June 15, 2016

Dear family and friends,

This will be our last letter from the mission. It seems it has been a while since we last wrote. We have been going non-stop for the past few weeks. It is nearing the end of our mission, and things are getting busier and busier. We wish we could have been here in Pratt for our entire mission, because it is a great place and they are really putting us to good use.

Our house in Pratt. 

Since we last wrote we've had three new additions to the family. Rifka and Tyler brought us baby Annie on March 14^th (their first).  Caleb and Becca brought us baby Elizabeth on March 18^th (their fourth), and Jared and Courtney brought us baby Lukas on May 16^th (their fourth). We are so happy about these new babies and can't wait to get to know them better. Rifka and Tyler have also both completed college. Tyler received his Masters degree and Rifka completed her Bachelors degree. Congratulations to all of you. We're proud of all our family and everyone's accomplishments (especially our 17 grandchildren!).

Our Newest Babies.

Our Newest Graduates. 

We've had several opportunities for community service lately. Every year for the past 75 years Pratt has held a dinner in honor of everyone who is 75 years old and older. We were asked to help serve at this dinner. It was quite fun. There were about 350 elderly people there, and they really seemed to enjoy it. This annual dinner is always held during the week of the Miss Kansas Pageant, which always takes place right here in Pratt, Kansas. (Who would have thought?) So all of the Miss Kansas pageant contestants were at the Seventy-fivers’ Dinner. They were seated throughout the room sitting and visiting with these senior people. There were 36 contestants.

The Seventy-Fiver's Dinner. 

With Hannah Wagner, Miss Kansas 2015

The entertainment was a pop singer from the Seventies named Frankie Valens. He sang oldies like “This Magic Moment” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” He and Elder Gorden enjoyed visiting and reminiscing about the music business. 

With Frankie Valens 

We asked the lady in charge of the dinner if we could help her in any other ways. She requested that we take tickets for the pageant because the person she had wasn't available anymore. Naturally we said yes. So for two nights we took tickets at the only entrance to the auditorium. We counted our ticket stubs to learn that we had admitted about 500 ticket holders through our doors each night plus staff and other volunteers. We were wearing our name tags, of course, so we created a lot of visibility for the local church. Our branch President wants our church to be seen serving in the community so we were happy to report at Sunday’sBranch Council Meeting that we have been seen by many. 

The Miss Kansas Pageant was elegant and enjoyable.

Working at the pageant was also very fun for us and we were able to meet a lot of people. There are so many really nice people in Pratt. Because we helped out we were privileged to attend the Miss Kansas pageant for both nights of the preliminary competition. On the Saturday night of the finals we had out of town company.

Sister Gorden serving plates to the waiters at the event. 

We have written previously about our friends, Brad and Karen Beard, whom we meet in Lamar, Colorado at the beginning of our mission. They drove over this weekend to see us before we go home. It was great to spend time with them. They stayed in Pratt Saturday night and attended church with us Sunday morning. After church we had lunch at our house, and they headed back to their home in Syracuse, Kansas (on the Colorado border). 

After saying goodbye to Brad and Karen, we took off to Wichita for a devotional & testimony meeting hosted by the mission president. It was for new members and investigators. We had a new member, Kim, from the Pratt Branch that was asked to share her testimony, so we went with her and a few other members from our branch. We were able to hear some very tender testimonies. The gospel changes so many lives for the better when people come to realize what a blessing it is. 

At the devotional with Elder Hyer, Elder Melville, Skyler, Kim Nnabuike,
Tyler, Vanessa, Elder Gorden, Justus, Sister Gorden.

Kim was taught by the young Elders here, but she was struggling with several questions. Some of her questions were brought about by the mis-information available from local ministers and on the internet. We invited her and her daughter to dinner at our house, and we had a nice discussion that resolved her concerns. Three days before her baptism Kim asked Elder Gorden to perform the ordinance, but, sadly, her service was scheduled the same day as Tyler’s graduation, and our trip was already planned. We would have also missed Annie’s blessing in church the next morning. A few days ago, Dad told Kim that it was one of his biggest disappointments during the mission. She expressed that she was very disappointed, too. Kim is doing very well, and she will be a strong member of the church.

