A Great Week in February 2012.

After some times of seeming failures in our work here in Garden City, Kansas, there has been some exciting things happen in February that we’d like to report on. We have had success with meeting a non-member daughter of a less-active sister in the ward. This daughter is on parole and living here with her mother. She is anxious to learn more about the Gospel because of reading the Bible a lot while incarcerated. We hope to be able to help her see the true picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the beautiful Plan of Salvation that Heavenly Father has prepared for us all to be able to come home to him. Perhaps the next meeting with her will help her realize she can change her life to be in tune with God’s plan for us all.

Sister Howlett is all decked out in snow coat and hat, showing the snowflakes on Elder Howlett's hat and her bags. This snow storm took place on 20 February, then on the 22 February it was 70 degrees F weather.

Another success is with the mother of an active young man who is a Priest in the GC Ward here. He comes a lot and blesses the sacrament once in a while too. Anyway, his mother is a member but she has lost her testimony and is even wondering if God even cares about her. She reads the Bible a lot, she says,  and she loves that, but not the Book of Mormon. So we taught her about the Book of Mormon and how it is Another Testament of Jesus Christ with His full Gospel in it. She said she would start reading the Book of Mormon too. A younger son of hers had a bone disease where the back bone was disfigured and continued to distort his body as he grew older. I can't remember the name of the disease. When we met him last Fall he was in a hospital bed in their front room and had constant care from the family and a nurse. He could not talk but could communicate with smiles and occasional gestures. He was about 12 yrs. old. He finally got Pneumonia and the fluids kept filling up his lungs. Soon he was on life support and he had lost all ability to communicate. He didn't seem to be "there" anymore. When we went to see her this week, the mother told us that her son died. After learning that he seemed to be mostly gone and would not ever come out of this state because of the continued distortion deterioration of his disfigured body, he was just being supported on life support tubes, etc. and she had to decide what to do about it. Finally she decided to stop the life support and he died. Now she cries all the time wondering if she did the right thing in turning off the life-support for her son. She told us that she does have a job, and it is very good for her to have that so she has something to do. Also she has three other children to care for, so she must keep going. But it is so hard and she wonders if God really cares for her and will ever forgive her. With the help of the Holy Ghost, we hope to be able to bring peace and understanding to this troubled woman. She has a lot of misconceptions about the Church and its doctrines, so we will continue to answer her questions and teach as best we can.

This is a picture of Deanne Peat, a stalwart new member who often feeds all us missionaries. She delights in serving others, including at the Senior Citizen's center.

A third success is that a less-active physically handicapped man has started coming back to Church because we told him we were going to give a lesson in one of the hours of Church. He said he wanted to come to church that week. So he came and liked being there so much, that he has continued to come each week since then. Another good brother in the ward that used to be his home teacher for years gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon on CDs so he could listen to it since this physically handicapped brother is having a hard time reading the Book of Mormon. When we went over to see him and work with him on some Book of Mormon questions we had given him previously, he was listening to those CDs. He feels the spirit of the Lord so much more now. We are so happy for him.

At left are the two regular members of our English class we teach. From left to right, President Miguel Benitez (who was the branch president of the former Garden City Spanish Branch), Roberto Velasquez (who used to be a bishop in Mexico) and Elder Howlett (who is the teacher of the English class). We have other members of the class come and go, but none regular like these two great men.

In addition to the good work being done, Sister Howlett has been able to rest a lot, so she is feeling better from a recent flare-up of her Multiple Sclerosis. This one seemed to cause her hands to go numb, especially while sleeping. She would awaken from the aching of her hands, several times in the night, as she turned in bed and the blood began to go back into the hands. Also the usual feeling of her nerves being on edge all over her body has mostly subsided now. Lots of rest has made the difference though her fingertips on her left hand are still tingling and somewhat numb, but she seems to be better when she doesn't get over-stressed, as stress seems to be the main reason for the flare-up. Heat has been a real factor is causing a flare up in the past, but we don't have to worry about getting too hot here right now because it is winter and we keep getting cold air and some rain or snow coming down occasionally. At any rate, Sister Howlett seems to be on the mend again.

Here is a picture of a sweet sister, Janice Allen (pictured in the middle), with her care giver - Brigitte (Janice's son's girlfriend), and her son, John Allen on the right. Elder and Sister Howlett, Sister Peat and some brethren from the Garden City ward helped Janice move out of the nursing home she was in and into her own appartment where she gets round-the-clock care. Janice loves to come to church when she feels healthy enough.

So it was a good week.