Friday, February 4
Hi everybody! We’re planning to go to Pierre tomorrow, so here’s an update on Lop. I haven’t been to town since I came back after Christmas, and a lot of water has been over the dam since then.
School has changed so much since I came back – I now only have 2 students. We were able to get Evalyn enrolled in a special education program at a public school about 45 minutes from here. She seems to be doing really well there. I’m so happy to see her getting the extra help that we couldn’t provide for her. I still keep in contact with her and her family – they are very friendly. Her mom came to the ladies’ Bible study this Monday…that was so rewarding! Just seeing her sitting there listening was enough to make all the struggles with Evalyn seem worthwhile. Myanna, also, is no longer at our school. She stopped coming regularly and was absent more days than she was there, so we had to follow the school policy and expel her after she missed a certain amount. I really miss her. While she was a challenge to teach, it was rewarding to see her progress. So now it’s just Ethan and Kyson. They both learn quickly and are fun to teach.
It’s really late and I’m tired, so I’m just gonna blast through my journal and pick out some of the high points of the last few weeks.
· We took the kids to McDonald’s then snow tubing at a ski resort in the Black Hills for a field trip.
· The drove out to the river in 15 degree weather and roasted hotdogs in the snow. Those memories are frozen in my mind forever. Ha.
· We tried to go ice-skating but the ice too bumpy.
· We went snowmobiling twice. It was really fun, but now I think I’m done for a while….I don’t think I’m enough of a dare-devil or something.
· Two Sunday’s ago we started church with only 2 people from town. By the end of Sunday School, 25 people had come! God has really been answering prayers!
· One morning when we went to school it was 39 degrees! We were so excited that we opened up all the windows and enjoyed it for a while :)
· God has also been answering prayers about the ladies’ Bible study. This past Monday 28 people came! We ran out of pencils, Bibles, song folders, and chairs….what a blessing!
· The warm weather didn’t last forever. On Wednesday, it was -20 when I woke up. That’s the coldest I’ve seen it. But today was in the 50’s I think, so I’m thawed back out again.
We’re planning to sing at a nursing home in Pierre and pass out Valentine’s tracts and cookies. A lady from Cherry Creek lives there and we have so much fun going there. And the people think we’re awesome :)
“Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior; and my hope is in you all day long.” –Psalm 25:4,5
“The highest reward for our toil is not what we get for it, but rather what we become by it.”
“There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self. So you have to begin there, not outside, not on other people. That comes afterwards, when you have worked on your own corner.” –Aldous Huxley
God bless, Laura
