of young people and beautiful children. 
The next morning we had a precious service. Worship time was truly an experience. We stood there in an hour and a half worship encounter. As I looked around at these people, many who have nothing, are struggling with the economy, etc., I was touched by the depths of their desperation to connect with God. God really showed me that worship for them was oxygen to their spirit, soul and body. Their desperation brought them into the presence of God. The more they sang and connected with Him, their faces glowed with the love of God. When Larry gave the altar call, many flowed to the front to give their hearts to Christ for the first time.
but it will come quickly. Thanks for letting us share our island travels with you and we'll connect with you in two weeks when we're back ministering in Arizona!"To love another person is to see the face of God."
-Les Miserables
A young woman was taking an afternoon nap. After she woke up, she told her husband, "I just dreamt that you gave me a pearl necklace for Valentine's Day.
What do you think it means?"
"You shall know tonight", he said.
That evening, the man came home with a small package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it. She found a book entitled "The Meaning of Dreams".
"An archeologist is the best husband any woman can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her." - Agatha Christie
"I was nauseous and tingly all over. I was either in love or I had smallpox!" - Woody Allen
Frozen Pina Coladas (Non-Alcoholic)
1 bottle Pina Colada Mix
1 (12 oz.) can frozen lemonade
1 (46 oz.) can pineapple juice
 For a limited time, with the purchase of Tastes of Friendship ,  you will receive one of our best selling cookbooks, Lunchies, Munchies and Household Hints for FREE! To take advantage of this offer, click here to go to our online store, and add Tastes of Friendship to your cart only. You will receive your free cookbook in the mail shortly after. You may also call the office at 605-698-7007. Enjoy! |
Ice cubes will help sharpen garbage disposal blades. Put a couple in and run it to get your blades at peak performance again.
to be back at Ewa Beach Assembly of God ministering with pastor friends, Bob and Kathy Stalcup. Kathy was responsible for bringing me over to the islands in 1990 to speak at a Women's conference for all the Hawaiian islands. It was held at the big island in Kona. Since that conference we've been privileged to return every 2 years to minister. We've met many friends through the years that have remained true friends and that would definitely describe pastor Bob and Kathy. 
with people hungry for God. Sunday night I spoke and entitled my message "So you're having a bad day!" It focused on encouraging hurting people how to walk through the dark valleys and trials. I figure of all the trials Larry and I have gone through as a couple and family by now I should've gained some insight to help others- HA! 
mid-nineties. God has blessed them with great personalities and the joy of the Lord and is using them in ministry in the local church. After a lunch with them Debbie emailed, 
Larry and Gloria always say is, 'Laughter is a good medicine.' And believe me, they laugh and the make us laugh. We love them. 
minister at Pastor Janet Cordeiro's church. What a precious woman of God. We've also ministered there every 2 years since the late nineties. Again when the invitation of Christ was given many flooded the altars making rededications of their lives. There were 3 teenagers who made first time commitments as well as first time decisions for John and Raynette Solto's parents. They have prayed for them for many, many 
years and invited them to our morning service. When I asked John's father if he and his wife had ever prayed a prayer like this before to ask Jesus in to his heart he said, "I prayed through the years, but never like this…" with a big grin he added, "this is good!" For the last 10-12 years when we've come to Waimanalo, John and his wife Raynette, who were the worship leaders, always went out of their way to help us set-up, run sound, or whatever we needed, and had us to their home for meals. After all these years - God rewarded their prayers - how thrilling! 
challenge me, "Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered on to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." I have to keep remembering and challenging myself to be diligent in ministering out of my need and hurts and He will minister back to me. And He does! If you are hurting, facing a trial or suffering, find someone else who is hurting and love and encourage them. Believe it or not, you will be just as blessed as the person you are ministering to. Not to mention that you will feel much better and be happier. Blessings on you!
Sisseton, Larry had his last challenge in "snowkota" to shovel us a pathway through five and six foot snowbanks from the front door of our home out to the doors of our car to leave on tour. He huffed and puffed, but did not complain as he knew it was the last shoveling job of this winter season at home. 
