What a Difference a Week Makes!

We have had a blast this week.  Some people say that being on a mission is hard work.  Well, sometimes it is, but most of the time it's a blast.  Especially when you get to keep the same companion for your whole mission.  Yeah!!!

This week we have been about doing the Lord's work in a variety of ways.  We have baked and delivered dozens of cookies.  It seems that the doors open if we come bearing cookies.  Frosted sugar cookies or chocolate chip.  The chocolate chip take less time to make, but the girls seem to like the different shapes of cookies with frosting on them.  Don says it's a girl thing.  This week we are doing hearts, in preparation for Valentine's Day.  This is a gentle reminder to everyone to do something special for those you love.

We have been working with the Bustillo family.  Their son died a couple of weeks before we arrived here.  They miss him terribly, he was a great inspiration to them.  A thought hit me, that there are many people out there who have lost their sweetheart this year. Valentine's Day will be hard for them and if we could each reach out to at least one person. I know it would make a world of difference to them.

This week we used part of our preparation day to go to the zoo.  We had a blast and enjoyed being together.  Don took over three hundred pictures.  See the Audubon Zoo post.  Who knows, we may even decide to name the apes.

We met a young man that the missionaries were teaching last Sunday. His name is Sixto. Yes, that's his real name. We got a great picture of him.  

Then when we got to the baptism last night - oh my, what a difference. We didn't recognize him and now you know why.  The missionaries gave him a hair cut.  He told them it took him two years to grow out his dreadlocks - now they are gone.  He has a very sweet spirit and came to Church today with a white shirt and tie on.  Amazing things are happening here.

I helped the Young Women on Tuesday evening learn a song for their New Beginnings Program. Evidently they haven't been exposed to any of the Church music.  We sang thru the song "Walk Tall, You're a Daughter of God" and they loved it.  It's sort of sad, to think that they don't have the same resources here as they did in California, Arizona or Utah.  They have to order everything online.  Luckily the Church website has down loadable music, but they haven't taken advantage of that until now.  They are so excited and it's wonderful to be able to share my testimony of Christ thru music.

The boundaries of the New Orleans Stake have doubled in size, because most of the members never came back after Katrina.  Some of the Spanish speaking members have to travel 60 miles from their homes to attend Church.  That's just one way.  There are English meetings, but no spanish translation or even spanish missionaries to translate for them.  This is where we lose most of them.  It's to much time and too expensive for them to keep coming.  

OK, so we are in the sticks or I should say swamps, but we love the people more with each passing day.  We are doing what we call "Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching" every day, all day long.  I know we'll never be the same.  We love the Lord and love His work.

May the Lord bless you with renewed joy as you strive to follow the promptings of the spirit.