61 trips around the Sun

This week has been a long time coming!  Not just my 61st birthday, but Tammy's baptism!  We had our first lesson with her on Sept. 5th.  And then 7 months later she did it!  I love this good lady so much!  This is Tammy with her daughter Cheyenne (still to be converted) and granddaughter Kylie (wants to be baptized NOW!)

My birthday was awesome because we got to work on the bathroom remodel.  Well Elder Quincy does the work and he lets me take the construction garbage out.  Then we picked up the Lees and took them to the temple for the first time in 4 years!  They live in the boonies and have had trouble making it to church, but at the start of the year they committed to come and to be able to go back to the temple!  Annie called me a week ago and said; "We just left the Stake President's office!  We have recommends!  When can you take us to the temple"?  It was a 200 mile round trip to get them, take them to the temple, take them home and go back to our house.  I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday!

I have to share my texting with Tammy on Tuesday;  She said she was meeting with the Elders that night to go over the baptism interview questions and was scared.  I told her that she was soo ready to be baptized!  She said "thanks I needed to hear that".  I told her that I remembered when she said she was scared to read the Book of Mormon because she knew it would change her whole life.  And that it had changed her life, but all for the better.  She said yes it has changed everything and all for the better.  It really made me happy to have her say that!  She of course had no problem with the interview questions.  I felt privileged to be asked to speak at her baptism.  It was really a highlight of my life to meet and teach and love this great family! Here's 3 of the 12 missionaries who've taught Tammy the gospel.

Tammy's sister Sonya has been crying ever since the baptism, she is soo happy!

Family kept arriving, but here's the first picture of them. 

Tammy with Kylie and Ashley's 2 kids.

Luke and Ashley with Tammy.

Last to arrive, Sonya's husband, Lloyd.  He's the only hold out that hasn't been to one of our Monday night meetings at the Allen's. 

Elder Quincy has been working all week on that bathroom remodel, so Saturday I went with the Sisters and helped a member take down some wallpaper. 

The bathroom is now gutted and the new stuff in going in.

Ashley's daughter, Laney turns 3 this week.  She had a huge birthday party at which we met more of this family!  So much more work to do with them! 

 Stake Conference was last night and this morning.  It was great and such a joy to see so many members of our ward there.  This morning they held a special session for new members since the last conference at 9:00.  We were followed there by Tammy, Sonya and Jaycie.  Ashley and Luke met us there with the kids.  Ashley got her Patriarchal Blessing!  So sweet Glenda picked up Sandy and brought her.  Br. Soper and Christine brought her kids, Megan and Zak, The Martinez family from the Cleveland branch were there, too.  Cleveland totally dominated the meeting.  There were only 5 other converts there from the whole stake!  Anyway, the Stake President had them all stand and introduce themselves, tell what ward they are from and tell what their  "aha moment" was when they got  a testimony.  It was really cool to hear and be there.  And then they had reserved the first 2 rows in the chapel for us!  Great seating is a good perk.  Its been a good week!  Firsts would be our longest trip to the temple.  Our first new member conference session, and me talking at a baptism here. 

Temple work and play

Another awesome trip to the temple!  We worked really hard all week to get ready for this one.  First we had to remind the Bishop to ordain Luke a priest on Sunday, then we had to make sure he got his temple recommend after that. Oh and we had to get one of the office staff to go in to the office an extra day to get his membership record entered, so that he had a member number!

Monday we had a great FHE with the Allen family and Luke.  It was awesome because Luke had to testify right along with the missionaries about every point.  At one point Tammy, who is getting baptized Friday the 7th at 7:00 pm asked Luke if he's afraid that the old Luke will come back and the New Luke will disappear just as suddenly as the new one came.  He said no, because I'm expecting trials.  I'm going to keep close to the Spirit so that I'm ready and can overcome them!  Just what Tammy needed to hear! 

