Baptism and Service

 We are excited for the new members that were baptized today.  It is the Dad and youngest son Jonathan, in Diane's family.  

We did not teach them, but we have been involved, so it is special for us too.  We wish Diane and Christopher were ready to join them, but they seem to need a little more time.

Gene's mom, dad, sister and niece and nephew came to support them.  We got some of them in the picture below.  The mom (red hair) was a member as a child.  When the missionaries were looking for her from a ward list, they found not only her but her son's family, and her daughter's as well.  There is still much to be done, but we had a sweet experience together during the baptism.

The longer we have to read in the scriptures and study, the more it seems obvious that everyone should want to be involved in the Gospel and accept the invitation to be baptized.  There are so many lovely people who just don't know yet what blessings they have been missing.

We have been involved helping people clean and move and we thought of Nathan moving all the Yale  students when he was Elder's Quorum President in New Haven, CT.  It is good to have the health and stamina to be able to assist.  We are grateful.

Carolyn, Gardens and Goats

Carolyn feeding her goats

We miss being out in the yard and doing a little grounds work, so today we stopped by to help our good friend Carolyn.  She is the sweetest lady ever - wants to visit people and help fellowship, but she is in early stage dementia, and she can't keep track of addresses, or events unless reminded just before.  She hates it, but tries to live with it as there is nothing she can do.  She is especially frustrated that she can't remember who the new people are and she doesn't want to offend them.  She lives by herself with her dogs, kittens, and goats on the loveliest property.  The woods in the back all belongs to her.

Doug edging the flower beds

Back here they use the red needles from the pines as mulch instead of wood chips like we do at home.  Perhaps you can see them in the small bales around the garden.

The tree is a pecan tree.  Many people in our ward have whole groves of them.  They fall off the tree when they are ready, and you gather them up and take them to a buyer.  They start off at $2 a pound and then go down as the season progresses.  Some years it is a lucrative crop.

Doug is obsessed with the trees and is always cracking the nuts and bringing me fresh pecans.





The bushes are starting to blossom again.  It seems so strange for November, but they are beautiful as you can see.

Carolyn said that she discovered two separate litters of kittens meowing in her bedroom closet on different evenings.  She doesn't even know how they got into the house.

She has a house dog, a small Yorkie, but the cats live outside, as do the two large dogs.  I thought the grandchildren would like to see some of the soft, fluffy kittens and the puppy.  She takes good care of all her animals.  It is a fun place to visit.