Dear Lelia, and Everyone,

Loving Ones, I do appreciate all your love and prayers. I turned down my
speakers really low, so I don't wake up VErnon, since he's not too far from
my computer, sleeping.

Okay, my dear Loving ones, I have more to tell you.

We decided after talking to the Auctioneer today, not to sell the Lawn and
Garden parts on the auction sale. This is because VErnon would take a great
loss, and would get very little for them.

He will attempt to sell the parts to other dealers who sell the same kind
of things, and atleast someone from Central Power is kind enough to see if
they can help him.

We will, however sell the tools, and other things up there.

Okay, loving ones, there's more.

I went to the foot doctor this afternoon, and also to see my P.A. A lot is
happening here.

I found out from the foot doctor, that I have degenerative Author-Itis in
my feet, which is the same as Austio Arthur-Itis. My feet are badly
inflamed, and so I had to get some expensive athletic shoes with foot
supports in them.

Then, I went to see my P.A. I have a bad cold, which has turned into a
bacteria infection, almost pneumonia, and Ihave a very bad eye infection. I
am running a low grade feever, also. She put me on several prescriptions.
I'll have to take acidophilus while taking the Antibiodic Ogmentin.

Also, my loving ones, for some reason, I've not been taking my blood sugar
lately at all hardly at all since the tornado. Also I've been eating all
the wrong things, and gaining substancial weight. This is not good.

Please pray for both VErnon and I, as neither of us are eating the right
things, and taking care of our blood sugars. We're taking our meds, but
we're not testing our blood sugars. Please don't tell Vernon I told you this.

I'm also going to give you all my address. It's on our web site, so anyone
can get it. Our address is, as follows:

Pat and Vernon Ferguson
205 Joliet Ave., S. E.
De Smet, SD.  57231-2411.

Okay, now you will all have it for whatever reasons you might need it. <smile>

I'm going to close now, with many lovings and squeezings for all of you.
Please continue to pray for us.

Paul, I'll send you those pictures tomorrow. I'm going to bed now, after
taking my meds and washing my eye, and putting the drops in it.

God Bless you all.

