Summer

It's summer.  Now we know what it feels like to have 80% humidity.  It feels HOT!  Even though our branch president has lived here since 1969, he complains every year that this weather is just not normal and people who live here are crazy.  As we speak, there is a severe storm warning issued for our county.  We are expecting severe storms and possible hail.  Whether it actually will happen is anyone's guess.

Last week we had a water main break in the city.  The water was off for several hours.  When it was finally turned on, we were under a "boil" order for 48 hours.

This is boiled water.  Can you see the scum floating on top.  We didn't drink it, even though boiling water kills all the bugs.  But we used it to wash dishes.  Just as the boil order was about to be lifted, the water main broke again, in a different place.  This time, the water was off for almost a day.  AND another boil order was issued which lasted for about four days.  We had to use bottled water for the sacrament because we couldn't use tap water.  People outside of town are usually on "well" water.  They don't have these problems.

Craig has been fishing a couple of times since he bought his poles and a license.  We found a fishing spot just up the road.

It is just a short walk to the river.

The rain sometimes affects the farmers' fields.  Here is a field about 2 miles out of town.

He had already planted his corn when the rain came.  Usually, if the corn is already up and growing, it will be ok.  But he has an actual lake on his land.  One of our friends says that it floods every year.  I'm surprised he doesn't put some kind of drain in that will drain the water to the roadside ditches.  Hmmm.

We went on splits last Wednesday.  Craig took off with the district leaders and I tagged along with the sisters.  I treated them to dinner.  Deep dish pizza.  Ohhhhh, so good.

Here is a picture of the missionaries in our district.  Transfers are coming up, so we wanted our picture taken in case we lose someone.

These are the sweetest kids.  We love them!!!  They are go-getters.  We can hardly keep up with them.

The corn is growing so fast in the fields.  Here is a picture we took about a week ago.

I think it's even higher now.

AND, we have fields of soy beans growing near us.  Those are the two main crops in these part.

Close up view

Here's the whole field.

Today was gardening day.  Robert Wagner has a huge garden that has just gotten out of hand, and we've been trying to help him get it in control.  

Here is the "before" view.

Here is the "after" view.

I did a good job didn't I.  

Here is where I left off:

Here are pictures of my shoes and my hand.  I have a hard time wearing gardening gloves.  

It was pretty gross.  I had to stop half way through and douse myself with insect spray.  AND I've learned that you must carry a washrag in your pocket at all time (for mopping your brow).  Generally speaking, my make up is completely sweated off by the time I'm through.  Where was Craig while I was pulling weeds?  He was working hard riding the mower around the lawn.  Sheesh.

We've had occasion to use our little BBQ several times.

Craig is getting REALLY good at steaks.  There is a great meat store here in town.  The steaks are not cheap, but it's cheaper than going to a restaurant, and they taste delish!!

Our farmer friend, John Luzer, has a pond on his property.

You can see the white koi fish.  He feeds them dog food.  When he starts shaking the bucket, they swim from all around the pond to feast.  Too funny.  He doesn't catch them.  Just feeds them.

I pass this sign every so often.  One day, I'll drive there to see what's up.

Finally, Craig and I saw our first lightening bugs.  I tried to capture them on video.

Sorry that it's sideways.  I don't know how to fix that. Just tilt your head to view it.  I'm just glad I got it uploaded.  

Our neighbor, Stacey, captured one for us so we could see what they look like close up.  Kind of creepy looking.  And the cool thing is when you are driving, and one of them hits your windshield, it glows neon green for several minutes.  Cool.  We city folk are easily impressed.

Oh, and one last bit of information for all my church friends.  I've been called as first counselor in the primary.  Our primary president is 20 years old, but has lived in the branch all her life.  She is great.  Our second counselor has been a member of the church for 2 months.  Yep, 2 months.  She is so willing to serve.  AND, there are just the three of us to run the entire program.  I teach the senior primary children.  Last week we had two children.  This week I planned for 5 and had 6.    The other counselor teaches the junior primary class which includes the nursery and all the children up to 6 years of age.  This can also vary from 0 to 5.  I teach sing-time.  The president does sharing time every week.  We alternate doing activity days, which includes boys because there is no cub program.  So, there you have it.  And can I just say, that the amount of preparation is the same whether there are two children or 50.  Last week was a GREAT week.  We had 7 children there.  We did the fireworks poppers for sing time.  AND learned one of our songs in sign language.  It makes it easier for the inactive parents to get to church if the kids want to be there too.  That's our plan, anyway and we're stickin' to it.

