We sometimes think that our missionary work will become routine and
repetitive, and it is just not so! We
keep having so many interesting and wonderful experiences!
What blessing and miracles we are seeing as
we grow and serve among these wonderful people in Coshocton!
Elder Bednar said that in the Lord’s work, there are not coincidences,
and we can bear testimony to that! We
keep “running into” people that the Lord wants us to meet and become acquainted
with.
We were in line at the grocery store and the clerk “just happened” to
have trouble with the code reader of the cash register with the price of some apples
we were buying (for 15 minutes?- really) and while Sister Blanchard was busy with the clerk that gave Elder Blanchard time to
visit with this young mother who was in line behind us, who told us she is
looking for a church that teaches from the King James Version and had just
moved here. We also run into over and over people that
we have been praying for (sometimes more than once in a day) and
get to visit with them. It is amazing to
see how the Lord works!
The photos below document some of our experiences, starting with the
two fellows eating strawberry pie. We
had gone on the Canal Boats right after we moved here and the people who ran
the boats were so friendly and nice to us and did a service for us we told them
we would repay with a pie, and finally got our debt paid off. We have visited
with them several times, all great people!
For the Women’s Session of conference, the Relief Society had a fun
little dinner and then watched the broadcast.
What dear friends these branch members are to us!
It was a very sweet
evening!
We also were able to sell the tractor of this widow that we are working
with, with a lot of work from Elder Blanchard’s network of people (here in Ohio
and out)!
We got a new Elder in Coshocton, saying goodbye to Elder Cobabe and
welcoming Elder Jones and making Elder LaFleur the District Leader.
We love facilitating the self-reliance class, and to hear the
testimonies about tithing last week of such faith was very sweet. This self-reliance program is going to be a
blessing in the lives of these people!
We are grateful to have a guest attend even though she is not a member
of the church! She is learning a lot,
and it is a very spiritual program, based on the Lord’s laws of faith, prayer
and obedience to financial laws! We even celebrated Shikara's birthday with a brownie stack, her choice of treat.
And we have cooked! And
cooked! We have made food/treats for a
lunch, dinner for the Elders, treats for Institute, Self-Reliance class, two
linger-longers, another branch dinner and a dinner with the senior
couples! From our kitchen came batches
to feed about twenty people of the following: sloppy joes, baked beans, tamale pie, cookies, two different
green salads, cilantro lime rice, pumpkin pies, scalloped potatoes, brownies and
a pumpkin sheet cake. We work great together in the kitchen! We are so grateful
for the freezer that a dear sister in our branch loaned us, we can shop in bulk and cook ahead and
freeze!
The Coshocton County Fair is now going on, and it is a big deal! Thought the fair is not as big as the Utah
State Fair, the hubbub and excitement are 10 times as big! Everyone is talking about it! It costs to
attend, but then all of the rides and entertainment is free. We have never seen as many food booths as
there are the fair! They even cancel school for two days so that
all of the 4-H kids who show animals can attend. We have met a wonderful family who have
children that show pigs so we have learned about showing pigs at a fair! It was fun to watch, and the kids did well!
We also got to experience our first Tractor Pull!
Lots of noise, smoke, and big trucks! We also got to taste a perch sandwich, something famous in Ohio. The photo of the little treat on the plate is a buckeye, a yummy peanut butter chocolate confection.
Conference was wonderful to watch at the church and be with our wonderful members as well as several non member guests
that came! Between sessions of conference on Saturday and Sunday we had a linger-longer
and enjoyed a great meal with all of these wonderful people! Yes we Mormons eat and love to mix the gospel
with great food!
And then last night we drove to Columbus (70 miles away) again (3x this
week) to have dinner with several of the other senior couples at the mission president’s
home.
It was a great week!
We are so blessed!
No comments:
Post a Comment