Can you believe ANOTHER "sweet and sour" week?

So...this was a first for me, yesterday, not once but twice, I went to call Elder Steagall and then Sister Bullock about referrals I think it was and realized when I couldn't find them on the phone list that they had gone home 2 days earlier!!! I know it's just another group shot, but to me it's real people who will be missed A LOT! Hermana Taets, we still miss you!


Hermana Rodriguez and Hermana Smart were both transfered to areas that are quite far from the office so we really won't see them as often. I know they were both a little sad and so was I. But I assured them both that we would see them in just a few weeks at Zone Conference which is coming up June 7,8, & 9th. Hermana Rodriguez is going english speaking, she is a native spanish speaker from Guatamala (her parents now live in California and that's where she will go back home to) and she was very concerned that she would forget the spanish language. She hears the english Sisters say that all of the time, but I assured her she would not forget her native language. It will really help her English and benefit her for the rest of her life no matter where she lives. It's really quite the production on transfer day getting everyone to where they need to go. Thank Heaven that Elder Walker loves driving the "bus" to wherever it needs to go.

Yesterday Scott and I were driving along when all of a sudden he says, "hey, look! Free haircuts!"

Only in Texas will you see signs like this. I love how people are not afraid to talk about and show how much they love Jesus. And yet, the crime is unbelievable in the area we live in. This morning we got a call at 6:40 AM that someone had thrown a big stone paver through the Mission Office's front window. Luckily we have a great alarm system that probably scared the person off and the alarm company called the AP's who called Elder Stringfellow. Our downstairs neighbors lost all of their electronics on Wednesday as well, someone broke a window and stole it all in the middle of the day! Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone just kept the 10 Commandments? There would no more be any Nightly News here in Houston!

Senior Missionaries Night at the Astros

One of Scott's "hobbies" is going to major league baseball stadiums. He like the games too! Me, the games are okay but I like the food and the people and the jumbo-tron.... So we had to get to Minute Maid Park and see the Astros while we were here. Scott thinks this was his 17th or 18th baseball stadium. On June 30th the National Anthem is going to be sung by a multi-Stake Primary from the Church, but we didn't want to wait that long, plus Elder Walker is a big baseball fan and they are leaving around June 22nd! That is coming up fast, I will be so sad to see them go! It's amazing how close you feel to those you serve with. We miss the Elders and Sisters every transfer, they always leave a big hole, but it's amazing how the new missionaries come and quickly become a part of the Mission!

MINUTE MAID PARK! We got there an hour and a half early! The roof was closed but just before the game started it opened up! That was cool to see. Unfortunately, the Astro's lost after a 4-0 lead! "They really need to fire somebody!" that's what they always say on Sports radio here in Houston Texas. (I don't listen to that but Elder Stringfellow does every morning as he's shaving.)

Minute Maid Park is right in the middle of the city.

Sister Young, Sister Nance and Sister Christensen

Sister and Elder Walker and Brother and Sister Sulski.

Sister and Elder Buckway. They just got here a month ago. They are Member and Leadership support for the Hearne and Caldwell branches west of College Station.

me and Scott, we've made a pact that we can't go home until we've each lost 10 pounds! Well, I didn't promise anything because I'm going home NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WEIGH...BUT I really HOPE that I'm down 10 pounds. That would be so nice...but aren't we glad that we realize there are a lot more important things to care about.

Every Friday night they do fireworks at the ballgame, they were SPECTACULAR! I just love fireworks, plus we lucked out that night, it was not too hot, it was the perfect temperature for a ballgame.

Abby's Cafe and Bakery

We've been driving by Abby's cafe and Bakery for months now and have never stopped. I've wanted to get a picture of it send to my grandaughter Abby, they were closed and I was so disappointed, they must make everything fresh in the mornings and then close when they've sold it all because it closes everyday between 1 and 2 and we got there 30 minutes late. We'll have to go try again. So here you go Abigail! We sure do miss all of you!

It's Really All About the People!

