Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. Sarah and Glen were able to come the Friday before Thanksgiving which gave us time to visit and enjoy some one on one with them since we had not really seen them since their honeymoon. We had a new batch of missionaries come in on Tuesday and Glen and Sarah were so much help getting ready. They helped get the meal on while I was instructing. It was so fun to have them share this experience with us. Sam came that night and the next morning at Breakfast, Bill had he and Glen talk to the new elders about companion ships since they were companions in the mission field. They did a great job. Brig, Nathan, Marie and their kids had joined us by Wednesday night. Thanksgiving day was spent cooking and playing with the kids. Nathan went with Bill to be the  interpreter for a second interview for baptism. Our dinner was delicious thanks to Marie and all of her great recipes. She taught us how to put the turkey in a "brine" the night before so it was so juice and moist. That night the kids surprised us with an ice cream cake for Bill and my birthdays and a little video of everyone in the family telling us "one thing" they liked about us which is our family tradition. It was   of effort and such a fun surprise. The next day we all went on a swamp tour  on an air boat. It was a hoot. We saw 10-12.  alligators. We learned a lot about the swamps and at the end the kids were able to hold a baby alligator. That night we played games with our competitive group, but the competition is really between Bill and Marie. She manages to always beat Bill at everything which doesn't happen very often.  Saturday we slept in a bit, made Marie's famous cookies and got Nate and Marie on their way  home. After they were off we went to the "Laura Plantation" where you really get an understanding of the Creole culture of Louisiana. We met Bill for dinner where we introduced everyone to fried alligator and other yummy Louisiana food. Bill got up at 4:30 AM to get everyone to New Orleans to catch their flight home so he could be home in time for us to leave at 7:30 to go to Covington to speak in Sacrament Meeting at 9:00. As much a I love this missionary work and all that goes with it I remembered how happy and content I am when I am with my family. Thank you everyone for making the effort to be with us we are good to go for a while longer.  

An Angel On The Door Step

BY SHIRLEY BACHELDER
(Originally published in Reader's Digest, December 1992)
When Ben delivered milk to my cousin's home that morning, he wasn't his usual sunny self. The slight, middle-aged man seemed in no mood for talking.
It was late November 1962, and as a newcomer to Lawndale, Calif., I was delighted that milkmen still brought bottles of milk to doorsteps. In the weeks that my husband, kids and I had been staying with my cousin while
house-hunting, I had come to enjoy Ben's jovial repartee.
Today, however, he was the epitome of gloom as he dropped off his wares from his wire carrier. It took slow, careful questioning to extract the story from him. With some embarrassment, he told me two customers had left town without paying their bills, and he would have to cover the losses. One of the debtors owed only $10, but the other was $79 in arrears and had left no forwarding address. Ben was distraught at his stupidity for allowing this bill to grow so large.
"She was a pretty woman," he said, "with six children and another on the way. She was always saying, `I'm going to pay you soon, when my husband gets a second job. I believed her. What a fool I was! I thought I was doing a good thing, but I've learned my lesson. I've been had!"
All I could say was, "I'm so sorry."
The next time I saw him, his anger seemed worse. He bristled as he talked about the messy young ones who had drunk up all his milk. The charming family had turned into a parcel of brats.
I repeated my condolences and let the matter rest. But when Ben left, I found myself caught up in his problem and longed to help. Worried that this incident would sour a warm person, I mulled over what to do. Then,
remembering that Christmas was coming, I thought of what my grandmother used to say: "When someone has taken from you, give it to them, and then you can never be robbed."
The next time Ben delivered milk, I told him I had a way to make him feel better about the $79.
"Nothing will do that," he said, "but tell me anyway."
"Give the woman the milk. Make it a Christmas present to the kids who needed it."
"Are you kidding?" he replied. "I don't even get my wife a Christmas gift that expensive."
"You know the Bible says, 'I was a stranger and you took me in.' You just took her in with all her little children."
"Don't you mean she took me in? The trouble with you is, it wasn't your $79."
I let the subject drop, but I still believed in my suggestion.
We'd joke about it when he'd come. "Have you given her the milk yet?" I'd say.
"No," he'd snap back, "but I'm thinking of giving my wife a $79 present, unless another pretty mother starts playing on my sympathies."
Every time I'd ask the question, it seemed he lightened up a bit more.
Then, six days before Christmas, it happened. He arrived with a tremendous smile and a glint in his eyes. "I did it!" he said. "I gave her the milk as a Christmas present. It wasn't easy, but what did I have to lose? It was gone, wasn't it?"
"Yes," I said, rejoicing with him. "But you've got to really mean it in your heart."
"I know. I do. And I really feel better. That's why I have this good feeling about Christmas. Those kids had lots of milk on their cereal just because of me."
The holidays came and went. On a sunny January morning two weeks later, Ben almost ran up the walk. "Wait till you hear this," he said, grinning.
He explained he had been on a different route, covering for another
milkman. He heard his name being called, looked over his shoulder and saw
a woman running down the street, waving money. He recognized her
immediately--the woman with all the kids, the one who didn't pay her bill.
She was carrying an infant in a tiny blanket, and the woman's long brown
hair kept getting in her eyes.
"Ben, wait a minute!" she shouted. "I've got money for you."
Ben stopped the truck and got out.
"I'm so sorry," she said. "I really have been meaning to pay you." She
explained that her husband had come home one night and announced he'd
found a cheaper apartment. He'd also gotten a night job. With all that had
happened, she'd forgotten to leave a forwarding address. "But I've been
saving," she said. "Here's $20 toward the bill."
"That's all right," Ben replied. "It's been paid."
"Paid!" she exclaimed. "What do you mean? Who paid it?"
"I did."
She looked at him as if he were the Angel Gabriel and started to cry.
"Well," I asked, "what did you do?"
"I didn't know what to do, so I put an arm around her. Before I knew what
was happening, I started to cry, and I didn't have the foggiest idea what I
was crying about. Then I thought of all those kids having milk on their
cereal, and you know what? I was really glad you talked me into this."
"You didn't take the $20?"
"Heck no," he replied indignantly. "I gave her the milk as a Christmas
present, didn't I?