We made a new friend at the Apple Computer store in Wichita. After several casual discussions at the store, we visited Tony at his home and taught him about the Restoration of the Church. We will keep in touch with him after we are home, and, in fact, he may visit us in Arkansas after we are back. He made us laugh today when he said he was going to convert to Buddhism because he likes the idea of worshiping a deity the looks like him. Tony has a great sense of humor, and we all took an instant liking to each other.

With Tony Moreno in Wichita.

Since our last letter we have written and printed a complete Emergency Preparedness plan for the Pratt Branch. We headed up a major branch project to do a “Spring Cleaning” of our building inside and out. We were also appointed to learn and present the new program “Teaching in the Savior’s Way” to the Branch Council. It is an inspired method of helping our teachers become better teachers churchwide. Elder Gorden has played the organ in sacrament meeting and served as chorister during our Branch Conference. We continue to teach our classes on Sundays, and we still help prepare and deliver meals to shut-ins two days each week. Sister Gorden has also been busy helping two single sisters move, and she has been making cookies for just about everybody (and they love it!).

Having fun while moving Sister Chambers. 

Sister Chambers feeds us often, so we took her out for Mexican food. 

A man on our meal delivery route named Mr. Rayburne was the same age as Elder Gorden, and he was very lonely. Every time we took a meal to him, Dad would spend a few extra minutes talking to him and learning about him. He had been a truck driver and seemed to have had a very hard life. He had no family close. The last meal we delivered to him he did not answer the door, so Elder Gorden left his meal on the table as we are told to do. When we returned from our Arkansas trip we learned that he had been found dead in his bedroom the next day. It was disturbing news. 

Last week President Hopkins asked us to teach the Temple Preparation Classes to two sisters in the branch. We have already completed three of the classes. They are excited to learn about the temple and prepare to attend soon.  We intend to get all their lessons completed before we leave, so we are in high gear on that assignment. 

With our Relief Society President, Marlene Newell,
who insists that she PRAYED us to Pratt.

In addition to our other activities we have been asked speak in church next Sunday. So with that and lesson preparations our final days will be full, fun and busy. 

Thursday and Friday of this week we are going to make a trip to the Winter Quarters temple in Omaha. On the way we will stop to visit a few friends in Concordia for one last goodbye. 

The Sunflowers in Kansas. 

Several weeks ago we went to the Oklahoma Temple with a couple of zones in our mission, and it was very enjoyable. After our temple session the temple President spoke to us in a special meeting in the Terrestial Room. He addressed us for a while then took questions. It is unusual to have an opportunity like that. He was inspiring and profound. Many of the things he discussed were obviously too sacred for a letter like this. One thing we will share that seems appropriate is the comments he made about Jesus asking Heavenly Father to “take away this cup from me” (see Mark 14:36). In other words Jesus was asking to not have to endure the suffering that was before Him, but He was willing, saying,“nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” He was asking: isn’t there some other way? We know that Eve asked a similar question when she was faced with the choice of eating the fruit to learn the contrasts of good and evil - or not eating and remaining in the Garden forever and without children. President Campbell wondered if when we were faced with the choice of leaving our pre-mortal life and coming to mortality on earth to be experience trials and be tested - or remaining in that heavenly home in spirit form never to receive a body - wouldn’t we have also asked, “isn’t there some other way?” 

We know that each of us did choose to drink from the cup that was given us, and we are grateful for this life on earth, for the blessings of the gospel, and for our knowledge of the Savior and His wonderful Plan of Happiness that allows us to return to Him. We are thankful for the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth and for the priesthood ordinances that allows us to be sealed together as a family for time and all eternity. We are thankful for His atoning sacrifice that gives us a way to be forgiven of our sins and be clean at the last day. There is no other way. 

