The Shepard's Are Coming to Texas!

No. We are not coming home early!!

Over the past two weeks, I have been discussing, with my parents, the possibility of their moving to Texas. They had put up their home for sale in California to move Sacramento to be closer to their doctors. They have about a 60-mile journey over HWY 49 to get to the hospital. That's when we began exploring the ultimate alternative...moving to Texas. They were immediately receptive to the idea; the only real hurdle was transferring their healthcare plan, but that was easier than we thought. They can transfer at any time, as long as the change is precipitated by a move; otherwise changes can occur only once a year, during a specific enrollment period.

They are leaning toward living in Heritage Ranch, an all adult community that is about 2 miles, as the crow flies, from our house. We have found a number of nice properties that will meet their needs for about 60 to 70 percent of what they should sell for in California. That will give them enough extra cash to take care of the increase in property taxes.

Homes are not selling too fast right now in California, however. In the right market I don't think their house would last a week, but so far, they have only shown the property a few times. If it doesn't sell in the next few weeks, they will pull it off the market and put it back on in the spring. We would love to be home to help them out when they actually make the move.

In Moscow, I was given an assignment to teach Preach My Gospel, during Sunday School. Preach My Gospel is an awesome manual that missionaries use to learn how to be effective missionaries. I didn't know too much about this publication before we were called to be missionaries, but it turns out to be a great member resource as well.

There is no lesson manual. I will need to figure out how I am going to teach the material myself. There are 13 Chapters in the book. There are two great sections on how to improve teaching methods. Other subjects include basic doctrines to teach and how to use the Book of Mormon. There is even one lesson dedicated to how to manage your time.

I have two weeks to figure out my lesson plans, and with over 200 pages of information to cover, hopefully, I won't have too much time to watch this crazy market!