You've got a friend in me

"You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me"

(Randy Newman)

"When the road looks rough ahead
And you're miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said

you've got a friend in me
Yeah, you've got a friend in me"

 

It's been said, "Friends are like walls. 

Sometimes you lean on them, and sometimes it's good just knowing they are there." 

 

Our friend, Alex, from the Poinciana Branch,

is currently in a rehabilitation home recovering from several strokes, so we took the opportunity to stop by and visit him this week in an attempt to cheer him up.

"You've got troubles and I've got 'em too
There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you
We stick together and see it through

'Cause you've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me"

As we all know, friends are kisses blown to us by angels...

Since we just happen to be talking about friends, guess what? I got mail! 

To be honest I was just thrilled to receive a package, let alone a BYU Bookstore bag as a memento from Janie all the way from Education Week in Utah, that is until

I opened the bag and found this...

" Unto Us a Son is Given", by my favorite artist, Liz Lemon Swindle!

 

To simply be remembered during Education Week would have been more than enough, but to choose to send me the one perfect thing that would cause my mind to be flooded with so many wonderful memories was quite another.

Henry David Thoreau once said, "The language of friendship is not words but meanings." As one who remains speechless at such an outpouring of love may I just add my Amen.

Thank you doesn't begin to express my gratitude.

 

"Some other folks might be
A little bit smarter than I am
Bigger and stronger too, maybe
But none of them will ever love you
The way I do it's me and you

Girl, and as the years go by
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny

You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me and that's all that matters"

 

 

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be!

 The sisters assigned to the Apopka area had a garage door in the condo where they were living that simply would not open. So Super Senior Missionary to the rescue! Elder Busath had it fixed in minutes and now they will be able to park their car and their bikes in the garage.

It was our Preparation Day aka Play Day today and since we had no apartments to open (very unusual) this transfer we decided to join some friends and head up to DeLand

for some pancakes.

 

Native people known as the Mayaca lived in the Deleon Springs Park area for at least 6,000 years.   In the late 1500s, Spanish missions were established in the area.  In the early 1800s, settlers built sugar and cotton plantations that were sacked by Seminole Indians during the Second Seminole War. By the 1880s the springs had become a winter resort, and tourists were promised "a fountain of youth impregnated with a deliciously healthy combination of soda and sulphur."

 The fountain of youth is now just a crumbling rock structure and dry as a bone :( but we have to confess that we check it out (just in case) every time we come up this way.

Friendship isn't a big thing-it's a million little things...

 At The Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant, guests can make their own pancakes at the table and we took full advantage of their delicious buttermilk and buckwheat pancake mixes with our favorite toppings (blueberries, apples, even pecans) along with some of our senior missionary friends.

 
Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse...
Construction began back in 1884, soaring 175 feet tall into the sky, atop a 12 foot deep by 45 foot wide foundation of brick.  The tower tapers in from its 32-foot diameter base to its 12-foot diameter top. The brick walls are eight feet thick at the bottom and two feet thick at the top.  It took one and a quarter million bricks and three years to build.  There are 203 very steep steps to the top and we took every single one of them to get the amazing pictures below.

 

We made it! 

All 203 steps and the reward was an amazing view of the Atlantic ocean and a nice cool breeze on a very hot and humid day.

 Remember Howie in the Hills?

Well we found another of his relatives on our way to the lighthouse  :)

Okay, I admit it. I am spoiled! 

Today we stopped by the Mission Office to take care of some important business and I discovered that I actually got mail, again!  Twice in one week is unheard of, but hey I am not complaining.  Today I received a sweet card from my sister, Shirley, and a little notebook that pretty much sums it up, "There will be no crisis today, my schedule is full."

 

Friends are relatives you make for yourself-Eustache Deschamps-so true!

 

It's been a pleasant "calm before the storm" week, but Monday begins the countdown for the arrival of nineteen new missionaries in less than a week. 

We still have much to do, but wouldn't have it any other way!

 

It an amazing experience to do our part in hastening His work

and we highly recommend it.

 

Thanks for stopping by...see you later...

The Road You Are On Will Take You Where it Goes

 

"The road you are taking will take you where the road goes and nowhere else, and as a corollary, if the road you are on is not taking you where you want to end up, you need to get off that road now!" (Forever Sisters, p. 87)

Basically if you want to be healthier, you have to stay on the healthy road, which means no donuts or chips, and obey the rules of eating right and exercising :0

Happy September!

To my grandchildren; if you want to do better in school, obey the rules of that road, plan, study, do your homework, fulfill the requirements, and follow that road until it ends.

 If you want to be a more effective Zone Leader, pray, prepare and

map out your plan as you head on down that road.

 If you want to be safer, have Elder Busath install a smoke alarm and CO detector

in the little, old home where you are assigned.

 If you want to be on the road to silliness, install your "third bathroom" high overhead on the shelf in your master bedroom :)

 Leesburg Zone Leaders, Elder Forrest and Elder Harman

just returning from a Labor Day Pancake Breakfast.

 Elder and Sister Western on the road to making the Lecanto Sister's condo safer.

 If you want to be on the road to inviting the Spirit into your home, post inspiring messages to encourage and remind you of what's really important.

 Lecanto Sisters Jamison and Petersen on the road to a happier home

now that all the repairs on their long list have been completed.

 Leesburg Senior Missionaries Sister and Elder Western on the road
to super hero status in our book.

 Random, we know, but maybe Howey is a relative of "Where's Waldo"
and we did in fact see it while...on the road.

 Elder Hansen, on the road to eternal youth,  

celebrating his birthday at our last District Meeting

 Elder Busath attending an iPad class at the Apple Store in the Florida Mall,
on the road to being a techno geek.

 

 A beautiful baby blanket for our Shelby Mae, due in just a few weeks, made by Amber Hammock, in the Pleasant Hill Ward. On the road to being thoughtful grandparents?

 After spending the whole day on the road again in Sumterville, looking for a new home for our missionaries, with no success, we might add.  We decided that we needed a good ending to an unproductive day and purchased and assembled a new vacuum cleaner needed for the sisters assigned to the Belleview Ward.

 On the road to being more physically fit and community service minded.

On September 6, 2014 President and Sister Berry accompanied us on the annual 5K Heart Walk and Run at the University of Central Florida.

It's our P Day and we actually had the opportunity to relax and have some fun. 

Of course that was after the 5K walk, cleaning our apartment, running errands.  So we decided venture down the road to International Blvd. and go to a movie theatre in one of the malls to see "The Hundred Foot Journey" which was highly recommended.

 It was a wonderful movie and definitely worth seeing!

 

Last, but certainly not least, we had the privilege to attend the baptism of our neighbor Marie Duperat, and her two daughters Christy and Alicie Desire, taught by Sister T. Jensen and Sister Grosland assigned to the Hunter's Creek Ward.

 

 

In closing, we just want to assure you that there is good news as we all travel down this winding, some times hazardous  road of life...
 

We can avoid becoming emotionally and spiritually lost and from having to suffer the consequences of dead ends and devastating detours. There is someone who is looking out for each of us.  He is our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, seer and revelator for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  If we are obedient and follow his counsel, we can avoid making serious mistakes and will arrive safely at our destinations.

 

Be safe, and thanks for stopping by!
See you later alligator...