Brendon Fisher has arrived in Ft Lauderdale! He is the nephew of our daughter in law, Kimberly Fisher. We got to feed him last night at the arrivals dinner and then again today at the lunch for the Transfer Meeting. He is sitting with his new companion. We served croissants with sliced ham, turkey and cheese; potato salad, chips and chocolate chip blond brownies. When we feed the young missionaries, there is never anything left to wrap up. Just wash down the table tops and sweep the floor and lock the door. We get to take a nap and then back to do the Finishers Dinner at the Mission Home. Then fall into bed and off to the eye doctor tomorrow.

This is Norvin and the Elders Weese and Beer. We are teaching at the El Portal Chapel. We also shared a twelve pack of tacos from Taco Bell. We had a very enjoyable evening and have three more friends to miss when we go home. Elder Graff thinks Norvin is too short for Sister Guzman, but I think they would be a great couple.

This is the iron fence that encloses the chapel we taught at Saturday evening. All the neighboring homes have bars on the windows and gated enclosures. Not a good place to be later at night. The young elders were riding their bikes to and from their apartment. That makes us very nervous, but they act like things are just fine. So we trust the Lord to watch over them.

This is one of the chapels where we do our teaching appointments. It was a Walgreen Drug Store before the church bought it and made it into a chapel. There is not one window in the building, but other than that, the inside looks exactly like any other chapel we have been in. We taught a Spanish speaking young man here. The elders that made the appointment for us, were there to translate for us. We qualified seven names for him to take to the Temple.

We followed this gator removal truck for awhile the other afternoon. We were on our way to Coral Springs to a teaching appointment and saw the truck. We thought we could find out where they were going, but we got separated in traffic and lost sight of it. There is a lift gate at the back, where they load the gators and then slide them into a cage like enclosure to transport them back to the Everglades. Nor unlike a "dog catcher", but the gators are released back into the wild, far from the populated neighborhoods where they have been found. The raccoons are released back into the Everglades also. They are a food source for the gators.

Tator and Gator meet at the ranch. He has been watching so many "Swamp People" shows, that he thinks he can talk to thew now. He is sure he can handle any size that comes along. Although, I think he would be the first back in the car and the last one out of the building if actually faced with one that is still alive. Even that tiny snake had him running backwards the other evening. A couple of the elders came face to face with a gator the other day while they were out knocking on doors. This is definitely something that one needs to expect and be wary of. We live in a "wildlife rules" environment here.

Our adventure at the Deseret Ranches began with renting the van at the airport at 8:27 pm on Monday evening. Our fearless leader, Elder Graff made us leave Tuesday morning at 6:30 am from Plantation. We picked up our group; the Sommerfeldts, the Steimles, the Collins and the Beagleys. I elected to sit in the back and Sister Steimle and Sister Beagley joined me. Sister Beagley asked Elder Graff to stop at every Dairy Queen we saw advertised on the road side. It got to be quite funny, becasue Elder Graff likes to keep on his schedule. His internal clock didn't say it was time for treats every twenty miles. She really got to him and we laughed all the way up and back. But we finally stopped at a Dairy Queen on the way home. Good milk shakes! We turned the van in at the airport at 8:27 pm that night. So Spud's internal clock was right on the money.

One of the Cyprus swamps on the ranch. The guide explain about the Cyprus knees that you can see among the trees. They only reach about 12 inches out of the water. They are harvested and polished and sold at tourist shops everywhere in Florida. They have several in the visitors center. The alligators love to live in these swamps, where they feed on the fish and snakes and ducks and rats and small animals. Pretty but deadly!

Some of the cattle on the ranch. Mind you, all these photos are taken from the inside of the shuttle bus that we rode in. I wasn't about to get out and take my chances with the critters along the road. We saw a wild hog that was dropped by one of the cowboys. These hogs make life very difficult for the cattle and the cowboys. They are continually digging holes in the ground and the cattle and horses keep stepping in them and breaking a leg. So it is "hunting season" all the time for "hogs".

