We continue to have many experiences that remind us of the Lord's hand in missionary work, even in an employment office. Mary, a representative of a home health service, came into the office to drop off literature for her company. She commented that she liked the feeling she had being there and as we talked she indicated that she had attended church a few times and had asked for missionaries to visit her home. For some reason, that hasn't happened, so I took down her information and am following through on this. It is amazing how, in such a short time, one can get the feeling of another's spirit and what a good person they are. We have such experiences often and it is very uplifting and motivating.

I now have 6 piano students. One of the new students is a Dentist, probably in her fifties who actually took the place of a student that quit coming. Then last week a young man wanted to start which brought about needing to start at 5:30 to fit him in. He is Spanish speaking only, so it is good thing that I have piano books in Spanish. He will have to do the reading in the book to grasp what I am trying to instuct and hopefully he will understand. This is definitely one of those stretching moments for me. Actually, I have another man we met when we attended a Spanish ward today, who wants to learn so he can teach his children. He will probably have to do a lot himself but I will be able to help during some of the 8:00 times because that student is often working out of town. They are in the same ward and I asked him to find out those times he could come instead. The goal of the Church is to have piano students learn and then to teach others. That is what I am encouraging them to prepare for. With all the other responsiblities we have, I am not able to take another night in the week for this.

Hermana Butler and Hermana Amitoetau are missionaries who fill their service hours by helping us every Thursday. Most of the time they make calls for us but this last week they were able to help us with a family who came in the office. The man was an engineer and the woman a doctor who were members of the church originally from Venesuela who have been seeking assylum in the US for several years. Their son was eight and hadn't been baptized so the Sisters acted on that quickly. It will take time for all of their education to be recognized and be able to work in their chosen fields, but in the mean time they are willing to do whatever. We also had a great experience with these sister missionaries when they asked us to go with them to an investigator last night. He was a young father of two children whose wife is wanting to leave them all. He was down and discouraged but said he felt better after hearing the discussion and our testimonies. As a suprise to the Sisters, he had actually been baptized when he was about 13. They started teaching the Plan of Salvation and after he told us that he had been baptized, they switched to the Restoration. It was inspiring to see them change like that without a pause. It was a wonderful experience and we told them we would be available on Mondays whenever they needed us.

We are starting to feel very encouraged as we meet with the Stake High Councilor over Welfare. We have always felt that if we had the leaders working with us that we could accomplish so much more. The light at the end of the tunnel is starting to become brighter.

Our little Cooper is 2 months old now and Oriana turned 2 years old this month. August brings more birthdays with Davin's 4th , Brenan's 12th, and Alexibia's 7th. Ryan and Juan have August birthdays also and Jason and Nikki have an anniversary to celebrate. Families make life so much more than it ever could be without them as I sure you would agree. I am so grateful for mine!

With love,
Los Averys