Coming up on one year
It is amazing what you find when you look. Florida is so full of life. This nest was on the porch of a member's house we went to visit. For a change, an actual house and not a mobile home.
A Definite Highlight of Our Mission
We were able to go to the Orlando Temple with a couple we have been teaching for most of the time we have been here. She had been a member for a long time, had serve a mission and been to the temple. He had joined the church after they were married. It was enjoyable teaching them because he had a great desire to learn and knew the church was true, he just had some minor things which were causing him to hold back on going to the temple.Sister Lay and I were able to be proxies for his parents in the endowment session and then I was for his grandfather in the second session. We were then able to see the couple sealed for time and all eternity. We then sealed his parents and his grandparents on his mother's side. They then sealed him to his parents and his mother to her parents. There are very few times where I have felt the Spirit stronger than I did during these events.
Scenes from our travels
We took the sisters to a small resturant they have been wanting to go to down in the Quarters. This was a small shoe store across the street from the resturant with the shoe tree next to it.
Parking is always interesting at Zone meetings. The elders and sisters always try to park so that they do not have to back up since when they back up they need to have one of them stand outside and be a spotter. Then the other missioniaries park to try and make the others need to back up. Obviously, Sister Lay joins in the fun.
This is a wild flowering bush that grows in our yard, but you find them all over Jackson County. The other night the sisters called and told us to come out to a remote area of the county because they were trying to catch fire flies. This type of bush seemed to be the major attraction. You would try and catch the fire flies by standing patiently and waiting for one to fly by. You would have to run and try and guess where to grab between the blinking. Sister Dyer was particularly good at catching them. We all had a great time.
The rose bush in our yard looks much nicer this year after some serious pruning last fall.
A bottle brush bush at one of the members homes.
I wonder how it got it's name?
Sister Lay always provides our new missionaries photo ops when then cross the various state lines into a state they where have not been.
A photo op for my favorite sister
Tornado Alley
We are continually watching the weather patterns coming from Texas across the Panhandle. Of particular interest is the Torcon Rating which shows the likelihood of a tornado developing in a particular area. On Sunday morning we were not paying particular attention because we were heading north into Alabama for stake conference. We left early so that we could have a good seat. When conference had started, the warning sirens sounded, but all of the locals remained undisturbed in their seats listening to the speakers. On our way home we saw where the tornado had touched down. About 10 miles south of the meeting and in the north part of our Ward.
Later in the week, one of the counselors in the mission presidency called the sisters and asked if they would be willing to go help clean up his friends yard. Being smart, they recruited the Dothan Zones Leaders and Sister Trainer leaders to help. They called and asked if we would drive them,
We were glad to have a hard working farm boy from Utah
Andh is diligent hard working companion
The Sisters also worked extremely hard
The sisters figured out how to get it done, even though the president who was using the chain saw didn't believe in cutting the branchs into small manageable pieces.
They were tempted but common sense prevailed.
Of course there were gators in the pond by the house
The appreciative owner with the crew
We are coming up on being out one year. We are so glad that we did not just sign up for one year. There is so much left to do. We have other couples we are still teaching which we hope will go through the temple before we go home.
We know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, that is verified to us daily when we see the hand of the Lord taking care of the missionaries and having opportunities like the one of going to the temple where we you get to experience the Spirit so strongly. We are glad to be here serving and participating in whatever small way we can to build the Kingdon of God here on the earth.
Elder Lay
