Friday, July 18

Texas is such a different country. As we drive down the road we see these huge ponds that people dig to have their own water in case they need it for crops or cattle or whatever. I mean there are a lot of them. At this time of the year they are very slimy as the water gets lower and lower. I guess there was a drought here and they had such little water, they had to measure all that they used.

Another thing they have down here is wild pigs or hogs. We understand they catch them and ship them to china to use for meat. The Zimmermans were telling us about it. They took us out and showed us the traps they had set for them. They see them along the road at night or they might even come into their yards. They have been know the kill children or dogs or whatever you have. So they all keep an eye out for them, especially out of the city. We haven't seen one yet, though. But Toni Zimmerman said she saw a mother and several little piglets out by her lake property just the other night. They are black and they sometimes roast them here for a barbeque.

Thursday we went baqck to the Cornells. They live in Barry and kind of up in the hills away from people. We have been seeing a gradual change in them and their attitude toward the church. For one thing they are now anxious to get started and not just talk about superficial things. They sit down and are ready for prayer and want to get started. It is something we have just started noticing. Yesterday we talked to them about the Book of Mormon and the Bible and how they support each other. Bob always has some excellent questions. This week he started talking about being baptized. He is not ready to set a date yet, but he is even thinking about it.

Bob told us that he has been thinking about the organization of the church and how it is patterned after Christ's original church and how that just makes sense. Also he has been thinking about authority and how it works. The whole thing is that the spirit is working on him and testifying to him about these truths. They are really enjoying coming to church and the things they are learning. They also like everyone and just are happy to be there. Now it has become not if he will be baptized but when!! We are excited for them. I have to give the lesson in Relief Society on Sunday on living the commandments and Millie is going to help with the lesson.

We also met with Brad Blackman last night. He is a convert who was baptized 20 years ago and then went back to the Baptist Faith. He now has decided that he wants to progress in our church, receive the Priesthood and go to the Temple. His wife is not a member, but if he will be faithful, she will join. They are young and don't have children as yet. So we met with him last night and visited about the requirements to receive the Priesthood and go to the Temple. He is excited about it all. Then we went back this morning and reviewed the Book of Mormon and Bible and the things we can learn as we read them. Next week we will talk to him about the Prieshood and what it means.

Today after leaving Brad, we stopped at the Pecan factory on the way to Julie's house. That is a fun place to go. It is a huge factory where they process pecans in every way, shape and form. We bought some nuts and went on to Julie's house.

Julie is excited to be baptized and is doing very well. She loves the book we have put together for her and seems to understand it very well. She is such a sweet girl. If she keeps coming, we will be able to baptize her in August. While I was going over the rest of the book with Julie, Leon was ablt to visit with her mother, Wendy. She has been less active and we are just trying to help their family to get back in the Gospel. They talked about the blessings available to her as she lives the Gospel. Wendy has never really been to church enough to learn these things, especially where the scriptures are involved.

Elder Whiting also told Brittany, her daughter, that if she would wait and date until she is 16 that she will receive the blessings from that in her life. She is 14 and already looking at boys quite seriously. This is quite a mixed up home. But we did get to visit with Wendy and her family a little bit more today because the grandparents had gone to California.

There are so many little towns around here and you just never know what you will find. After leaving Julie, we drove to Karens about 15 miles, and looked for another couple of lost members. We found one home and left pass along cards with our telephone number. Hopefully they will call us. We also found another home and found they had moved to Waxahatchie, so we can move their records out. When we got to Karens, we found a huge power station and a dam, with a home that was fenced in and gaited so we couldn't get in there. Of course, that is the address that we had for this member whose name was on the mailbox. We even tried calling them, but we had no coverage in that area. At least we gave it a good try.

We saw some beautiful country today. Rolling hills, and another lake or dam that had some beautiful homes with boat docks all around it. There are sure a lot of trees in this area too. They don't just have a few, there are millions and millions. We are grateful we can be a part of the Lord's plan here in Corsicana, (pronounced Course-cana.)