Houston, we have a problem!

We thought it might be nice to share some more photos of our beautiful Kingwood, Texas. Kingwood is a suburb of Houston, but we think it is one of the most beautiful suburbs. Sometimes we leave Kingwood to go to Costco or to a mall, and it feels like being in any big city. But this is what we see when we drive back into Kingwood.

                                           
                                                We are greeted by beautiful fountains!

                                          The sign says - "Kingwood, The Livable Forrest"

This view is right before you turn into our apartment complex.

On Friday evening we had a pot luck dinner at the mission home with the other senior missionaries in our mission. It was great fun getting to know them! The next morning we went on an outing to the Johnson Space Center - it was such a fun day!

President and Sister Hewlett are on the back row left. They are both very tall! John and I need to get a photo with them so we can have three tall people and one very short one! 

We got to climb aboard the big 747 used to transport the space shuttles and then the shuttle itself.

One of the highlights of the day was taking a tram over to Mission Control. They have preserved it just as it one on July 20, 1969. As you sit in the theater overlooking the control room you hear a recording of the first moon landing just as it happened with the same data on the screens and the astronauts in radio communication with mission control. We could also see television coverage on two other screens just as it played that day. It was very thrilling!

On Sunday morning we woke up early to be at a 7:00 am sacrament meeting, dressed in our work clothes, before driving to Beaumont Texas with members of one of the Spanish Branches and a few sets of missionaries to continue working on clean up from recent flooding. 

 This is what we saw as we drove into this neighborhood that has been devastated by flooding.

Every street had piles of debris in front of many homes.

                             

 The other volunteers have done this many times before and they were prepared! The had trucks          loaded with shovels, gloves, tools of all kinds and they worked SO hard!

                  It was about 90 degrees and 75% humidity - we were drenched in no time!

It was very satisfying to watch the pile grow as we removed all of the flooring, the drywall and insulation below 4 feet, and a lot of nails!

 The sweet lady we helped wasn't expecting us. The home we were assigned to was empty and we couldn't find the owner. We saw one guy at this home working with a wheelbarrow and asked if they would like some help. They were so grateful. We came home tired but so happy to be serving!