We are saddened by the passing of our dear friend, Pres. Keith Farnsworth. He called to say good bye a few weeks ago, but we hoped he had more time than this. He lived a wonderful life of service to others. He had a great sense of humor. He called Elder H every day for nine years. I usually answered the phone and he would start off with a joke or a story. He was always positive and happy. He was grateful for any small effort you made. I sincerely never heard a negative word come out of his mouth. I remember one time that we had a party at Pat & Priscilla's house for the stake presidency and the stake clerks, secretaries, etc. We always played games and usually played men against the women. Well, this particular night we were all really competitive and were really having fun. A few days later all the women in the group got a letter from the stake president calling us to repentance for our actions. Of course, it was not on official letterhead and we all knew he was just kidding. When Ray and Barbara left for their mission (Samoa), we all went out to eat. Keith arrived with parting gifts made especially for them by him. I don't remember what Ray's was, just that we laughed. Barbara's was a hula outfit...even with the top made out of coconut shells. Our heart goes out to the entire family. Virginia, we love you and are praying for you. You two are an awesome team. The children and grandchildren will miss this great man.
Good news! Kristin is getting close to signing on her townhouse. She will not be homeless!
It has cooled off!!! It takes a week of 100+ temperatures to make 85 seem cool. It is so wonderful!!! We are grateful.
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| Elders Harndon & Holt |
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| Elders Jones & Holt |
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| Elders Harndon, Jones, Holt, & Snow |
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| Elders Jones & Snow, our BC Elders |
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| Our BC District |
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| Hilde Hammer & Bonnie Lemons |
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| Bonnie Lemons, Bsp. Torrance & Elder Snow by the fan |
We could not stay too long. We all needed to get to the church for the wedding of Twila Lander and Danny Parks. They were going to get married in September, but decided to elope to the church, where the bishop married them. I am sorry to say that I did not think about charging the camera, and the batteries went dead at the Van Goetham's house.
We spent a part of the rest of the day working on reports for the area book.
We continue to water every other day at the Schaffer's. Everything looked pretty good until the 4th, but we have had a difficult time watering enough. I think the lettuce may be dead. It is in a planter. They will be home tomorrow night, so tomorrow will be the last day. The garden looks good and the flower planters are okay.
We stopped and had a wonderful visit with a sister, Sister Gamage-Harding, who we have been trying since January to get in to see. She is really busy. She teaches school among other things, specializing in 5th-6th grade math. She has had a bad experience and left the church. We hope to do some good here.
This draught is really serious. The economy is already in distress. Then, this spring, most of the fruit froze. They raise lots of cherries, peaches, and berries. Now the corn is dying in the fields. They have no way to water it. It is a dull color and is wilting. Many say that even with rain, it is too late to save it. In the cities the people are using more than twice the normal amount of water they usually do in the summer. Lawns are burned up in the large majority of neighborhoods. People cannot afford to sprinkle them. There is no rain in sight.
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| Elder Jones finishing off the bottle (Tabasco sauce) |
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| Tabasco sauce contest |
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| Yes, we do really have lessons! The boys are really learning. I did not mean to be inappropriate...photographing the lesson, but I loved the drawing Elder Jones made and I wanted a picture before he erased it. |
On Sunday we had ward council meeting first thing in the morning, and then took off to Yvonne Jones' house to bring her to church. She is a seventy one year old lady who the elders have been teaching. We go with them. She asked for older people when she met them, so they always invite us along. She says that she has never in her life liked going to church and has never felt good there. They had a difficult time getting her to go. I did not go with them on Saturday morning, but Elder H did. He said that they asked her to pray about attending church. She prayed and asked God if he wanted her to attend church with them. When the prayer was over, she started to say something, but the elders asked that they all just sit quietly and reflect. At the end of the time, Yvonne said that she knew that God wants her to attend this Sunday. Well, she stayed the entire three hour block and loved it. She is coming back next week and wants to be sure to be there on fast Sunday to hear the testimonies. She struggles with the idea that she has to be baptized again. She was baptized when she was eleven in another church. As luck (?) would have it, the Gospel Principals class lesson on Sunday was about baptism. She asked questions and got involved. The members helped answer the questions. It was wonderful.
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| Kiery and the ten layer cake. |
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| Lauren, Larry, & Shellie Laubenguyer (They all joined the church after the first of the year. The are wonderful people.) |
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| My Last BC Meal! |
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| A little ice cream for dessert |
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| Elder Snow pretending to comfort Elder Jones as he tries to stuff down his last meal with the BC "Golden Girls." |
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| Elder H, me, Hilde Hammer, Lauren , Larry, & Shellie Laubenguyer, Mickey Baldwin, Elder Jones, Elder Snow |
Elder Jones will be missed. He has quite a sense of humor and a lovely singing voice. He came here straight from the MTC and it has been fun to watch him grown into the fine missionary that he is.(We will be getting another elder straight from the MTC on Thursday.) The nice part about him going to Wyoming, at least for us, is that he will be in our half of the mission and we will see him at trainings. And, he will be back this Saturday for the baptism. He will also be able to come to Sandy's in August.
We had the traditional good-bye brunch at the Lux Cafe for Elder Jones. The sweet sisters in our ward who we all call the "golden girls," love the missionaries and treat them often. A couple of them could not be there this time, but the goodbyes took place anyway. The Lux is only open for breakfast and lunch and serves huge amounts of food. The ladies always order a very large ice cream for the elder before he arrives at the restaurant. Anyone can have one, but it is automatic for the departing elder. They eat so much and then this ice cream arrives. Of course, they are always polite and try to eat it. I have never seen any of them be able to eat much of it. It's fun.
More good news! Sandy Cooper has not had a cigarette since last Thursday. She is using patches to quit. We are excited. She has a baptism date set for August 15. We really hope and pray that it happens this time.
We had a sad experience today. I felt so badly that we barged in. We had a couple of really great and long lessons with some people who are coming back. We were thrilled with their growth. After we left, we went out searching for people. We found quite a bit of information today. We went to one home that had a lot of cars around it. I did not want to go in. Elder H said he was going to at least find out if they lived at the address we had for them. Well, a boy answered the door. He went off saying something about morticians at the door. I did not hear him, but Elder H thought he was joking because of white shirts, etc. They were the people we were searching for and soon the mother came up. She kindly explained that they attend the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Then, the husband, who is the member, came into the room. She looked up at him and gave him a look. He started in telling us that he had asked several years ago for his name to be removed. We apologized for bothering him and asked him if he had written a letter to the bishop and went through what needed to happen. He is an elder in their church and preaches for them. He said he likes the Mormons, but he can't be in two congregations at one time. He said that he respected what we are doing. He has been a missionary, too. He said calmly that his son died the day before. I was horrified. I told him that I was so sorry to intrude at a time like that. I told him that we had our son die at the age of eight. He said, "My son was eight." I felt so badly for them. I would love to have gone in and offered any comfort that we can, but their minister was in there already, helping them plan their son's funeral. They don't know us or have any reason to trust us in their grief stricken state. Well, we gave him the bishop's information and told him we would see that it got done for him this time. It turns out they really were waiting for the mortician. He drowned. I asked him to apologize to his wife for us and give her our condolences. I felt like a huge clod.
I know that families are forever. I am grateful to have that knowledge. I am grateful for the Savior who makes everything alright.
We love you all.
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