I’m still alive and kickin! I just haven’t had internet for a very long time. Here’s what’s been keeping me and the rest of our team busy:

· The last time we went to town, the other girls and I were fixin to sing at a nursing home in Pierre. Well, we had a lot of fun and the people really seemed to enjoy it. I have a big spot in my heart for elderly people, so I’m so glad we can do things like that!

· Over Valentine’s Day it warmed up and the river started breaking up. Pictures cannot describe it. It’s so peaceful, yet so unrestful. I think I could watch it for hours….huge slabs of ice just ramming into each other and jamming up. And to think that God makes everything work together so perfectly. Like the ice melts slowly to keep everything from just flooding. Wow…it just really made me marvel at God’s creation to watch it.

· On the 15^th, it was 67 degrees! We were so happy that Kristina, Ethan, and I took some time off from school in the afternoon and picked up cans along the road. We collect cans so raise money for our mission. Now, people from town are starting to bring us cans and we pay them. It’s really cool to see doing something like that and working to earn money.

· Kevin came on the 17^th. I had looked forward to that for a long time and I was so glad he could come see where I live. He got a very cold welcome as the warm spell had abruptly ended and we got a foot of snow that Sunday. On top of that amount came a lot more snow later. We had about 16 inches on the ground for what seemed like a very long time. But that’s not all bad, because we got to go snowmobiling more.

· We had a meal for the community. It was really cold and only like 30 or so people came, so some of us went and knocked on people’s doors and asked if they wanted food. That got rid of food quickly and was a lot of fun.

· Melissa, Kris, and I had a Valentine’s supper for the staff couple’s and 2 other couple’s. It’s something that’s kind’ve become a tradition, and we had a lot of fun doing it. One couple couldn’t make it, but Mr. Dennis’ parents were here from Manitoba, so it worked out just fine.

· A group of Christian college students came from New York over their spring break and gave a presentation here in town. Some of them shared their testimonies and they acted out a song that was very touching. After their program, 9 people from town went up for the invitation. While many of them went up just to get prayers for themselves or their families, pray that this will be a beginning of a yearning to give their lives to Christ. They had a rummage also. A rummage is a Cherry Creek version of a yard sale…everything is free!!! They’re fun J One of the group leaders had lived in Columbia and had been in Bamberg….that was kind’ve interesting. Anyways, we girls got home about midnight to find a drunk man sitting in our car. After a while, he finally got out and walked away. I don’t think I’ll forget that for a while.

· Kristi and Lavon came on the 7^th of this month. They weren’t here very long, but I was so excited that they could come!

· The 7^th was also the last ladies Bible study for this winter. We always do a tea party thing for the last one and do a craft of some sort. For a devotional thing, we gave everyone a copy of “The Father’s Love Letter” and played a recording of it. It’s kinda long and this is getting very long already, so you can just look it up online if you want to. It was amazing to see how many of the ladies were crying as it played and were obviously very touched. Pray for them, also, that they would think seriously about their souls and not just forget every time they realize how much God loves them. It seems like all the promises we hear to “come to church” or “do right” are always empty, and that’s discouraging. It’s so tough for them to just stick out and be different in this town, but somehow, someday, we trust that some of these people will make a decision for Christ! Praise God, though, for some who are faithful witnesses for Him; Christian Natives can do so much more for these people that we ever can because they can identify so much better.

· A couple times a year, a OBMM board member comes here for a few days. Daryl and Andrea Martin from Pennsylvania came a few weeks ago; they really encouraged and inspired us.

· We’ve outgrown our church! For a while now, we’ve been thinking of ways we can make more room. They’ve been trying for a long time to get an abandoned Baptist church right next to ours, but could never get the title or something. Well all of a sudden they recently got into contact with a pastor from somewhere else who had ties to it. My pastor called the guy on a Wednesday, and he said he would come show it to us that Sunday. Well, on Sunday he came and we went and looked at it. Then to our surprise, he handed Mr. Dennis the keys and said, “We all working for the same goal, so take it. It’s yours as a gift.” God just totally worked a miracle for us, and we are very excited! The floor needs to be replaced, but there’s several work groups who are planning to come help us get it in shape.