The Savior lives, and the church is true. We do so appreciate all your love, prayers, and support. Remember where your greatest joy is. Take care of and love each other.

We love you.

Elder and Sister Gorden

February 28, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

Things seem to be getting a little busier for us all the time, and that makes us happy.

This week we are starting another service project. We have volunteered at an elderly housing facility to help some of the residents write their personal histories.  We hope it that will be meaningful for them, and it should be a rewarding activity for us, too. We love hearing about peoples’ lives and their experiences. It always cultivates a deeper love for people when we learn about their struggles, challenges, and accomplishments. The solemn realization is that only recently they were actively working or raising families or going to school like the rest of us. It should be a fun service to do. We will keep you posted.

Sometimes there is more scenery on the walls in Kansas than there is on the highways. 

When we attempted to leave our meeting with the facility manager, our poor old buggy would not start. It had to be towed to the shop where it received a new starter. We were lucky that we were not in the boonies. It could have been much worse on several levels. 

You know that we have been delivering meals to shut-ins two days each week. Now on Thursdays we also help prepare the meals and clean up afterwards.

Last week was our stake “Fill the Temple Day” at the Oklahoma City Temple. We were able to go and do two sessions. We also had some time to spend with our friends from home, Ralph and Lorlinda Hackett, who are monthly temple workers there. It was great to visit with them and catch up.

With the Hacketts at the Temple.

Dinner with the Hacketts after the Temple. 

 We have continued to teach Julie Reed from Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Two weeks ago we invited her to the Saturday evening session of stake conference in Wichita, and she met us there. It was a 90 mile drive for her.  Elder David L. Evans of the Church’s missionary department was presiding, and it was a very, very spiritual meeting. We could not have asked for better speakers that evening. Everything said was so touching, and Julie felt the Spirit as well. She commented about how people shared their personal feelings and testimonies, and she was touched by it.

After the conference session we went to "Five Guys" for hamburgers with some other members of the branch. It was fun, and it was Julie’s first opportunity get to know some of the members. It was even better that we were in a more casual setting. Everyone here is very welcoming and friendly to her. As we mentioned before this is a very missionary oriented branch, and that sure makes a big difference. You feel loved and accepted instantly. All we have to do is teach the gospel, and the Spirit does everything else. We love it that people can decide for themselves if the church is true. Our part is to just share what we believe. The Spirit is the Testifier of truth. 

Our branch president, Carson Hopkins, with us at Five Guys.

We were also fortunate to have Elder Evans spend a whole day with all of the missionaries in Wichita on the Friday before the conference. What a spiritual feast that was. We learned a lot.

This week is transfer week. One of the missionaries, Sister Bringhurst, that has been serving here in Pratt will be going home. We will miss her and are anxious to see who will be coming in her place.  After our District Meeting last week in Hutchinson, we all went to Olive Garden for a “farewell” lunch. Elder Gorden ordered her a special dessert which made her happy. Then the restaurant made it complimentary which made Elder Gorden happy. The Hutchinson Elders were showing us some cool photos of places to see there, so we found one of those sites and made a few pictures of our own. Hutchinson is a little over an hour north of here.

We went to see the movie “Risen.” It is about the Romans attempting to find the body of Christ to prove that His resurrection was a scam. After searching every home and digging up every dead body in Jerusalem, the soldier leading the search ends up seeing the Savior and spending some time with Him and the eleven apostles. It is “historical” fiction, and some allowance can be made for that, but the depicting of events was disappointing. Most upsetting to us was the irreverent treatment of the apostles as boisterous buffoons and the dialogue which had Jesus and others making statements that were either blatant revisions of scripture or entirely made up. Needless to say, we did not like it at all. If you have not seen Risen save your money.

