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.

We had visitors!!!

On July 28th, David's birthday we both received the best present ever. Tiffany, Colby and the kids came to Florida on vacation and we made arrangements to spend most of the time with them. We met them @ Epcot Center and I could hardly refrain from crying, I was so excited. The kids have all grown so much. Lexie had changed the most, of course, and I couldn't believe how much she talks. We spent that evening having dinner at a restaurant that moved like a carousel and Cutler was very intrigued then we watched the fireworks. Noah kept trying to figure out how they made them go off. He's so smart.

We stayed in Orlando also so we didn't have to travel back & forth. Early the next day, we went to the Magic Kingdom. By this time the Labrum's had learned how much water and gatorade you have to drink. It was really hot and humid, we were all very drained. We rode all the rides we could like Peter Pan, Thunder Mountain, Pirates and Lexie liked the Carousel Horse the best, I think. We were exhausted by noon but we kept on going. About 3 we finally gave in and went back to our rooms before we met for dinner. That evening we went to dinner at a really nice place called T-Rex Restaurant. The food was in enormous portions and it was decorated with dinosaurs and ice caves.

Friday we spent the day @ Animal Kingdom, I think this is were we all had the most fun. There wasn't a lot of rides but the safari ride was nice. Seeing the animals was really neat and we didn't have to walk and it was in a covered safari bus. We were really worn out and hot. 

 Saturday we went to Hollywood Studios. That afternoon we said goodbye and drove back to the ranch. After church on Sunday, we traveled back to Orlando and picked them up and brought them to where we are serving our mission. There is a guest trailer that is nice and because there's no room in our place we had them sleep there. We loved having them there and showing them around. It only took the kids a short time and they felt right at home. They loved Gus, the alligator that is stuffed and lives with us in the visitors center.

 

Monday we loaded up on the tour bus and took them on a tour. It was so hot we didn't see too many animals, but we seen a few small alligators.

We drove to the beach which is only 30 minutes from us and everyone had a great time. We couldn't stay too long because we had arranged for an Air boat ride and we didn't want to miss it.

That evening we meet with Robbie Justesen who works on the ranch and we gave us a ride on the air boat. I hadn't done this before and it was awesome. We drove down a canal which was beautiful and then it opened up into a lake. It was huge and had lots of alligators. As they could hear the boat they would run off the banks into the water. We saw lots of birds and even saw a wild pig. It was too quick to get a picture, but what a ride. We really had a great time.

Tuesday morning I took the kids and went on a hike from the trailer to the visitors center. It's about 3 blocks. It was lots of fun, they picked up sea shells, looked for bugs, chased the butterflies, dug in the dirt with the shovels. and played on the porch chasing the little green frogs.

We went to the church and made tye-died shirts with my summer club group and that was lots of fun.

I really enjoyed showing them what grandma and grandpa does here on our mission. While we went to the church Colby went to work with Grandpa. The afternoon was quiet and we finally had time to visit and catch up. What a wonderful week. The only thing that could have made it better would been if all the family could have been here. We drove them to the airport which only took about 45 minutes. It was really hard to say goodbye. We are so blessed to have such wonderful children and grandchildren. We know this mission is a blessing not just for us but for them also. We can see the Lord's hands in the lives of our children and their families and we are so thankful for it. We hope that our grandchildren know why we are here and realize how much we love the Lord.

THANK YOU FOR COMING AND SPENDING YOUR VACATION WITH US.

Deer and a HOG

The deer come into their backyard almost every day. Mom buys a 50 lb. bag of corn to keep at the house, and feeds them a cup every night.

Ok, this part is sad. The missionaries were invited to go to a luau they had one night on one of the treks. So they shot this hog from the ranch, and they cooked it and ate it at the luau. Mom said it was really good.

(I beg to differ)

I'm working on getting dad to take pictures of other things, besides animals. So hopefully the next time they venture up to Epcot, I mean the temple, maybe he'll get me what I want...hint hint!!

A couple of pictures

Dad doing what he loves most...WORKING!!

