A Great Mix of Missionary Work and Family Fun

What a fast week!  Tuesday we took a couple of older sisters to the temple for their first time in years, and learned that 2 wheelchairs are too many for me to handle in the dressing room.  When we got back we met the kids at our apartment.  It was fun to show them a few things in Cleveland like the red neck Ranch Hand Café. Wednesday we set an all time high for visits in one day!  14! Thursday we spent the whole day cooking, eating and playing with our kids and grandkids!  11 grandkids in Texas for Thanksgiving!  We had a little birthday party for Dean, Sydney and Tessa, and played Fruit Basket and Find the Book of Mormon.  We've been sharing the Gratitude quotes my sister Kathy sent us at many homes along with the "Living in Thanksgiving Daily" video.  Friday morning was a fun first, after District Meeting the whole District did a service project chopping up the wood from 2 trees that fell at the Bradley's home.  It was really fun!  I think we should make it a habit after every District Meeting.  Great team work!

  Saturday Zack and Megan were baptized!  Their mom is waiting for her divorce to go through, so she can get married and baptized.  Megan told us at a FHE last week that she wasn't ready to join the church and wasn't getting baptized with her brother.  We told her that she shouldn't be baptized unless she knew it was the right thing to do, and that we were proud of her for not doing something that she hadn't known was what God wanted her to do.  So Zack got interviewed on Wednesday and ready to go.  Friday Megan got her answer and decided she wanted to be baptized, too!  It took a little quick footwork, but she got interviewed and baptized with her brother!  They were confirmed today.

  There are 2 sweet investigators who are both so golden and today at church I got to introduce them to each other.  Sweet Sonya, said to Glenda; "We'll have to stick together!" I love it when investigators fellowship each other. 

We had a second visit with Br. Hodges' mom.  Each time he says that if I bring cookies we can come visit.  She is a recent widow and hasn't really gone anywhere since her husband died.  She kind of committed to come to the Ward Christmas Party with us!  So, we're not quite sure if it's Br. Hodges or his mom that require the cookies, but I keep making them.  Elder Quincy is getting a back log of service projects awaiting him.  We are heading to Utah Saturday to help with Joni's new baby.  We may have to do service every day this week to catch up.  I know we have 3 projects planned for our P-Day tomorrow!  Tonight we took the Elders to play chess with a member's non member husband.  He said that he'd come to church if they beat him.  They didn't beat him yet, but we're planning a rematch, and the bonus is each time we come he gets a gospel message!  The weather had been gorgeous here.  Its between 40 and 60 when we walk in the mornings and heats up to between 68 and 85 during the day.  We looked up the weather in Utah and are pretty sure we are going to FREEZE!  We are getting in on the best of 2 worlds here;

Grandparenting and Missionarying! 

The Ranch Hand Cafe

This cool  moss covered limb we see on our walk fascinates me.

Have you seen "The Last Leaf"?  We think that this branch is waiting to fall until we leave.

Zack and Megan with their mom and Brother Soper.

Elder Kent's first baptism.

We thought this trailer on stilts on the way to Glenda Cleveland's house was unique.  Notice there are some fall colors around here!

Party time!

My gourmet chefs

Nothing more fun the 3 rug rats playing together!

My dad would love this log splitting machine.

Sister Fisher and Sister Smith.

Sister and Brother Bradley.

Elder Kent helping Elder Quincy.

Elder Riches, Elder Burdsol and Elder Taylor loading wood into the truck.

We stopped to get a shot of this sunset on our way home from the Conroe Hospital. 

Zack was so excited for his baptism, it was like Christmas morning!

Family time, a suprising death, a funeral, and great success getting people to church!

One week ago we had a wonderful lesson with our 4 generation group.  Sonya along with her sister, niece, and parents had been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, and she said she knew it was true!  I told her it was time she came to church and Sunday she came with her daughter and granddaughter!!  The first day we were in Cleveland about 3 months ago we headed to Anna Lane, which seemed far out in the country, to visit less active members.  We found Brandon, a 19 year old guy at home.  He told us that his Grandma and Aunt lived just down the road, so we visited them.  We have been working at getting this family to church ever since.  We started taking the Sacrament to the Grandma a couple of weeks ago, we helped them bottle apples last week, and Sunday they came to church!!  The Grandma, the Aunt, and her son with his whole family!!  We are taking the Grandma to the temple tomorrow!!  Elder Quincy got to teach the Gospel Doctrine Class and he did a great job! 
Wednesday Nicole invited us to come to Logan's preschool Thanksgiving Program.  Since we were in the area, at the right time, we went to Sydney's school and had lunch with her!  As we were driving home I got a call from the Rudolphs.  Sister Rudolph had just come home from her job for lunch to find her husband had died.  We hurried over and I sat in the same chair, at the same table where I spent a couple of hours coloring and sharpening pencils and chatting with Br. Rudolph 5 days earlier.  So Saturday, we had another funeral and fed another family after the funeral. 
Jessica drove down from Denver and arrived Saturday night.  After church and a couple of visits yesterday we headed to Jenny's and stayed over night.  We spent our Pday going to the NASA aerospace museum with kids and grandkids today!  Such fun! 

A first for the week, was taking a former investigator to visit a member (also on Anna Lane).  Ashely is a 20 year old single mom with a baby with Spina Bifida.  Sister Mason is the mother of 4 adopted special needs children, 2 of which have Spina Bifida.  It was so awesome to see the immediate love and connection between the 2 of them.  We see His hand in our work here often and in unexpected ways.  He really loves all of us; wherever we are on our journey toward him, and loves to use us to bless each other.  Another kind of funny first.  We went tracting with the Sisters on Thursday night and met a former boxer, who'd boxed all over the world.  He was El Tigre and boxed Sugar Ray Leonard once.  He was pretty drunk. 
Lots of pictures this week!

The Bright family at the funeral.

Picture of Br. Rudolph

The Chapmans arrived!  Brave Jessica drove here with her 4 kids and no husband!

Dean sleeping through dinner.

Avery

Alice

Sophie

Mary

I thought it was funny that the guys all sat together and the girls all sat together.

At the NASA museum entrance.

Shuttle ride for the tour.

Alice loving the shuttle ride.

Mary loving her mommy.

the boys loving the tour.

A Mars landscape.

Some great members at the luncheon.

Sister Rudolph standing in the back.

touching a rock from the moon.

At the Thanksgiving program.

Logan's placemat.

Lunch with this cutie!

This was on the wall at El Tigre's house; God made, Jesus Save, Texas Raised.

A sign in front of a church.

Our district's amazing stats for the week.

On the way to meet the Elders and stopping to give the neighbors a jump.

We got a great storm on Thursday.

Cleaning up after the luncheon.

Such cute cousins enjoying each other!

NASA museum.

The Saturn V rocket is huge!!

Logan in his pilgrim hat.

Look closely, we had ice on our window Sunday morning!