There is a sweet family of eight in our branch. They have all four of us Pratt missionaries over every Thursday evening for dinner. This last week we thought we were on Beale Street in Memphis! She served some of the best BBQ ribs that we've had in along time! She cooked them in the oven in a turkey bag! They were delicious. We always look forward to going to their home, and it is consistently delightful. He is a podiatrist here at the local hospital. Their last name happens to be Gordon. 

Brother Gordon, Elder Gorden, Sister Gorden and Sister Gordon. 

We are anxious for our three new grandbabies to arrive. We can't seem to part with our phones - not wanting to miss that call from Tyler or Rifka saying " this is it, we’re leaving for the hospital."

We saved our best news for last. Our friend Julie was baptized last night by Elder Gorden. It was a very sweet baptismal service. In fact, we can not imagine how it could have gone any better. Elder Gorden conducted the meeting with about 25 people attending. Our Sunday church services have attendance of 50 to 60 including over 20 children. Only 3 kids were at the baptism, so you can see that most of the branch came. We had five non-members there, three of whom are also investigating the church. A fourth was a friend of Julie’s from Oklahoma, and she requested a visit from the missionaries in her area. After the service, Elder Gorden asked one of the visitors what he thought of the meeting. He said, “Did you feel that? God was here!”

Baptism of Julie Reed on Feb 27, 2016

Julie is going to be a good member. She has been well taught and has done a lot of study on her own. She has a spiritual witness of the things she has learned, and she is committed to making a change in her life. Today, Elder Gorden confirmed her in sacrament meeting.

We hope everyone is doing well. The weather is beginning to get nice with a touch of spring here. Take care, be good to each other, and keep in touch.

We love you. Happy Leap Day!

Elder and Sister Gorden

February 7, 2016

Hello from Kansas,

We hope everyone is doing well today and had a great day at church. Life for us is busy here in Pratt. The Branch President gave us some more assignments today, and that always helps to keep us engaged. This little branch is very missionary oriented and that is exciting.
The sister missionaries met with us tonight at our house for a coordination meeting. (Dad is the Branch Mission Leader.) Mom made a chocolate fudge pie, and they loved it. We have noticed that missionaries are always hungry (for some reason), and it is fun to feed them.
We enjoyed our visit back to Rogers and Memphis two weeks ago. It is always great to be with the family and visit our mothers (and eat some real barbeque). Three sweet new babies are growing and will be joining the family soon. We are very excited to say the least.

No matter how you spell it, Grandpa loves his Suzies.

We have a true investigator that we are teaching. Her name is Julie Reed. She is soaking up all the lessons and receiving answers to her prayers to confirm that what she is learning is true. It is a wonderful thing that people do not have to take our word for it - they can pray to know if it is of God. Julie wants to be baptized on February 27! It has been very rewarding to see her progress. She is planning on coming to Wichita Saturday night for the adult session of Stake Conference. Then on Sunday she will join us for the morning conference broadcast in our building in Pratt. Next week will be the first Sunday since we have known her that she will not have to work. She is a cook at Sonic in a very small town called Medicine Lodge south of Pratt. She has started asking her boss for Sundays off, and hopes it will be permanent. 

Julie drove into Pratt Thursday evening for a tour of our church building, and she seems to be comfortable and excited about all we are teaching her. Please keep her in your prayers as she prepares for baptism. We have given her two “insulation” lessons to help her be on guard when Satan tries to interfere. Isn’t it interesting that only this church gets so many attacks to prevent someone from becoming a member or from going to the temple for the first time or from being sealed together as husband and wife for all eternity? We certainly had our share of that kind of adversity back in 1982 when we were baptized and later went to the temple. Julie will be an asset to this little branch, and it will be nice to watch her as she continues to learn and become truly converted unto the Lord.

District Meetings are fun, and sometimes we go out to eat afterwards. 

The sister missionaries are teaching a man named Tommy, and they have included us in some of the lessons. He is asking great questions and learning as much as he can. Tommy attended Elder Gorden’s Sunday School class today about the Fall (of Adam and Eve).  He was marveling at the doctrine and soaking it up like a sponge. We really like him. It is so fun to see the joy that comes to people when they discover eternal truths.

