June 16

Today is Monday and P day. It is cloudy and beginning to rain. The rain here is very fun. It doesn't just rain, it pours gullywashers!! You don't ever want to get caught in a storm here, because it has no mercy on who gets wet!! You can be soaked from just running from the house to the car. However, now, when it is raining, our friend is our umbrella. We always have it close. The sky is black today, and it is going to open up and let us have it any minute.

Yesterday was Sunday. I love Sundays at church. Everyone is so kind to us and all we have to do is be ourselves. Yesterday we had Hollie and her baby, The Cornells, and Julie and all of her family show up for church. Also Her Grandmother and cousin came. We are starting to feel the results of some of our visits with members. We have tried to smooth over feelings and show caring for the members. All three of our investigators stayed for all three meetings. That is amazing to me.

Hollie had a rough time with her baby cause it was nap time and he was teething too. Millie and Bob Cornell really enjoy coming to church and learning. I ask Millie how she thought Bob was doing, and she said he was reading and doing the things we ask him to do. He is such a nice guy. He is just a little slower to accept the different styles and ways of teaching that our church does. We sure love him, though.

In meeting with the Bishopric, they told us we needed to find the fellowshippers for the people we are teaching. The problem is that there are not many young couples Hollie's age in the ward, Most of them are not married and less active. The Cornells are just good folk. Everyone will love them.

We had a meeting with Hollie this morning and planned her baptism. She is going to have her mother-in-law speak on Baptism and her Father in law give a prayer. She is hoping to have her husband baptize her, but he is so stubborn. There is just a different attitude in this family. It is like they are all victims and they hold the church or it's members responsible for their problems. This particularly comes from the father and three sons who are in their twenties and still living at home. They are very moody.

Hollie ask Leon to confirm her and we will see if the Primary children will do a special musical number. We thought we could make some copies of some primary songs and we could sing them while she is dressing. Her baptism is less than two weeks away now. I was thrilled that Leon got to confirm her and I could just be in the back ground helping her. She is going to be baptized on Sunday afternoon after church so the Branch can participate. Neat!!!

This morning we gave Hollie the last lessons on studying the scriptures and following the prophet. She is just so ready and understands things well. We are so proud of her. We will take her picture and put it on this blog.

Today we have cleaned and washed clothes, etc. We have an appointment to meet tonight with a former Branch President who is less active. He went through a bad divorce after he was released and was so embarrassed that he quit coming to church entirely. He is a medical Doctor here in town and well liked and respected.

Very interesting things happen around here. Hollie told us this morning that the Senior Members of the Council, judges, etc. do not want this town to change. They have been able to elect whom they want and hold out the big chain stores etc. She said that Walmart had to pay a rediculous price to be able to put a store here. Prices for services and goods are a little high here. The population has not changed but maintains itself from year to year.