· Some updates on our Spring. March 16 was a big day – Kristina found a piece of green grass and I saw 2 robins! Last Saturday, I washed our van at the artesian barefooted and in short sleeves. BUT, it has snowed the last 3 days and is freeeeezing now. Happy Spring! J

· As the river starts flowing again, it erodes. Last spring, it moved enough that it washed out the road about 5 miles from here, so they made a detour around it. Within the last few weeks, it has moved a lot again, and they had to move the power lines before they fell in the river. We hung out there a good bit, watching huge chunks of the ground fall into the water. It has stopped moving towards the road now….I think it’s a little over 7 yards from the road at the closest spot, so we should be good until next spring.

· On Monday, we took the students to Pierre for a field trip. We went to St. Mary’s Hospital and to a SD museum. Something that I thought was kinda interesting was that the first LPN school in the US was right there in Pierre. We also ate at Pizza Ranch, which is my favorite restaurant. Ever.

· Lord willing, I’ll be staying here until the middle/end of August. I was planning to leave after Bible school in June, but then Mr. Dennis asked me to stay for the summer. I’m really looking forward to it! We’ll be able to do many more things since we won’t have school and such a rigid schedule.

· We girls are in Rapid for the night. It’s so good to have a break…we’ve looked forward to this for a long time!

· This feels like a term paper or something. Now I know why preachers go overtime J Hopefully this extra long post makes up for all the weeks where y’all didn’t hear outta me.

Take are and God bless, Laura

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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

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Hey everybody! I'm sitting in the Charlotte airport fixin to head back west. I had a wonderful time at home. But now I feel like I'm going home, so I'm not exactly sure what actually IS home now. Once again, I thank each and every one of you for your continued prayer support. It means the world to me. Here's some pictures, because I don't really have anything to write. Happy New Year! Laura

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We’re heading to Rapid once again, so I guess it’s time to tell y’all what I’ve been up to. Here we go…

v The last day we spent the day in Rapid was November 12. That was a fun trip, because we stopped at about every roadkill we saw and took pictures. Very fun and entertaining. We also found potatoes in the parking lot at Walmart. I have some pictures of that. I also have pictures of some really cool roadkill, but I didn’t put them in the album. Ha.

v The next day we went hunting about all day. I think the tribal season is still in, but the regular season is over.

v One evening, Devon, Kris, Melissa, and I went to Eagle Butte to sing and play piano and guitar at a nursing home. We zoomed all the way there and made it to the Game, Fish, and Parks place just in the nick of time. I was able to get turkey tags, so I borrowed Nate’s shotgun and Kris and I went hunting the next morning. I got 3 turkeys, so we had a new experience trying to clean them.

v I went sledding for the first time! My first grader taught me how. I think it made him feel really big…he said, “Don’t be afraid. It’s not scary.”

v Our little mission team was almost doubled over Thanksgiving with 14 visitors. 5 kids our age were here, so we had fun sledding, singing for some elderly people in town, and playing games. 3 girls stayed at our house, so that was a party. One of them was Courtney Martin….she taught kindergarten and first grade here last year. We girls left for Rapid after school on the day before Thanksgiving to pick her up from the airport.

v Kris, Melissa, Courtney, and I went to Pierre to see Amber Best and to see Christmas at the Capitol. The entire Capitol building is filled with Christmas trees that different organizations and businesses decorate. They had a piano in the middle of the one floor, so I worked up courage for quite a while then I finally decided to just bite the bullet and go play it.