Sometimes we visit people who have dogs and cats! 

We have another general authority coming to the mission. Elder David F. Evans of the First Quorum of the Seventy will be spending the day with the missionaries on Thursday and Friday this week. Friday is our day, and we will drive to Wichita for a meeting from 9:00 to 4:30pm. Then on Saturday and Sunday he will preside at the Wichita Stake Conference. It has been a rare treat to have so many General Authorities come to speak to us and shake our hands. This mission has had three Apostles visit in the last two years. With the enormous growth of this worldwide church it is almost “statistically impossible” for that to happen. Elder Evans is currently serving as Executive Director of the church’s Missionary Department.

Sister Gorden & Lisa Schmidt enjoyed serving chili at the Red Cross Blood Drive

We continue to volunteer in the Pratt community, but everyone seems to be so well-staffed that opportunities are more scarce than we expected. We are still delivering meals to shut-ins, and next week we will start helping with the food preparation, too. There was an all-day blood drive recently, and our church was in charge of feeding everyone that participated. 
At testimony meeting in church today one of the elderly sisters told about how reading the Book of Mormon for the first time many years ago had brought about a change in her behavior. She noticed that she was not angry with people anymore. She was no longer yelling at her children. She was more peaceful and much happier. We close this letter with our testimony that the Book of Mormon is true. It changes lives. It changed ours.  

We love you all, and we thank you for your prayers. Take care of each other, and let us hear from you.

Mom and Dad

January 10, 2016

Happy new year everyone!

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas with family and all the activities that come with the holidays. It was a quiet holiday for us but nice at the same time. We enjoyed talking to all our children and other family members. 

We had dinner on Christmas Eve with our Branch President’s family, the Hopkins, including their six children and his parents. After dinner they all acted out the Christmas story, and it was very, very sweet. It is a nice tradition in their family.

The Hopkins family entertained us on Christmas Day. 

On Christmas Day they invited us to go shoot rifles, shotguns and pistols in the afternoon. Their whole family participated, and apparently it is a regular activity for them. It was great fun even though it was a very cold and windy day. Later that evening we had a delicious Christmas dinner at another members home. Their last name is Gordon, and they also have six children. They are a quality family, and they say we will be eating with them often. There are some really sweet families here in Pratt with young children. It brings back cherished memories of when our kids were all small. 

Don't mess with Elder Gorden! 

We were able to go to Oklahoma City and spend some time with Jared and Courtney and their kids during the Christmas break. We went to the temple together. It was a fun time. Then Caleb and Becca and their boys came to Pratt for New Year's. They showed up with all the crab and shrimp we could eat, and it was a meal we will remember. We were able to keep the family tradition going, even if on a smaller scale this year. It was great to have them here, obviously.

We love every chance we get to spend time with our kids! (Audrey and Grandpa)

Pratt is a good community, and our church is small here but strong. There are many recent converts, and it is great to see them coming to church and actively participating in the gospel. We still have many members to go meet. We arrived here right before Christmas and haven't had an opportunity to meet everyone. With the holidays a lot of people have been gone or otherwise busy. We are getting around to visit all of them slowly and steadily.

Pratt water towers show that the town has a
sense of humor.

There is an elderly lady in the branch named Betty who had us to dinner Friday night and she wanted us to meet her friend, Wilma. She said Wilma was never loved by her mother. It was really sad when she told us that Betty's mom has always told her " I should have drowned you when you were born!" Can you imagine? So obviously Wilma hasn't ever had much self esteem and needs to be loved, Betty explained to us. So before we went to meet Wilma, Betty wanted to say a prayer. If only you could have heard that sincere prayer she offered for her friend! Prayer is one thing that has impressed us a lot while being on our mission. Sometimes hearing these members makes us think we've forgotten how to pray. It seems the more humble circumstances people live in the more sincere their prayers become.  Anyway we meet with Wilma. She is such a sweet lady. It was obvious she didn't think a lot of herself, but she was gracious even though she did not know that we were coming. We visited a little while, and she let us show her a video that Betty had suggested. (It is a Mormon message about the ugly duckling, basically). Being there was a sweet experience. After the video she showed us some quilts and afghans she had made. It seemed to make her happy that we appreciated her good work. Another thing that helped us connect with her is that she once lived in Mountain Home, Arkansas, and she still has some family there.

