We are coming to realize just how often and abundantly our Father in Heaven is in the details of our everyday lives. Not just on special or certain occasions. Maybe we are just getting better at seeing it and feeling it. Surely being able to devote 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to His work blesses us with the opportunity to live in the fullness of life and God's goodness. In the words of Elder Rogers (one of our younger Elders serving with us here in Cheboygan), We are "living the dream." We will be forever grateful for what we are adding to the choice memories of our lives.
We have now been serving five months and ten days, having left home and reported to the Missionary Training Center on February 12th. Hopefully we are gone, but not forgotten. Has anyone noticed an absence of emails coming from Michigan over the last almost month? Not sending emails doesn't mean we have forgotten people we love, but means life is indeed full. We are sure your lives are as well.
For about three months now we have been teaching a young couple that moved into our Branch. They have recently returned to activity in the Church and asked us to help them learn more. Austin joined the church as a teenager and Madison was born into the Church. They were not active in the church for two or so years. They have a two-year old named Amarah and they are expecting a second daughter in October. The Troops have a desire to be sealed in the Temple. Austin has been blessing and passing the Sacrament for a few weeks now. He was able to give a Priesthood blessing to Amarah in our Sacrament Meeting which officially places her name upon the records of the Church. It has been such a joy to watch them grow and to watch as they have felt the joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives.
Amarah wasn't very happy about having her picture taken.
Her Grandma was holding her and she didn't want to leave her.
We attended a baptism in Petoskey of a man named Travis. Sister Froelich and Wehrmeister have been teaching him for some time. He lives in a home for recovering addicts and has been so eager to be baptized. They wanted to provide him with a set of new scriptures. What we call a "quad" because it contains the Old and New Testament, The Book of Mormon--Another Testament of Jesus Christ, and the Doctrine and Covenants." They weren't able to get one here in time so they went to the church library to see what they could find and the only thing they found was a used set that had been donated and that didn't feel right. Long story short, the Branch President heard of their need and went and got a brand new set that had been sitting on his desk for several years. The previous Branch President had bought a few for the purpose of presenting it to new members and this one book was still there. It meant a lot to Travis and made the sisters cry when they gave the book to him.
Travis with his new Quad in hand
On July 4th the Elders and Sisters in our District were at our house for a BBQ. Our first BBQ here. Our landlord, Brother Olson, was kind enough to provide one for us. We had bought a corn hole game and decided to have everyone sign it. It will be left here at the house when we leave so that every other missionary serving in Cheboygan going forward will be able to sign it and it will be a "legacy" of missionary life here.
Not everyone can say they have deer watching them play corn hole! Look closely.
We had an outdoor Zone Conference on July 9th at Sleepy Hollow State Park about 2 hours south of here. It was spiritual and fun at the same time. After lunch and a hike we had a competition between Districts. There were 9 challenges. The first part of each challenge was spiritual in nature and taken from the Preach My Gospel manual and then there was a physical challenge. Sit ups, jumping and Leapfrog. Our District was the only one "handicapped" with two sets of Senior Missionaries so our younger missionaries had to make up for it. BUT, Elder Gibbons and I were able to Leap Frog! 
NOTE: More pictures of this Zone Conference are shown in a previous post. I just hadn't sent an email in which I included this picture.
We spent one afternoon on a pontoon on Lake Mullett with two other couples.
On the lake
The two women are members of our Church Branch.
Left to right: Mike Gotz, Kathy Gotz, Cindy Pugh, Elder Gibbons, Sister Gibbons and Garry Pugh
Lake Mullett flows north to the Cheboygan River that runs through our town and meets Lake Huron. What a beautiful area. The homes along the lake and river were extraordinary.
Pontooning along the Cheboygan River
More pictures of our day on the lake:
Entering the river from the lake
Yesterday was our PDay and all eight of us met as a District, which we do once every 6 weeks or so. After having lunch here at the house, we went to the Cheboygan River here in town so the younger missionaries could fish. The Sisters had never caught a fish.
Elder Sines helped Sister Wehrmeister reel his fish in and even took the hook off.
A couple of young boys nearby actually caught this bigger fish and didn't want it. Sister Wehrmeister just wanted to hold it and "kiss" it so Elder Rogers offered it to her.
After they had enough of that we went to Duncan Preserve on the north side of town as well and hiked a short way to a fairly private beach area along Lake Huron.
Another fun day surrounded by happy, good-hearted and dedicated people. We have all become such great friends.
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