For Mothers day Elder Stringfellow and Elder Walker wanted to either make us breakfast Saturday or Sunday or take us to dinner, after much himming and hawing, and checking everyones schedules, we ended up at Ryan's buffet in Conroe Satureday evening, thank you so much for your generosity Elder Walker! It is really good food, it's not your Chuck a Rama variety so get ready David and Lisa and Mom and all who are coming cuz we're going to have to go there! I'm so excited to see ya'll in just a few weeks. Don't worry, we've been warming up the place for you! It's been in the 90's for a few days now and I don't think any cooler weather is on the way! (I don't know if that's good or bad!) After dinner at Ryan's we drove over to lake Conroe to walk off some of that good food we ate!

I titled this picture the 3 amigas! such sweet sisters who always check on me to see how I'm feeling and they know what I love!!! York peppermint patties pieces, YUMMMMMY!!! THANKS A BILLION!

Hermana Rodriguez has been wanting to teach me how to make tortillas the Guatamalan way for some time now. I'm giving it a try here, I didn't know they made corn flour that looks just like wheat flour, anyway, I guess they do. The tortillas were "delicioso", "son muy ricos". she also made rice the Guatamalan way which has green beans and carrots in it. I think I'm learning how to cook late in life! Last Tuesday I made pulled pork in barbecue sauce for the Zone Leader Council meeting and then made Cafe Rio chicken for our dinner with the Hermanas. And it actually tasted really good! Here's Sister Donkin learning how to make them too. Fresh tortillas make anything taste good.

This is Sister Fonua, Sister Maxwell, Sister Pincock, Sister Adaoag, and Elders Pliego (Diego Pleigo - cool name, huh?) and Elder Bernfeld (who really wants a name tag that says Burnsfields as a joke!) all up in College Station, which is far away so we don't get to see them too often and I just love every one of them! It's amazing to me how on a mission you feel such love and kinship with those you serve with and those you serve.

Family Home Evening with the Hansens

The last several months the Senior Missionaries have Family Home Evening on the 1st Monday of the month at the mission home with President and Sister Hansen. (we meet together every other Monday night with just each other) Tonight was a very special evening because President and Sister Hansen talked about how their call came about. They had been approached by their Stake President about serving a mission in Puerto Rico to help out a couple in their Stake who was serving there, I think as the President of the mission. Pres. Hansen decided to retire from his job and they put their papers in. Sometime before the official call came in the mail they got a very surprising phone call from President Uchtdorf's office saying that he wanted to meet with them in Arizona. They were stunned to say the least. They told us in depth about that visit. What a wonderful thing to sit at the feet of an Apostle of the Lord and feel of his deep love for God's children. At the end of their visit he told them "thank you very much for your time and all you do in the church." That was about it! A few weeks later when their mission call came, they hadn't opened it yet when they got a call from the missionary department saying, "Don't open your call, please send it back to us." then they didn't hear anything else for 3 weeks or so. (I'm not sure of the timing of the whole thing.) Then they get another call saying, "Can you visit with President Monson via teleconference?" Another "stunning" moment. They visited with him for an hour and a half. It was an amazing experience for them. It was amazing for us just hearing about it from them! This was just weeks before President Hinckley died, the middle of January 2008. That was when President Monson called them to preside over an English/Spanish mission here in the States, they found out later it would be in Houston Texas.

What a powerful testimony both President Hansen and Sister Hansen have of the church, of how much the brethren loves each one of us so much, of the gospel of Christ and just how much our Savior, Jesus Christ, and God our Heavenly Father loves each one of us. This missionary work is because of that love. I am so grateful that I get to be a part of this great effort. I feel like I contribute so little but I know that that's okay. By small and simple things are God's purposes brought to pass. I love this gospel, I have a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and I know, through personal experience, that if you read EVERY day from that book, even if it's for just 5 minutes, you will have a stronger faith in Jesus Christ. I am thankful that I can re-capture my testimony every single day through prayer and scripture study and studying the words of the latter-day prophets. AREN'T WE SO BLESSED TO HAVE WHAT WE HAVE????

