Food Bank at the Episcopal Church, Ada, OK

The third week of each month the Episcopal Church hosts a food bank. Wednesday morning we unloaded pallets of food, hefted and unpacked boxes, filled bags with food, met many new friends, and had quite the workout. But we had lots of fun and felt great when we were finished. Thursday morning we went back to load grocery carts and take out food to cars. It is a well-organized project and very worthwhile to the community. The people from the Catholic Church made 300 sack lunches to give out to people. Volunteers were from the Episcopal, Methodist, Catholic, and now, the LDS church.  We plan to continue helping with this project until we leave our mission.

The week before, we attended a gathering at the Heritage Arts Center, where we met Suzanne and Angus and asked where we could volunteer in the community. Well, I didn't realize we were talking to the King and Queen of service here.  So since then, we have helped clean up a school in Ada, attended a Rotary Club meeting, worked at the food bank, and will be going to the school to listen to children read.  It's a great experience to rub shoulders with new people in the community and to serve.

Elder Lemmert breaking down boxes (after he unloaded them from pallets)

Angus, a 40 year Boy Scout leader, is putting cans out as fast as he can so we can load them into bags.

You can see some of the 500 bags that we prepared to giveout the next day.  Half of the bags are canned goods, and half are packed with dry foods. 

207 (10 pound) bags of potatoes and boxes of bread

Putting canned goods into bags on our assembly line

Sisters Caudill and Garner riding home after a hard morning's work on Thursday.

P-Day (Preparation Day) with the missionaries at Bouncy House, Ardmore, OK

August 10, 2015, we joined the Elders and Sisters at their Bouncy House P-day event in Ardmore, OK.  As you can see, we did not participate in the events, but enjoyed watching and cheering on the missionaries in all their silly "sports" endeavors. There is obviously a generation gap here!

Elders Martinez (our new "green" Elder) and Elder Neil (our District Leader). Elder Martinez certainly went for Elder Neil's head. Not sure if there was some pent up emotion here, but he knocked him to the ground and Elder Neil could not get up because he kept rolling around!

Elder McGinnis (our former District Leader and current Zone Leader) and Elder Lemmert -- good buddies

This is the velcro wall where you wear a suit and jump up and stick on the wall. The problem here is that this Sister's hair got stuck on the other sister's suit and it took a painful five minutes to "unstick" her.

Sister and Elder Reeder, our friends who serve their mission in Paul's Valley, OK. They are wonderful missionaries! They leave for home (Utah) in September.

Elder Lemmert's first Baptism

On August 15, 2015, Stephanie was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! We were so excited to see her carry through her commitment and enter the waters of baptism. She is so happy and anxious to progress with her family in the Gospel.  We have known her several months and have talked with her, taught her, had discussions with her, have seen her change and move forward through difficult times, and follow through on her commitment to Jesus Christ.

Stephanie and Elder Lemmert before Stephanie's baptism

Stephanie, Sister Lemmert and Elder Lemmert--very happy to see Stephanie baptized!

Sister Caudill, Stephanie, Sister Garner, who taught some of the lessons to Stephanie

Stephanie & Nashoba Hill's wedding

 Stephanie Hanks and Nashoba Hill were married on August 8, 2015. They have two children and now they are a complete family. We met Stephanie in November 2014 and have been visiting and teaching her (along with the missionaries) since then. Nashoba's sister, Taloa, is a member of the Church and we met Stephanie at Taloa's home.  Stephanie has changed dramatically since she has been living the Gospel standards and praying. She is happier, self-motivated, and anxious to have an eternal family.

Sunhawk, Tuska, Stephanie, Nashoba, Kenneth and Hatuk (Nashoba's brothers)

Elder Lemmert and David Hill.  Brother Hill is the father of many children (some in the above picture) who love their Native American heritage and keep their culture alive.

Nashoba and Taloa (brother and sister)

Nashoba, Tuska, Kenneth, Sunhawk, David, Hatuk Hill

Transfer Week --Seems to Involve Food!

TRANSFER BREAKFAST:  French Toast, 2 pounds of bacon, 1 loaf of homemade bread, orange juice, strawberries and blueberries, eggs, hash browns, syrup, jam, and lots of butter!  No leftovers!

 Elder Neil on his 4th or 5th (?) piece of french toast. These two Elders can really eat!

 Sisters Moore (going home) and Sister Caudill

 After breakfast siesta on the recliners the Elders so kindly gave to us as a trade for smaller ones. They regret it,  but we don't!

 Sister Moore, Sister Caudill, Elder Lemmert (trying to look as large as Elder McGinnis), Elder McGinnis (trying to look as small as Elder Lemmert), and Elder Neil - they are wearing their service attire.

 So who is the strong one?? Well, at least Elder Lemmert beat Elder McGinnis twice in "Horse" basketball

 Sister Moore at her missionary funeral.

Tuesday night after the Elders came by and cleaned out our ice cream. They don't want us to get tired of any flavors, so they clean it out regularly.  Did we mention that they are both football players?

Miscellaneous Moments!

 Another moving day!  We have helped move a few people lately, but we enjoy it, for a couple of hours anyway!  Sister Lemmert is incognito amongst many boxes.

 Sister Caudill in a dress that we found hanging in the hallway.  I told Sister Caudill that she ought to try the dress on and see how it fits for her next prom!  The top is all sparkly and the shoulder pads came out of the 80's, but we had a good laugh. She actually sent it home for adjustments!!

Good buddies, Elder Lemmert and Elder Neil at the Church.

 We see more roadkill on the roads in Oklahoma! This little guy is alive, however, so we hurriedly snapped a picture before he became wise to us.  We see interesting living creatures on the side of the roads.

 Sister Moore and Sister Caudill.

Elder Neil -- the Elders bought these gigantic jugs from Love's so they could keep hydrated. The two Elders barely fit in the front seats of the car, and then they add two giant jugs on their stomachs because they had a few more inches!

Please Watch the Terrific Video on the Importance of Preserving Religious Freedom

Our religious freedoms are basic to our nation and its people. We need to step up and be informed on how we can be involved to preserve everyone's religious freedoms that are now being threatened.
Take time to view this 3 minute video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPvqRiwDl5A&feature=em-subs_digest