Luke's thank you letter to his 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Hughes

 

Ministering

 The kids helped me minister to a single sister in our ward. We helped her get her house and yard ready to sell, and continued to help her maintain her yard for a couple of months until she moved. It was a good opportunity to serve.

New Braunfels

After the funeral, Sophia and I met up with Melanie Womack for lunch. It was so good to see her!

 

Kenya Cooper Beckett

We were heart broken to  hear of the death of our good friend from New Braunfels, Kenya. She was in a fatal car accident with her young daughter. Her daughter survived. Kenya was so good to Porter. She lived on a one acre farm with a yurt in the backyard. The kids enjoyed visiting her cow and chickens. The first time I met Kenya was at a ward service project, we were cleaning up a campground.  She had limited mobility on one side, but she was tenacious and didn't let that slow her down. She was one of the hardest workers there. She taught school, raised her two kids on her own and ran her small farm. I was assigned to minister to her. One day, out of what felt like the blue, I found out she'd gotten married over the weekend. That was just her way. A while later, she confided that she was pregnant, and she tried to convince me to have another baby too, so she wouldn't be the only old one having a baby. We were at Landa Park, her step-daughter was in swim lessons, and I remember the conversation vividly. She loved on that new baby, I talked her into letting me watch her while Porter went to help her and her husband paint their new place. I held that baby the whole time, because I didn't want anything to happen to her. I could tell it wasn't easy for Kenya to trust anyone to watch her baby, and I didn't take that trust or responsibility lightly. Porter felt safe and welcome at their home. And I loved Kenya for that. He dated her daughter Maryn before when went on her mission. I loved Maryn. She and Porter were so similar in personality and temperament and interests. Kenya and I used to trade stories and concerns and encouragement about the two teenagers. We hosted a Maryn's open house before she left on her mission. I feel like Kenya was someone who lived the true gospel, she was good to her core... a salt of the earth person.  She didn't play games, didn't care what other people thought, a what you see if what you get kind of a person. At her funeral they described her as someone who would be nursing her baby, while making jam with one hand, and with dinner cooking on the stove. She wasn't afraid of hard work, she wasn't afraid of trying new things or figuring things out.  I loved learning more about her childhood at the funeral as I listened to her siblings speak. When I saw Maryn at the funeral, she burst into tears, gave me a huge hug and explained, I didn't know you were coming! I haven't cried until now. You were like my second mom. I was so glad that Sophie and I made the effort to go the funeral. We bawled the whole time, we'd made the rookie mistake of not bringing tissues, luckily we sat by Rebecca Orgil, and she gave us all of hers. I had so many interactions with Kenya, I wish I would have catalogued them better in my mind. I'm grateful to have known Kenya. She will be greatly missed.

Sophia's Senior Pictures