There are six artesian wells on the ranch. The state of Florida has been trying to get the water away from the ranch. the city of Orlando thinks they need the water more than the ranch does. Then there are the neighboring cities that would like to get their hands on it. These wells water all the cattle and the citrus orchards on the ranch and provide the canals for the gators to swim in.

This is a picture of the skin of a rattle snake that was shot on the ranch. It is 11 feet long. The picture is hanging outside on the porch wall. They have all of the dangerous snakes on the ranch. I would be afraid to let my children go out and play in the yard. Let alone play in the ditches. this is a different world here in Florida. The eighty paid employees have a house on the ranch and there are play yards everywhere.

This is "Gus". He is longer than the couch to the right of the picture. He was scaring the pickers in the Orange grove, so they had to put him down. So now he greets all the visitors at the center. Sister Sommerfeldt took his picture with Elder Graff, we hope to get a copy of that and put it on the blog. They have over 1100 miles of canals on the ranch and alligators occupy any of them that they want.

We started out our of the Deseret Ranches at the Visitor's Center. I was sitting in the back of the van and went to sleep before we got to the ranch, so I didn't enjoy the drive into it. The ranch is 30 miles wide and 55 miles long, comprising 290,000 acres. They run 44,000 cows, an assortment of bulls and produce over 30,000 calves each fall. They ship the calves to Nebraska to feed them out and sell them.

Well, the reaction was less than I had hoped for. So, we forge on through the next two months and hope that we can make a difference in a few lives. We spent Monday afternoon at the Coral Springs area with Sister Guzman and Sister Edwards. It was Sister Edwards birthday, so we took them to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. She presented us with a picture that she had painted for us. It is of a starfish, with the words, "You are the difference." Then I begin to cry. It will be so hard to leave these young people. They are truly the wind beneath our feet.

We spent the afternoon putting together our proposition for the new Family History program we have developed for the new converts. We have an interview with President and Sister Anderson tomorrow after the staff meeting. I printed off the booklet "To Turn the Hearts. . ." to base our proposals on. Sharon is going to call us this evening after the baptism in her ward. This is her first introduction to a new convert. We are anxious to hear how it goes. It will be interesting to see what President Anderson has to tell us. He has been asked to speak in our Hollywood Ward the last Sunday of this month. Brother Torsok has indicated that they will serve lunch to them after church. That should be a lot of fun. Especially if the young missionaries stick around. We have twelve baptisms scheduled for July 24th. That should be something to see.

Saturday, we were invited to pick avocados and could have as many as we wanted. We took the Sommerfeldts and we cleaned the tree off. We left a box full with the lady who owns the tree and brought the rest home. We plan to make guacamole for the staff meeting Monday. We are also going to divide up the others between all the other senior couples. We have three in a brown paper bag and hopefully will be ripe enough to mash tomorrow.

Nancy told us to ripen several and peel and mash them and stir some lemon juice into it and then measure it out into zip lock bags and freeze them. Then you can have guacamole anytime you want it. We bought several types of dorito chips to go with it.

We hit Golden Coral with a vengeance. These young people know how to eat and stack their plates. They almost put Elder Graff to shame! The bar-b-que Chicken was some of the best ever. And the chocolate layer cake was . . . (all over my face!) Glad they offered plenty of napkins! They offer a great salad bar, and the grapes were the best ever. It was raining when we got there and cleared up enough for us to get back on the bus, then let lose again and dropped a couple of inches for the next two hours. Glad we were on the bus and headed home. Ben Mena helped me with the starfish story and we gave out pins to the people that did not get them on the last trip. I had book marks with a real starfish on them for the second timers.

Even though this is a poor picture, I am adding it to show you how heavy the humidity is back here. The camera lens was all fogged over. But Elder Graff is standing by the picture of an alligator on the side of the bus. It was decorated very colorfully. There was a picture of the statue of liberty on the other side. The bus did have the kneeling feature, but the driver wasn't sure how to work it, so it was a long step just to get into the bus.

