Thursday, Feb 12

So much as happened since last posting. My mother, Laura Ferrell passed away and Elder Whiting and I flew home to the funeral for a fast and furious two days. It was a beautiful experience.

We were able to see Leon's brothers and wives and mother and have lunch with them at the Olive Garden. It was nice to catch up on things and share the spirit. We really enjoyed them a lot. Kay Whiting seemed to be in such good spirits and so alert and spunky. It was really nice to be around her. She is trying so hard to be positive even though she is in a lot of pain. I love her. She is a great example to all of us.

Staying in the same motel with all of our children was a lot of fun. Curtis and Jen were not able to come from Texas, nor Trevor, Reed, and AJ., but everyone else was their and it all happened just before Kevin and Kim and family are leaving for the DR; so we got to see and visit with them too. The Lord is so good to us in his mercies. We stayed in the same room with Alyson, Laura and Sami and Logan. Alyson is pregnant and very sick and that was not fun for her, but over all it was wonderful to see everyone.

There was a viewing on Monday night with so many people. Many of them were relatives. It would be good if we could just meet with relative every six months and renew friendships. It is hard when you see each other so little. We did meet my cousin, James, (Jim) Ferrell who wrote "The Peacegiver." I talked to him for a while about his books, family and etc. The kids took pictures and Brett got him to sign his book he had in the car. The next day I talked to his Dad, Jay Ferrell, and he was telling me that Jim received so many letters from people who had used that book to help people with problems with their personal relationship, especially husbands and wives. He said one stake president had bought six books and given them to six couples getting ready to divorce. It saved every single marriage. The book has been such a blessing to so many.

The funeral on Tuesday was such a great tribute to my mom and the life that she lived. The talks were excellent. I especially enjoyed Rebecca's talk. I wrote a talk but left it in the hotel with my scriptures. So I gave a short testimony/tribute/appreciation to mom and said the closing prayer. I truly to feel grateful to her for the many things she did for me. She was a hard worker and deserves a great deal of credit for our family.

I really felt very grateful for our family, my siblings, the gospel and so many other things. It was really nice to be together and feel everyone's spirit and see all again. I do love them. Everyone has had their trials and we have all grown and matured through them. I will write more as we are late in teaching a sister in our 2nd ward here in Sherman.