We are so blessed to have Lee Houtchens as a member of our eternal family! As we celebrated his life today we were all sad for the earthly loss we've suffered. But I know we are all joyous for the eternal gain he is experiencing now. We love you Uncle Lee and can't wait to be with you again soon!!!
Here's some of the pictures from Uncle Lee's funeral today if you'd like more just let me kmow and I can post more.
The pictures speak for themselves. CRAZY!!! It's Jerry in the Cinderella wig, and Joel in the Snow White one. I don't think I'll ever be able to go to Disneyland and take pictures with the Princesses again!!! Actually I think they look like the ugly stepsisters!!HEHE!!!
sorry this weeks update will be a little short! this last week has
been so so great! we are getting to the end of organizing everything so
that we can focus on gettingin to peoples homes! but even though we
havent had to much time to get out and work the Lord has given us
opertunities! like yesterday we were going to a members home for dinner. on the
way we saw a group of africans talking on the side of the road by a
church. as we drove past there was a verry strong feeling to go back and
talk to them all. so we turned around and did it! it was so awesome.
just from that one contact we got 7 new investigators and to top it off
they invited us over on saterday for some FOO FOO!!! with goat meet
soup! i am so ecsited! we get to teach a hole party of people!
on saterday i got to go back to naperville to baptize shawnee
riskus! oh man, that was so awesome! they are such a strong family and
it si such a privalige to have them as a part of my life!well im about
out of time! i love you all!!!!
Love Elder Howard!
ok guys, im going to just start sending a bunch of pictures and videos! sorry that they are not in order! but there are some pics of my comp and also of other missionaries wile i am on exchanges! well, transfers are coming verry veryy soon! it will be crazy to see what happens! all i know is that i am out of here! its crazy to think that i have been here for 71/2 months! but i sure have loved it! maybe i will go into the city. then i can drop some pounds!!! but realy i have no prefrence. the AP's say i will stay on the out skerts to keep the wards going! i do love working with the wards! it is amazing how much a missionary can learn about a ward in just a few months. by the time you leave you know more then most of the leadership about all the members and how they are strugling! it is so much fun to help just start the member missionary work in these wards out here! by the way mom. wile i am thinking about it. thank you so so much for the cam! its perfect timing! now that i am leaving i needed it for pics with the investigators. and also i got my glasses! i love them! dad also wanted to know how much they cost. the price tag on them said 150$! thank you thank you! you all can just send to the office tell i get my new address! ok, well im sorry this week i dont have much time on the email. but thank you all for the emails! oh one other thing. Katrine, did you get my bday packige? i hope so. let me know. thanks for the snail mail letter!
Charity Thank you sooo much for your wonderful stories and pix they are perfect!!!
Me singing - Right before I left for Germany I got the opportunity to singíng for my schools junior prom assembly. Wow! Talk about nerve racking! But it ended up being SO much fun!
Sawyer, me, and Livvy - This one is a classic. I got the job of babysitting for a day...and you can tell. There is Sawyer (Annas little boy) trying to sqirm out of my grasp and living crying...while all at the same time I am trying to get them to smile. If you look really closly you will see a little baby puke on my shoulder that I forgot to wash of from little livvy. Man do I miss my little niece and nephew.
Me and my mom - When I first arrived at the airport in Germany my parents were actually there waiting for me. The had gone to Europe earlier for a vacation with the Ebisches to Turkey. This picture was the day before they had to go back to the states. I havnt seen my mom for about 5 months since then:( But her and my dad come once again tomarrow morning! (more pictures will probably be taken)
Me and Cedric jumping -The very first day I got to schwarzenberg I asked if we could find a place with a pretty view to take pictures. We found it! We had alot of fun taking the pictures to!
Dad, me and the little lady - That little lady is so darn sweet! When my family very first backpacked through Europe we stopped by her house. Being a 5 year old who just had a long journey filled with dirty toilets and bread and cheese. This place was heaven! I still remember every detail....how she spoiled us kids with chocolate and cake! The last time my dad came down here to Germany, we decided to go visit her once again. Seeing her was like no time passed at all! Everything was just how I remembered it (but this time I could speak to her in German:) We call her Oma (thats grandma in german)
Livvy and Katrine - Before I left Katrine and Olivia came to visit for a while. We had a really good time shopping and swimming. These are pictures of Katrine and her daughter (my niece) Livvy!
Skiing - The first week I got here the Ebisch family asked me if I would like to go skiing in Austria. Of course my answer was YES! It was the perfect way to start out my german adventure. Living a dream....
Villa - My dad bought an old torn down villa here in Schwarzenberg Germany. It has alot of work to be done...but GREAT potential. These are pictures of when Helena and Chris stopped by to visit me on there way to Isriel. We started on the windows of the villa first, taking of all of the paint so we can get to the origianal wood and start sanding ect. Working there for a few hours everyday. We worked hard...but played hard also:)
Italy - We have made it a new tradition to go to Italy every september because it ended up be SO MUCH FUN! We go there with the Ebisch family (the family I am currently living with) We are right next to the beach..and we get there just in time when the rush of people have just left. So it is this beautiful beach with thousands of umbrellas and tables all set up...but almost completley empty. With that and the italian ice cream...we were in heaven!
