September 27, 2026

VISITS: We have really enjoyed visiting about 12 individuals, getting to know them and inviting those who would like to attend the Wichita Open House.  It is open for two weeks.  The small towns of the branch are 15-30 miles out of Pratt.  We had most of the addresses and was able to meet with them.  There were a couple we did not have addresses or even a phone number.  It was interesting to see how little by little we got the information we needed.  These are Heavenly Fathers children and he knows them, their concerns and needs. The visits were good.

AFRICAN FAMILY: We were excited to meet an African family in our branch from a refugee camp in Zambia.  They spoke in our Sacrament Meeting.  The girls bore their testimonies.  Their mother was nervous, but she relaxed and became confident to share her view of their experience in coming to America. 

The father shared their story.  When he was a teenager his parents, his sister & he had to flee the Congo. They were separated from their parents for a number of years.  He & his sister went to a refugee camp in Zambia.  He eventually met his wife, they were married & had four beautiful children.  He was concerned about his family and started to pray and work to make a better future for them.

He started to proceed to try to be accepted into America where English was spoken.  His father became ill and died, later his deceased father was able to let our friend know that his family would be going to the USA.   It was difficult to get all of the documents ready.  He also had to have good health and his vitals were checked every day.  Just a couple of days before they left his blood pressure sky rocketed.  He was stressed along with all of his family.

They prayed, pleading with Heavenly Father to help them.  The final time they checked it, the blood pressure was normal.  They knew it was a miracle. The plane ride was worrisome because he didn’t know where they were going.  He knew that America was good but he also knew that there were some places that were not safe and he wanted the children to go to school.

When they arrived in Pratt a couple of families welcomed them & helped them. He was so grateful.  His wife struggled, wanting to go back to Africa but the families helped them find jobs, a home and with time his wife relaxed and wanted to stay.  They love living here in Pratt now.

The father’s testimony:    “Jesus never leaves us alone – he may back away for awhile. We can get impatient and start to ask, “Why? Why? Why?”   His answer may not be denial but, just wait my son.  I have good things for you!”

We admire their faith in Jesus Christ, taking things one step at a time not knowing what was going to happen next.   The kindness and generosity of the people here led this family to want to learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, & their family was baptized.

Farmer’s Market:

We discovered a farmer’s market last Saturday, but it was noon and just closing up.  There was a big pile of watermelons, fresh watermelon sounded so good!  So…this was the smallest one!

We picked up some homemade peach jalapeno jam, it is good.:)

Service:

We are helping in the Community Kitchen for a couple of hours each week for anyone who needs a meal.  We admire those who are taking the time to prepare the food and it was fun serving with them. We get to do it every Tuesday evening.

Friends:

We have become very good friends with a minister & his wife that have a church here.  They let us know about  a pig roast fundraiser for the Youth of Pratt and it provides money for summer Bible Camps.  We enjoyed going there after church. 

Tornado:   While traveling on the road to Coldwater we drove through Greensburg Kansas.  We were surprised to learn that a large tornado hit the town in 2007 and destroyed the entire town.  The tornado alarm went off and the people went to a safe place, & waited.  It came & it was loud and lasted awhile. Little did they know that when they went outside everything would be demolished.  The tornado was called a grinder because it sat in one spot and ground everything to splinters.  We have heard that the tornadoes split & go around Pratt and that they have not had one here for years.

This information was at  the Big Well Museum.  This building enclosed the largest hand dug well in the United States.  It was constructed in the late 1800’s.  It was deep and hard to imagine all of the man power that went into constructing this.

We are finding treasures in little towns.  We ate the best pizza we have ever had at Dave’s Pizza in the little town of Coldwater.  We enjoyed sharing this with a couple we went to visit.  We had a great visit enjoying pizza together.  Farrell said that “Cheese lovers would be jealous.:)

Another fun thing we did was have ice cream at an old fashioned ice cream fountain shop. It was so good!

Testimony:

We appreciate the opportunity to share our testimonies as we work with the missionaries.  We have felt the love of the Savior with everyone we have met.

One man was  interested in trying to stop smoking but it was difficult.  When we later asked him what his coping skill was he said that watching a medical show where they were explaining the dangers of smoking made him stop & ask himself, “What was he doing?”  He decided to stop.  He has been blessed with this choice.  It made us so grateful to see the his confidence growing in the Savior and the smile on his face.  We are enjoying serving here in Pratt Kansas.  We love Heavenly Father and want to be instruments in His hand in helping others come unto Jesus Christ.