Love,
Pat Ferguson
At 08:09 AM 10/23/03 -0600, you wrote:
>Oh Pat, you will be and are in my thoughts and prayers.  You and your
>husband.  Isn't it wonderful how God fights for us.  Also how He chooses to
>get our attention, we might not like it sometimes but He does things in His
>own time things will be all right because you have God and we all love you.
>
>*hugs
>
>Lelia
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Pat Ferguson" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 9:23 PM
>Subject: Many things to Praise God for
>
>
> > Dear Loving EChurch Family,
> >
> > I have so much to tell you that I don't know where to start. This is a bit
> > long, so get something to drink and sit down.
> >
> > First of all, I'll tell you that God has blessed us emencelly.
> >
> > Not only has He blessed us, but He has made us stronger, as well.
> >
> > We survived the F4 tornado on June 24th of this year, in the bath tub, me
> > on the bottom, and VErnon on top. We did not have time to make it down
>into
> > the crawl space, as it was right across the highway when I heard it and
> > felt the pressure drop in my ears. After the tornado was over, VErnon got
> > out of the tub and helpped me out of the tub. He then told me: "We got to
> > get out of here, there's gass." He couldn't find his shoes, so he put on
> > his slippers and walked through all the glass and debree and mud and
>stuff,
> > and walked outside to try and shut off the gass valves. They were broke.
>He
> > came back in the house, and I was finding my way with my cane and my purse
> > and he met me in the entry and helpped me out the door. We got as far away
> > from the house, as possible, as all the gass tanks in town were putting
>out
> > gass. One could really smell and hear those gass tanks. It was almost
>worse
> > than the tornado. I was scared. We were concerned with all the cars
>driving
> > in town that a spark would cause the gass to ignite and we would have all
> > gone up in flames. It was not a pretty sight. God was with us all. Someone
> > came over to us and asked us if we were alright. I said blank no! They
> > asked us if we were injured, and we said no. They explained that they had
> > to find the injured people first. We understood, but nevertheless, I was
> > scared. I sent Vernon back into the house for a cell phone. He found his
> > cell phone, and grabbed several things of mine and brought out to me. I
> > thought that was sweet. One of them was my very expensive Plextor Daisy CD
> > Recorder I had bought after arriving back from Portland, my tape recorder,
> > and some CD's. He called Dean and told them what happened, and asked them
> > to come up and get us. They came up, and they couldn't believe it. Betty
> > grabbed me and squeezed me, and we both cried. After a while, we were on
> > their way to their house, when we were struck witha super heavy hail
>storm.
> > It was horrible. I was just sure every window in Dean's truck was going to
> > be broke, but nothing was broke, and no dents in the truck. The hail was
> > bad, too. We made it to De Smet, and that loving little dog Mitsi didn't
> > know what was going on. Again, God was with us.
> >
> >
> > The next day, We endured the stress of seeing what our house was like
>after
> > it all. The news media wouldn't leave us alone. They were relentless. I
> > finally talked to KELO Land TV station, so they would leave Vernon and
>Dean
> > alone to work. We learned who our friends were, even though the county and
> > state were very rude to them, and wouldn't let them in Manchester to help
> > us the next few days. When we found out this, to be honest, we were very
> > upset. The county and state didn't help us at all. They just bulldosed
>what
> > they wanted to, and the county commissioner got his stuff all cleaned up.
> > No one was given time to go through anything, or pick. We did find out who
> > our friends, are exactly who we thought they were. We learned that this
> > loving EChurch family was more support to us than we ever expected. The
> > emotional support and prayers from you all have been tremendously
> > wonderful. We thankyou from the bottom of our hearts.
> >
> > Three days after the Tornado, The Lord found us a nice house that needed a
> > lot of work on the outside, and some work on the inside, but He has given
> > VErnon the strength and wisdom to do that work. We couldn't have done this
> > without the help of his brothers, Dean, and Lyle, for whom we are very
> > grateful to.
> >
> > God took Vernon's Dad away from us, on the evening of July 28th, which was
> > the day that we became owners of this house in De Smet, South Dakota. It
> > was unthinkable what our doctor did to Vernon's Dad. He preferated his
> > colon, and didn't tell the family about it until they got back to the
> > hospital from lunch, and found Dad in intensive care. Then Doctor Wiedel
> > had to admit that he preferated his colon. It was too late. Dad looked
>like
> > he was going to have trippletts. We waited for him to have surgery, but
> > found out much later that Doctor Sy was in surgery with someone else. It
> > was horrible that night when he got out of surgery. They had flown in
>blood
> > platelets from Mitchell to try and save him. Doctor Sy who did the
>surgery,
> > felt so bad, he was so kind and loving when he told us that Dad would not
> > make it through the night. Dad passed away at 11:20 that night, as they
>had
> > taken the equipment off him at 11:15 that evening. I was holding on to
> > Dad's hand when he died. Doctor Sy stayed with us and comforted us, until
> > we left the hospital that night at 12:30. God will deal with Doctor Wiedel
> > when time comes for judgement day.
> >
> >
> > Again, we endured another stressfull event, when at the two buildings we
> > have left in Manchester were robbed and vandelized on September 21st of
> > this year. Many things were stolen and other things were just thrown
> > through the buildings. God was telling us something.
> >
> > I cried many tears through all of this, and I prayed, and I talked with
> > some of you on the phone, and you were very loving and sweet. I felt all
> > your love and prayers through all this time. Vernon took this all very
> > hard, as well, but he did not show his emotions. He often got mad at me,
> > but we delt with it. Of course, he never got physical in any way, just
>when
> > i went to squeeze him when he needed those lovings and squeezings. I got
> > many lovings and squeezings back. <smile>
> >
> > We have been so very grateful for all of the help from all our relatives
> > and friends, and the Mennonights, and for the gifts and donations we
> > received from family, friends, and Churches.
> >
> > Through all of this decitions have been very hard to make, and I don't
>know
> > if VErnon knows how much I've prayed to God asking Him for the right
> > decitions for us to make. Vernon and I talked with Dean and Betty and Lyle
> > after the robbery, and we all felt, what I had been praying about, that we
> > should sell everything in Manchester, and sell the property as well. We
>new
> > we would take a loss as for all the lawn and garden parts he has there, is
> > worth much more than he'll ever get out of it. I continued to pray that
>God
> > would send the right person to us to buy the property. Vernon and I talked
> > about it a lot. I told him how much I was praying. He felt that was good.
> >
> > Over a week ago, Rex Guyer saw VErnon in the alley working on the rooff of
> > our house, and stopped to talk to him. He told Vernon that he and his
>wife,
> > Lynette Guyer were interested in buying the Manchester property. Rex said
> > they would talk about it, and get back to us.
> >
> > Just so you know, Rex and Lynettte Guyer were one of the couples expecting
> > twins that lost their house which they were renting, in the tornado in
> > Manchester.
> >
> > Last Friday, at around 5:30 PM, Vernon came into the house and said to me:
> > "You just sold your property in Manchester." I was upstairs making beds,
> > and I was super glad. We were getting ready for company for supper that
> > evening. When she got here for supper, we told her, and we had something
>to
> > celebrate.
> >
> > On Monday afternoon, Rex called to tell us that we would be meeting with
> > the lawyer on Tuesday at 1:30 PM. We did just that, and it went excellent.
> >
> > We didn't ask a lot for the property and the two buildings left on it, but
> > we are free from that expense now, and we'll hopefully have an auction
>sale
> > in a few weeks, and sell everything up there that needs to be sold. We
>have
> > 60 days to get everything off the property, but it is their's now.
> >
> > Please join me in Praising God for everything He has blessed us with, and
> > please continue to pray that this all goes well, and that the meeting with
> > the auctioneer goes well tomorrow, and that we can have this sale soon,
>and
> > get it done with.
> >
> > Please also pray that Vernon and I could eventually get out of debt, as
> > this has not happened yet at all, as we've been spending all our money on
> > fixing up this house and replacing things that were lost or damaged in the
> > tornado. The insurance company has been a bit slow, at paying us for the
> > items we've submitted for replacement or repair, but we did not have
> > replacement at full value, so they only replace a very small percentage of
> > things at today's prices.
> >
> > Please watch for us in December on the Weather Chanel on Storm Stories. We
> > were interviewed and filmed in September. I will keep you all informed, as
> > to when the film will be shown.
> >
> > We want to thank you all so very much for your love and prayers.
> >
> > God Bless you all.
> >
> > Love you all,
> > Pat Ferguson
> >