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This is our latest "office staff" picture. Left is our new Service Missionary Sister Sulski, from the Olde Oaks Ward right here next to the mission office. She is called for an 18 month mission but lives at home and her husband works his job. She is wonderful, very happy and positive and outgoing, loves the missionaries and will be a wonderful addition to the office. Her son is on a mission in UTAH and left in December so it's fun for her to be able to see what it's like behind the scenes. Sister and Elder Walker, Elder Galbraith and Elder Scoresby, the AP's are also in the picture.

Here's a fun picture of 2 very ingenius missionaries who had a major flat tire far from their apartment so they decided to rig up this "tandem bike" to get home! One of them carried the tire all the way home while the other one steered!



While there's a major drought going on here in Houston area (driest Winter since 1917 and only a trace of rain for the whole month of April, several days in the 90's - they said that was 15 degrees above normal) it's been the wettest April in Utah. April was 250% above normal and they've started sand-bagging, I hear. already preparing for floods! Pete sent me this picture of my tree in the front yard with snow falling on Friday, April 29th. A few days before that were the worst tornados ever recorded in Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina. I tell you this crazy weather has to be a sign of the times!

HAPPY EASTER Because He LIVES!

This is Sister Carrie from the Old Oaks Ward who was recently baptized. She got baptized Saturday April 2nd and has gone to do baptisms in the temple the last 2 Saturdays. She has such a love for the Savior and I am blessed to know her.

Meridian Magazine - Because He Lives

"Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there." (C.W. Hall) That's the opening line in this short article by Vickey Pahnke Taylor that she wrote for Meridian Magazine. I hope you will all read it and feel uplifted by it like I did. Jesus Christ is Truth and He is Light! I am so blessed to have a faith and a testimony of this Truth, He is not here, for He is risen! And because of that single event in the history of mankind, we too, will rise from the grave and be resurrected! Halleluia!

My Faith Tree

Here are the buds of my faith tree that Scott and I planted last summer. In the heat of summer. Not the best time to plant a tree. The week we were to be at the MTC starting our mission to Paraguay, we were instead at home dealing with my newly diagnosed multiple-sclerosis and had just finished 4 days of intranvenious doses of strong steriods and deeply disappointed that we couldn't go to Paraguay. We were still unsure of what to do. I asked Scott if we could plant a tree in our back yard to remind us of our faith in the Lord and to remind me to TRUST IN HIM. I figured that He knew I had MS when we were called to go on a mission and that we could still go. A few weeks later we got a new call to Houston and were on our way.

Utah has had a hard winter this year. I've asked Pete a few times how my tree was doing. He sent me this picture of the buds that have made it through the spring snow storms. Sometimes you think you've made it through challenges only to realize that those tough times have strengthened you to make it through the next set of challenges. To prepare for greater blessings that the Lord stands waiting to give all of His children. I have felt the Lord's tender mercies in my life abundantly, especially this past year. Looking back over the last several years I've realized that I have been dealing with MS symptoms for quite some time. Perhaps we would never have gone on a mission if we'd known I had this disease. It's always been a great desire Scott and I have had to serve together. And it has been wonderful these past 8 1/2 months to have this experience together. Maybe not how we envisioned it, but wonderful still the same. And just like my budding tree in the midst of adversity, we look forward to the summer, to the future. I have a deep and abiding faith in my Heavenly Father and in my Savior Jesus Christ. The plan of Salvation is to bring us all back home to Them. Their gospel is one of peace and love. What a privlege it is to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to be in God's army of missionaries at this time.

Happy Easter this week.

We got to skype our kids last night, they were all together at my house having a barbecue. I am so grateful for their support and love for each other. Oh how I want to be with them ALL throughout the eternities. I know that because of Christ's Atonement we can be. That is my Hope, my hope in Christ. (Moroni 7:41)