Happy Halloween from Elder LeBaron

A "Wally World" House all decked out for Halloween on the way to Church!

Happy Halloween: Should I wear this hat to the ward Halloween party tonight?  Is Thanksgiving like Christmas and the turkey is really your father?  The branch president’s wife thought she was ordering sheet caramel for 70 candy apples but actually ordered 700 so we may be serving candy apples for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Spring Break.

We had an LDSSA leadership mtg. yesterday and Sister LeBaron and I filled it with Halloween puns.  The LDSSA Pres., James Taylor, was dying.  It was still a good ghoul setting session. 

I often play the piano for institute classes or lead the music – which I also do in our 

Way too much time on his hands

Sunday meetings for the branch.  It is thrilling to see the new converts, who were baptized earlier this month, teaching a class or blessing the sacrament.  Many institute students come from extremely difficult circumstances, have health problems, travel an hour or more to get to school, and have no support from home, or (worse) have to support their parents or have no parents. 

Sister LeBaron  gave a great Book of Mormon lessonthis morning to two students and me and made German pancakes, plus several loaves of bread with spinach and roasted garlic.  We have approval to buy a 7 cu. ft. chest freezer.  The supervisor said we needed to make a case for it.  I said, “Make a case for the freezer or our need for the freezer?”  Having a small freezer will allow us to store ice, items that come on sale, etc., and keep us from having to make a thirty-minute trip to Sam’s Club in Conroe every week or so.  We will also get a small BBQ grill  for the institute building.

We currently have about thirty students who attend some class or activity during the week.  It is still a bit discouraging to have only one or two students attend a class.  I told our supervisor this story: “An old rancher struggled through the deepening snows of a sudden storm one Sunday morning and finally reached the church.  The preacher saw him come in and confessed, “You are the only one here.  Should I still give my sermon.”  The rancher said, “All I know is that if I went out to feed the cattle and only one cow showed up, I’d still feed her.”  The preacher was delighted, pulled out all the stops, gave a two-hour sermon and quickly approached the rancher to ask how he had enjoyed the service.  The rancher said, “If only one cow showed up, I’d still feed her – but I wouldn’t give her the whole load.”  A couple of years ago, Bob and I showed up in Nauvoo on New Year’s Day.  Those church missionaries at the historical sites were like coiled springs waiting for someone to show up so as the only tourists there, we did get the “whole load” – several times.  (We just wanted rings made out of horseshoe nails!)   Now, the “no nonsense, sturdy” missionary shoes are on the other foot and we just wish we had Justin’s calf roping skills.

Teaching how to make Mary's White Lasagna

We have lots of chances to teach and work with the students.  This student, Megan, wanted to make the Lasagna we had at one of our devotionals.  Ruth Ann is going to teach cooking lessons next semester on Thursday nights and plan Devotional food around those lessons.  It will all be part of a Provident Living Institute Class.

Friday Devotional Lesson

We all learned how to do this from a utube video

Serving in the branch presidency is a quiet succession of callings, sustainings, interviews, settings apart, conducting music, meetings and feeding the branch members.  In Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream, he didn’t mention that the stone that was cut out of the mountain without hands to go forth to fill the whole earth wasn’t always going to be rolling downhill by itself.  We feel more, sometimes, like we are part of a handcart company and there are some long uphill pulls.

One of the challenges for us is that both the branch and Family Ward boundaries are huge and many members travel 20-30 minutes.  It is about 80 miles wide and 80 wide with Huntsville in the middle.

The lake in the upper right hand corner is a reservoir called Lake Livingston and is fed by the Trinity river.  As you can see, there is a lot of green area.  The trees are tall and beautiful but they have shallow roots.

Missionary "Training" at FHE