It's been a while since I last updated this blog.  A lot has happened over the past year around East Fork Mission.  Volunteers spent a lot of time this winter replacing roofs on the parsonage and the six unit apartment from shingles to metal.  Hopefully, the roofs will last for many years and will keep costs down in the long run.  We also have been busy this summer preparing for the start of the new school year at EFLS.  This year we have restarted the high school which closed in the spring of 2007.  This year we are adding a freshmen class and will add one more class each year.  Our enrollment this year is at record numbers with everyone of our K-8th grade classrooms at maximum capacity.

I have begun recording our worship services at East Fork Church and have posted the audio on Youtube.  Please click on the link to be taken to our Youtube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM8n2fwEpzGDvZ252E6AU1w

Or find the podcast page on eastforkschool.com

It's a girl!

The last few weeks have been pretty busy around here at East Fork Mission.  On March 24th we hosted the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Choir who sang at East Fork School to a crowd of over 450 people.  That night the choir stayed in the old dormitory next to the church and then continued on their tour heading to Prescott in the morning.
On March 29 over 130 ladies from all over Arizona and even Texas and New Mexico attended an LWMS rally at East Fork Mission.  The worship service began at East Fork Lutheran Church.  The rally featured presentations by Rev. William Kessel on Apache culture and Ruth Tainatongo spoke about her time here as a teacher for the past 26 years.  The ladies from various reservation congregations cooked a fry bread and beans meal for all who attended.
Last week was also very busy for my family as we were waiting for the arrival of our fourth child.  The due date was going to be the 12th but Clara See-Yun Parsons decided to come a week early very early in the morning of April 5th.  Clara and her mother came home from the hospital yesterday and Clara and the rest of the family are adjusting to life with a newborn.  Her older sister and two brothers have had mixed emotions about their new little sister.
But what a great blessing to have new baby and a family that loves her unconditionally in spite of the late nights, the messy diapers, and how fragile and helpless newborns really are.  And what a great blessing we all have that our heavenly Father loved us unconditionally in spite of how much we scream against him, how much of a mess we make of our lives, and how utterly helpless we really are.  So great was his love for us that he would send the thing he loved the most, his own dear Son, to suffer and die for us.  If only we as parents, as brothers and sisters, could love like that.