New Friends

Last week was Fast and Testimony meeting because we had Stake Conference the week before.  I took notes of things that impressed me during testimonies, but did not write the sources.  So I am sorry, I can't give proper credit, but I want to share the things I learned last week. 
First, a lady came in and sat down at the end of my pew. We have a very large ward and I don't know everybody still, so I wasn't sure who she was.  She seemed nervous, so I started a conversation with her.  Her name was Michelle and she had not been to church in 30 years.  She looked to be in her 40's.  We talked for a few minutes before church and I invited her to Sunday School, but she bowed out, but another sister came up to her and welcomed her.  I am so thankful they did talk to her.  When we first came, there were not many people who talked to us.  Elder McOmber does better at introducing himself, but I tend to be more "shy".  I have resolved to talk to people that I don't know.   We (the other sister and I) invited her to come back and she said she would.  Michelle grew up in southern Utah and attended church then, but not since.

From one Sunday meeting..."Church should not make us feel guilty, forgiveness is for the Lord.  Attending meetings shows our commitment to our Savior.  He loves us where we are and want a "better version of ourselves." 

 

“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

“For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him” (D&C 18:10–11.)

 

Lonnie helped an 80 year old gentleman replace the water pump in his motor home in the RV park. We are not allowed to talk about the church unless asked, our name tags help to pique people's interest.   Dick had read the Book of Mormon and had much contact with LDS people through the Boy Scout program (at one Jamboree he said he was the only "Gentile") .  He said he knew the Book of Mormon was true, so Elder McOmber asked why he did not get baptized.  He said he wanted to go to church with his family and they were Baptist.  He and his wife, Christine, took us out to dinner for helping them with their RV.  She is so cute.  She was born in France, but lived in Thailand for 40 years.  They both had very interesting histories, but they were very interested in the church and asked many questions.  We gave them a Book of Mormon to read, but they were moving on.  They called us when they got to their next stop and thanked us for the "Beautiful Book".  They were so sweet.  We hope they will read more.  They invited us to visit them in AZ where they winter(they are snow birds). 

 

We had the sisters to dinner on Sunday and they challenged us to give out a Book of Mormon.  We had done that just that day, but they said it had to be another one. 

 We talk to many people, our name tags bring all kinds of questions.  We had neighbors, Peter and Nancy-Nancy had open heart surgery and they needed to stay in the area for a while.  Peter always had a clean joke.   We liked visiting with them, sharing desserts, and answering questions and miss them.  There is Polly and Jan and their bird & 3 dogs.  Polly is Jewish and loves to talk.  She quilts, knits and crochets, so we have much to talk about.  Another  man across the road who flew 345 medivac helicopter missions in Vietnam.  He got a special award for one rescue in particular.  He told his crew they would not return, but had to try.  He helicopter did not survive, but he, his crew and those rescued survived.  His stories were so interesting.  Would have like to talk with him more, but he moved on.  There was a less active sister in a parking lot that we encouraged to go to church.  We talked to a less active grocery clerk and encouraged him to attend again.

 

Sophia, EV and Matthew

Matthew and Elder McOmber looking under the hood of our friend's, the Edgar's 1930 Chevy.
 

Going for a ride.  The original engine still works.

We have so many wonderful friends!  They went to Blockbuster to check out a movie.

We have made many friends with the missionaries.  We took one elder to the airport.  He was a Visa Waiter.  His mission is in Tahiti.  He was here for 7 weeks and was very excited to go to his assigned mission, but appreciated the learning experiences and friends he made here. They are trying to get his bike in a box.  It cost him $300. to take his bike as baggage, but he said he could not get one over there.

This afternoon Elder McOmber was talking with another set of our friends here in the RV part, Richard and his wife.  They asked him about our church and she kept saying "I didn't know you believed that".  Elder McOmber accomplished our goal from the sisters last Sunday and was able to give them a Book of Mormon.  They are going to be here for a while, so we can continue to talk and explain things and maybe even have the Elders give them the discussions.

Elder McOmber loves to make his famous root beer ice cream.  He mixes one 2 liter bottle of root beer with one can of sweetened condensed milk and then puts it into the ice cream maker and freezes it.  It is good and easy.  We had these elders over for dinner tonight.  It was breezy, but I wanted to eat outside.

 

The baby finally flew the nest.  The mama heron would set close as the baby tried to get up the nerve to fly.  He always made a lot of noise at 3:30 AM, so we were happy that he is now on his own.(gone)!

 



I  Ifinally finished Brady Payne's quilt.  His favorite colors are "Pink, blue, green, red, black".  So I combined the colors he likes with things he likes and made a crazy quilt for his 7th birthday.

 



My beautiful twins had a birthday this last week and they celebrated together. (In Rigby, ID, Amy lives in Mesa, AZ now). 

These three geese remind me of the nosey geese in a children's story.  They hurried over to see what was happening, but they stayed together.  We liked watching the turtles at the side of the pond, also.

"The blessings of the gospel are so precious that we try to share them with everyone we can."