Work Can Be Fun

This week we have been busy serving and working.  Okay, CRAIG has been busy serving and working - mostly.  He finished painting the Rodriguez's kitchen.  While he was doing this, I brought Lupita and her girlfriend home and they helped me make cookies.

Then we stopped at the Shelton's and Craig got busy helping Mike as he was moving the rear end from one car to another.  Here is a picture of him actually making sparks.

Kelly Shelton was raised a Mormon, but she and her husband have not been to church in a long time.  Mike is a great guy and Craig really enjoys going over there.  He didn't really want to get his nice shirt dirty, but he wanted Mike to know he really did want to help, not just give lip service.

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They have a small home, but a huge back yard.  

Their yard goes all the way back to the trees in the distance.  They often have deer and other critters wander onto their property.  They are coming to dinner next Saturday and then going with us to the movie in the park.  We really like them.

Last Friday, we drove with an inactive member to Indianapolis to a Cub Scout Activity.  He is the den leader in his pack.  The outing included a baseball game at Victory Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Indians, and then camping out on the outfield for the night.

We walked though the gate and we were immediately accosted by a very large black woman.  She had a knit hat on, the kind with ties that hang down.  She got right in front of us and said, Hey.  I was wondering if she wanted to sell us something.  She said, "I'm a Mormon!!"  She had seen our name tags.  She wanted a hug.  I WISH we had taken a picture with her.  It was too funny.

You can see from the scoreboard that evidently there was an LDS group there.  Who knew?

And all those people sitting under the sign are sitting on grass.  They bring blankets to sit on and get in really cheap.  Lots of families sitting there.

 It was a AAA ball club.  The stadium was nice.  They announced there were about 15,000 people in attendance.  The parking was terrible, however.  Oh, and see the factory in the background?  Yeah, we heard it all night long.

We had a 15 minute firework show after the game (which we lost, by the way).
Then we waited while they cleaned the field.  At 1:00 AM they let the boys down onto the grass.

I was warm and comfortable, but we didn't get much sleep.  

And this is my favorite sign.

Indianapolis is not as big as Chicago, but they do have this really cool building:  The Marriott tower.  It was right next to the ball field.

Please notice the traffic.  It was terrible.  In Rensselaer, if there are two people waiting at the light, it's considered a traffic jam.  

The corn is growing fast.  This was taken a week ago and I'm sure it is taller by now.  I guess there is an Amish saying that goes, "Knee high by the fourth of July."  You can see it is nearly that high already.  We are told that by the end of summer, it is so high you have to be careful driving for you cannot see around the corners.

Craig spent Monday morning fishing.  He got a fishing license and everything.  Now he carries his poles in the car in case there is a drive-by fishing opportunity.

This is Elder Foster.  He is one of our zone leaders.  After our last meeting, he went right to work cutting up fruit and vegetables for Youth Conference.  He and his companion have four baptisms lines up for the next month.  They are AWESOME!!

Look what we saw on our way to someplace.  A pheasant.  Cool, huh?

All over Rensselaer and nearby are towers.  They can't all be cell phone towers.  Some just look like towers with nothing on them - no reason for being.  I asked someone about them.  He said that we are on a flight path from Chicago to Indianapolis.  Some of them are beacon towers.  You can see two of there here.  The one in front looks like a cell tower.  

I saw this in a restaurant restroom.  I liked it.

Finally, here is Craig putting together his Father's Day present.  EVERYONE has a BBQ.  So I got him a small one, then went to the really nice meat store and got two Ribeye steaks.  As I type this, he's got the coals heating.  We're having dinner with our neighbor, Stacey.  She's bringing a green salad and green beans from her garden.  She's been taking care of us since the first day we were here.  

