Are you all recovered from the fourth of July fun? We were sorry not to be with you on that day. It seems like it is as big of a family day as is Christmas. But like dad says, we will be home for the next one. Glad you are all safe and sound and enjoyed your families and extended families.
We celebrated the fourth at the beach with the branch. We were on babysitting duty so we didn't get to swim, but we did get to visit and enjoy being with the branch at the beach. The barbeque started at 10:00 am. Early! But it also ended early. We came back to the apartment with the girls and swam in the pool for the rest of the afternoon.
We have had a busy couple of weeks. The Slezaks (our just released branch president and family) have had some hard health scares. Sister Slezak was 9 months pregnant when Bro. Slezak had a few kidney stone attacks. He had some scary times. Elder DeMille helped by giving him a great blessing which allowed him to make it to the hospital for surgery. We watched their three girls while they went through that process. Then just a few days later, we watched their girls for a few days and nights again while Sister Slezak ended up with an emergency C-section. We were glad that we were here to help out. There is another sister who would have helped, but she is off island for a couple of months. We felt like we had our little grandchildren gathered around as we celebrated the fourth of July with them.
We have had a hard time with discouragement for lack of finding, teaching and baptizing. The other morning in my scripture study I re-read Mosiah where King Benjamin reminds us that "when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of your God." For a moment it seemed to stand out like neon letters in my scriptures. It made me feel that our service was acceptable to God and that He was not disappointed in us. Now, with a new week ahead of us, I hope we will have opportunities to find and teach and serve. Some days we leave the apartment with nothing to do, but as we go out, things come up and we end up having a full day. It takes faith to get out and go when we don't have anything planned.
Today is our P-day and we are planning on going to the beach and look for sea glass this afternoon. We haven't done that since Kaitlin and Tyler left. The water is so clear and warm here. We hope we get the wash and our chores done in time to enjoy it.
Yesterday in church they sustained about 15 new members! Several of them were inactive members whose records were located, but the others are three new families who have moved here from the states. All three have children so the size of the primary has tripled this month! Such good news. The bad news is that the Slezak family is moving back to Alabama at the end of this month. The native Cruzan members know that this is how it goes, people come and people go. It must be hard for them seeing it happen year after year. But i don't think the branch could survive without the help of incoming members from the states.
Well, we are pretty boring so there isn't much to tell you this time. We have a new mission president but we haven't met him and don't know when we will. I'm sure the island missionaries are way down his list right now and that he is pretty overwhelmed with just the missionaries on Puerto Rico. Being a mission president is a busy job. I appreciate all their hard work.
Thanks to all of you for the things you do to help us stay on our mission. We appreciate your watchful care of our house in Richfield and Rockville, the banking, bill paying, and tax preparation done in our behalf. We appreciate the encouragement in your phone calls and emails. We love you all. We love our sweet grandchildren. We pray for you all each and every day. Please keep us in your prayers that we might find someone to teach and baptize and have the energy to keep moving forward!
Heavenly Father is real. His son Jesus Christ is real and leads this church. The Holy Ghost can help strengthen us as we "receive" him into our hearts and souls. Of that we have become certain. Love you all and have a great week!
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