There were a lot of nice Christmas decorations
in the community.

Hopefully we will see her again. Betty is trying to set up a time we can visit her this week. So many people just need to be loved and accepted. There was a quote on a Relief Society bulletin board this week at one of our zone meetings in Newton, Kansas, that said "Your job is not to judge. Your job is not to figure out if someone deserves something. Your job is to lift the fallen, to restore the broken and to heal the hurting". We remembered that after we left Wilma. There are so many others that need to be lifted, restored, and healed. It is easy to love people as we get to know them and understand their situations better.

Dad started teaching his Gospel Principles Sunday School class last week, and Mom is teaching the youth Sunday School during the same hour. Her kids are really sweet, and they have taken a liking to her - especially one girl that is 14 and in foster care. Justus lost her mom from a heart attack four years ago, and she has had a rough time. She is a new convert, and she comes and sits beside Sister Gorden during Sacrament each week. Last week she asked if she could help with the lesson today. Mom gave her a part to prepare, and she prepared well even though she probably left out a lot during her short presentation. It was a good thing for her. She is a sweet girl, and like with most people, it is easier to love her as we find out more about her situation. Today Justus saw Sister Gorden’s Personal Progress ribbons in her scriptures and asked what they were. She said she wanted to earn them, too. We hope to work with her on that. There are only three young women in the branch - two that actually attend. None of them have never started the Personal Progress Program.

The Sister Missionaries decorated our door for
Sister Gorden's Birthday

So there is a lot of work to be done here. That is just a couple of examples. The Relief  Society President wants us to come and visit with one of her friends. The members here are very missionary oriented. They are big on just loving their neighbors and becoming their friends and it seems to be working. 

This Friday will be a city-wide Red Cross blood drive, and our Branch is in charge of feeding everyone that donates blood. It will not just be a snack but a meal. We will be making a lot of chili and cookies. It should be a fun day and an opportunity to meet people from the community, and we are looking forward to it.

We have been actively volunteering in the community, but we have not received many assignments yet. We do deliver meals to shut-ins on Mondays and Thursdays. We have some other service opportunities pending. 

Birthday Surprises for Sister Gorden

Mom had her second birthday in the mission field this week. Dad tried to make it a birthday “week” for her instead of a one-day event. On Saturday we took the day off and went to Wichita for an official birthday observance. It was a fun time together. 

The Pratt Branch has regular activities, including potluck dinners. It is a pleasant change from our last area. We do love Pratt, and we are happy here.

Mom likes to share Christmas goodies with just about everyone.

January 5th was our one-year mark in the mission. It has been an interesting year to say the least. There have been lots of experiences that we will always remember, for sure. Thank you all for your love and prayers. Know that we love each of you and miss you and pray for you all. It makes us so happy to see our children raising their families in the gospel and serving in the church. Always stay strong and focused on what is important. 

Love,
Elder & Sister Gorden

December 17, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,                            

We have successfully made our transfer to Pratt, Kansas. We are unpacked and ready to get busy. Friday night was our arrival. We are living in another duplex. It is much newer, nicer and cleaner than the one in Concordia. It is about the same size, but the kitchen is slightly smaller but more modern. We are happy with it. There is still lots of floor space for air mattresses and visitors..... so bring your bedding and come to see us. 

