Service With a Smile!

 This photo captures the weather we had last week when we drove a young missionary to a doctor's appointment in downtown Houston. We love getting to spend time with them on the drive.

Elder Davis does a lot of driving!! We are a pretty good team - he drives and I navigate. We did have to divide up for the first time this week. John stayed home for a health council meeting via video conference, and I drove a sister missionary to a doctor appointment because it was out of her area. Sadly I forgot to get a photo with her! 

This is Elder Knight - such a great young man! I am finding that many of our missionaries that have major chronic health problems like Type 1 Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis or Crohn's disease seem to handle mission life so well. Some weren't sure they would be able to serve, but a place like Houston which has amazing health care makes it possible. 

While we were in the area we got our car serviced and went from a white Audi to a black one for a few hours. Our car has been a great blessing here.

We had to document another great lunch - delicious empanadas at Mambo Seafood!

On the way back in to Kingwood, we were behind this car. Can you spot the Y sticker and the Cougars license plate holder? Not something we have seen here!

Speaking of the Cougars, we were able to watch the game on Saturday which is our p-day. We had gone to Costco earlier so we got hotdogs to make it seem like we were at the game!

We love President and Sister Hewlett, President of the Houston East Mission and his wife.

The highlight of our week was another Zone Conference that included a mission tour by Elder Kyle S. McKay - one of our church's general authorities. He interviewed each of the senior missionary couples and it was so great to get to visit with he and Sister McKay for a few minutes.

Elder McKay is an incredible teacher! If you haven't listened to his talk from April 2019 General Conference recently, (The Immediate Goodness of God) we highly recommend it!

On the left are Elders Nelson and Topham, the assistants to the president. We love them too!

This cute sister sang a beautiful solo.

We just love being around these faithful, hardworking missionaries!

Hermana Litchfield serves in the ward we attend and she's great!

Now for a change of pace - this is what the beautiful Live Oak trees do to the sidewalk in front of our apartment  building.

No texting while walking on on this sidewalk!

I know I post a lot of bird photos but today on our walk our favorite bird had a friend!

We really ought to name this bird since we see it almost daily!

This one is new to our bend of the river.

We have mentioned in an earlier post that Kingwood has signs with the phrase "The Livable Forest"

so we wanted to show you an example of the miles and miles of greenbelt trails they have meandering through the forest. 

Many of them are covered over with arching trees and vines like this, so you walk through a beautiful, green tunnel.

We love to take a quick break to enjoy this beautiful weather!

The mild fall weather reminds us of St. George. It can occasionally get really cold, but you know it's not here to stay!

This week marked six months since our son Ian passed away, and it was hard. I had a sweet dream that made it better. I have not dreamt about Ian which has made me sad. I had a lot of dreams about my dad after he passed away and it was strange that I hadn't had one about Ian. Finally, this week I was having a dream that didn't make much sense for the most part, but at one point I was in a crowded school hallway for some kind of family school event. I looked across an intersecting hallway and suddenly Ian appeared - and I instantly realized that he was there to bring me comfort. 

I was immediately filled with joy! He looked like a really healthy, happy adult version of Ian, and he looked at me and smiled as if to say "Yes mom, you really are seeing me, and I'm okay!" I immediately woke up and told John and wrote it down so I wouldn't forget. It meant so much to me. This experience reminds me of why we are here. We know that we will see Ian again because of the Savior and his Atonement. 

We want to help bring that peace and joy to others. So here we are in Kingwood, Texas doing our small part to help others Come Unto Christ!