtube video on Men's Brain-Women's Brain, which was hilarious because it is so true.
Wednesday was interviews, so we went out to dinner with President and Sister Miller and enjoyed the time with them.
The rest (most) of the week we made visits with the Elders and sent Easter Cards and Michael an Easter Box. We have started to prepare for our return home and the subsequent trip to Brazil. So much to do and so little time!
Love ya, Mom & Dad.

Dear Family,
Feeding Elders and visiting investigators with the Elders was the standard for this week. I suppose we were fatting up the Elders before we leave.
Monday, we took Elders Bodily and Lewis to the Texas State Aquarium and to a redneck style BBQ, where we sat on picnic tables and ate off of a sheet of wax paper. It was fun and the food wasn't bad.
Tuesday, after teaching the New Testament class, we made lunch for and went with Elders Utley & Mathusek to visit Beatrice, an elderly, spunky widow lady. She enjoyed the message and was very animate about parents particularly mothers watching after the children. She was widowed and had to work and raised her family by herself. Mom told her about the Lamanite mothers and the great influence they had on their sons. She immediately identified with that and enjoyed reading that account in the BM. Later, with visited the Diaz family with Elders Clarke & Valentine. Philipa, the mother, told about us about their son who received a severe head injury in a car accident when he was three years old and how they, for many years worked with him to the point where he became perfectly normal and will graduating from High School in June. You can easily see the love they have for one another in this family. She really relates to and likes Mom and was sad hear we are leaving soon.
Wednesday, we made lunch for Elders Bailey and Nipko and enjoyed the video call from Dan, Lara, Abby and Sarah.
Thursday, we made lunch for the Elders Utley & Mathusek. Later, we visited Melba with Elders Bailey & Nipko. The discussion was all in Spanish and something Mom said really touched her heart. She was in tears and thanked the elders (and the Lord, as she gave the closing prayer) for bringing Mom to her house.
Friday, Mom cooked a Shrimp and Rice dish that was great. Her sister Amelita told her how she and Vo Ita did it and Mom remembers it as one of her favorite things to eat. After trying it out we shared it with Elders Valentine and Clarke. Later we went for one of our rare walks on the sea wall on Padre Island to get a little exercise and sun.
Saturday, we attended lunch and hosted an impromptu Subway sandwich lunch at our apartment with four of the Elders. Between the second session and priesthood of conference, we went to dinner with Michael and Michelle King. They will be leaving Corpus Christi in the next couple of months for his next CES Institute assignment in St. George, Utah. We are trying to help his wife become more envolved in church; it seems she enjoyed the time with us.
It is difficult to believe our time in Texas is coming to an end soon, but we are so looking forward to seeing family and friends.
Love y'all, Mom & Dad