Moving from Concordia

The young missionaries serving here are two sisters. They told us about a Branch Breakfast happening Saturday morning so we went. What lucky timing was that! It was their Christmas party, and we met some really nice people. They were very excited to have a missionary couple. They had senior missionaries about a year-and-a-half ago and have been wanting another couple ever since. The Relief Society President told me, " You know we prayed you here?" She is a sweet little short lady. She wanted to know what we needed - furniture, dishes, anything. Mom assured her we were all set. The mission office has taken good care of us. We received a very warm welcome here.

Sunday they had us speak for just a minute to introduce ourselves, and they asked Dad to give a short Christmas message. About half of this branch is children, mostly younger primary age. It was great to see and hear little ones again.

Wednesday night Mom and the sister missionaries went to the Young Women activity. The leaders had to be out of town, so they needed help to come and be with the THREE girls they have. It was fun. They are made some hot chocolate mixes to give away during their Christmas caroling next week.

We went to Wichita Tuesday to finish our Christmas shopping. It was a nice day, and we now have everything bought and wrapped. The last package was put in the mail Wednesday. We have been surprised at how fast things have arrived to everyone this year.

Brother Clause came to the Branch Christmas Breakfast

Next Tuesday we go to Wichita again to a Christmas Zone Conference. We always receive a couple of talks in the mail from the mission office to read before these meetings.  The two this time are on the Atonement and  on Grace . One is by Elder Holland and one by Brad Wilcox. Dad was surprised that the mission president was going to teach from a Wilcox talk since he is not a general authority, but after reading it he was very impressed with the message.

We have heard in February another general authority is coming. It made Mom laugh when she heard it because Jared recently said nobody is coming to their stake conference. “We don't get general authorities every three months like you do, Mom!”  We think it will be Elder Richard J. Maynes of the Presidency of the Seventy. He spoke in General Conference in October. We are looking forward to that meeting.

Dad was called as the Branch Mission Leader here Sunday before church started, and he was sustained in Sacrament meeting. He was also asked to teach the Gospel Principles Sunday School class starting in January. There are several new converts here, and that is exciting. We even have a baptism happening on Christmas Eve at 12:30pm. The man getting baptized was talking about it in Priesthood meeting Sunday and is very excited. What a nice Christmas present for him. Dad is putting together the program and will conduct the service.

We went back to Salina this weekend to a Christmas Symphony with Ken and Donna Hansen, our Branch President from Concordia and his wife. It was their Christmas present to us, and it was very, very nice. There was a variety of music (mostly Christmas), and they performed some Mannheim Steamroller pieces that could not have sounded better if it were the ‘rollers themselves! 

With President & Sister Hansen at the Symphony

The Hansens said many people in the branch were saying how much they missed us already. There are some really nice people there, including a few we regret having to abandon. Kansas is a very different culture, and Concordia might be the most “different” place in Kansas. We are excited to be starting over in Pratt.

The Salina Symphony

Speaking of Kansas culture, we learned some disturbing news about a sweet young sister missionary that we served with briefly during our time in Lamar, Colorado. Sister Marcum had to go home early because she was very ill. She lost 25 pounds in a month. After returning home she found out that one of her previous companions from a few months earlier had also become sick with the same symptoms. It was discovered that they gotten parasites from a dinner at a family’s home in eastern Kansas. They remembered asking the host what was the strange meat they were eating. They were unashamedly told that it was road kill! Seriously. The girl will never be the same. She even has parasites in her heart and other organs. 

Well that is not a good story to end a letter, but we are out of news. Today we are heading out to sign up for some volunteer work in the community. This little town is such a pleasant contrast to where we have been before. People smile and speak when they see us. They don’t look at our name tags and sneer like in Concordia. There were several local ministers there who spoke negatively about our church to their congregations on a regular basis. Here in Pratt, the attitude is much more positive. Our branch president is active in the local Ministers Alliance, and he has made many friends. Apparently the volunteer work we do has had a good effect, too. So we are all in!

Sister Gorden is ready for Christmas

 We getting some light snow today - slow and steady. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Love to you all,

Elder and Sister Gorden
17 Dec 2015