Exciting Times!!

Exciting times indeed...through technology we were able to via Skype watch Jasi open her mission call to the Washington Spokane Mission!!!  As of June 5, she will be Sister Medsker sharing her love of the gospel and life with some very lucky people!!  She has always wanted to go on a mission since she was a little girl, you have to love it when dreams come true!!!!!!  We are so excited for her....

President Clayton our Mission President has received word that our missionary force is going from 184 to 250.  Most wards will have two sets of missionaries.  Our Stake President ask in our March fast to pray for where the missionaries are most needed and to prepare ourselves to help them.  We are a non-tracting mission, so the members will have to step up in helping the missionaries find those who are ready for the Gospel to teach.  Our housing missionaries are going to be busy!!  Remember this year, it will be when we witnessed the work moving forward all over the world!!!

Saturday we met Chuck Peavey, Elder Medsker's nephew, for lunch!!  He lives up in Orange County.  It was so great seeing him and reconnecting, it has been years.  We got caught up on his children and his business plans. After lunch, we went to a greenhouse using a Aquaponics System for raising produce.  They have fish in tanks, and twice a day they flood the garden boxes that are filled with gravel with the fish fertilized water from the tanks. The plants are grown in the gravel.  They had several types of lettuce, beans, tomatoes, chard, etc.  Interesting process.  They also had oranges trees behind the greenhouse and invited us to pick some oranges off the tree...kind of fun!!  They kept adding to my sack, so we shared with the Elders, they were excited.

Now for a funny valentine story.  On Valentine's day, we went for a morning walk out on beach and pier.  The weather was absolutely perfect and the sun was shiny.  There was a couple on the beach and I thought how fun to spent Valentine's Day on the beach.  I had my camera and was snapping pictures of the birds, the surfers, etc.  It was more a leisurely walk and I was thoroughly enjoying our walk.  When we got out of the car and started for our apartment, I said to my husband..."you seem a little tired"....to which he replied, "I am just bored, I thought that walk would never end."  What???  Our sweet little valentine walk??  And there you have it...two people having the same experience with very different results :)  :)  We laughed about it all day!

During our visits this week we found more people who had moved, one more that died 2 years ago and several not home.  Between us and the missionaries we have found over 70 that have moved!!  It is good to clean up ward records once in awhile!!  We did have one delightful visit.  A cute Filipino sister answered the door.  She immediately came out on the porch and partially closed the door to visit with us.  She told us she knows all the Filipino sisters in our ward and visits with them.  She said all her family were Mormon, but that she had a conflict.  We ask what her conflict was and she said her husband was a Baptist Pastor and wanted her to support him.  We agreed she had a conflict.  Then she said, "I have a testimony, but it really doesn't matter what church you go to".  Elder Medsker came right back at her and said "You sound like a Baptist."  She laughed and said "I do, don't I".  We all got a chuckled out of it.  A great woman.

Paul, one of the Elders' investigators volunteered to give the closing prayer in our Gospel Essential Class.  We were all quite surprised, it is a hard for investigators to pray out loud.  Not many people pray out loud, except for rote prayers.  It was the first time for him to offer such a prayer, it was so halting and sincere and heartfelt, it really touched me.  He has struggled with the discussions, would stop for a while but then start again.  He has finally decided it is time to get baptized and his prayer sounded like he was ready.