Our daughter Sarah and our grandson Lu visited us over the Easter weekend. I've been to many airports around the world, but I have never been to one that was as congested as Houston Hobby. Cars were lined up for 1/2 mile waiting to pick up arriving passengers. Even though it was around 10 pm by the time we got to the freeway, the traffic was still stop and go in some areas. Even the Lima, Peru airport is less congested. 

We had a great time with them. On Friday, we visited the Houston Aquarium. They had a very nice seafood restaurant with a large salt water aquarium the entire length of the restaurant. 

We also had an animal encounter with an Armadillo. I was surprised at how they can completely curl up in a ball.

We drove over to see the Employment Center and Deseret Industries before going back to our apartment. On Saturday we went to Old Town Spring and then to a Wild Animal Park. We would probably never make the effort to see these things that are close by since we are old fogies now. Lu and Sarah got to go inside the cage with the Serval Cat. It was quite affectionate.

We really enjoyed our time with Sarah and Lu and appreciate them taking the time to come and see us.

We had some more heart-wrenching experiences this week. An Egyptian man that is a US citizen came in to look for a better job. His mother and sister still live in Egypt and he is the sole bread winner for them. His mother is sick and his sister is taking care of her. He sends most of his earned money to them. He is working two shifts per day as a medical courier and is only making about $100 per day after paying for his gas. He works from 7 am to 11 pm, 7 days a week. He joined the army shortly after coming to the US, and was in military intelligence in Iraq for 5 years since he spoke Arabic. He then was a correctional officer for 4 years but just couldn't take it anymore. He really looked worn out. We have a meeting this week with the chief security officer of a security company who would like to hire him. Hopefully, it will work out well for him.

At the English connect class this past week, I handed out a work sheet for them to fill in as if they were visiting the doctor. We had already gone over the majority of the words they would use on the form. One young man from Nicaragua didn't fill anything out on the address line. I asked him in Spanish if he needed help to understand what was needed and he said no, that he didn't have an address where he lived. He is very upbeat in class and really wants to learn English, but must have a very difficult time surviving if he doesn't have a place to live. There are so many people that take for granted all the luxuries of life that we have in the US, and don't stop to think what it is like for these people. And yet, even though they are having such a difficult time, they are still better off than they were in their home country. 

Today, a man came in that immigrated from Africa about 7 years ago. He is trying to find a job where he can earn enough money to bring the rest of his family to Houston. They are living in North Dakota now and the company he was working for there downsized and laid him off. He still has one daughter that is 9 years old in Africa that is living with other family. He is trying to earn enough money to hire an immigration attorney to do the paper work for her to be able to come to the US and be with the rest of the family. 

Even though it is hard to see all of the difficulties that these people are going through, it is rewarding to be able to help them in any way possible. There is no doubt that our mission call came from Heavenly Father because this is a way that I can help these people in spite of the health issues I have. I really love the Hispanic people and feel fortunate to have the opportunity to help them, as well as the others that are in need of help.