Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

We hope you get to have some yummy cake & ice cream. We miss you and love you!!

President Uchtdorf

Just thought I might send you a picture of what went on around here this weekend.

When President Uchtdorf was leaving the Carroll house on Friday, Erik Jacobsen made mention to him that we were called here on a 18 month mission. Then he corrected himself when they got in the car. President Uchtdorf told Erik that he would of asked us to stay another year if he had known our calling was only for one year. Your mother is very happy he didn’t. The last picture is the seminary class that Rene Jacobsen teaches. She is the one far in the back.

Enjoy

Love You All

Mom & Dad

Making a Delivery

These 2 pictures were taken when we delivered our things to the Osceola Council for Aging Volunteer Center.

Standing is Sister Jenson, myself, Sister Welch and Sister Randall. Sister Brown is taking the picture so she is not in it. We deliver things about every 3 months. This particular time we have approx $1200. worth of items we were donating.

After delivery we spent 2 hours @ Joann's Fabric store getting new supplies then went to lunch. It was a great day out with the Sisters.

Summer Clubs

Summer Clubs here on the ranch have been going for 14 plus years.  The Sister missionaries were asked to particiate and we had a great time.  The children that live on the ranch between the ages of 3-13 can participate.  They put them in age groups and then ask Moms and other Women to do any kind of class for 10 weeks every Tuesday & Thursday from 9 - 12.  This is a list of just some of the classes held.  Reading, outdoor games, sports, crafts, dance, preschool classes, art, cooking, Know Your Country, & many more.  The age groups were 3-4 and they basically did preschool for 3 hrs Tuesdays & Thursdays for 10 weeks.  The 5-6 yr olds did 3 different classes every Tuesday and Thursday.  First class was dancing, craft and eating healthy.  I got to help with this class and what a handful they were. Second class was animals, things that crawl and story time.  Third class was outside games.  Because of their ages, these classes had to be short to keep their attention.  Next was the 7-9 year olds, this was the group that I helped with @ 9:00am each Tuesday.  We did crafts.  They learned how to and embroderied a cat or dog of their choice.  This took 3 classes to complete.  Then the 4th & 5th weeks they made a frame for their picture out of cardboard and cloth and put them together.  They turned out really cute.  The 6th week they made wooden necklaces and bracelets.  The 7th & 8th week they sanded, painted, and wrote on a block of wood for their room.  Most just put their name on it, but one boy painted his like a book and wrote Book of Mormon on it.  It was cool.  The 9th week was tye-tied t-shirts.  It was really messy but the kids had fun. That was the week Tiffany & her family were here so the kids each made a shirt to take home.

 Then the last week, we made a fold up photo book made out of card board, cardstock paper and pictures.  I wasn't there but they were really neat.  This age of kids left our class @ 10:00 and went to 2 more classes for the day.  They learned about different countries and their foods, and then did outside games.  The older groups did sports, inside and outside games.  All age groups did reading.  Each group sets goals and they are tracked each week.  After the 10 weeks, we held a Summer Club Finale at the church were the parents came and each group showed off what they had done.  The 5-6 yr olds did a dance and it was so fun to watch.  They served cookies and punch.  What a great success it was and fun for all involved.  These moms are wonderful in keeping kids busy for the summer while the older kids @ age 14 begin to work on the ranch for their summers.       

The Rodeo Grounds

The Rodeo grounds here are used for all kinds of events held @ the ranch.  Obviously they hold actual rodeos there.  One is in March where they invite all the surrounding communities to come, particiate, and it is absolutely FREE, food and all.  We just missed it this year, but we will get to see it next March.  They also have one during the Christmas holidays, I'm told.  The men here have roping teams and each month they have competition held at the rodeo grounds.  Each month they progress or eliminate so by the end of the year there is a BEST ROPING TEAM.  Lots of competition.  Just recently the Stake held their Stake Youth Conference here and the rodeo grounds underwent a makeover to look like Jeruselum.  It was a big hit.  Since we have been here we have been to an Eagle Scout Court of Honor, a wedding reception, & the Fourth of July Celebration.  They hold barbeques and lots of other events there.  On the 4th, they even had a horse race, which I really enjoyed. 

Humanitarian work

Here in Florida the Elder Missionaries have a set routine. They go to work every day. The Sister missionaries on the other hand have several things they can choose to do. We are asked to do community service. We choose to do things that we can work on at the ranch and then deliver.
The ranch is so large it is actually in 3 counties. It's biggest part is in Osceola County. We located a volunteer Center which is called Osceola County Council on Aging Volunteer Center. This center works with the county, but is an independent organization. More than 1600 volunteers spend time to organize Meals on Wheels, handle the Womens and Childrens Abuse center, handle the "Food Bank", help @ Hospitals with the newborns, care centers for the elderly and many more needs. It takes in every kind of need in a community there is. This was the perfect fit for us Sister Missionaries. So we set up a time to meet with them, took a tour, then asked what we could do.
So here are the needs so far: We sew cloth dolls and doll dresses(1) and we sew Nerf like balls and stuff them with plastic grocery bags for the abused center for children(2). One sister is now teaching us to make simple toddler dresses for needy children. We color "ABC books" (3)that teach underpriviledged children colors and the alphabet before they begin school. These books take about 13 hours of labor to complete just one. They go to places like Headstart programs. We crochet hats and booties(4), burp clothes(5), and receiving blankets(6) for the Newborns @ the Unwed mother center. Yes, I have learned to crochet and it wasn't easy. I had not crocheted since Young Womens but it came back pretty fast. I have just learned to do head bands with a flower(7) for newborn girls and they are pretty fun. We sew together quiet books(8) they use in Free Clinics for the children to play with. Of course, we make tons of lap blankets, fleece blankets(9), and tied quilts(10). These are used in care centers for the Elderly, on buses when they drive patients to appointments, and at the Abuse Centers.
The holidays are coming soon, so we'll be doing other projects also. This work is so rewarding. When we deliver and see the faces of those people and those that get to deliver them, we know they are going to great use. Service truely is the greatest feeling, so we sister missionaries say

"Forget ourselves and go to work".

A day for Donetta

Well, SURPRISE SURPRISE. Here's an update.


It's official, we received our formal letter extending our Mission until April 1, 2011. Wow, that sounds a long time away. We are currently in the Carrol House (Visitors Center) and it's a busy time for me. On the late mornings I get to sleep in until 6:15, dad is up by 5:30. By the time we get him out the door to be @ the office by 7:00, I feed the deer & the Sandhill Cranes, then we sister missionaries meet on the street and go walking. We get back by 8:00, it is so hot and humid that we are drenched by then. The days are busy with cleaning, tours, service projects, running errands, baking cookies, preparing lessons. Last week was a killer for me. On Wednesday my day started @ 4:00am because I went to seminary @ 5am in the morning to talk to the students. Yes 5:00am the kids have seminary. There were 14 youth in seminary this year and we went to their graduation. All 14 was on the honor roll, meaning 80% attendance & all 25 scriptures were memorized. On Thursday is our normal temple day which we have to be on the road by 5:30 so again 4:00, then Friday the whole Stake had a "DAY OF ELIJAH" at the temple. We were asked to help out so we had to be there again by 7:00. Friday night I crashed.