Every seat had a seal belt on this new bus. It is about time this feature was added to every seat. It was a very smooth ride, but we had to stop twice to reset the computer. I'm not sure just exactly what was happening, and I don't think Elder Graff did either. He said the restroom was smaller than on an airplane, which is not big to begin with. It was in the middle of the bus and you had to climb down a few steps to get into it.

Bishop Hoopes trying to look cool as we head to Orlando to do baptisms with the youth in the Hollywood Ward. The noise level was quite tolerable for as many teenagers as we had on the bus. It was a new bus from Germany and very comfortable. NO EATING and DRINKING signs all over the inside. We drove 62 miles an hour or 100 kilometers. No more no less. The 3 hour trip- took 4 hours and 15 minutes.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY tomorrow. It has been a long time since we were not home to watch the fireworks from the drive way and have ice cream bars. Jiffy and the rest are continuing the tradition and I hope they take pictures for us. They just put up a new flag to fly for Nathan while he is on his fourth deployment. He is still in Indiana as I write this, but will be leaving soon with the 222. The local unit from Southern Utah. It is the first unit he went with on his first deployment to Iraq. We have been invited to a picnic at the Collins' in DelRay Beach. Then we have a teaching appointment tomorrow afternoon at Coconut Creek. We have also been invited to a workshop in that ward with the Elders and the Relief Society. We hope to make several one on one appointments after the workshop. We only have three months left! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by.

Today was Fast Sunday and as usual we thoroughly enjoyed listening to the members of the Hollywood Ward bear their testimonies. Our friend Margleth from Nicaragua told about leaving home to come to the United States and how much she loves living here and being a part of the United States. She learned English and holds down a job, is raising three children and is trying to do her part to be a good American. She is a wonderful example of what people from other countries should be doing if they want to live here. She appreciates the freedom to worship where she wants and to have a voice in government. She said she hopes to one day to be able to go back to Nicaragua and visit her family that still lives there, but that this is her home and she is glad to have the chance to raise her children in this county.

Jiffy sent us another picture of Taylor and some of the other missionaries he is serving with in Nicaragua. His letters are so much fun to read. He is loving the work and the people of Nicaragua. They had a lot of fun on their excursion to the volcano and sand boarding. So it sounds like they play as hard as they work. He has to walk everywhere they go. Out missionaries here get cars and bikes. There is a big difference in circumstances for each mission.

We were invited to a Samoan Wedding Reception last night at the Hollywood Chapel. The young couple were married in the Orlando Temple and got to the reception only 30 minutes late. We got there 30 minutes early, so we were more than ready to eat when the dinner started. They offered chicken, glass noodles with vegetables and beef, corn beef wrapped in spinach, rice, cole slaw, bread fruit cooked like squash, rolls and butter and twelve different kinds of dessert. We had to leave before the dancing started, because we had to get a couple of missionaries home before curfew. The food was very good and lots of it. The young people met at the Young Single Adult Ward, where they have been attending. Now we hope they will come to the Hollywood Ward. They belong to a fun family.

We finally got on a train in Florida! This is the Tri County Rail and is the coolest place in South Florida to spend a hot and humid afternoon. It is two stories and of course we climbed up the stairs to catch the view. Train tracks are not laid in the most beautiful parts of cities. So our view consisted of weed filled back yards, junk lots and rotting fences. Occasionally we saw some beautiful neighborhoods, then back to non report ables. But we had fun and are thinking about taking Amtrak to Orlando one of these days.

We talked the Sommerfeldts into joining us on train ride up to West Palm. It cost $5.00 for the round trip and took three hours from Broward Station. We drove into the station going the wrong way and a cab driver tried to convince us that we had to pay $50.00 for breaking the parking lot law. Spud challenged him and he started laughing and said "Welcome to Florida!"

As you can see, we were following to close to get this picture of the dog being driven down the road in a convertible. The driver got mad at us and tried to get away from us, but we turned at the same corner and made the same U turn. He must of thought we were trying to harass him. He finally went in another direction. But we still got a picture or sorts. You never can tell what will drive by.