Back to School!

The children on the ranch started back to school on August 22nd. For them that means getting on a bus at 7 AM and returning home at 5 PM. Elementary and high school students go to school in Harmony, which is a fairly new, large housing development. A traffic signal and a convenience store/gas station are the newest additions to their community. It's about 20 miles from the ranch. The middle school students go to school in St. Cloud, another 10 miles or so away. One family home schools and another is trying out "virtual" school online as well.

We are gradually getting to know all the families on the ranch, i.e. connecting children to parents and vice versa. Working in Primary has helped. During the summer, the sister missionaries helped with "Kids Club", an 8 week summer program on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It was started about 15 years ago by one of the mothers who wanted to maintain her children's reading skills over the summer. It now includes a lot of varied activities led or taught by the young mothers with children in Kids Club. Preschoolers are also included.

 The missionaries volunteered to work with 8-10 children ages 10 and up for an hour on Tuesday mornings followed by about 12  7-9 year olds during the second hour. We learned two things: 1) we are not very creative, and 2) we are no longer 30 years old!! It was a challenge to come up with activities to keep them busy and we were pooped when it was over! We did crafts, line dancing, pioneer games, Minute To Win It (MTWI) games, movies, and the older ones helped paint some of the toys we make for charity. MTWI was a hit (maybe the oreos and candy helped) as was a pioneer game from Nauvoo called "graces". On Saturday August 13th, the families gathered for a "show and tell" finale and refreshments. Nauvoo Visitors Center



Ben, Taylor & Dillon paint suncatchers.




Cora & younger sister Holley make kaleidoscopes.




Mary as a MTWI "Toilet  Paper Mummy".





Ethan & Bradley compete in MTWI   "M&Ms"




MTWI "Face The Cookies"
(Madison, Kaylie, & Cora)



Youth Camp

The Central Florida Youth & Family Camp (CFYFC) is located on the ranch, although it is operated by the Cocoa Stake. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Young Women, families, and other groups camp there. It holds about 165 campers. A senior missionary couple runs the camp and joins the ranch missionaries for FHE and our bimonthly Sunday dinners.Up until recently, that couple was Elder and Sister Appel from Ventura, CA. However, on July 20th, Sis. Appel had a serious accident on a 4-wheeler resulting in 7 broken ribs, a broken pelvis, and an episode of blood clots in her lungs, so she is back in CA recuperating as we continue to pray for her complete and speedy recovery!! Elder and Sister Murdock from Idaho will arrive in mid-September to take over for the Appels. (This was planned BEFORE the accident.) The Murdocks have a niece, Sara Birch, and her family living on the ranch.

The St. Petersburg Stake Young Women had their Girls Camp at CFYFC this year from 7/18 to 7/22. We joined them for dinner on the 20th which was "Bishops Night". President David Biliter, counselor in the Stake Presidency, spent the week in camp as the chef and cooked his Shrimp Gumbo that night. Yum!! After dinner, we watched the girls perform skits for the bishops and Stake Presidency.  Young Women Camp

Interesting note: a very big alligator causing some concern in the camp was killed by the ranch employee licensed to do so several weeks before our girls arrived. We heard it was 11 feet! But then, we also heard it was "only" 8 feet! Both are bigger than we want to encounter!!



Entrance to camp





Elder & Sister Appel




Air Conditioned cabins hold 16-20 campers.




Screened Mess Hall






Mess Hall Inside



Part of C.O.P.E. course
What is C.O.P.E.?




Shooting Range




Getting set up for first skit.




This skit even had an alligator!




Stake YW leaders were really into their skit!




Another beautiful sunset at camp.

"Believe in God; believe that he is, and he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." Mosiah 4:9