We express our love to each of you and express our appreciation for your love and prayers in our behalf as well as prayers in behalf of all missionaries. The Lord is helping the missionaries here find and teach people who are prepared to accept and live the gospel teachings. The baptism statistics show a gradual increase and the mission president is praying and pondering to find ways to help the missionaries be more effective and successful. There are some wonderful missionaries here who have been sent by inspiration; they really want to do all they can to help bring people to Christ.
We were asked to try to find out where several sisters are who have not been seen or heard from for a long time. Two of them have moved, but we do not know where. One of the members tried to find one of them whom he knew by using Facebook and twitter; but he was not successful. We finally found the cell phone number for the third sister, from a ward member, and have called her and left a message to call us, we hope she will. Many people in the ward have been trying to find members whose names are in the ward membership list but no one knows where they are now. After much effort trying to locate them the Bishop approved sending a number of the memberships to the Church Membership Department to be placed in the Address Unknown file. There are church service missionaries who then try a number of methods to track down where these people are and when found the memberships are sent to the bishop of the ward where they now live. The Brockport ward members are great people and we are making good friends with more of them each week. At church on Easter Sunday we talked with one of the sisters who play the organ. As we visited with her and her husband we discovered she is a daughter of Arnold Wilson from Mapleton where Richard grew up. And she is also related to Gerald and Neva Hutchings from Springville. Gerald & Neva’s son is the same Hutchings who we mentioned in an earlier message is the 2nd counselor in the Stake Presidency in the Rochester Stake.
We have been trying to help the two full time elders who serve in this ward as they work with a sister and her two daughters and her boyfriend. These people are struggling financially. The boyfriend has finally found a job and we gave him a ride to work this past week on a couple of rainy days so he did not have to ride his bike in the rain. They know the church is true and they read the Book of Mormon daily and come to church each week. They have some personal issues they are trying to resolve so they can be baptized. Elder Morrison and Elder Tanner are the missionaries who live here in Brockport. Elder Morrison was kind enough to make a birthday cake for Maxine on her birthday. It was the first cake Elder Morrison has ever made by himself and he was very proud of it; and it was very delicious. When they brought it over to our apartment we invited them in and had them to have some ice cream with the cake and alsoshare some time with us. They are great missionaries and working hard to find people to teach and they are having some success.
It has rained almost every day this past week including today. We have never seen this much rain in just a few months in all the time we lived in Utah. There is water everywhere including in the low places in the farmer’s fields. One of the rivers we drove by Saturday was completely full and starting to go over the banks. The weather man says more rain is coming this week. We hope the rain and snow in Utah do not result in flooding for you. We keep hoping the sun will shine so we can get some pictures to share with you. We have tried taking pictures on days when it is cloudy and overcast and the pictures do not come out very clear. We hope to get some pictures of the white tail deer when we get some sunshine so you can tell what you are seeing.
Thank you to those who sent birthday cards to Maxine and anniversary cards to us. We also appreciate those who have called and skyped us to share your good wishes and let us know what is going on in your lives. Thank you also for letters, cards, and for email messages you have sent. We appreciate hearing from any and all of you. We are happy to hear that Shalee earned very good grades this last term in her school, keep up the good work. Shay and Braden and Aaron are also doing very well in school. We were sorry to hear that Brad’s family lost their newborn colt just a few days after it was born. Mckinzi has done well in her Medical Assisting courses; she just needs to complete an internship and she will receive her Medical Assisting Certificate at the same time she graduates from high school. Tyler and Chandler will also be graduating from high school, but we would like to know when the graduations are.
We had a great Easter Sunday. Our church meetings were filled with the Spirit and we had our testimonies renewed concerning the Savior and His atonement and resurrection and His perfect example. It has been a great spiritual feast to read the book To the Rescue about President Monson’s life. He has had a life full of preparation and mentoring by other apostles and prophets to help him be ready to be the prophet today. We testify he is the Lord’s prophet and receives revelation to direct the church and kingdom in the way the Lord would have him do it. We read the Book of Mormon and gain a stronger testimony of its truthfulness and inspired messages. It blesses our lives each day. We pray for all of you each day and hope you will receive the blessings and help you need in your life.
We Love You,
Mom & Dad
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