HERE IS THE BEST PART:  We had four investigators and two inactives come to church this morning.  There were hardly any empty seats there.  Robert and his son came.  They are the ones we went camping with.  Ester and Lupita came.  She is the one whose kitchen Craig painted.  Joe came.  He is the one we have been teaching lessons to for several weeks.  John came.  He is the one we went to Shipshewana with.  We LOVE serving them.  We hope they felt the Spirit and will want to come back.    BEING A MISSIONARY IS THE BEST!!

Work is work

Greetings from Rensselaer, Indiana

We have been giving a lot of service here in Indiana.  I think that no matter where you live, people are in need of service that you can give.

We have a wonderful woman in our branch, Sister Sampson.  She cares for an ailing husband and a mother suffering from Alzheimer's.  I don't know how she manages.  It is a 24 hour-a-day job.  If she wants to go anywhere, she must get someone to "watch" Grandma and sometimes her husband as well.  So it was suggested that perhaps Craig and I could help her get her garden tilled.  It took two 20 mile trips to Remington and three stops at the repair shop to finally get a working tractor.  Here is Craig as he begins tilling.
I dropped him off, went to a meeting, and came back 3 hours later.

The next day, the sisters came with us to finish up.  We pulled out weeds and rocks to get ready for planting.  We felt it was a job well done.
We also were able to give some service at Pat Sutton's house.  She is wheelchair bound.  We decided to help her weed her flower garden.

It is the little strip along the side of her trailer home.  It was longer than I remembered, and it took two hours, but it looked so much better when we were done.  In appreciation, she is feeding us dinner tomorrow.  Yea!!!
Part of our job is to friendship others.  This is the fun part.  Yesterday, we spent the day in Shipshewana with Peggy and John Luzer.

It is in the heart of Amish country.  I tried to get a picture of a buggy, although it is difficult to see.

We went to the flea market, several stores, and had dinner at a wonderful "family style" restaurant.  The food was delicious.  The company was wonderful.
And every really great outing must include a car museum.

The cars were beautiful!!

When we got back to the Luzer's house, Craig volunteered to cut their lawn.  I'm sure that the riding mower was part of his enthusiasm.  So Peggy and I went riding on the 4-wheelers.

We rode far back into their fields.  John plants about 700 acres if I remember correctly.

This was our view as we headed BACK to the house.

Last Saturday, about 5:00 PM, we were at home wondering what to do for the rest of the evening.  I couldn't bear the thought of just sitting on the couch for the next 5 hours.  We decided to go downtown to get an ice cream cone.  We noticed lots of people heading for the park across the street.  We headed there, too.  It was a movie-in-the-park night.  They were showing "Frozen."  Craig had never seen it, so we decided to stay.

This was taken about 7:30.

The park filled up and there were about 200 people there.  It was really wonderful.  We saw everyone spraying their kids down with bug spray (very similar to how we spray them down with sunscreen).  Evidently they knew something we didn't.  The bugs weren't TOO bad, however, and we really enjoyed the show.  These wonderful people would bring so much to the church.  It made our hearts ache, wishing we could tell them how wonderful the church is.

Now for a few interesting observations in and around town.

We have asked several people just what goes on here.  No one we've talked to is quite sure.

This is the one I love.  Craig and I wonder if maybe you take off your clothes to wash them, then get in the tanning beds while they are washing.  Hmmmm.

We see this a lot.  People just dump their grass clippings at the curb.  I wondered if they just put them there waiting for the wind to blow them away.  Our neighbor said that the city cleans it up.  For free?  I asked.  Evidently, the service is added on to their waste management bill.  Who knew?

In case you were wondering, population is 5,859 - or thereabouts.

So....... maybe they are worried that the wind will blow the mailbox down.

This is the token corn that the Wagner's put out for the squirrels and rabbits.  This in the hope those pesky varmints will leave the garden alone.

Finally, this is what happens when we leave Sam alone all day.  Sheesh.

We are so grateful to be here in Indiana.  We have learned so much from these wonderful people.  They are friendly and kind.  We love them.