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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| 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
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