CHRISTMAS STORIES

Hi Everyone ,

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. We enjoyed having Nate, Marie, Annie, Max, Meg, Brig, Sam, Sarah & Glen here for Thanks giving. It reminded me how much I love family traditions, so I decided to continue on of my favorites which is to read Christmas stories starting on December first. Since I can't turn on the Christmas lights and have you all gather in your blankies curled up on the couch I thought I would do the next best thing, and that is to post a christmas story for you to read every day. I know some of you have a copy of my christmas stories but the rest of you don't . I know with School and busy lives it's hard to get in the Christmas spirit. I know the years that have been the best for me are the years I personally decide to hold Christmas close to my heart by doing some little thing in my private time that touches my heart. Sometimes it is reading the christmas scriptures, playing a couple of christmas songs on the piano every day, writing a note to someone every day, or reading a 

Christmas story. I thought if I posted one that you only had to make a couple of clicks to read, it would give you a little lift. As you read the story just remember how much I love you and how much you are in my heart and if all of the prayers I say for you were stars it would light up the sky just like the Heavenly Father lit up the Sky for His son. Enjoy, there will be one everyday. love mom

THE FADED BLUE BLANKET

The most frightened shepherd that night was little Ladius, just ten. He cowered behind his three older brothers when the blinding star lit the hillside. When the angel appeared, he hid behind a huge rock.
Yet after Ladius heard the glad news, fear left him, and he limped back to his brothers, who were planning to set out for Bethlehem.
"Who will tend the sheep?" asked Samuel, the oldest at sixteen. Ladius, leaning against his shepherd's crook to support a crippled foot, volunteered, "I'd only slow you down. Let me stay with the sheep." He wet his lip as he talked. The brothers weakly protested at first, then made plans to go.
"We must each take a gift," said Samuel. One brother chose his flint to start a fire for the Christ child. Another picked meadow lilies to make a garland for the king. Samuel decided on his most precious possession--his gold ring.
"Here--take my blanket to him," said Ladius. It was badly worn, a faded blue with patches.
"No, Ladius," said Samuel, tenderly. "The blanket is too tattered to give even a beggar--let alone a king. Besides, you will need it tonight."
The brothers departed, leaving Ladius alone by the fire. He laid his head upon the blanket and buried his face in his hands. Tears forced
their way between his fingers, but soon the hush of night soothed the boy's heartbreak. The world in silent stillness lay.
"Are you coming, Ladius?" called a voice. Standing nearby was the same angel who had brought the news. "You wanted to see the child, didn't you?"
"Yes," nodded Ladius, "but I must stay here."
"My name is Gabriel," said the angel. "Your sheep will be watched. Take my hand, and bring your blanket. The child may need it."
Suddenly, Ladius was outside a stable. Kneeling by a manger were his brothers. Ladius started to call out, but the angel lifted a finger to his lips.
"Give me the blanket," Gabriel whispered. The angel took it and quietly covered the baby. But the blanket was no longer faded. Now it glistened like dew in the brilliance of a new day. Returning, Gabriel squeezed Ladius's hand: "Your gift was best, because you gave all that you had.
"Wake up, Ladius, wake up!" The boy rubbed his eyes and tried to shield them from the glaring sun. Hovering over him was Samuel.
"Did you find him?" asked Ladius.
"Yes," replied Samuel, "but first tell me why you were sleeping without your blanket."
Ladius looked about with wonder. The faded blue blanket was nowhere to be found--then, or thereafter.