Wednesday we met with Luke and Sonya to get their names for the temple trip.  We got Luke's LDS account set up and found his grandpa and discovered he needs his mom's permission to be baptized for him.  We did get names for Sonya and Ashley to take on Friday though. 

Our Book of Mormon class was the best yet!  There is just such a great spirit there and everyone is so involved and loving and caring for each other! 

Thursday morning Luke came early for a blessing.  He'd had a tough night. 

Thursday was one of those magic days were we find everyone home.  We visited 14 people that day!  And were able to be there at the right moment to help 3 of them with some service!

Friday Luke came after work and with his mom's permission we printed off his grandpa's card.  We showed him how to iron his shirt by putting it in the dryer with a damp cloth and Elder Quincy printed off instructions on tying a tie.  He went home to shower and we picked up hamburgers for all of us to eat on the way.  Picked up Luke, then went to Kingwood to get Elder Taylor and his comp and drove to the temple.  Ashley and Sonya brought the Sisters.  And we got picture and had a wonderful experience!  Elder Quincy baptized and confirmed them all.  I handed out towels.  It amazed the temple president that Luke had only be a member for 13 days. 

The sun is suddenly at the angle that we actually have shadows on our walks.

The trees are all leafed out and beautiful here.

We took dinner to the Masons on Monday.  We went to the viewing for their sweet Sophia on Tuesday night.  It was sweet to see her dressed in a tiara and a Sophia the First dress.  Sad day for the family, but Sophia is in a much better place. 

Saturday we watched conference and had our second biannual Chili cook off before Priesthood meeting.  We had about 50 people there!  While the men watched priesthood session, I helped Angela Graham get an LDS account and found 3 generations of her family on Family Search.  We fixed breakfast for the members and missionaries between sessions Sunday and we had lots more to feed than 6 months ago. Then we had the Bradleys over for dinner after conference.  Way too much cooking this week-end! 
Firsts; Shannon Watson had her patriarchal blessing and she said it answered every question she had about her life!  So cool!  She and Ashley Evans and the Grahams are going to take the Temple Prep classes!  The other first was that little Laney gave the prayer for us at the Preschool lesson this week.  I can't tell you how big a change that is for her!  We got 2 new great missionaries!  Elder Brinkerhoff from Mesa, Arizona, and Sister Gray from Boise, Idaho. 

Temple time!

Tammy chose April 7th at 7:00 pm for her baptism!  She said that she is tired of questions and she just knows that she feels wonderful every time she walks in the church. So she's going with her heart and doing what feels right.  Thursday morning we got to go to the temple!!  We took Br. Sneed for his second time in the last 20 years and it was great!  We don't get assigned to go to the temple very often.  Elder Quincy and I get to go much more frequently than the young missionaries, because we take the member that are being activated or returning to activity. 

Here's the better picture of the Texas Blue Bonnets.

We took the Sisters to teach these 2 sisters on Tuesday.  They are hilarious!  The older one, one the right has Alzheimers and is about as sweet as can be.  We looked at a cross stitch on her wall and asked if she had done it and she said: "I don't know.  Maybe I did".  They are both widows in their 80's and they LOVE Jesus!  The Sisters can't talk loud enough for them to hear, so I repeated everything they said in a simplified form.  One of their husbands made all the woodwork on the walls.

A member lives in this locked up place.  We left him a birthday card.  The puppies were adorable!

A member lives in this house.  The sign is great, be sure to read it!

Here's most of the Zone after our temple session.

Brother Sneed.

Our district.

Saturday morning Br. Duke Hodges went through the temple for the first time!  The Elder next to him came from the legendary Fred, Texas to be there.  I got the sad news as we left the temple that sweet little Sophia Faith Mason had died the night before.  I had to text the Bishop and Relief Society President with the news because they were sitting in Sarah Bible's funeral.  We are sad for the Mason family, but so happy for Sophia!! 

Elder Quincy started a bathroom remodel for the Rudolphs.

