THE MOSTELLER STORY
INSTALMENT #3

It has been so special to receive cards letting us know how you care for us and are praying for us. What a wonderful LINKS family you are!

Well, to continue our story........

All of our boys are girls!...three in number: Kathleen Joy (Kathy), Virginia Gay (Ginny) and Elizabeth Mary (Liz). Gladys was told in the Cape Verde Islands that if she ate a quart of fish eggs (which they would gladly provide), she’d have a boy. 

She decided against having a boy, but three fabulous boys came along later and took our girls, Larry Loeber, Jim York and Steve Ott. The Loeber’s had two children, a boy and a girl. Their daughter is currently a missionary in Portugal, where we founded the work of the Church of the Nazarene. Jim York caught me by surprise. He called me in Brazil and asked for Ginny’s hand in marriage. That was a new deal for me, and I wasn’t prepared to respond. General Superintendent Dr George Coulter knew the York family, having been a pastor and District Superintendent on their district. His remark was, “You will be glad for a York as a son in law. They are a solid family. I detected that daughter Liz mentioned the name of “Steve” periodically in her correspondence. I said to myself, “I’m not going to let him take me by surprise as I did with Jim”. I wrote out what I wanted to say to him on a piece of paper, folded it up in about a one and half inch square, and carried it around in my billfold for a year. So when he called to Portugal asking for Liz’s hand, I said, “wait a second Steve, I have your answer in my billfold.” I took it out, unfolded it and began to read., “Steve, if you love, care for, cherish, and esteem Liz, buy her a new dress periodically, treat her as we have lovingly cared for her down through the years that she has been with us (etc), we will be inclined to say, yes you may have her." Steve’s reaction, as I heard later was, “Boy, I thought her dad was going to take a year to enumerate the conditions that must be met before giving his final answer!" Liz is known to be one never to let anyone put something over on her. At their wedding, as part of the little sermonette that the Portuguese require, I took out the little slip of folded paper and read it to the congregation as Steve and Liz stood before me. Both were weeping and laughing. It was hilarious. A family member later remarked, “at long last, there was someone who pulled it over on Liz"....and it was her dad!. The Otts provided us with grandsons and a granddaughter. What a joy our family is to us, until next time.

In Christ’s Love,
Earl E. Mosteller.

Link to INSTALMENT #4 >>>

(A little P.S. and prayer request from daughter Ginny: 
Earlier this summer dad hurt his back lifting a 5 gallon water bucket in his flourishing garden at Callahan Village (including sunflowers, one 13 and a half feet high, and tomatoes galore in a not so good tomato season). He had almost recovered from that injury when last Saturday, August 30th, he rose from his recliner and fell aggravating the earlier back injury and requiring emergency room care for serious skin tears on his hand and elbow. We appreciate your prayers for him)