Rachelle's fun visit

We just spent six fun days with Rachelle and the little girls. We enjoyed sharing our new home and surroundings with Rachelle and reading, singing, and playing with Olivia and Gracie. Our first stop was to meet our dear friends Don and Michelle Lake , who are also one of our senior couples in New Orleans, and  have dinner  at our favorite NO restaurant ,"Fat Greg's." One of the highlights was going to the New Orleans zoo. It is a beautiful zoo . We got to see elephants carry big tires and logs around. We saw big white bangle tigers, orangoutangs swinging from rope to rope and chasing each other, and of course a real Louisiana swamp with at least 10 to twelve alligators slithering around in the water. All of the exhibits are close up and close to each other. Rachelle and I went out with the sister missionaries one night and enjoyed watching Jessica, a new convert of about a month, share a fun Relief Society enrichment with her sister, mother, and little brother. They absolutely loved it. Her little brother is fourteen , and was feeling a little out of place but before long he was sanding the boards for all of the sisters and even made one of his own. Her mother remarked,"there's a lot of love here." Rachelle and the girls came to the mission office and hung out one morning  with one of our zones of missionaries while we all made our new media boards. Then we all went to lunch. THe little girls loved the missionaries, especially the sister missionaries. 

Rachelle was so great to help me get my Thanksgiving decorations up and she even cleaned out my refrigerator. I was supposed to help her get some rest but she couldn't do enough to help us. She also helped me get my blog switched over to our new family blog. And of course, no trip is complete without a pedicure and a little shopping. We also took her to see a creole plantation so she could learn a little history of Louisiana. WE hated to see them go today as we put them on the plane and prayed that Rachelle would hang together on a six hour trip with Gracie. She is non stop motion. Both little girls were so cute and loved their grandpa. Bill was able to spend quite a bit of time with us. We start a week of zone conferences tomorrow so I better go and get my  slide show together before i run out of hours . Thanks Rachelle for taking the time and effort to come see us. Sarah , Glen, Sam and Brig will all start showing up Friday on  for Thanksgiving.  

Outdoor Zone Conference

Once a year we do zone conference a little different. We instruct in the morning and then play games in the afternoon with the zones competing against each other for the grand  prize  It is a great diversion and creates a lot of unity. There are those that have gone to AA for competitiveness . Can you guess who it might be. Yep , the guy with that still has hops. 

Get Acquainted

President and Sister Woods entered the Louisiana Mission on June 27 2008. We thought we would tell you a little bit about us and our family. WE are from Mesa Arizona. President Woods retired from his dental practice of 32 years on November 31 2007. He was director of admissions at the Arizona Dental School and was serving as a bishop of a singles ward when he received the call to serve as the president of the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission.I was taking a french class, being a grandma, and serving as an ordinance worker in the Mesa Arizona temple.

President Woods served a mission in Paris France and still speaks french fluently. I am half french and have a lot of extended family in France. I speak some french. WE have been married 35 years. We have 7 children and 12 grandchildren. We have two daughters, five sons, three darling daughter in-laws and two great son in laws. All but two sons are married. In the five months of preparing for our mission we had a son and a daughter get married and packed up and sold our house of 25 years. 

We enjoy being with our family. We have enjoyed Lake Powell and boating through the years. President Woods enjoys golf and all sports ( he's just a little competitive),playing basketball with the missionaries,  working in the yard, and traveling. I enjoy entertaining in our home, studying about relationships and human behavior, being a mother & grandma, working in the yard and  traveling with president Woods.

We feel so blessed to be here in Louisiana.  There are many good people here and with the great missionaries we have, we are going to see the kingdom grow. We want you to know how important the work that your sons and daughters are engaged in is. As we spent five days with the twelve apostles and the first presidency before we came, we realized that this work is their top priority. Our prophet President Monson, spent over an hour talking to us and telling us specifically how to handle situations, how to love , teach and encourage our missionaries. He loves them and has their success and experience as a missionary is utmost in his heart. They are representatives of Jesus Christ and have been set apart as witnesses and teachers of His restored gospel. We have created this blog so you can share in their miracles and experiences as we go forth in faith in this labor of love. We appreciate the love and support of our missionary families and if there is anything we can so for you or your missionary please let us know.