Mom doing what she loves most...CRACKING THE WHIP!! (according to dad)

They're still doing great and still loving their mission. They've been without power twice now. Along with that, there's no A/C, and no water. To be prepared for those times they have to store gallons of water. As soon as the power comes back on mom goes back to boiling and storing more water for the next time. Sounds kinda like the pioneers to me!

All kinds of friends

It's just a little thing!!

Until you have to hold it

Mom isn't much for any type of reptile, Dad seems to be a bit more brave.

Missionary Newsletter

This was an excerpt from the newsletter that explains in more detail the things mom & dad have been doing on their mission:

Deseret Cattle and Citrus, St. Cloud, FL: Elder David & Sister Donetta Miller: Elder Miller has been working on several projects since we have arrived. He is helping with the remodeling of the general manager’s bathrooms. It’s coming a little slow, but it will be so nice when it’s completed. Air conditioning unit pump systems, hanging fixtures, and troubleshooting lights have all kept him busy in April. He will begin service maintenance on A/C units in May. The sister’s have taught me to crochet. That was a challenge. We delivered quilts, receiving blankets, baby hats and booties, balls, dolls, and burp cloths to the Osceola County Volunteer Center. The sisters have kept very busy.


Elder Miller & I have been called to work as ordinance workers in the Orlando Temple. We have been blessed as we serve in the Lord’s house. We have also been called to work as the Young Single Adult advisors in the ward. They are amazing and so full of the spirit. April 24th was “A DAY OF SERVICE” in this area. Our ward participated in Habitat for Humanity. We drove to Kissimmee to paint an elderly sister’s home. What a great way to bond with the ward members.

Update on dad

For anyone who has known my dad for even a short time, you know there's always something going on with him. Ok, maybe you don't know that. He doesn't like people to know certain things about him.
Since they've been in Florida he's been having problems with his knee. Last week they went to Orlando to have an MRI. They weren't able to get in to a dr. until Tuesday to find out that he has a torn ACL.
Apparently it's not bad enough to the point he needs surgery. It definitely won't heal itself, so eventually he'll have to have surgery, it just depends on how long he can deal with the pain. Right now they're still in the decision making process of this. Come home to have the surgery (it's cheaper @ home), stay and have surgery (by the time they pay for flights home and back + surgery it's about the same), or deal with the pain.
All we can do for them at this point is pray that they'll know the best thing to do for him, and that they'll feel good about their decision.
When I know more I'll definitely post it.

(Dad, I know you're loving this!! I love you!!)

They're extending

Ever since mom & dad talked to us about serving a mission, dad has said they would be gone for a year. Mom was not on the same page. Well, about 2 weeks ago they were asked to be the lead couple. That entails being there for a year. I'm pretty sure dad was all about it...no questions asked. But mom, she worries, and wonders, she's a mom. So they have decided to stay and be the lead couple. They are moving into the Carrol House. It's bigger, but they have to keep their stuff back in the back room, so it's not roomier. But if we were to visit...they would have a place for us to stay!! That also means their address will change. I'll post it when I get it from them.

I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed with the picture taking they've been doing. Neither one of them ever get camera happy, so it's good to see that it's important to remember certain times of our lives. Here are some more of what they've sent recently.

Dad doing what he does best, electrical stuff

So tell me what kind of mission it is when you can go sightseeing and touring pretty much whenever. They've been to Disneyworld. And now they just visited the Kennedy Space Center. Mom says it's only about 30 miles from them and they can see the shuttle on the launch pad right now out the back window. It's supposed to lift off on the 14th, so I told her to take pictures. Anyway, this road is on the way to the K.S.C. So Pretty!!

An airboat that I'm assuming dad uses when he has to go down the river.

The livestock. You can go to the ranch website http://www.deseretranchflorida.com/ to learn more about what the ranch is for and what they do. It's pretty amazing.

Funny picture. Sandhill cranes at their morning feeding. They look like they're on the front lawn.

A rainy day. Look at the size of those raindrops! Ew, and the mud puddle.

This is the office I think where people come to take a tour of the ranch.

And this is the beautiful tour bus they get to see the ranch on. Don't be jealous. Mom said they get to talk into a mic and everything!!