Sunday was our Fast Sunday because we have Stake Conference on the 9th.  Luke got up and bore his testimony and it was really powerful.  He said that the first time the missionaries were teaching him, he didn't pray and read the Book of Mormon and didn't feel much, but once God told him he should be baptized, he read and prayed and the Spirit was so strong.  He said he felt himself getting closer to God and it has been awesome!  He was ordained by Elder Quincy to be a priest after church and got his temple recommend so he can go do baptisms with us this week!  Woohoo!  Another temple trip.  We also had a recently activated couple call us today and ask when we can go to the temple with them. They got their recommends signed today!!  We're feeling so blessed!

Sister Smith and Elder Taylor are leaving us tomorrow!  We took the Sisters to say goodbye to the Grahams.

Our last District Meeting with this district. 

Best day ever!

This week has been amazing!  We had our usual great meeting with the Allen bunch, but with Luke there and so excited to be baptized it was better than ever.  We had an amazing day Tuesday; everyone we tried to visit was home!!  It was like we couldn't go wrong!  That has never happened before!  We visited about 12 people!  We had dinner with the family who's daughter was just baptized on Wednesday and talked to the dad about the priesthood for his 13 year old son. They would do anything for us.  I am surprised at how much I love these people!  Saturday we had a little miracle.  I never take my cell phone when we walk in the morning, but I did.  As we almost got home Sister Bradley called us from the church.  She was trying to get in to clean and no one else had showed up, so we were able to help her clean the building,  Heavenly Father knows and cares about us.  Saturday couldn't have been any better!  Luke's was the best baptism yet.  Partly because he's so excited, but also because so many people came to support him.  Tammy had told the Elders before the baptism that she's not ready to be baptized next week.  She had some unresolved concerns about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  I prayed all through the baptism that her heart would be touched and all through sacrament meeting yesterday.  After church yesterday Tammy said she definitely wants to be baptized, not Saturday, but within the next 2 weeks!  I hope to hear the story at the meeting tonight.  Another miracle!  After church, Ashley got her limited us temple recommend and a recommend to get her Patriarchal Blessing and Luke was interviewed to be ordained a Priest next Sunday.  I get teary just thinking about it!  We are going to the temple with our district on Thursday.  Saturday we are going with Br. Hodges for his first time and on the 28th we're going with Ashley, Luke, Sonya and Jaycie to do baptisms!  We are excited!  Firsts this week were going all the way East to Beaumont, having Jenny's family involved in a baptism, and Dan talking to an investigator for us about how to get a divorce.  Elder Quincy fixed a couple of small things this week and he met with a member to plan a ramp they will build.  We had a FHE with a family with 2  young kids that are HORRIBLE in Sacrament meeting this week.  We challenged them to be quiet and think about Jesus during the sacrament and they were actually quiet during the sacrament!!  Progress!  We are having some great adventures!! Life is good here in Texas!  Give Jonathan a hug for his birthday for me tomorrow! 

  How many missionaries does it take to baptize one young man?  7! 

We helped the Roberts paint their house on Tuesday evening for a minute.

The sisters gave me these pretty flowers.

wild flower on the side of the road.

I don't know what these are, but suddenly the little webs were everywhere on Saturday morning.  Silk worms?

We drove to Beaumont to pick up Elder Kent for the baptism.  He's serving in Lake Charles, Louisiana and a member brought him there and met us.  I got a kick out of this town we passed; Sour Lake.  We could smell the stink as we approached.  Sulfur, I think.

They have a big, beautiful church in Beaumont!

It was worth the drive, because Luke was so happy to see Elder Kent!

None of Luke's family came, but his girlfriend, Ashley's whole family came!  They are awesome like that!  My family; the Kendalls, came too!  I wasn't smart enough to get a picture of them though. 

We had a ward party; Game night after the baptism.  Not a lot of people made it, but for those who did it was very successful and fun!

Crummy pictures, but those are Texas Blue Bonnetts in the foreground.

We turned around and tried to get a picture of the armadillo on the side of the road.  This is the best I could do.