Matthew & the Armor of God and Snow Day

One of the wonderful families we have been working with is the Bensons. Monte is the Dad and Matthew is the 12 year old son. Matthew has become involved in scouts and loves it. We have been having family home evening with them. In this lesson Matthew put on the whole armor of god including being girt about with truth, having the breatplate of righteousness, being shod with the preparation for the gospel of peace, taking the shield of faith, wearing the helmet of Salvation and weilding the sword of the Spirit. It was a fun lesson and I think we all learned a lot.

Since our daughter and her family came to see us , we decided to take a snow day. This is Nooksack Falls on the way up to Mt. Baker. We cac see it often but neven had been there before. I think we'll go back after the Mission

This is quite a group with varied interests, energies and talents. It is always fun to be able to be with them.  It was a little cooler that we thought it would be but 50 degrees with snow in August isn't bad.

It's hard to tell which is whiter the snow or the hair. We are loving our Mission. It was good to go to the mountains but it will be nice to be back and doing missionary work too.

Everybody seemed to have a great time. Before long everyone cold wetand hungry so it must have been a successful trip. Even Christopher was cold down to his toes.

The grandkids said since Grandma and Grampa were on a mission the would do some service for them. The all worked really hard. It was amazing how much they were able to get done. We appreciate all of their help. We also are grateful for all of the cards letters and pictures they send.

As you can see the stake garden is doing well. We love to go there if we can get some investiagators or inactives to go with us. Lots of people go there and work and when the harvest is ready, people help  themselves.

Elder Perkins ( top) and Elder Green ( bottom) had a great time there. They work hard and enjoyed the fellowship.

They especially enjoyed spending time with Mike Murray their investigator. Mike read the book of Morman cover to cover, came to church many times but has recently decided to attend a church that doesn't ecourage him to quit smoking.  He has tried but so far has been unsuccessful in quitting. He is a good guy and we will see him from time to time. As you can see the harvest is good with lots of tasty vegetables.

Lots of people come here just to relax and enjoy good company.

Sister Curtis loves coming here too! She jumps right in and attacks those weeds. Hopefully we will have some string beans soon.

We work with some really wonderful people. We love this one Sister, Sister Robinson . She is a little forgetful but has a heart of gold. We gave her a ride home from church one Sunday and when Sister Curtis admired her daisies she insisted we take some home. What a delight!!

 One of the wonderful things that happens to senior missionaries is that they get to take a few days off once in while. Sinde we had a new grandson, Emerson Eugene Curtis born in July we got to take trip to Portland to see him. Of couse we got to see everyone else too. This is our daughter-in-law Stephanie. She is wonderful person and a marvellous mother. We are always delightedto see her.

Ainsley is their 4th child and is working hard a keeping up with the boys. She is always happy and fun to be around.

Jacyn is next. He is a bundle of energy. He seems to keeps going faster and faster. He is ready to try almost anything. He is the challenge to his dad that his dad was to us. It is great to watch him.

Gavin is next. He is transitioning from a bike with trainer wheels to one without. He  was doing well. He fell several times but got right back on. He was determined to ride without those trainer wheels.

Mckinlee is the oldest and seems to have life figured out. She is well put together and a great help around the house. She likes to do outdoors things like the rest of her family.

Luke (Dad) is Emerson's buddy.  They love to spend time with each other. Luke spends a lot of time a work but he still saves time for the kids. His job has recently moved him from San Diego to Portland. They are loving it. I think they may be in Portland for a while.

Of course the trip would not have been complete if Sister Curtis had not got some time to hold Emerson. What a delightful child he is. We were so grateful to be able to spend some time with Luke and his wonderful family. They really do treat the senior missionaries well