These are the boys in my Primary Class.  Hayden Meeks, JP Jacobsen, Isaac Genho, and Jacob Strong.  I love each one!  I have four girls too.  I took the boys hiking and fishing.  Here we are hauling out our find of cypress knees.  They are part of the root system of the Cypress Trees in the swamps.  They grow up above the water to give added sunlight and air to the cypress trees. They also provide stability for the trees during strong winds.  These were knocked loose by the tree harvesters and we are going to boil them and  peel the bark off for a beautiful looking wooden souvineer.   

Wow! I’m amazed at some of the things we’re called upon to do as missionaries. Here you see me with my fishing buddies and lots of wide-mouth bass that I actually caught and touched with my own bare hands! Yes, I grabbed each one as I caught it, took it off the hook and then rebaited it myself! Twenty five-thirty fish(lost track!)is what I caught myself (the most in the group!) and we kept 19 amongst the four of us. Alice and Jeff Walker took Elder Randall and I out fishing with them to “Square Hole” ( an old shell-mining pit here on the Ranch, now filled in with water.) on their fishing boat. It was such a good time. Because, you see, I caught fish practically every time I threw my line in for 3 hours straight on our P-day.

Then you’ll see me actually holding a gator! OK so it’s only a foot long! Don’t let that deceive you. They are born to eat humans! My Primary boys, whom I’d taken fishing, (Yes! I’m hooked now after such a large 1st-time haul) lured me over to the ice chest with “Come see Sister Randall, come see our fish!”

It was this baby gator which they didn’t hesitate to pick up and thrust in my face to give me a better look. “Here, pet him. He’s nice!” So I timidly reached out to do so, (not wanting to appear afraid--talk about pressure!) and the thing turned and snapped with a fierceness that sent chills of horror down my spine when I realized that it had missed my finger by a hair! “No, not that way Sister Randall, reach from behind his head.” So I obediently and successfully followed the instructions of my 6 and 7 year olds. Then they thrust it into my hands to hold before I even knew what was happening! What looks like a smile is really my teeth gritted to keep down the scream I felt rising in my throat. I think I was squeezing it to death since I was so afraid it’d turn and snap off my arm.

So now I guess I can say I’ve held a real alligator! That’ll make for some whopper story back home!

This is my brave student, Hayden Meek. He can put his finger in the gator's mouth and it doesn't hurt as long as he doesn't pull away.  All the boys had to try this trick.  But I would never!

 This is a picture of the Kennedy Space Center May daytime suttle launch around 2:00 pm outside our house. It's really spectacular at night and lit up the whole sky. We can feel the boom about 3 min after we see it take off.

May has zoomed by and we realize that we’ve been out almost 5 months and could be ending our mission shortly unless we are granted an extension which we hope and pray for.

One of our favorite spots.  The "Mudslide"  I now has a plactic pipe to slide down.  This is the only hill on the ranch.  It's actually part of an old dike.

May’s been a full month with 8 current sisters on my visiting route and most of them inactive. I’ve so enjoyed getting to know them and serve them. When I’m with them, I feel that I’m doing what the Lord wants me to do most. WE are very busy and tired. Elder Randall and I have been getting up at 4:00 a.m. for early morning seminary at 5:00 a.m. helping a couple of students achieve their goal of 80% attendance. Sister Jacobsen teaches the class and she is fabulous. We’ve never regretted the loss of sleep because we armor up so well for the day by hearing and participating in her lessons. It has been a real treat. We did have the pressure put on when they asked us to participate on the Bishop’s team for the Scripture Mastery Challenge against the seminary students. Have you ever tried to memorize 25 Book of Mormon scriptures with FOUR DAYS notice, recite them under pressure--word perfect! including reference and key words? Well we have definitely proved that it is impossible, but a lot of fun trying. But Intense! Rich and I both were reciting scriptures while eating, breathing, and sleeping and every other possible minute! And amazingly enough, the Bishop’s team won! Not that we were much help, but we looked great! WE found out the morning of-that we were to dress up as B of M characters. So we scrounged around and with a little ingenuity and creativity came up with the most awesome costumes of King Lamoni and his Lamanite Queen!. Too bad we didn’t get points for costumes, ‘cause we would’ve racked up a lot!

We’ve seen new flowers blooming that we’ve never seen before and I had fun researching names of new fauna and flora as the season progresses. Lot’s of pretty unfamiliar flowers and plants. These are tiny clover like blossoms in the meadows called "Pink Powderpuffs"  They are so pretty and the leaves close up when touched!

 

But nothing tops the “love bugs” They are a strange species that mate and then fly attached. They love bright light and white. So our porch has been one of their favorite places to light and multiply. It’s literally a plague at our house. No exaggeration! The porch is black with dead ones and when I sweep they are just as bad in an hour. As you drive in the car it sounds like rain but it’s love bugs! They are so thick that we have to scrape and clean the windshields. When they dry, they are very hard to get off the car. But one good thing! They don’t bite! These pictures don't show the millions swarming in the air around our heads.  We are now experiencing "No see ums" which are tiny gnats that bite and cause a welt that itches almost unbearably for over a week. 

We drove to Sanabel Island for Memorial Day.  There are miles of piles of shells covering the beach. It's world renown for its many shells. It was so beautiful and this picture doesn't do justice.  Each letter on the "Florida" sign is 4 ft high.  It was formed with bucketfulls of shells scooped up from the beach!