Dead Cat Society

 There are things that can define your week and some things you just have to shake your head and say, "Really?" Sometimes you laugh and sometimes you just have to wonder! This week has been a week of wonder!

As we have driven on these beautiful country roads, Mother Nature keeps us (me) so intrigued with her artistry.  The last couple of weeks it's been yellow lining the roads. Add in some dashes of daisies and the look is complete!  And don't you just love a country road?

The weather has been beautiful and now it is starting to warm up more.  Everyone tells us that July will be hot and humid and a little unbearable.  So far-not too bad so we'll see what July has to offer.

Our morning walk on Tuesday had a fun little twist.  We were walking on a side road that we have not walked before.  We were just walking along, talking, when a little kid-arms stretched out like an airplane, backpack on his back-ran right by us. (He is maybe 6 or 7 years old.) Well he totally stopped to have a little chat.  Man could he talk.  He said is name is Jasper and he was waiting for the school bus. We talked about school coming to an end and asked him if he had anything fun that he was doing for summer.  He said maybe camp and maybe swimming.  We talked for a minute and then said goodbye.  We started down the street and he came right after us-still talking.  He told us that he is getting strong-that his body is catching up to his brain.  He said that his body was a little slower than his brain-that he didn't get any teeth until he was three.  He said that when he was two he could hold onto the monkey bars for 10 seconds but that someone had to lift him up to the bars because he was too little to reach them.  As we were passing under a willow tree he pointed to it and told us it was called a willow tree and that his little sister was named Willow.  She's four, he said.  He told us about his grandma, who is called Ema, his great grandma who doesn't live with them anymore, and his great great grandma who died.  She was 101.  He jumped up and grabbed a limb on a tree and started to swing. He told us that "Jasper" means a stone and he likes to imagine a cliff with lots of Jasper stones up the side of it and a little sapling willow on top. He followed us up to the next block-talking the whole way, and pointed down an alley and showed us his house.  Just then, his mom came around the corner of the house, yelling his name.  I pointed and told him he better be going and off he ran-arms stretched out- just like an airplane.  What Jasper doesn't know is that he was the most pleasant little surprise of our day.

Our walks start our days off in the perfect way and of course I just have to get photos because you know me, I  love flowers.  

We had a dead cat experience this week as well.  Yup!  We ran a dead cat (and her human) to the animal hospital to get cremated.  Complete highlight of our week. Nope!

We met with some great people and found a lot of people not at home.  Some we have been to three and four times.  That's a lot of what we do-trying to find people-some who might not want to be found.

Our Book of Mormon class was fabulous.  We learned about the sacrament in 3 Nephi 18.  We have one friend (that's what we call investigators) who is progressing quite nicely.  She is reading the Book of Mormon, coming to church, trying to figure out the whole prayer thing, and asks lots of questions. She keeps us on our toes.  We love having her there with us. We love the Book of Mormon!  We take a treat each week and this week was homemade bread with butter and honey. The honey is home grown by one of our members. 

In the kitchen making treats

I taught Young Women today and we had a nice surprise.  We had a young man join us for our lesson.  He was visiting with his family and we don't have any young men so he had nowhere to go so he came with us.  We pretended it was Sunday school.  The trick??? the lesson was on the Law of Chastity.  I had three young people who had no idea what that even is.  It went okay but was a little awkward to say the least. After church we hosted a build your own sundae bar for our linger longer.  It's so nice when people hang around for a little while and visit with one another.  And who doesn't love ice cream?

We are so thankful for the opportunity to be missionaries.  We watch the struggle.  It's real!  We pray for these good people and pray that we can make a difference in their lives-that we can somehow lift the burden that they are carrying-or at least make it a little lighter.  We love our Savior, Jesus Christ.  This is His work-Gathering Israel- We know He lives!  We know He loves us!  We know that He makes all the difference in our lives, if we let him.  

We love you!  Thank you for your support and your prayers.  Know that we are praying for you as well.