Hello to everyone!!! There are miracles around us all the time.

I want to tell you about a lady from our ward who we visited in the hospital. Her name is Jackie. A couple of weeks ago she stepped on a staple in her house and it went right into her foot. She pulled it out and cleaned the wound really well, she thought. It didn't seem to bother her until about the third day after it was sore and a little red. She didn't want to ruin Thanksgiving so she decided to go to the doctor on Friday instead of the Wednesday. It was getting more red and sore. Friday she saw the doctor who drew a line around the red part and said that if it went past that line she must go to the hospital right away. It didn't go past the line so she didn't go in. Monday she went to the doctor who asked her what had changed. Jackie told her that it smelled really bad. The doctor immediately sent her to the hospital. The hospital doctor came into the room, took a deep breath in and said, "Gangrene!" Nice gentle way to be told that news, eh? They were trying to get the infection out and within the week they had decided to go in and possibly take off her foot. By Saturday evening they said that they couldn't wait any longer. This was life threatening and now they may have to take her leg off but for sure she would loose her foot. She is younger than me. Sunday was Fast Sunday and the ward was fasting for her. We had been praying for her the whole previous week. Saturday night a brother from the ward, who used to be the Stake President, and gave her a blessing. He blessed the doctors through her and all that would care for her and asked that if the leg could be saved that that may be the case. They went into surgery just as Sacrament meeting was starting. By the time Sacrament meeting was over we had news that they didn't have to take the leg or the foot. What a miracle that was!!! They opened up the bone and drained it and put something in there to keep draining off any infection. She is not totally out of the woods yet but they seem sure that this will work. She also got a flesh eating disease that had eaten away a lot of the foot tissue during that time. She won't be able to put any pressure of any kind on the foot for at least 2 or 3 months. Then she will be in a wheel chair for at least a year. This all has to heal well and the foot needs time to repair what the flesh eating disease destroyed. My goodness, what an ordeal all because she stepped on a staple. She was grateful for our visit. She feels so blessed and is so humbled by her blessings. We were so happy to meet her. She is a really sweet lady and so grateful for the Lord's blessings in her life. She has some less active family in the ward that the bishop wants us to visit. She told us a little of their story. I'm hoping this is a good time for them to turn their hearts to the Lord and decide to make some changes in their lives. We'll see how that goes. We haven't been able to catch them yet but hopefully this week we can. Heavenly Father is so good to all of us. He blesses us all the time. We need to express more gratitude for all that we have. We brightened her day and we felt so edified for having visited her too! The spirit was so strong in the room while we spoke. I'm so loving having the spirit with us in a way I have never felt before. I know Heavenly Father is aware of us here serving in Florida. He wants us to serve and bless these peoples lives but as usual, we seem to receive more blessings than we can receive. It is a wonderful thing to serve a mission. Our testimonies are strengthening. I hope yours are too.

We love you all.