v The truck from Pennsylvania came on the 4^th. It comes a couple times a year and is full of furniture for our thrift sale in February, tires for the tire shop, and Christmas bundles that we pass out all over the reservation. We are very blessed to have so many caring people back east who donate things to send on the truck, who load it, and who drive it all the way out here. Usually all the people here from Pennsylvania also get boxes from their family, and since I’m not from PA I thought I wouldn’t get anything. Well, what a surprise...I got 3 boxes and a keyboard! The boxes were full of food and lots of other goodies from my family and the people back home, and the keyboard was from Troy, the guy who was here over the summer. We had lots of squealing and excitement in our house as everyone opened their surprises from home.

v We have begun Christmas caroling around town. People seem to really enjoy it.

v Our school’s Christmas is on the 19^th, so we are practicing for that. My class and I are all going to be angels.

v Lord willing, I’ll be home in 12 days from today!

v As I read back over that, is sounds really boring, but hopefully it still gives you a glimpse of my life on the cold and snowy prairie.

v Something for each of us to remember…..”If you’re not part of the problem or part of the solution, don’t talk about it.” One of my teachers at Bible School told me that, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget it.

v “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13) I’m teaching these verses to my students….such a powerful message.

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v I hope each of you has a safe, wonderful Christmas! God bless, Laura

We haven’t been to town for a pretty long time – I’m craving some Wi-fi! :) The Veteran’s Pow-Wow is this weekend, so we don’t have school tomorrow (Friday). Since it’s a whole day adventure when we go to town, it will be very nice to be able to go on Friday and still have Saturday to get our other things done before another week begins.

I’m sitting in my living room, looking back over what all has happened in the last couple weeks. Here’s a few of the things that have been keeping me and the rest of the mission team out of trouble:

-October 22 was the end of the first quarter at school, so we took the kids on a field trip to the Discovery Center in Pierre. Then we got them all kid’s meals from McDonald’s and ate in a park. The weather was gorgeous, so it was a perfect day for that.

- That evening, Mr. Alvin Byers’ came to visit me. I had looked forward to seeing them for a long time and had a lot of fun with them - off-roading in our old Taurus to show them prairie dogs, beef cattle, Cherry Creek, Cheyenne River, and all the other “tourist attractions” here.

- That Saturday, Lee and Bruce Hilty came for the weekend. We played volleyball out by the river using a row of cowpies for the net. That was definitely a highlight :)

- Erma, a lady who taught here for 9 years, and her nieces Twila and Marlese were here last weekend to bring Christmas bundles from some churches in Nebraska.

- We got snow maybe 2 weeks ago or so. But after that, it really warmed up. Now it’s getting colder again.

- Winter Bible Study’s keep us all a little busier. The women’s is on Monday’s and the men’s is on Thursday’s. Each week, I either babysit, make snack, or lead the singing.

- We are looking forward to a lot of company over the next few weeks. Some are coming to go hunting and some of the former staff are coming just to visit.

Well, that’s a little look into my life. Thank you for praying for me as I strive to fulfill my responsiblies here. I am so thankful to God for faithfully helping me through each day. I am certain I could not have made it through these 3 months without Him by my side. I ask for your continued prayer support as I teach. The last couple weeks, especially this past week, have been extremely challenging as try to meet the needs of each of my students. “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I’m going to add something that Carmen sent me. It just blesses my soul every time I read it...hopefully it will bless you also.

For Such A Time As This

For such a time as this I brought you here.

Before the world was formed I planned you.

I chose your gifts and dreamed of their use.

I thought of places I wanted you to use them.

I added weaknesses, for I know that when you are weak,

You can cry out to Me. Then you will be strong.

I planned your location, your family, your contacts,

And, oh, how I hoped you would see them,

Really see them as I do – with passion and a dream.

I knew the circumstances that would affect your life,

And I hoped that you would see them as opportunities to grow,

To share, to listen to your heart as it cries out to me.

I loved you. I wanted you. So I planned you.

And now, as you face this obstacle, this mountain in your path,

Never forget that I planned for you to be right here, right now,

For such a time as this.