We flew out of Minneapolis on Jan. 13 with a layover in Dallas, TX on to Honolulu and arrived Wednesday evening. After a 20 hour day in the air and airports it only took one deep breath of the evenings 70 degree temperatures and the south trade-winds as I sighed, "It was worth the long trip!"
going to be just the 20 of us?" And then the pastor chuckled, "It's 9:00 Filipino time!" Before long they were pouring in the doors and within a ½ hour the church was packed. They put folding chairs everywhere they could and there were people standing in the back. There was an air of excitement as worship began. What an anointed time of worship. I left Sisseton exhausted, arrived exhausted, and as I started to worship I felt like I was receiving a blood transfusion or as if warm oil were flowing over me. The presence of God was so sweet, and God knew I needed that time of refreshing! When we got up to sing and minister the congregation was primed and ready to receive. We had a wonderful service. When Larry gave the invitation for the altar call they flowed out of the pews. Dozens of them were young couples and young people in their teens and twenties, making decisions for Christ. After the service a gentleman walked 
up to me with tears in his eyes and in broken English he expressed, "I feel good now...when you asked us to come forward, I walked up and asked Jesus into my heart." He smiled, "It's all okay now." If that had been the only one who had responded to the altar call...the 20 hour trip would have been worth it!
potatoes, steamed rice, salads, hot vegetable dishes, Filipino dishes, etc, etc! Yes, we enjoyed every bite of it and then they brought out their 3 ukulele's and we all sang and shared and prayed together. We all left blessed, happy and full of food! Of course Filipino's always send food 
packages home with their guests so we have lots of goodies to eat. Larry is very happy!
December 16th, 
then.
18th I baked a few of my family's Christmas favorites and made homemade vegetable stew…it is an annual request at this time of year.
20 inches of snow along with the warnings that the roads and interstates would be closed so he let her go a day early.
fore it hit to make sure we had plenty of food as it was predicted we would be snowbound for three days.
go because the road was still blocked with snow drifts.
All the way to Branson, we visited, sang, played games, and ate Christmas goodies that our guests brought. There's nothing like fellowship! Of those that joined us, I think about 12 of them have gone with us on several of our previous tours. It is become a yearly tradition of a "friends gathering". Once they go on a tour, they often go again and again. It was a joy to have Connie Simons and Marilee Trosen join us another year. It's always fun to have them come along!
was the Wissman family from Seward, NE. They have 13 children and they all play instruments and sing. The little 3 year old daughter stole our hearts. Of course, this family reminded me of Larry and I and of our days in ministry when we had all of our children with us. At one time we had 3 Lundstrom couples, and 8 little Lundstroms who all sang and took part in the Lundstrom TV specials, rallies and crusades. Yes…this Momma got emotional, I miss those days. 
going to be in Branson and found out where we were. We met one of the couples in the 1980s at a church rally and they've been following us through our newsletters ever since. 
with them as we've only seen them once this year for just a few hours each. Also, Happy second Anniversary, LaShawn and Liam - today!
Lowell in prayer, as he is struggling with Parkinson's. I went back to Sisseton to be with my Mother, brother and family for Thanksgiving.
also gutted out all the bay areas doing year-end inventory and reorganization of our ministry equipment and products. We left South Dakota last August 11th and the motorhome, which is our office, won't return to Sisseton until next May, 2010. As you well know paperwork and "stuff" piles up! Larry has been busy booking 2010 and I've been kept busy with office work and phone calls. What better place to have to work than in toasty Arizona. 
NE, but the temp was to drop to 23 degrees and it was to be one of the pivotal points of the storm. At that point we had to abandon our plans and make a quick decision to get out of Nebraska. We definitely didn't want to get caught in a snow storm and have the plumbing and pipes freeze and explode. We quickly packed up and headed off. The first day we drove from Nebraska to Kansas, into the corner of Oklahoma and on to Texas. The second day we scurried in to Albuquerque, NM with the storm nipping at our heels all the way. Just as we pulled into Albuquerque, about 2 hours later, the rain poured and temps dropped to 30 so we hunkered down next to the Victory Family church to wait for it to pass. The next day, Albuquerque had what we'd call a South Dakota snowstorm. While the storm was dumping a load of snow, Pastor Jerry and Geanette Bernard looked at us and said, "Larry and Gloria, did you bring this? We haven't seen a storm like this in many, many years." We confessed, "Maybe we did -ha!" 
Let me back up, before we left Nebraska, we had two wonderful services. On Wednesday night we were in O'Neill, NE where three Pastors had joined together for a wonderful evening service. There was excitement in the air and we were all thrilled to see those who made decisions for Christ. 
invited us to come. They put a lot of effort and prayer into the outreaches and God has definitely honored it. Sunday morning, there were close to 60 who responded to the altar call. This included several young families - what a thrill! When I looked in the counseling room and saw those precious families, it brought tears to my eyes. It's those moments of people coming to Christ that keep us going. God is so faithful, and we are still willing to go.
