Golden Family

Hi Everyone! Hope everyone is doing well this week – we pray for all of you, Grandkids and all, every single day. Yesterday we drove an hour to Altoona to a Senior Couples Workshop. We met with eight couples to share ideas and get to know one another. Most had been out for at least 6 months, except for us and one other couple. We spent all day sharing info about ourselves, our branches, and the unique challenge of missionary work in this area. It was a good workshop, but it pointed out how much we need to improve and how difficult it is to bring less active people back into the fold. At the same time, it was great to know that we all struggle and have common thoughts and feelings and we are all praying for one another. So today we woke up ready for success. We spent a couple of hours in Brother Leonard’s 100 year old house and mostly listened to him tell about his life, his children, and his sweet wife who is in a rest home nearby. He has been very active in the branch over the years, and still comes whenever he feels well enough. It was a nice visit. Then we tried to find a few members whose names are on the branch list – we found the houses, but no one was home. Then Dad and I both had the feeling that we needed to visit The Hanna Family. We had not met them yet, but we got a call from a friend of theirs a few weeks ago asking us to teach them. They had the first lesson from the Elders, but this friend thought Dad and I would be a good fit for them. Anyway, as we drove up, John Hanna was walking out the door. We introduced ourselves, and he said he had just spoken to that friend and was hoping we would come by soon. We met Rachel and their two little boys, ages 7 and 4. They have a daughter, older I think, who was in the house. They were all just leaving to go to a family Birthday party, and if we had not come right then, we would have missed them!! We had a nice talk, and we will go back on Tuesday for a real lesson. When we got to the car, we found that this friend of theirs had called us at the exact time that we were visiting with them. We are excited about the Hanna’s because it isn’t often that missionaries have the opportunity to teach an entire family at the same time. Both John and Rachel sincerely wanted us to come back as soon as possible. Please pray for this sweet family. They remind us of our sons and daughters in laws and we would love to see the blessings of the gospel come into their lives.

Hope to talk to you this weekend. We love you. Mom and Dad