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Love and miss y’all, Laura

We are on the way to Pierre to go shopping. I’ll try to tell you about my last few weeks and not be too boring.

One Sunday night, all of us went out to one of the ranchers’ place for grilled hamburgers. Two of their kids, Seth and Lexie, to our school.

Two Saturdays ago, we single staff went somewhere near Sturgis to hike Bear Butte. It’s 1000 feet high, but the trail is about 2 miles long, so it wasn’t that hard of a climb. It was really fun, and the view from the top was incredible.

We’ve had some visitors in the last couple weeks. Elmer and Lois Zimmerman from Pennsylvania came to see Melissa. Frank and Ann Good from Virginia came to see Kristina. Eugene and Elaine Weaver were here last weekend – About every 3 months, an OBMM board member goes to each mission and checks up on things and interviews each of us. He told me in my interview that I’m fired. Ha. Not.

Last Sunday, I had 20 kids in the youngest Sunday School class! There were 49 people at church all together. The attendance has really been up – it is a definite answer to prayer and very encouraging. Pray with us that people would continue to come and that they would see their need of Jesus.

I continue to need your prayers as I teach. I used to teach kindergarten in the morning and first grade in the afternoon, but as of last week, I have both grades in the morning. This is very challenging and many times I feel so incapable.

Lord willing, Mr. Alvin and Mrs. Susie Byers will be here next weekend! I’m so excited – I’m ready to see somebody from home!!

The first thing we did when we got to Pierre was sing for an old lady from Cherry Creek who is in a nursing home here. We were expecting to just sing in her room, but we ended up having to sing out in the lobby where she was sitting. It was really awkward at first since we had such a crowd, and plus ended up having staff and everyone peeking around the corners at us. But they all seemed to enjoy and we actually had a lot us fun. We usually sing with all the mission staff, so it was fun to just be able to sing with us 3.

Well, that is all I’ll write for this time. If you want to know more about my life, you’ll just have to come see me J Thanks to each one who sent me mail – Mr. Dennis brings it to school, so that’s always a huge highlight in my day! Most of all, thank you for your prayers…sometimes I think I can actually “feel” people praying for me. That means so much and it’s making more of a difference than you will ever know. Love and miss y’all! God bless, Laura

Here's some pics... http://picasaweb.google.com/107725585786261891629/Blog3#

“God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, nor sun without rain; But He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.”

Friends, Romans, and countrymen….I’ll try to catch y’all up on my life in Cherry Creek since last time. It’s gonna sound random and chopped up, but anyways.

· We had 3 days off of school for Labor Day, so that was a nice break. Eagle Butte (a city about 45 minutes from here) had a Labor Day Parade, and, since most of Cherry Creek is there, we decided to decorate our truck and take it through the parade. We ended up getting rained out, but we still had a lot of fun.

· A few weeks ago, we watched a DVD about Native Tribes Missions. Seeing such poor, isolated countries and the missions there makes me feel so fortunate that I was called to a place with so many conveniences – It’s so easy for me to take it for granted and feel like I “deserve” it. Something on the movie that really struck me went something like this, “What you want to be is not important. What matters is what you are willing to become.”

· Our dear dog Sergeant Maranckerson is still alive and well and now has a doghouse =) Troy built one under our back steps – that very night it rained, so it worked out just perfect. Troy left Wednesday to go back home; he was just here for the summer.

· Eugene and Elaine Weaver are planning to be here in about 2 weeks. It will be good to see them and also to get my huge suitcase of belongings they are bringing out!

· A verse that has really encouraged me recently is Isaiah 48:17, “This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go’.”

· I take the kindergarteners home at lunchtime, and when I dropped Kyson off today, he was was singing, “Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so!” That just totally made my day. Sometimes teaching can be discouraging, but little things like that is what makes it worth it. Thanks for your prayers!

Here's the link to some pictures....http://picasaweb.google.com/107725585786261891629/Blog2#

Later, Laura