Saturday evening and well over 50 people go forward on Sunday morning; many for the first and many of those were children and young people. Words like faithful and consistent should be used in describing Larry & Gloria's ministry. They very unselfishly lift up Jesus Christ and allow Him to draw "all" unto Himself. They come to build up a church by kindling a relationship between people and Jesus Christ. Thank you for coming and for your incredible faithfulness!"
and tears of joy made the trip out east worth every soul that came to Christ. 
We also met them in the early years of our ministry and are thankful that their burden for the Lost and their influence to bring us in saw a great harvest come to fruition. They shared:
"I saw 6 or 7 youth who recommitted their lives to God. One of them had professed to be a Christian but didnot remember the specific time when he accepted Christ as his savior, so this became his moment of personal decision. I think several others had accepted Christ in the past and had come to the point where the cares of the world were having a bit of asmothering effect on them. Through your ministry on Sunday, I believe that God spoke to them and rekindled the flame of their commitment. I also had the opportunity to speak to another young believer about the assurance of salvation, which I believe he had been seeking, and I pray that God will use this moment as a time to which he can look with assurance that Christ is Lord of his life. In addition to these happenings, I thank you for giving Shanita the opportunity to be a counselor to the younger children. I think it was really good for her. And I appreciated the challenge that you have given me to look outward more than I do. That's an ongoing process that God is working in me."
Watching them, I remarked, "Larry, look at all those geese." He looked up and heard them honking and he said, "Well if that won't give you hunting fever." I commented, "Boy they are really moving fast - they feel that chill in the air and are heading south- I think they're smarter than us, we are heading north." Just then I saw about 15-20 geese going the opposite direction - north! I figured they must have an instinct and a compass like me, which is not good! I can get lost in direction by just blinking my eyes. 
my life." What they don't know or want to believe is that their own free Will is going take them to an eternal destination that they won't like and when they get there it will be too late to turn around.
Amidst the pouring rain we had a spot here and there where the sun peeked through so we could enjoy the fall scenery. Arriving in the beautiful state of Vermont, I was mesmerized by the countless white steeples of churches peeking through the fall leaves displaying their brilliant colors of red, yellows and oranges. As we were driving down the road, we saw a bumper sticker that read "I live in Vermont…..and I can do whatever I want." That sticker resonated the reality of the mindset of a godless generation. I am sure if you follow the news, you are aware that on April 15, 2009, the Verm
ont Supreme Court judges passed the law of same sex marriages. Plain and simply put, it made it legal for a man to marry a man or a woman to marry a woman. You and I definitely know this is not God's law. Vermont is also the home of the infamous "Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream". The day the law was passed and men began marrying men, Ben and Jerry's made a special ice cream advertising it for same sex wedding celebrations. They switched the name from "Chubby Hubby" to "Hubby Hubby". How appalling! As you know, several states are following suit on same sex marriage. The bumper sticker "I live in Vermont ... and I can do whatever I want" is a very apparent outward burst of rebellion. While in Vermont, Larry and I talked to many college age students and young couples and inquired int
o their view of the new law. The overwhelming answer we received was "Well ya, I agree it is kind of weird, but now we are used to it, and ya, that's just the way it is". God help us not to continue to "get used to sin", and the collateral damage it is causing the upcoming generations. Christian moms and dads…grandpas and grandmas…stand up and fight for your children and grandchildren while we can still make a difference. We need to do it while we still can. Ok, so you can see I am fired up, but frankly we need to be! Our children and grandchildren's futures are too important to stay silent!
onnecticut and drove through New York City (sure glad Larry was driving as I was a stress wreck). The more I saw the graffiti, the more I prayed our car wouldn't break down. Ha. From New York we drove on to Philadelphia and arrived just in time for rush hour traffic. We pulled off downtown Philly and hunted down a small restaurant that has been there since the early 1900's. Our daughter LaShawn keeps telling us you can't go out East without having a fresh lobster. She said, "Mom and Dad, it is only $20 for a 2# lobster." That got Larry's attention as 
well as mine. We drove through the old streets of Philly where they are so narrow that I am sure they were built only for Model T's or today's smart cars. We finally reached our destination and happily ordered the lobster. It was scrumptious, as you can see by the photo of Larry. Of course, I had my own. It may be several years before we get lobster so I figured, "Why not? Yummy!" We are now in Pennslyvania and are making our way towards Cumberland , Maryland, for weekend services. 